James McConnell: Nolan has a point (Newspaper article)

I don't often agree with Stephen Nolan. Usually when the outspoken BBC presenter interviews Christians he comes across as antagonistic and needlessly provocative. Rather than getting to the heart of an issue, he seems more interested in provoking a reaction (and sadly often succeeds).

But watching his recent documentary with controversial Belfast pastor James McConnell, I think Nolan hit the nail on the head. The 79-year-old's family opposed his decision to take part in the documentary, given Nolan's coverage of controversial remarks McConnell made about Islam in 2014. They needn't have worried however. Nolan brought out the lesser-known, sensitive side of a man from a tough background, orphaned early in life. For his part, McConnell acknowledged his aggressive nature and anger issues.

But at the end of the 30-minute programme, Nolan raised his biggest concern:

'Can I level with you? I wondered before I met you, and I still wonder, how much danger there is in one man appointing themselves as a preacher in a local community ... That's dangerous. Is that fair?'

To his credit, McConnell acknowledged: 'that's fair enough'. And it's not just Nolan who sees it as a danger. The Bible itself knows nothing of self-appointed preachers. Nor does it know anything of independent churches, such as McConnell's Metropolitan Tabernacle. The Apostle Paul asks: 'How are they to preach unless they are sent?' The New Testament describes only inter-dependent churches which must submit to a wider body (eg Acts 15).

McConnell and Whitewell show us the practical implications of preaching the gospel but ignoring other parts of the Bible's teaching. The courts decided last year that his remarks about Muslims weren’t illegal. But who decides if what he said was harmful to the reputation of Jesus and his church? Contrary to the Bible's teaching, McConnell isn't answerable to any Christ-appointed church authority.

And what happens now the charismatic preacher has retired? Numbers have already fallen dramatically. What if his successor preaches a different gospel? Who is there to step in and stop him? Nor is that just a question that independent churches must face - many denominations have ended up in the same place because ministers and elders have been appointed who don't believe in Jesus and don't care what the Bible says.

I regard McConnell as a brother in Christ. But we ignore the Bible's checks and balances at our peril.

Published in Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 2nd February 2017

New church signs

On Saturday we replaced the old sign on the front of the church, and put up another one on the side of the building. We're thankful to Oasis Design Studio for working with us to design them, and to our friends Daniel and Joel for bringing them over.

The work to the church hall is also coming on well, and we are looking forward to the potential opportunities that will open up as we seek to 'bring good news' to Stranraer!

Reading Lamentations

Lamentations is probably one of the least-known books of the Bible - but we're hoping to become more familiar with it over the next 4 weeks as we read it together using the notes from Let's Worship God, and then get together on Thursday evenings at 6:30pm to discuss it.

The notes were written by Kyle Borg, minister of Winchester RP Church in Kansas. He's pictured above with Stephen at the RP International Conference in the summer. To read more of Kyle's writing, check out his contributions to the Gentle Reformation blog. His sermons are available to listen to on Reformed Voice, along with a helpful seminar he gave at the Conference on rural and small town ministry:

End of year lunch

We enjoyed having lunch together in the Craignelder after our last Wednesday Bible study of 2016.

Those who are free during the day meet together each Wednesday to discuss the passage from the previous Sunday morning's sermon.

The first one in 2017 will be on Wednesday 11th January at 11am in the church. It's been good to have some new faces along over the past few months, and there's always room for a few more - so if you're free on Wednesday mornings, please do join us!

The Wrong Advent

by Mark Loughridge

’Tis the season for baby Jesuses and mangers, wise men and shepherds, as people give a passing acknowledgement to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Carol services will be had, children perform their parts, and we will all go home will rosy cheeks and glad hearts, to mince pies and mulled wine, feeling suitably imbued with the Christmas spirit.

This is Advent—marking the coming of the Son of God into the world. The problem is that it is the wrong Advent. I don’t mean simply that we have layered extra detail on top of the Bible’s story, or that we have likely picked the wrong time of the year—although all that is true—I mean that we have picked the wrong advent event.

The word advent means ‘coming’. The Jesus whose arrival we ‘remember’ at Christmas is coming back. That’s the one we are told to be looking for, counting down to. It will be entirely unlike his first arrival. If you’ve missed the point of his first arrival, here’s how you will experience his second—as Jesus describes it.

Imagine the following scenario: You are getting on with a perfectly ordinary day, dropping the children to school, calling in at the shops, sitting at the desk in work. Suddenly you feel the earth start to tremble, a lorry going past?—no, the rumbling and shaking grows. You run outside, and the sun has grown dark—extinguished; you see the moon a strange bloody colour, the stars seem to be falling as if the very fabric of space is being torn apart. You look up into this writhing mass of darkness where sky used to be, and there is a blaze of glorious light, and an awesome figure on a white horse appears wielding a sword. This is no hallucination or comic book hero. This is the divine judge, God the Son, here to bring judgment and retribution on all who have defied, rejected or ignored him. In terror you watch as the sword falls on enemy after enemy. None stands against him. In unbroken horror you watch as he treads the winepress of the fury of God’s wrath.

You run, claw at the dirt, trying to dig a hole to escape, calling on the mountains to fall on you. You would prefer being buried alive in an avalanche to meeting him.

This will be no ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’—where did he go? Oh, he came before, and offered forgiveness and peace, and hope. He laid down his life, bearing all the judgment rebels deserved. He welcomed rebels to come, giving lots of time and opportunity.

But time has run out. Now he has come to Judge the earth. He offered to bear your judgment, but if you rejected his offer, you’ve missed your chance. Now only judgment awaits.

Yet there is still time—that baby Jesus who lies in the manger grew up to take your Hell at the Cross if you entrust yourself to him. Don’t miss the point of his first coming, for you won’t miss his second coming.

… And now we open another door on our advent calendar… 6 days to go…

Mark is the pastor of Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church and New Life Fellowship, Letterkenny. This article first appeared on GentleReformation.com.