Jul 2008
4you.ie: Have you read it?
31/07/08 19:14 |
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Last week we in the
Milford congregation had a team of young people
working with us, helping us to share the good news
about Jesus all over the part of Donegal we live in.
One of the things we did was to distribute a magazine called 4you.ie.
There’s a number of interesting articles in it. One of the big questions that we all have to face is dealt with in the magazine—Is there life after death? That’s an issue we all need to at least have thought about.
Another article that caught my eye was about the Irish professional surfer John McCarthy. His own story disproves the idea that Christianity is only for women, children and weak men. He tells about how he became a Christian and what it means to him.
Barbara Coyle has written a beautiful article on adoption and shows the wonderful illustration it is of what God does for us when we ask him to accept us.
There’s also an article that deals with communication issues. Poor communication is the number one issue that pushes families apart. This article highlights the Bible’s advice on communication and shows the root issue and God-given solution.
Why not have a read? A number of free resources are offered and if you would like any of them, or if you have any questions and want to discuss them, please feel free to get in touch.
We covered a fair bit of ground—Milford, Kilmacrennan, Rathmullan, Ramelton, Kerrykeel, Port Salon, Creeslough, Termon, and Carrigart. We were sorry that we didn’t have the time to cover all the many houses that lie scattered in between. But if you didn’t get a copy of the magazine and would like one, give me a call or an email, and we’ll get one to you.
Mark Loughridge is the minister of Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church. He can be contacted on 074 9123961 or mark@milfordrpc.org. You can read more or listen online at www.milfordrpc.org
One of the things we did was to distribute a magazine called 4you.ie.
There’s a number of interesting articles in it. One of the big questions that we all have to face is dealt with in the magazine—Is there life after death? That’s an issue we all need to at least have thought about.
Another article that caught my eye was about the Irish professional surfer John McCarthy. His own story disproves the idea that Christianity is only for women, children and weak men. He tells about how he became a Christian and what it means to him.
Barbara Coyle has written a beautiful article on adoption and shows the wonderful illustration it is of what God does for us when we ask him to accept us.
There’s also an article that deals with communication issues. Poor communication is the number one issue that pushes families apart. This article highlights the Bible’s advice on communication and shows the root issue and God-given solution.
Why not have a read? A number of free resources are offered and if you would like any of them, or if you have any questions and want to discuss them, please feel free to get in touch.
We covered a fair bit of ground—Milford, Kilmacrennan, Rathmullan, Ramelton, Kerrykeel, Port Salon, Creeslough, Termon, and Carrigart. We were sorry that we didn’t have the time to cover all the many houses that lie scattered in between. But if you didn’t get a copy of the magazine and would like one, give me a call or an email, and we’ll get one to you.
Mark Loughridge is the minister of Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church. He can be contacted on 074 9123961 or mark@milfordrpc.org. You can read more or listen online at www.milfordrpc.org
July's Verse
In 17th century
Scotland the King was forever sticking his nose into
the affairs of the church, seeking to strategically
place ministers who would support him and gain the
ear of the people. The people however, in many
instances wouldn’t have it, and resisted attempts to
have clergy foisted on them.
One such instance was in 1615, when a young man called Alexander Henderson was appointed as minister at Leuchars in Fife. He wasn’t a Christian, as the Bible would define ‘Christian’, and the people of Leuchars didn’t want him as their pastor.
On the morning of his ordination the people locked all the doors of the church so that no-one could enter. The presiding ministers and Henderson were obliged to break in by a window before they carried out the ordination. Few people came to hear him preach.
He wasn’t there long when a godly minister Robert Bruce came to the area to preach. Henderson was struck by how many would eager listen to Bruce’s sermons and set out himself to hear him. He donned a disguise and slipped into a dark corner of the church.
Bruce entered the pulpit, and after a solemn pause, in his usual manner, he read these words from John 10:1 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber”.
Understandably these words hit Henderson like a thunderbolt. The ensuing sermon was so searching and unsettling that his conscience was deeply convicted.
Where do you turn when your conscience is deeply troubled?
Just a few verses later Jesus says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9). Henderson turned and put his trust in Jesus and found the truth of this promise, and found his ministry transformed because he had been. He went on to play a key role in the history of Christianity in Scotland.
That’s where we need to turn to, not just to ease your troubled mind so that you can get on with life—Jesus isn’t a headache tablet. The turning to Jesus is a personal thing, not a ritual thing—that’s what Henderson found. It’s about the whole person recognising that they’ve been going the wrong way, and turning Godwards looking for forgiveness and help to keep going in a Godward direction. That’s entering in at the gate. It denotes starting out on a new path—the path of a transformed heart.
(Based on the calendar given out by the church)
One such instance was in 1615, when a young man called Alexander Henderson was appointed as minister at Leuchars in Fife. He wasn’t a Christian, as the Bible would define ‘Christian’, and the people of Leuchars didn’t want him as their pastor.
On the morning of his ordination the people locked all the doors of the church so that no-one could enter. The presiding ministers and Henderson were obliged to break in by a window before they carried out the ordination. Few people came to hear him preach.
He wasn’t there long when a godly minister Robert Bruce came to the area to preach. Henderson was struck by how many would eager listen to Bruce’s sermons and set out himself to hear him. He donned a disguise and slipped into a dark corner of the church.
Bruce entered the pulpit, and after a solemn pause, in his usual manner, he read these words from John 10:1 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber”.
Understandably these words hit Henderson like a thunderbolt. The ensuing sermon was so searching and unsettling that his conscience was deeply convicted.
Where do you turn when your conscience is deeply troubled?
Just a few verses later Jesus says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9). Henderson turned and put his trust in Jesus and found the truth of this promise, and found his ministry transformed because he had been. He went on to play a key role in the history of Christianity in Scotland.
That’s where we need to turn to, not just to ease your troubled mind so that you can get on with life—Jesus isn’t a headache tablet. The turning to Jesus is a personal thing, not a ritual thing—that’s what Henderson found. It’s about the whole person recognising that they’ve been going the wrong way, and turning Godwards looking for forgiveness and help to keep going in a Godward direction. That’s entering in at the gate. It denotes starting out on a new path—the path of a transformed heart.
(Based on the calendar given out by the church)
Message in a bottle
Apparently ‘spirit
bottles’ are big business in Beijing these
days. The
Times reports that one store claimed to
be selling more than 100 per day.
What on earth is a ‘spirit bottle’? Nothing more than an empty bottle with a label such as ‘Courage’, ‘Good Ideas’, ‘Unconditional Love’ or ‘Great Wisdom’. The sellers openly state that there is nothing but air in the bottle, yet people keep buying them.
One man browsing the shelf of bottles said, “If you are depressed and need to cry, or angry and need to vent, these spirit bottles give you the empty space you need. It is a concept that we really need right now.”
The biggest sellers in this are ‘Courage and change’ and ‘Sense of security’.
It strikes me as sad that in a nation mourning a massive loss of life this is their answer to trouble – buy an empty bottle and put all your troubles in it. Or buy an empty bottle and look to it for hope.
Then again, where do you look for hope when your country has effectively banned God? You can place your hope in human endeavour, but that doesn’t bring hope in the midst of disaster. It’s no surprise that the people of Beijing have nowhere to put their hope but in an empty bottle.
It would be easy to mock, yet we in Ireland have as many superstitions—whether they are in the old folk tales or in the new spiritualities that are doing the rounds. Bizarre empty bottles all of them.
To be fair, some would want to place biblical Christianity in the same category of wishful empty-bottle hoping.
The difference is that this bottle isn’t empty, and the proof lies ironically in something that was empty—the tomb. The resurrection of Jesus underscores the validity of Christianity.
How sad that men and women could be conned into placing their hopes in empty bottles of whatever unfounded superstitions or beliefs.
Ultimately there is no such thing as alternative spiritualities—just many empty bottles, and only one full one.
Imagine crawling into a shop from the desert—which bottle would you buy? One of the empties, or the one full of life giving water?
The only message of empty bottles is the emptiness of their hope. However, God in his rich mercy has given us a clear message from Heaven, not in a bottle, but in a person—Jesus Christ, who said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink… whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
What on earth is a ‘spirit bottle’? Nothing more than an empty bottle with a label such as ‘Courage’, ‘Good Ideas’, ‘Unconditional Love’ or ‘Great Wisdom’. The sellers openly state that there is nothing but air in the bottle, yet people keep buying them.
One man browsing the shelf of bottles said, “If you are depressed and need to cry, or angry and need to vent, these spirit bottles give you the empty space you need. It is a concept that we really need right now.”
The biggest sellers in this are ‘Courage and change’ and ‘Sense of security’.
It strikes me as sad that in a nation mourning a massive loss of life this is their answer to trouble – buy an empty bottle and put all your troubles in it. Or buy an empty bottle and look to it for hope.
Then again, where do you look for hope when your country has effectively banned God? You can place your hope in human endeavour, but that doesn’t bring hope in the midst of disaster. It’s no surprise that the people of Beijing have nowhere to put their hope but in an empty bottle.
It would be easy to mock, yet we in Ireland have as many superstitions—whether they are in the old folk tales or in the new spiritualities that are doing the rounds. Bizarre empty bottles all of them.
To be fair, some would want to place biblical Christianity in the same category of wishful empty-bottle hoping.
The difference is that this bottle isn’t empty, and the proof lies ironically in something that was empty—the tomb. The resurrection of Jesus underscores the validity of Christianity.
How sad that men and women could be conned into placing their hopes in empty bottles of whatever unfounded superstitions or beliefs.
Ultimately there is no such thing as alternative spiritualities—just many empty bottles, and only one full one.
Imagine crawling into a shop from the desert—which bottle would you buy? One of the empties, or the one full of life giving water?
The only message of empty bottles is the emptiness of their hope. However, God in his rich mercy has given us a clear message from Heaven, not in a bottle, but in a person—Jesus Christ, who said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink… whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”