Come Down, Lord!

  In difficult seasons the night can be particularly hard.  In I Shall Not Die But Live Douglas Taylor wrote the following: “In the Diary of Kenneth MacRae (Banner of Truth, 1980), Mr MacRae is described, during his last illness, as dreading the night, with its sleeplessness and loneliness.”  Taylor who was also in his last illness writes, “I can very much identify with this.  During sleepless periods lately, I have dreaded the night too.”  This is almost certainly why the Bible speaks of the night seasons .  Night seasons are hard seasons of trial, which are often accompanied by temptations to fear and despair.  Night seasons are symbolic of times of mourning.  They represent times of suffering and grief and emotional or spiritual darkness.  A dark trial even if experienced over the course of days and weeks is a night season.   Job knew something of these hard nights.  He said, “So am I made to possess months of vanity, and ...

A friend asked me the other day, "do you regret it?"  He had heard that my open letter to the Church had stirred up controversy and that I might be in trouble.  My answer was immediate.  No , I didn't regret it.  I believed (and still believe) it needed to be said.   In fact, as time has passed and I have prayed over the matter my feelings and my resolve have grown stronger not weaker.   God has tried us to see what is in us, and we have been found out.  We aren't the lion hearts we thought we were.  We are strong on theology and confessions and ecclesiastical procedure, but we aren't so strong in the day of adversity (Proverbs 24:10). But my friend's question raises an interesting question.   First, why would I  regret what I had written?   My friend was assuming that the events that had transpired since the letter was first written had somehow changed my mind.  He was wondering if maybe the trial had...

Dear brothers and sisters, greetings in the name of King Jesus.  I am writing to you (as I have written to my own Session) because I believe that we - the Church in North America - have let the Lord down.  Like Peter we have made big promises, but in a moment of trial we have in this way denied Him.  We have compromised and we have sinned.  I don't say that lightly.   Many better men than me hold an entirely different position. Still, I believe our decision to submit to the government is wrong.  I believe it’s seriously wrong.  I believe one day we will look back on this with sorrow at how easily we gave in to the pressures of government and society.   I know it’s well intended but still wrong.   As you know churches almost everywhere (including our own) have closed.  Gathering together for worship has been replaced almost everywhere by live-streaming, so that there is no more ‘meaningful’ gathering of believers for the preaching...