DIVISION

"WITH ALL MY HEART I PROTEST AGAINST WHAT I HAVE KNOWN - MEN RECEIVED WITH ALL WARMTH OF SIMPLICITY, AND QUIETLY LEADING UNSUSPECTING ONES AWAY TO THEIR PECULIAR VIEWS, LEAVING AFTERWARDS A LEAVEN OF DIVISION INJURIOUS IN ITS RESULTS...BLESS GOD FOR SCOTTISH CAUTION; BUT IT IS OFTEN AT FAULT...STEREOTYPED MODES OF ACTION, IF NEED BE, MUST BE LAID ASIDE, AND THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT MUST BE RECOGNISED...ESSENTIALS MUST BE HELD AS WITH A DEATH-GRIP; BUT NON-ESSENTIALS MAY BE SCATTERED TO THE WINDS.

"I ONLY RETURNED A FEW DAYS AGO FROM THE SEA-SIDE...I USED TO SIT AND MARK THE EBBING AND FLOWING TIDE. WHEN IT WAS OUT EVERY INEQUALITY IN THE SHORE COULD BE SEEN, HIDDEN ROCKS WERE LAID BARE, AND THE TANGLE-COVERED BOTTOM EXPOSED. WHEN IN, ALL WAS COVERED. THERE WAS NOTHING TO BE SEEN BUT THE BLUE SEA - THE ONE GREAT OCEAN. SO, WHEN THE HOLY GHOST SHALL PUT FORTH HIS ALMIGHTY POWER, A SUBJECT SUCH AS THIS WILL NOT BE RAISED."

Duncan Matheson The Scottish Evangelist, page 235 - 236.

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

Thanks to Peter Reynolds for this link.

WHAT IS THIS CHRIST-MASS?

It is important to point out that God's word gives us not the slightest idea of the time of year Jesus was born. This is not an accident. The festival which people call Christmas is completely man-made and has no place whatsoever in Christianity.

The event which Roman Catholics call the 'mass' is also completely man-made and has no place in Christianity.

The third commandment states: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain..." This means that to use the name of God in any way which he has not sanctioned is presumptuous and sinful, even blasphemous.

The Christ-mass festival has its origins in ancient paganism where revelry, gluttony, drunkenness and gift-giving was celebrated. Of course in those days it went by a different name.

It's nice to have a time of year when everyone is on holiday and comes together to have meals and socialize, but we err greatly if we try to drag God's name into it and turn it into a pseudo-religious festival.

By all means, give presents, eat well, enjoy - but please - let's leave God's name out of it - unless it's according to scripture.

CLIMATE CHANGE: TRICK, FRAUD AND DELUSIONAL NONSENSE

Thanks to Alasdair Martin for this link.

PYGMIES AT THE HELM AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE ICEBERG

The following is a selection of quotes from Max Hastings' article in today's Daily Mail.

"...Eurosceptics gleefully cheered at the notion that a prime minister has at last done the big thing, telling the Frogs and Huns to get stuffed."

"...Euro-enthusiasts - including most of the BBC's commentators - talk as if any responsible British leader must shut his eyes and vote with our 26 partners, even on a day-trip to hell. They are in denial about the ghastly predicament of the whole EU project."

"The Europeans want to preserve a gold-plated social model, to ring-fence themselves against the cold winds of the real world outside. However, they will fail."

"The worst consequence of Cameron's veto is likely to be that our EU partners will dismiss our views and, indeed, seek to punish us."

"The erratic President Sarkozy of France, who sometimes seems close to madness...His petulance and fevered efforts to escape looming electoral defeat at home, has worsened the crisis. We should pray nightly for his political demise in the spring."

"Critics of last week's veto, such as Ed Miliband, talk as if David Cameron had a duty to stay aboard the euro-liner even as it races towards the iceberg, merely because none of the other passengers has got off."

"It would probably be best for Britain, as well as for the Western world, if the euro collapsed swiftly, the boil was lanced."

"Europe needs strong and far-sighted leaders, and instead is being guided by pygmies."

WHAT THE BOSSES BELIEVED

"THE BOSSES BELIEVED THAT EVERY EMPLOYEE SHOULD START AT THE BOTTOM, IN THE DUST."

The Forgotten Highlander by Alistair Urquhart. Page 15.

Quite right too - changed days now though.

IRREGULARS - BUT TO WHOM?

"God has raised up not a few evangelists who go hither and thither. I call the majority of them irregulars, freelances, knowing no church, understanding nothing of parochial divisions, subject to no master but Christ, and, it cannot be denied, wielding a mighty influence on not a few."

Duncan Matheson The Scottish Evangelist. pp. 234.