I’ve just finished recording a short video for Pentecost. Its something I’ve wanted to do for a while to make the link between Christmas and Pentecost using a symbol to link the Festivals.

We have a Christmas Tree each year which we put in church. We actually  call it a Christmon Tree because we hang Christian mongrams and symbols on the branches.

Everything we hang on the tree has to be made by hand. Its actually a really nice thing to see. Especially when your hanging things on the tree that were made by friends and members who are no longer with us.

Anyway when Christmas is over we take the tree and cut its branches off it and turn it into a cross. It sits in the church during Lent rather scraggy and bare looking.  A reminder to us of the humility and agony of Jesus.

However on Easter Sunday the congregation come into Churh and find the cross gloriously covered from head to foot with flowers. Its a wonderful symbol of resurrection and new life.  Of course within a few days the flowers begin to wither and we usually put it out in the rubbish. I’ve never been quite convinced about the way we dispose of this symbol. Some how I’ve always felt we could give it a better ending.

So I held on to the tree this year and decided we would use  it as a symbol during Pentecost. hence the opening line of the blog regarding the video. Why not go and look up the video on St Andrew’s home page and tell me what you think The logo of the Church of Scotland has at its centre the burning bush reminding us that the church must always be open to the purifying presence of the Spirit. Pentecost reminds us of that fire. Would to God that we would allow the gospel to burn us up in such a way that the whole nation of Scotland would catch the fire. So many things we need to rid ourselves of. So many thoughts and ideas that need to come under the purifying fire of God.

BOGLE’S PARAPHRASE

Just like that- the noise was deafening, there was a wind that nearly blew the roof off, the house. This all happened while they were still sitting. They were burning from head to toe, you would have thought fire was resting on each of them. They were burning up and the tongues of fire turned to real communication. They spilled out onto the street which was full of international travellers. Everyone of them the travellers I mean, understood the message. Acts 2.2

ARCHBISHOP TUTU AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Certainly history was in the making yesterday morning as the little frail looking man dressed in purple appeared in the play pen. By the end of his address the general Assembly gave him a standing ovation. ” Turn the wilderness into a garden of wonderful flowers.” He thanked all those who stood with him in the struggle because of them  he said, ” we are free today.”

SPEAKING AND FACING THE TRUTH

Well that’s me back from te General Assembly. It has been a challenging week in many ways for so many people. Someone sent me an email asking me if the church had gagged me. when it comes to my blog.   They were referring to the moritorium that has been placed upon ministers of the Church of Scotland commenting  to the press about the induction of homosexual people into ministerial charges. It is a crude instrument that is being used to try and prevent among other things,  the press from making up ridiculous headlines.  You know the kind that have been around recently.

I think it was one newspaper when reporting  on a report to the General Assembly on the issue of sex offenders attending church ran with a headline to the effect that “Kirk Supports Sex Beasts”  the truth of the report was that the Kirk is seeking to protect children at church from people who may have been involved with sex offenses. In doing so they were laying down procedures that should be followed  by the Church leaders when aware of such a person attending public worship.

I don’t believe the spirit of the moratorium is to prevent ministers speaking about and discussing the issues within the context of genuinely interested inquirers especially within the family of the church and community. It is more to do with preventing ministers from debating over the airwaves things that they might be better discussing face to face in a friendly manner. Certainly congregations will be expected to discuss and send their opinions to the Special Commission that has been set up to look into this matter.

I don’t think it will stop me in the least from contributing to the debate. For while I contend for a “Generous Orthodoxy ” (not my phrase but Brian MacLaren’s the author of a book with this title) , I hope to do so with respect and courtesy for those who see things in a different light. Never the less it would be a poor church that would try to stop a minister of the Gospel speak forth that which God has called him or her to say.  However we are all responsible for our words and the effect that they can have on others.  Let us hold to the counsel of John the beloved disciple and while we may disagree learn to love each other. By the way thank you James Hogg for the photo below. You thought I looked Presidential, personally I think I look as though I’m singing a version of “I did it my way”

BOGLE”S PARAPHRASE

Even if your world collapses all around you. Jesus said “I will never leave you to clear it up on your own” There is nothing too difficult for Him to do. So with great confidence think about this. If you have God as your helper what else do you need. Why would you be afraid of what others might think about you?  Heb 13. 5-6

Heb 13

TALKING THE WALK

Here I am just returned from the Assembly having spent the evening at the Moderator’s Reception in the old Parliament Building  just behind St Giles Cathedral.  Its the hall where all the advocates stay on the move as they listen to briefings regarding up and coming court cases.

The room tonight was certainly a buzz with Commissioners talking about all kinds of topics and no doubt some of them were reflecting on the day that has just past. I found it interesting to catch up with one or two old friends and to hear about their families.

As some of our local people here in Bo’ness prepare for the day of Prayer on Saturday, I was reminded that we have a great advocate in our Lord Jesus. He too walks along side us all daily and pleads our cause before his Father and our Father.  So lets take the opportunity those who can to drop into the church and share in the prayer time. Take the opportunity perhaps to write and prayer and stick it on the Tree or interact with some of the other craft ideas.

BOGLE’S PARAPHRASES

Funny thing God the Father sees all the good things you do in secret. One day he is going to spill the beans and give you a reward for all the effort you have put in. Matt. 6.18

Just back from the Assembly . I was at the Moderator’s reception this evening

THE ASSEMBLY COMES TO TOWN

Its all go tomorrow in Edinburgh, as the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland comes to town. I think it is quite an impressive spectacle especially for those commissioners who are facing the experience for the first time. However the Assembly Arrangements committee have been working hard at educating the commissioners. this year along with the Blue Book we also received a DVD which was full of good practical information including a tour round the building  and a message from the Moderator.  For most ministers its a chance to catch up with friends and hear in greater detail about the wide range of work with which the church is involved.

The trouble is that for many this will be a one issue Assembly but the truth is that we cannot allow ourselves to be side tracked into a one issue mentality. However I am not saying that the whole issue of sexuality is unimportant, it clearly isn’t it has massive implications and touches many areas of theology and life.. All I am highlighting is the danger of becoming obsessed with one issue that we don’t see the wood for the trees.

I’m praying that we will all see and hear  and even recognise Jesus when he comes to the Assembly this week. Roland Porchmouth, a famous Church of Scotland Minister once painted a picture of Jesus at the Assembly. I used the picture in a Book of Prayers I wrote over 20 years ago. the thing is the picture says it all. I just wish I had it in colour.

CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS IN DYNAMIC EARTH

I’m looking forward to our Church without Walls party which will take place on Friday evening at Dynamic Earth. To date over 200 people have booked up for the event. If you want to come its free go to www.cwwresources.org.uk and book your place. Its going to be an excellent evening. It will be a chance for people from all over the church who are not commissioners to attend a fringe event of the Assembly and to engage with  the atmosphere that it engenders.

Check this out below a new feature on the blog.

BOGLE”S  SCRIPTURE PARAPHRASE

See if you just calm down you’ll be able to live through all of this safely, and you’ll have a feeling of peace that will be so quiet that you won’t fear evil.  Proverbs 1.33

  THE NATIONAL GATHERING

Lots of things are happening around the church this week. I guess we’re not any busier than normal but it seems that way. The staff of SANCTUS MEDIA are working flat out getting ready for the General Assembly. Rae has just managed to produce a DVD with over three and half hours of footage on it all relating to the 2008 National Gathering. Its well worth a watch, indeed I think you will be able to order it on line from our Sanctus Media web page within the next couple of days.

Talking of getting busy, I’m struggling to keep up with the Discipleship 40 Challenge but I’m not going to give up I’m going to be a pilgrim and press on. So if you get invited by me to take part in a challenge please humour me so that I can complete it. I just wrote another seven challenges this evening. Those of you who are ahead of the game will be delighted to know that there are more challenges coming,your way.

A DAY OF PRAYER

One amazing challenge  is the day of prayer taking place in the church this Saturday. We hope its going to be a wonderful creative and restful day for those who decide to come along and pray. there are many different facets to prayer. We hope to introduce people to different methods. I notice Rae and Adam have been working on a prayer tree.  They’ve taken a branch of a tree and sprayed it with gold paint. They’re getting it ready to be changed from a dry branch to a prayer tree branch. When people come on Saturday they will be able to write on a piece of paper and attach it to the branches like leaves. We got a good write up last week in the Bo’ness  Journal about the Prayer day so let’s hope we get a good turn out. i believe the church is going to be open from 10am-6pm

Here is a short video highlight of tat memorable Summer way back in 2000. We toured round Scotland in a period of 6 days and connected with hundreds of people as we took our multimedia service into cathedrals and churches. Our idea was that we needed to raise funds to get our media project off the ground. in Bo’ness.

Its amazing that 9 years on we have SANCTUS MEDIA working out of the church as a media production company as part of our congregation’s ministry.

This week we will be streaming the General Assembly out live to the world. And to think it all started with a Bike Ride. If someone looked up the minutes of the Assembly for the year 2000 I think they’d find it mentioned. I was trying to get sponsorship for the ride. Who knows where technology will take us in the next ten years. let’s hope that SANCTUS MEDIA can continue to be a servant to the church throughout Scotland.

One of the most memorable evenings was the night we played in Glasgow Cathedral. I think there must have been about 400 people turn up that night. Recently i met someone who told me it was such a meaningful service. we had an opportunity for people to respond. I remember thinking the queues would never end as people came forward for anointing with oil and to receive a stone. It would be great to hear from anyone who was there that evening. What were your thoughts?

I think this idea could be resurrected and tried out again next Summer. Scotland is just a fantastic place to cycle if the weather is good. If you were cycling that week as part of the Challenge let’s hear from you.

It looks as though we might be considering a Scottish Cathedral’s Cycle Challenge again ten years on. So keep your ear to the ground. Mike Munro one of our elders has been researching the idea. It was actually a great event. It raised the seed money nine years ago to start the St Andrew’s Multimedia Youth Project”. When you look back we’ve achieved a great deal in those years. Much more still has to be done, however I’d like to think that if we do the Cycle Challenge next year that we will get people from all over the world to join in with us. It was great when we had some of our friends from Hillsongs come and join with us in our worship events around the Cathedrals.

This could be a great World Without Walls fundraiser. I must see if we can find some old footage and put it up on the blog. Anyway lets hear what you think. Would the Cycle Challenge get you moving to get in gear? Would you consider getting your self fit to cycle over 300 miles in a week?

Talking about worship we had some wonderful worship in church this morning the congregtion was in good singing mood. We opened wih a traditional hymn, “Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation” the congregation sang it really well. we then moved on to sing the song “Lord I come to You” and then ended the opening sesction of praise with the old Graham Kendricks song ” For this Purpose” I think these songs really lifted people this morning and I felt when it came to the sermon the congregation were listening intently. 

I’m preaching through a series looking at relationships and  their significance as they are understood in Christian Baptism and Marriage.   If you want to hear more check out www.standonline.org.uk

Finally we had a great join evening of praise with members of the Apostolic Church last night and I was able to sign up Len Bennett to be our giest preacher next Sunday evening.

This is a post to encourage all the 40 Day Discipleship Challengers. Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve missed one or two of the text messages. Remember some of the suggestions will take time to put into practice. We’re all here to support and help each other not to lay guilt trips on one other. I have a few to catch up with myself and I intend to follow them up.

Life has been quite busy over the past few days and I must confess I enjoy getting a chance to chill out on a Friday evening. The thing is when your a minister the weekend is the time that you begin to wind your self up as you prepare for the Sunday services. Most ministers in the Church have one service to prepare, however because we have kept our Evening Service it means two sermons have to be written.

So when everyone else is winding down on a Saturday my mind is usually reflecting and compiling the sermon. I’ve tried having it all prepared by Wednesday, but you know what, I found when it came to Sunday it felt as though I was heating up last weeks dinner. I guess for my style of preaching I like to have the ideas current in my head. It doesn’t mean to say that the sermon is a last minute rush, I like to plan all the themes and Bible readings well in advance. I guess I just like pulling it all together on Saturday morning and evening and checking it over again on Sunday morning.

Next week is going to be a pretty full one with the General Assembly starting on Wednesday morning. This is the first time they have moved the Assembly to start midweek. Our team from Sanctus Media of course will be there streaming the Assembly out as usual. So if you go to the Church of Scotland web page you’ll be able to get live coverage and even a summary of the days events. However I believe the controversial case concerning Scott Rennie will not be streamed out on the web.

We are living in challenging times and all of us who are in leadership in the church have a responsibility to seek the unity of the church. This is not to say that we cannot speak out our mind clearly, but it does mean that we need to be measured in the language we use. The media just love it when clerics get angry with each other and they love making the angry people look ridiculous. My advice to everyone taking part in the debates concerning homosexuality is this, don’t allow yourself to be made into a caricature regardless of the point of view you hold. Remember we all claim to be part of God’s family. You will never win your opponent over by making him or her look small. You will never change the mind of someone you disagree with if you don’t spend time in their company listening to them. And yes it is possible for friends to disagree. Indeed non of us in the church are enemies, and if Jesus commands us to love our enemies, surely he expects us to be loving to each other, even if that involves discipline.

I well remember Alan MacDonald when he was Moderator commending the Commissioners to go for a coffee with someone who had a completely different theological perspective. Make a friend of someone who holds a differing viewpoint. Most people know that I have a pretty conservative view of what is appropriate behaviour when it comes to sexual orientation, however I feel it is right and courteous to listen and learn from those who have a different view. I have discovered from experience over the years that there is a great deal of fear that seems to come over people when we are confronted with issues and people who challenge our understanding of the truth.

You know what when the debates are going on in the Assembly Hall I’ll be whispering under my breath ” Perfect love casts out all fear”

I pray that what ever happens non of us will be gripped by fear but that the love of God will be spread abroad in our hearts. Difficult choices means that we will never all agree on specifics especially when it comes to sexual orientation. Those of us who hold to more traditional viewpoints need to realise that the world around has adopted a different view on this issue. It is not enough to simply quote scripture. The secular world has moved the whole debate on to the point where many no longer believe there is an issue to debate. We need to explore perhaps with others who hold a more liberal view say on homosexuality, where it is they draw the line of appropriateness, for they will have a line. Especially when it comes to other relationships of a sexual nature within family units. The question then has to be asked by all of us, why is it that we find one type of relationship among the sexes appropriate and another inappropriate? What is it that makes a sexual relationship inappropriate? When we find the answers to these questions we may well be able to express ourselves more clearly to one another. And perhaps realise that a loving relationship is not enough to establish appropriateness.

Today’s “Discipleship Challenge” is to give something away that is literally very valuable. I think there is amazing freedom to be had from exploring the gift of generosity. Jesus told us that the real joy in life is to give rather than receive. So often our worldly wealth just pulls us down turns us into slaves.

Take a moment and challenge the mean streak that all of us have inside.
Chase it,
shock it
bury it
break its hold
Go ahead
grab a bit of freedom
Give it away
with a smile
without regret

You will find it is just amazing what God does with people who take risks and take him at his word.