A place for sharing my reading, resources and thoughts from a Scottish Presbyterian perspective. 

New Year, new challenges.  At times I come across resources that I feel could be of some benefit to others and should be shared.  Some of these resources certainly need to be edited and the language brought up to date, but others can be used as they are.  I will use this occasional blog to make these resources available, to invite others to co-operate in editing them, and to enable debate and discussion of the issues raised in these resources.

Some of the planned topics:

Liturgy and Worship - often our worship is unReformed, we are historically adrift from the liturgies of the Reformation and the early Presbyterians.  Some mistakenly believe that "Presbyterians don't do liturgy", a perspective that shows a lack of understanding of history or the theology of worship.  I hope to make available resources that could be incorporated into worship, and in today's language for today's church.  Examples would be the liturgies of Knox and Calvin, the books of common order from the worldwide Presbyterian family, prayers and collects from the Reformed church in the past.

Framing the Psalms - helps for introducing the psalms that we sing in congregational worship, showing why we sing them and the redemptive and experiential aspects of the psalm.

The Church - ecclesiology is much neglected in today's church.  We often have a very truncated doctrine of the church that does not reflect the rich and invigorating  discussions of previous ages.  That impoverishment in thinking is often reflected in an unwillingness to actually look at what Scripture teaches, lest it upsets our preconceived notions.  I hope to make available some of the ecclesiastical catechisms, (catechisms that discuss the nature, role and government of the church.) I also want to revisit something I wrote way back in 1995 on Biblical Separation, simply going through the N.T. and asking "How does this apply to the church today and our denominational associations?"

Comfort and Affliction - the wonderful pastorally sensitive sermons and literature from the past dealing with issues we often choose to avoid, of sickness, disease, disaster, war and death