IMAGINATION

Imagination

John Lennon of The Beatle’s fame invites us, in his aptly named song ‘Imagine’, to use our imaginations. Great tune, but I once refused to sing this song when I auditioned for a band because I’m not impressed with the lyrics: ‘Imagine there’s no heaven/It’s easy if you try/No hell below us/Above us only sky.’ Then what about imagining ‘No religion too’? Let’s see, for the sake of world peace Lennon wants us to do away with heaven and hell. And he wants us to do away with Christianity, which would mean that the world would have no Saviour and no solution for evil and therefore would never have peace!

It’s not ‘religion’ that causes wars. Rather war is an extension of the evil desires of the individual human heart. James in chapter four of his epistle explains it. ‘Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.’ James 4:1-2. War therefore has to do with breaking the 10^th Commandment, ‘You shall not covet…’ Exodus 20:17. Coveting is a yearning to possess something, such as a world with no heaven and no hell below us and no religion too, whether imagined by the individual or ‘the brotherhood of man.’ Therefore, if we covet world peace, then we are to begin by imagining that there is no God, i.e., the God who has revealed heaven and hell to us.

What does God have to say about those who try to imagine there is no God? ‘The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt … Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up My people as they eat up bread, and do not call upon God?’ Psalm 53:1a&4. Simply put, according to these verses those who covet a world without God are fools, they are corrupt, and they never call on God.

One of the main things that bothered me when I used to spend my time being a fool, corrupt and never calling on God, was the idea that the world, i.e., the cosmos or creation came from nothing. I don’t know about you, but my imagination does not allow nothing to become something. In fact, I find it impossible to imagine nothing, never mind imagining nothing somehow transforming itself into something! This is to go beyond imagination. It is to go ‘to infinity and beyond!’ to quote Buzz Lightyear. Space, time and matter are something, not nothing. These had to come from something. The Bible tells us that God is the eternal God who was, is and always will be. This God spoke, and things that were not became things that are. Or simply put: The Creator created creation.

Meanwhile back to ‘You shall not covet…’ As one Internet definition puts it: To covet is to ‘yearn to possess (something, especially something belonging to another). The Bible says, ‘The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fulness, the world and those who dwell therein’ Psalm 24:1. Therefore, you can use your imagination with all your heart, soul strength and mind, but you’re never going to get a world with no heaven, no hell below us, above us only sky, and no religion. Why? Because it’s not yours to have. It belongs to God your Maker. Therefore, if it’s world peace you’re after, wouldn’t you be better off by first seeking your own peace with God through Jesus Christ and then encouraging others to do likewise? Imagine that. It easy if you try.

WAR & PEACE

War & Peace

‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ I think I may have added at least three flagstones to that road. It has been my good intention to read Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Homer’s Illiad, and Plato’s Republic. Someday! But if war is hell, is peace heaven? Well, there’s a verse of Scripture that says, ‘War broke out in heaven’ Revelation 12:7. But have no fear, for Michael and His angels prevail against Satan and his demons. ‘So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him’ Revelation 12:9. Satan and his demons were cast out of heaven to earth. When? The immediate context of this verse is sometime in human history. However, the remote connection is before the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Thus, the war in heaven began pre-Fall and the wars continue on earth until the resurrected Jesus through His Spirit overcomes His enemies. ‘But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool’ Hebrews 10:12-13. Would it surprise you to hear that God considers all non-Christians His enemies? Which is to say that only those who have the Jesus of the Bible as their Saviour have been reconciled to God. There is no Switzerland in this war. If you don’t belong to Jesus, then you belong to Satan’s army and therefore are an enemy of God. To enlist in Jesus’ army, you must do as He says, ‘Repent, and believe in the gospel’ Mark 1:15. Therefore, turn your back on self, sin and Satan and follow Jesus.

‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil’ 1 John 3:8b. And Jesus, the Son of God, said, ‘I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ Matthew 16:18b. This doesn’t mean that the gates of Christ’s church will hold against the attacks of Satan and his demons, but rather that the church, i.e., Christians will storm the gates of the non-Christians. Thus, the war that began in heaven pre-Fall will end with the nations transforming their weapons of war into agricultural implements. For who or what can hold back Michael our Prince with His angels and church? For ‘Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore’ Isaiah 2:4b. ‘Of the increase of His [i.e., our Prince, the Prince of Peace’s] government there will be no end’ Isaiah 9:7a.

Peace increases as war ceases. The Gospel is designed to bring peace, peace between humans and God and peace with each other, and peace among the nations. Yes, the Gospel can bring peace between the Campbells and the McDonalds, the Hatfields and the McCoys, and between North and South Korea. Who or what can stop this? Satan and his demons? The Gates of Hell? ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God’ 1 Corinthians 10:4-5b.

‘He makes wars cease to the end of the earth’ Psalm 46:9a. ‘This shows the perfect security of the church, and is an assurance of lasting peace. Let us pray for the speedy approach of these glorious days, and in silent submission let us worship and trust in our almighty Sovereign.’ Matthew Henry. Exit the road to hell by turning to Jesus. Do it now!

BOSSES & WORKERS

Bosses & Workers

Having worked in Scottish shipyards and Canadian railyards I am personally aware of the tensions that sometimes arise between bosses and workers. Try being on strike and on outdoor picket duty during a Winnipeg winter! Why the tension? Isn’t it usually because either or both contracting parties are (perceived) to be failing to uphold their end of the bargain? Unlike the Egyptians demanding the Israelites “make bricks without straw” debacle, which was slavery, bosses and workers in Western nations are obligated to fulfil the terms and conditions of their agreements. Sometimes bosses lock out workers and sometimes workers go on strike in times of failure. Right, what does the Bible have to say? First off, we should note that ‘work’ is not a curse. Even before the Fall God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden ‘to work it and take care of it’ (Genesis 2:15). Sure, after Adam rebelled against God we would ‘through painful toil’ and ‘by the sweat of our brow eat our food’ (Genesis 3:17&19). However, ‘The worker deserves his wages’ 1 Timothy 5:18.

For the Christian (and indeed for all mankind) God is the Boss and we are His workers. He has given us a contract with terms and conditions. One of the places the terms and conditions are spelled out is in the much neglected 4^th Commandment: ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy’ Exodus 20:9-11. Sure, people have disputed with the Boss over His Commandment, (e.g., over which day, and whether Christians should keep it at all!). However, surely we can see the principle that the Boss wants us to work six days and rest (i.e., sabbath) with Him by setting one day a week apart from the others – just as He did on Creation week. God is telling us to rest. He’s the Boss! We are the workers. As a Christian minister I have been accused of breaking the Christian Sabbath by working on it (e.g., preaching etc.). This is to completely miss the Boss’s terms and conditions. Works of mercy and necessity permitted, such as cooking meals and helping donkeys out of ditches etc. It’s as Jesus says, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ Mark 2:27. Why go on strike by becoming either legalistic or antinomian about the Sabbath? Why picket at the gates of the Garden of Eden? Why not accept the fact that God wants you to have one day off every seven? And by the way, this doesn’t mean that you have to work in the factory six days a week. Grocery shopping, doing the laundry on Saturday is still work. We’re to do everything, even work, to God's glory.

So, bosses ought to emulate God and reward the labours of their workers. And workers ought to emulate God by being worthy of their wages. And both bosses and workers ought to emulate God and have a day of rest. Don’t be wicked, for you know the old saying. ‘There is no rest for the wicked’ (Isaiah 48:22; 57:21). But don’t think you can earn Heaven. For the Boss says, ‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ Romans 6:23. Gracious Boss!

A SENSE OF IDENTITY

A SENSE OF IDENTITY

We hear a lot about “Identity Politics” nowadays, whereby some people form exclusive alliances based on skin colour, social background and religion among other things, rather than traditional politics. In Scotland they have an inclusive saying, “We’re all Jock Tamson’s bairns,” meaning that we’re all God’s children, (see e.g., Acts 17:28-29). And God’s invisible hand is behind where and when we live: “From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands” Acts 17:26.

I’d have to say that my nomadic meandering around the globe has given me a sense of belonging. Whether Toronto, Winnipeg, Brisbane or Hobart I am ever accosted with the question: Where are you from? Upon which my brain-muscle immediately starts to do a Pilates’ regime as it tries to figure out the depth and width of the probe. Do they mean which suburb or which country? Is the question because of my accent or are they just trying to make conversation? I imagine myself stretched out on a psychiatrist’s leather couch as I try to formulate a sane reply. What do you mean? is how I usually reply. Then a strange look of puzzlement inevitably comes across their face. And then I think that they think I’m a bit far behind in my education, so I quickly hit them with “born in Canada, raised in Scotland, went back to Canada, now I’m here in Australia. I got fed-up shovelling snow in Canada and moved to sunny Queensland!”

Mind you, sometimes I do find myself short-circuiting their inquisition by simply saying, “Scotland, the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond” – even singing that last part! Therefore, the Vale of Leven is the place with which I have most affinity. Toronto has a very slight pull, but not Winnipeg where I lived for ten years, or Hobart where I lived for five.

Why the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond? Well, I’m sure it’s because the eighteen letters of the Gaelic alphabet are embedded in my DNA, one for each of the years I lived in Scotland. Where’s the Gaelic in the Vale of Leven you ask? It runs all the way from Dumbarton to Drymen (aye, I know!), from Bon’ill to Balloch, from Dalreoch to Dalvait etc. It’s on every island that floats on Loch Lomond. Oh, and it’s on my name tag “McKinlay” (MacFhionnlaigh).

The people who ask me where I’m from expect me to be an expert on all things Scottish. So, over the many years I’ve felt the need to do at least a wee bit study of the country’s history, geography and culture. To do so is to fall in love with the place and its people! It’s to discover who you are, i.e., who I am. It’s to find my identity. Sure, like Abraham I too look “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”, but unlike Robert the Bruce, who wanted his heart buried in the Promised Land, I would be happy for my dust to be buried in the dust from whence it was hewn. “Up the Hill” (a euphemism for the local cemetery) would suit me fine, especially if my grave has a clear view of Ben Lomond!

I identify with the Vale folk. We have a shared collective memory and a shared history, from Silk Factory fires to drownings in the Loch, from old red sandstone ornate buildings to wide empty ugly spaces with random rundown social boxes. Yes, the January Storm, the year(s) the Loch froze, the Stirling Railway Line, the old Bon’ill Brig, the Strand Picturehoose, the Christie Park putting green, and dare I mention it? – the Vale Hospital!

And then there are my personal memories of family, friends and fitba doon the Argyle, rowing on the Leven and the Loch, swimming in the same, sailing on the Maid, sliding off your seat as you go around the Fountain on the top deck of a 132 bus. The schools I went to. The fights I got into. The lassies I fancied. The goals I scored. The fish I caught. The hills I climbed. The walks in the woods with my dog and my pet jackdaw, and then my crow. The cafes I ate in. The pubs I drank in. The church pews I (albeit infrequently!) sat on.

Yes, I love my adopted country of Australia too. Of course I do! But it is true what they say, “You can take the boy out of the Vale, but you can’t take the Vale out of the boy.” Its extended hand of culture with its five fingers of genetics, genealogy, geography, history, and language is what holds my homesick heart. The Welsh call it “hiraeth”, but I call it home, dachaidh. As in the song, “Beautiful Vale, beautiful Vale, beautiful Vale of the Leven!”

I am made of the dust and soil of the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond and her refreshing waters flow through my veins. An image of Ben Lomond has been burnt into my retina and my heart beats in time to the waters lapping on the Loch’s eastern shores.