On Wearing a Kilt

A great post on wearing a kilt can be found here from R.C. Sproul Jr. Read it and enjoy.

...When I wear the kilt I am not seeking to say that Christianity is Scottish, but that Scotland is Christian. When I put on my kilt I want to remember how God has worked through my people. But better still I want to remember how God has worked for my people. In short, I wear the kilt, a marker of my own peculiar heritage, to remember that my own peculiar heritage is but one example of the gospel as the power of God for salvation. R.C. Sproul Jr.

The Covenant Banner

I came across this poem here and in light of the Ohio Scottish Games this coming weekend I thought now would be a most excellent time to post this.

THE COVENANT BANNER

By An Ayrshire Elder

Blow softly, ye breezes, by mountain and moor,

O'er the graves of the Covenant men,

By the muirland and flood that were red with their blood,

Can ye waft the old watchwords again?

For Scotland and Christ the breezes of old

O'er the wilds of the Westland bore,

From the Lugar and Nith to the Lothian Frith,

And the German Ocean's shore.

And where'er they blew, a prayer was breathed

And a holy psalm was sung,

And hands were clasped and the banner grasped,

When the Covenant watchword rung.

O, the brave true hearts of old,

That bled when the banner perished!

O, for the Faith that was strong in death--

The Faith that our fathers cherished!

The banner might fall, but the spirit lived,

And liveth for evermore,

And Scotland claims as her noblest names,

The Covenant Men of Yore.

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S.D.G.

A Dark Day in Scotland Indeed

The Church of Scotland has voted to allow a homosexual to minister in Aberdeen. A grave decision and a dark day in Scottish history as Derek Thomas has so aptly put it. It certainly looks like the the COS may be headed for schism. Read more here.

We're Off...

We're off this weekend to the Ligonier Highland Games in Pennsylvania. Looking forward to the games, rugby, bagpipes, vendors, Guinness and the ceilidh in the evening. There is also a Scottish Worship Service Sunday morning at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Ligonier, Pa. I'll post a few photos next week.

A Scottish Christian Heritage

I just finished reading A Scottish Christian Heritage by Iain Murray. Grant it, I’m prejudice. I like reading Murray and I like Scottish history and especially Scottish Christian history but, this work was outstanding. As always, Murray’s style is a pleasure to read and the content was illuminating, revealing and inspiring. The chapter on Chalmers alone was worth the price of the book! Get a copy, sit in your favorite chair with your favorite beverage and start consuming this book. This work is truly masterful and an absolute joy to read.

It's Time to Move Ahead

Last year all the major Scottish military regiments were incorporated into one unit. As you can imagine there was an emotional public out cry as hundreds of years of history came to an end. To some degree I shared the pain as I always do when something of longevity comes to a close. Yet, it reminded me of some good Believers I know – trapped in another time because of their church affiliation or because of a personal fondness for some period in history. They’re trapped by their church which has not changed a thing for years or even decades. They’re still lumbered with hymns written 100 years ago & wearing clothes and haircuts that are out of style. They’re so entrenched they think anything else is bordering blasphemy. Or there are the other good folks that wish they’d been born in 19th century England when Spurgeon was preaching or wish they’d been around in Puritan times. I share their fondness for Spurgeon and many of the Puritans. We’re all indebted to them whether we realize it or not. I sometimes romanticize about those days as well yet I realize that I am alive today in God’s good Providence. Alive and enjoying many more years of understanding of God’s Word and the application of it because of all the authors over all the centuries that have put pen to paper to share what they have learned. Why would I ever wish to be alive at any other time? Not to mention all the advancements in every other sphere of life that we enjoy today, i.e., medicine, travel, communications, internet, etc., etc., etc. We’re truly blessed to be alive today and serving a merciful God.

At the farewll ceremony for the Royal Scots regiment Lt. General Sir Robert Richardson, former Colonel of the Royal Scots stated, "Treasure the past, draw strength from it, but do not live in it." I echo these sentiments. Let's stop living in the past and start living today.

Real Men Wear Kilts

Having Scottish ancestry is great. There’s lots of cool things about being Scottish, like wearing a kilt, Scotch (or to be more specific – drinking Scotch), the Loch Ness Monster, the movie Braveheart, Scottish music both old and new, McEwan’s Ale, and of course, bagpipes. Every year my wife and I attend the Ohio Scottish Games. It gives me an opportunity to totally absorb myself in Scottish culture for a day. Pipe bands, Scottish country dancing, the Highland Fling, fish and chips – it’s all there to be enjoyed and I do enjoy myself! But having this Scottish connection often goes deeper for me. Having ties to the great Scottish preachers, the Scottish Puritans means so much more. Many of the names we surely know and have read at least something by them at one time or another in our lives: Andrew Gray, Ralph Erskine, Ebeneezer Erskine, Thomas Boston, Thomas Chalmers, William Guthrie, Thomas Guthrie, Horatius Bonar, Andrew Bonar, Hugh Binning, Andrew Melville, John Knox and Samuel Rutherford to name a few. How blessed we are to have these men in our Christian heritage and to still be afforded the opportunity to read much of what they penned. A great site with links to the works of many of the Scottish preachers can be found here: http://www.newble.co.uk/hall/hallofame.html. Sadly, Scotland’s spiritual condition is not what it once was, but the truth continues to be taught by the likes the Rev. James Frew at the Kiltearn Church in Evanton (http://kiltearnfreechurch.co.uk/index.html) and the Rev. Harry Woods at the Beauly Free Church of Scotland (http://beaulyfreechurch.co.uk/). For me there is nothing better than sipping a McEwan’s Ale and reading the works of these fine men that have gone before us.