Sometimes you wonder if the information you get is actually true, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. With the advent of AI, and the ease with which images can now be altered and manipulated, along with the deliberate spread ofmisinformation on social media, how can you be sure of the truth of a matter?
Three years ago this week Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 surrounded by her family. In the year of her Platinum Jubilee, the longest serving monarch passed away at her beloved Scottish estate, Balmoral.
Buckingham Palace made the simple announcement at 6.30pm on Thursday 8 September 2022, stating: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."
For 70 years Her Majesty The Queen had been the centre of our culture. The Queen’s image has adorned billions of coins and banknotes and sat proudly on letters carrying good news and bad. Her name has been given to places near and far, buildings, ships and train lines. She sat for hundreds of portraits and inspired thousands more. She had been imitated more than any other public figure, BUT there was only one original.
On Friday 3 June 2022 Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York delivered the sermon in St Paul's Cathedral during a service to mark and celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the very original person she was. On that occasion he reminded us that, “Jesus is worth following because Jesus shows us who God is, and what our humanity could be. And there are many occasions in the gospels where we see Jesus Himself, faithful to His vocation, seeking out places of replenishing so that He can learn God’s way. The purpose of the Christian faith is to know and to do God’s will.
To be rejected and left alone is a dreadful experience and one which can cause and leave deep emotional and psychological scars for life in those abandoned. Simone Lang was an Australian school teacher who spent some time in India. There, she taught in a Christian school to help educate the poor and those who could not afford to go to the state schools. In the school was a little boy by the name of Jonathan and he lived in a nearby children’s home.
She got to know the little boy, and gradually he opened up his heart to her as she conversed with him. His parents had abandoned him when he was three years old and had left him at the children’s home. They had abdicated all responsibility for him and had left him to be brought up by others who would try to show him some sort of love and kindness. His parents were still alive and one day he received a letter from them stating that they would come and visit him on a particular day, namely the first day of December. This gave him a wonderful feeling and he shared his excitement of looking forward to seeing his parents with Simone. She realised that this would be a wonderful day for this little boy.
When I was in grammar school many years ago, I can always remember counting how many boys were in my class on the days when football took place. Inevitably there were some who would have been off ill with some malady or other, but I was always delighted if the absentees were an odd number.
Why? Well, let me explain.
We were an even number of boys in the class – 32 to be exact – so if an odd number of boys were not in school, it meant there would be an odd number reporting for football that afternoon.
And that was important to me.
Have I captured your curiosity? Let me explain further.
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In 1981, a bridge across the Humber Estuary was opened to traffic crossing the estuary from 5 miles west of Kingston upon Hull to Barton on Humber. It was a marvellous feat of engineering, being at the time the longest single span bridge in the world.
The opening did not only provide continuous access day and night across the estuary, but it also brought to an end over 600 years of ferry history. The modern ferry service began in the nineteenth century between Hull and New Holland, a bleak windy place in North Lincolnshire. A pier was built there, which was served by the Barton on Humber to Grimsby and Cleethorpes local train service. It was the quickest and shortest way from Hull to Lincolnshire, thus avoiding a long circuitous journey inland. Over the years, the ferry service was operated by a variety of ships. One of the most well-known was the 594 ton paddle steamer ‘Lincoln Castle’ the last coal fired ship of its kind in Britain, before its withdrawal in 1978.
Our approach to producing peace often fails to dig deep enough. Jeremiah, the ancient prophet of Israel, faced this shallow approach to peace. He wrote on more than one occasion, 'Peace, peace when there is no peace?' Jer 6.14, Jer 8.11. People then, as in our day, were looking at life in a very superficial way. They had treated the word of God with contempt by ignoring what it said. The reason there was no peace was the sinful lifestyles of people. The same is true today. We cannot expect to have peace when we break the moral code of God (as nations, families and individuals) and flagrantly ignore the principles that are for our good. Scripture says, 'Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people,' Prov. 14. 34.
Queues at bus stops aren’t too bad unless it’s raining and there is no shelter. Airport queues can be very long but at least they move, perhaps slowly. At supermarket check-outs, do you go for the shortest queue, then in frustration find that someone’s problem holds everyone up? The worst thing is when someone jumps the queue and gets the last place available!
Life can be challenging and often presents unexpected obstacles. I am currently in Aberdeen attending the wedding of a young man and his bride, whom I have known since he was born. He is the youngest son of dear friends. Unfortunately, his grandfather passed away suddenly just over two weeks before the wedding. They are a very close-knit family, and they would have loved for him to be present at this special occasion.
I feel the need this month to reach out to those of you who are struggling. Unfortunately, life often involves suffering, and we all grapple with this reality. It's common to feel angry when life presents us with such complex challenges. As hard as it may be to accept, the Bible teaches that nothing in life is random or without purpose. Nothing happens without God's permission. This doesn't mean we understand why things happen or believe they are fair.
We recognise that some events in life are a result of our own actions or the actions of others. Often, challenges arise simply because we live on a flawed planet, making life far from perfect. The Earth was damaged by the great rebellion of the first humans. The Creator (God) warned that their choice to disobey Him would have long-term consequences, summarised in one word: 'death.'
On approaching the village of Moira (in Northern Ireland) from the M1 motorway, one cannot fail to see the words “THE COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH” inscribed in large, white letters on a stone wall. It was painted many years ago by a man with a love for the gospel and a burden for souls and its clear announcement has arrested not a few over the years and alerted them to the imminence and inevitability of this great event and the need for preparation as no one knows when the Lord will return.
Over the years since it first appeared so visibly and legibly on that wall, many headlines have been written which proved to be false, but the passing of time has not changed by one iota the truth of this statement found in the Holy Bible. The man who painted these words so carefully and skilfully was convinced that the Lord’s coming was near, and how much closer it must be now!
Have you made preparation for that event which will have a seismic impact on this world in a moment of time? Only those who are saved, who have trusted Christ, will be involved in the mass exodus of millions, dead and living, who will disappear when the Saviour comes back for His own as He Himself stated in John 14.3: “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”.
Many doubt if the Lord Jesus will ever come back: “scoffers” who ask derisively, “Where is the promise of His coming?” 2Peter 3.4. Even some who should know better, who have heard repeatedly from earnest preachers that “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven …” 1Thessalonians 4.16, and that it will happen “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye …” 1Corinthians 15.52, have questioned if it is true! My friend, it is absolutely true and is the hope of every believer in our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are countless problems in the world, many of which are global, serious and demand the input of leaders and experts internationally to solve them: economic, social and environmental problems. For example, here in the UK, ‘stopping the boats’ carrying illegal immigrants has been engaging the minds of politicians for a number of years and a solution seems as far away as ever.
Every day we face problems, some of them very minor and inconsequential, others major and necessitating much thought in case we exacerbate them. It seems wise therefore to train us from early years to develop problem-solving techniques. So school examinations have become less of a memory test (demanding recall and regurgitation of facts) and instead require students to apply their acquired knowledge in problem-solving situations. Problem solving demands at least three things: identifying the problem, finding the solution and implementing that solution. If there is a breakdown in any of these stages, it is highly unlikely that the problem will ever be solved. That explains why, to a large extent, the world is in chaos and crisis: many problems have become apparent for which there is no solution as yet, and also, frequently, for one reason or another, an inability or unwillingness to implement the proposed solution leads to failure.
Perhaps now you are recalling some of the days of your life: the day you started school, the day you left school, the day you were married, the day you graduated from university; of course none of us remembers the first day of our life and eventually the last day will arrive for “life at best is very brief”. There have been happy days, of laughter, and sad days, of crying. There are days we recall with great joy and others are painful as we remember the passing of loved ones which left an aching void in our lives. What a variety of days we experience in a lifetime: days of success and applause, and days of failure and embarrassment. Life is the aggregate of all these days and God has numbered our days and set bounds to our fleeting lifetime. We too are advised to “number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” Psalm 90.12. Let us never forget that we will not be here forever; for there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” Ecclesiastes 3.2.
As I write this column, the world is reeling from the fallout of another war. I know that, technically, nations prefer to speak about special operations and other expressions that describe their actions. Essentially, these terms aim to mitigate the harshness of the word ‘war’.
Humans are naturally very vulnerable and need to protect their property, livelihoods and lives. In the case of nations, this often involves territory, intellectual property or routes to and from their markets. We live in an increasingly complex world where attacks on national well-being have moved on from military action to include cyber-attacks and other forms of warfare.
The potential for war is constant - most of us know the current locations - Israel, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Israel, USA. In the past fifty years, wars have taken place in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Vietnam and, sadly, many more locations.
