Through the Bible in 66 Days - Mark

 

The Gospel of Mark is the shortest, sharpest and most fast‑moving account of the life of the Lord Jesus. It doesn't ease the reader in gently. It launches straight into action. From the opening paragraphs, Mark bounces from scene to scene, miracle to miracle, showing that Jesus has complete authority over sickness, evil spirits, nature, and even death itself. Nothing is wasted. Every episode is chosen to reveal that Jesus acts with the power of God.

Many believe Mark drew heavily on Peter's firsthand memories — the fisherman with the big personality and the bold voice. You can feel that energy in the writing. It is vivid, urgent, and full of movement. Mark is a master storyteller, stitching one event to the next so that you barely catch your breath. His aim is clear: to show that Jesus is God's promised one, full of divine authority, yet also the humblest Servant who ever lived.

A Gospel for Busy Romans — and for Us

Mark's main audience was Roman readers — people who admired strength, decisiveness, and leadership. But they also knew that the greatest leaders were those who served others. So Mark presents the Lord Jesus as the perfect Servant‑King. He has all authority, yet He stoops to help the weak, touch the untouchable, and teach the crowds with compassion.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Zephaniah

 

When God Says “Enough!” — The Gospel in Zephaniah

If you’ve ever heard someone say, “That’s it! I’ve had enough!”, you know the tone. It’s the moment when patience runs out, and something has to change. When we open the little book of Zephaniah, tucked away near the end of the Old Testament, we hear that same cry — not from a frustrated parent or a weary friend, but from God Himself.

Zephaniah lived during the days of King Josiah, a time when Judah was trying to recover from years of spiritual disaster. The nation had drifted far from God. Violence, corruption, idolatry, and injustice filled the land. And into that mess, God sent Zephaniah with a message that shook the nation: “The great day of the LORD is near” (Zeph. 1:14).

It’s as if God says, “I’ve had enough. I’m dealing with this.”

The Day of the Lord — God Steps In

Zephaniah repeatedly speaks of the day of the Lord — a moment when God steps into history to judge sin and put things right. Sometimes that “day” refers to a near event (like the fall of Jerusalem), but it mainly points forward to the final judgment at the end of time.

Zephaniah doesn’t give us all the details, but he makes one thing very clear: God takes sin seriously.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Micah

Micah: A Message of Judgment and a Gospel of Hope

The prophecy of Micah is a remarkable blend of honest exposure of human sin and glorious promises of divine salvation. It begins with a God who comes down to judge, yet ends with a God who delights in mercy. Micah shows us the world as it really is—and the Saviour as we desperately need Him to be.

1. The Supremacy of Evil (Micah 7:1–4)

Micah surveys the condition of his nation and finds it barren.

• “The good man is perished out of the earth” (7:2)

• “There is none upright among men” (7:2)

Their evil is not accidental—it is planned, vicious, and wholehearted (“they do evil with both hands earnestly”). Bribery, corruption, and injustice dominate their public life. The rich grow richer; the poor lose even more, and God sees it all.

This is not just Micah’s world—it is ours. Paul echoes Micah’s verdict:

• “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10)

• “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

Micah’s diagnosis prepares us for the gospel: humanity cannot save itself.

2. Only God Can Be Trusted (Micah 7:5–7)

Micah warns that trust cannot be placed in:

• casual friends

• close friends

• confidants

• relatives

• even one’s spouse

Human relationships, however precious, are fragile. But Micah lifts his eyes:

• “I will look unto the Lord” (7:7)

• “I will wait for the God of my salvation” (7:7)

• “My God will hear me” (7:7)

This is the language of faith. The gospel calls us to the same confidence:

Storm Damage

 

So many storms

 

It has been one storm after another for weeks on end, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. On the east coast huge waves have pounded the sea walls and great fountains of spray have been shooting above the harbours and into the towns. It was spectacular to watch. Some brave souls tried to catch it on camera, but didn’t dare go too close! The fishing boats have hardly had a clear day to get to sea and some of their gear left in the sea has been destroyed. 

 

Sea walls along the coast have been badly damaged in some places. At Dysart the harbour wall was breached and now requires urgent repair, while along this way several stone-built retaining walls which have withstood storms for many years have been undermined and broken through, with the soft bank behind now crumbling into the sea. The foundations and the fabric are subject to terrible stress at times like these. There is so much force in these raging waves of the sea, spectacular and beautiful maybe, but devastating and costly to many people who might have thought they were safe enough.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Proverbs

 

A Gospel‑Centred Summary of the Book of Proverbs

Highlighting the Wisdom of God and the Way of Salvation

The book of Proverbs is God’s invitation to live wisely in His world. It is not merely a collection of clever sayings; it is a call to walk the path of life rather than the path of death. At its heart stands a simple but searching truth:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:7)

But the fear of the LORD is not simply respect—it is a right response to a holy God. Proverbs exposes the foolishness of sin, the danger of ignoring God, and the certainty of judgment. Yet it also points us to the One who is the very embodiment of God’s wisdom—the Lord Jesus Christ.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Job

 

The book of Job is one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world, yet it tackles one of the most modern questions we ever ask: Why would God allow suffering? If you've ever felt life was unfair, if you've ever been bullied, broken, or bewildered, Job is your companion. It doesn't give easy answers—but it does introduce to God and the way He operates.

Job begins by pulling back the curtain on a conversation we would never have known about unless God had told us about it. Satan, the accuser, sneers that Job only loves God because his life is comfortable. "Take away the blessings," he says, "and Job will curse You to Your face." But God knows His servant. He knows Job's faith is real. And so, to silence Satan and to demonstrate the authenticity of true faith, God allows Job to be tested.

What follows is devastating. Job loses his business, his animals, his servants, his family, and finally his health. He ends up sitting on an ash heap, scraping his sores with broken pottery. If anyone ever had the right to accuse God of cruelty, surely it was Job. Yet he never curses God. He wrestles, he weeps, he questions—but he clings on to his faith in God, just as God said he would.

Most of the book is a long, painful conversation between Job and his friends. They try to explain his suffering with neat formulas: "Good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people—so Job, you must have sinned." Their theology is tidy, but it's wrong. Job knows he hasn't done anything to deserve this, and he refuses to pretend otherwise. His friends defend their beliefs; Job defends his integrity. And in the middle of it all sits the great question: Why would God allow this?

But here's the remarkable thing: when God finally speaks, He doesn't answer Job's questions. Instead, He reveals Himself. He takes Job on a tour of creation—its vastness, complexity, and wildness—and shows him that the world is far bigger, deeper, and more intricate than he ever imagined. God isn't avoiding the question; He's lifting Job's eyes. Job wanted explanations. God gave him Himself.

And that is the turning point. Job discovers that knowing God is better than knowing the reasons. His suffering becomes the doorway to a deeper relationship with the living God—something he could never have gained through comfort. As he says, "My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You."

This is where the gospel shines through the book of Job. The New Testament tells us that suffering is not a sign of God's absence but often the place where His love is most clearly seen. Peter writes, 'In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,' 1 Peter 1:6–7. Paul reminds us that 'suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope,' Rom. 5:3–4. And the Lord Jesus Himself, who was 'a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief', shows us that God does not stand far off from pain; He enters it, bears it, and offers salvation as a result of His death and resurrection.

Job's story casts a shadow that reveals the suffering of the cross. The Lord Jesus is the ultimate righteous sufferer, facing satanic accusations. God allows suffering not because He is cruel, but because He is accomplishing something bigger than we can see. And as a result, there is a final restoration that far outweighs the pain.

So what does Job say to you when life isn't fair? When you're hurting? When you're tempted to give up? It says this: God is bigger than your suffering, nearer than your tears, and better than your explanations. You may not get the answers you want, but you will get the God you need. And in the gospel, we see the ultimate proof that God can take the darkest moment in history—the cross—and turn it into the greatest good the world has ever known.

Job teaches us that suffering is not the end of the story. God is. And those who trust Him discover His character in a way they never could have known otherwise.

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

December 31st 2025

All 365 days of 2025 have come and are nearly gone now, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. This last day of December will close the year at midnight. Will you stay up to “bring in” the New Year, maybe sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’, be sociable and perhaps noisy? Or will you be quietly thinking back, perhaps on your own, off to bed to get ready for another day, another year?

Either way, I want to wish you good health and happiness in the days ahead. The last day of the year is actually just another day, but we make it special because of how we arrange our calendars wherever we live. 

Saying Sorry

“Sorry seems to be the hardest word!” It is sometimes a hard word to say, it certainly is a hard word to mean and maybe even harder to accept.

I used to be a headteacher and at times boys would be sent to my office for fighting on the yard. They would come into my office saying sorry before even I spoke. I would often tell them that if they were really sorry it would not happen again, but often they would be sent back a little while later for fighting again. They were not sorry at all. They saw “sorry” only as a word that got them out of trouble. That is the difference between being sorry that you were caught and being repentant of an action. To be truly repentant means that you turn away from it.

Carols - Singing your way to Salvation

Christmas is a season filled with light, joy, and music. Among its most cherished traditions are the carols that annually echo through churches, homes, and streets. These songs aren’t mere melodies; they are proclamations of faith, reminders of God’s promises and invitations to believe in the One who came to save us, Jesus Christ.

Carols carry the story of Christmas in a way that touches both heart and mind. “O Come, All Ye Faithful” is not just a call to sing; it summons us to worship Christ the Lord. “Silent Night” paints the picture of peace and holiness, reminding us that God entered the world in humility, wrapped in swaddling clothes. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” declares the gospel in song: “Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord.” These lyrics are mini sermons set to music, teaching us that Christmas is not about sentimentality but about salvation.

Kindness

Kindness is at the very heart of the Christian life. The Bible calls us to embody compassion, forgiveness, and love and history shows us powerful examples of this lived out in the UK during the 20th century, such as the work of the British Red Cross during wartime relief efforts.

Kindness is not optional for Christians. It is commanded. Scripture reminds us to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” This verse captures the essence of kindness as its rooted in God’s forgiveness and love.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus demonstrates kindness to the marginalized: the leper, the Samaritan woman and the tax collector to name but three. His acts were not mere politeness but radical compassion that broke social barriers.

The book of Galatians lists kindness among the fruits of the Spirit, showing that it is evidence of God’s work within us.

Proverbs in the Old Testament shows how kindness can be transformative: “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Kindness heals, uplifts and restores.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - 2 Kings

First and Second Kings are often regarded as one book. It covers the period from King Ahab to the time when Israel and Judah were taken into captivity—the period known as the exile. The reason this happened was that they disobeyed God, worshipped idols and turned to grotesque religious practices that were not only evil but very harmful to women and children.

The basic lesson we learn from this is that sin will always catch up with you. You can't outrun it, and there are long-term consequences to our behaviour. This is something we all need to be aware of, as we often forget that we will all stand before God, our maker and that He, as the judge of all the earth, will deal with us fairly but righteously. Hebrews 9:27,28 state this - 'And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him' KJV.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Numbers

 

Unless you're a toddler or a maths teacher, the book of Numbers may not sound like an exciting read. However, several chapters in this book are particularly engaging, so don't be fooled. The events in Numbers are filled with drama, unexpected plot twists, and life lessons that are very relevant for today!

The book of Numbers continues to narrate the journey of God's people (Israel) through the desert as they travel to a new land. A journey that could have taken 11 days if they had listened to God and obeyed Him took forty years. Eventually, Moses brought them right to the edge of the Promised Land. Instead of entering it and trusting in God's power and promises, the people focused on all the dangers. You may remember the story of the twelve spies sent to explore the land. As children, we used to sing a song that said, "Ten were bad, two were good." The essence of the story teaches us that they should have believed that God could lead them into the land and protect them from their enemies. Ten of the spies focused on the problems and viewed the situation as an absolute disaster. This is often how people approach life: some see the positives, while others only see the problems. The bottom line is that God had promised to lead them from Egypt through the Red Sea, across the desert, and into the Promised Land, but they didn't trust Him.

High Flight by John Gillespie Magee Jr.

 

Just last week I was looking through a book compiled by Tim Peake where he showed some of the amazing pictures taken while he was on the International Space Station.  As an introduction to the book, Tim quoted the opening lines of the poem “High Flight” and, as I read it I was transported back to my school days when my English teacher Graham “Gunner” Davies used the poem as one of his lessons.

High Flight is a sonnet written in 1941 by war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr. and inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Magee began writing the poem on 18 August, while stationed outside London, and mailed a completed manuscript to his family on 3 September.

Magee's poem captures the exhilaration of flight and concludes with a sense of reaching toward the divine.

The poem goes like this………

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.

Where never lark, or even eagle flew —

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

Blackpool - Pleasure & Poverty

 

The name of Blackpool, the Lancashire seaside town, brings to mind the many famous features that have kept the resort busy since the railway arrived in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The town, however, had humble beginnings, for it was a coastal hamlet in Medieval and Early Modern Times. Fleetwood was the main resort but its founder Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood went bankrupt. Thus, its decline led to an upsurge in visitors to Blackpool. This resulted in extensive development, generating even more visitors. Gas lighting arrived in 1852, water on the mains in 1864 and the town became the first municipality in the world to have electric street lighting in 1879. In 1885, the first section of the tramway appeared on the Promenade, being extended in later years. Blackpool became the only coastal town in the British Isles to have three piers.

This tremendous growth was brought about by the Lancashire Cotton Mill owners closing their factories for one week each year to service the machinery. Known as ‘Wakes Weeks’, each town’s mill would close for a different week. This provided nearby Blackpool with a frequent stream of workers and their families keen to enjoy a week away by the sea, The 1890’s saw the Blackpool Tower and the Grand Theatre opened. Along came the Golden Mile and the Pleasure Beach. The first Illuminations appeared in 1912,  extending the holiday season into October. Between the wars, Blackpool boomed, being a firm favourite with northeners, but by the 1960’s holidaymakers began to venture to sunnier places. The M55 motorway opened in 1975, making a day trip easier rather than a stayover.