MAC KIRK

Jonah - A Beginning Overview for Summer Series Certainly this book is a sea story and for any of us who ever been to sea it is captivating. It is a book for all, and I say it is a book that is a book of imagination and that is especially true for young people. It is also a book for all people to know of the purposes of God, especially for Israel and their relationship to others. This has application for us as in the church for the church is for all people as well, and not just the officers, the members and the attenders. But what I like most of all is that is not just a wonderful record of a big fish ( whale?) and a spell binding story. It has a theme. DR Morgan of London said it well: " The incidental things are the ship, the storm, the whale, the gourd, the wind and Nineveh... The essential matters of the book are the transactions between Jehovah ( God) and Jonah." That is the rub is it not? That is true for us as well. The incidentals are our lives and what is...

GRACE and Trinity Sunday ( Before I talk about this subject, I want to share with you something that was written by a Christian I know and you all know very well. It touched me deeply because this is also somewhat my own experience....) "Good article. I was raised by atheists, but was baptized (in the Presbyterian church!) when I was four. I speculate it was done because my grandmother probably wouldn't stop nagging until they said, O all right, if it will get her off our backs. But I don't know why they did it with any certainty. Anyway, they did. There was no follow up. My Father refused to go to church even for my sister's or my wedding, simply because they were in church. I never knew what a church was through my childhood. It was not until my late teens that I found my own way to church, with no guidance, let alone encouragement, from anyone. As a result, my theology of baptism has been clear: I can trust the Father who works effectively his will through ...

Pentecost / Whitsunday 2016 Last week we spoke of the shiny new car, yet it had no engine, and what use was it? It certainly looked lovely, but without the engine it cannot run. We need the Holy Spirit in the life of the unbeliever which is life. For the believer in God as well, the Holy Spirit sustains us by His power and love applying the merits of God the Father through the shed blood of Christ , His eternal Son, divine and the second person of the Holy Trinity in His mercy when we did not deserve it. One of our Whitsunday scriptures is Romans 8:1-11 , the second reading in morning prayer. " They that are in the flesh cannot please God." 8:8 By our own flesh and deeds we cannot enter God's eternal heavenly presence whenever we leave this world. But the great news is that in the Spirit of Christ , and Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin: but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." 8:11 This is basic gospel or good news. We beca...

Ascension and Its Practical Meaning Ephesians 4 The Fact of the Ascension of our Lord is well known . Ephesians 1:20 . God has raised Christ from the dead and " set Him (Christ) at His own right hand in the heavenly places....and gave Him to be head over the church....which is His body..." We as Christians have been " raised up and made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" 2:6 In chapter 4 it says when He ascended He gave "gifts" to Christians. Some were pastors and teachers, some evangelists....to " edify the body of Christ." This makes me think of the shiny bright car that will not start. If we are Christians and live in the Spirit we have been given faith in Christ who has ascended into heaven by God's power. Our gifts are not to be just shown but to be used . The shiny car that will not start is not any use but to look at , but it cannot get you anywhere. I would rather have an old beat up VW that actually runs tha...