14 April 2026 Cuba has been in the news recently because of an American blockade causing suffering amongst its people. It has also appeared in ‘Transform’, the magazine produced by the Scottish Bible Society. It was one of the countries featured in an article, ‘Reaching Around the World’. Apparently, the Cuban Bible Society was founded in September 2023. ‘The big frustration is that we don’t have enough Bibles especially not for children and for young people who have just come to faith.’ said the Cuban Bible Society President, Joel Ortega Dopico. They have initiated a very ambitious project entitled, ‘One million Bibles for Cuba’. They are hoping to reach 50,000 house churches and new churches which are being established across all the denominations. The growth seems phenomenal. ‘Our churches are full of children. And they are important to reach others like their parents.’ said the President. Some of these churches have over 400 children and thousands of members. N...
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13 April 2026 It is very satisfying to think that the reality of Jesus is confirmed not only by the historical accounts in the Gospels but in sources outside the Church. Studying Latin at school, I was intrigued to read one of the Younger Pliny’s letters in which he describes Christian worship ‘in honour of Christ as if to a god’. The first century historian, Flavius Josephus, pays tribute to Jesus in these terms, ‘Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works – a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure’. What I like about the writings of Josephus is that he surprises us in saying a little more about the nature of Jesus. He writes that he was ‘a doer of wonderful works’ and implies that he was much more than a human being! The most important reference to the existence of Jesus outside the Gospels is in the writings of the Roman historian, Tacitus. He says that the Emperor Ne...
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12 April 2026 - Doubting Thomas A week after Easter, the risen Christ appears again to his disciples. He enters the locked doors of the Upper Room and says to them, ‘ Peace be with you.’ Then he offers Thomas the opportunity to become a scientist not only to see the evidence but to handle it! Strangely, Thomas doesn’t take up the offer to touch the wounded hands and side. It was unnecessary. Thomas was the beneficiary of that mysterious gift which we call faith! ‘ My Lord and my God!’ he says. He saw the risen Lord but he couldn’t see the living God. This was beyond the visible, beyond the sense of touch. It came from God himself and the mystery of what his Son achieved through his dying and rising again. Unlike Thomas, we cannot see the risen Christ nor touch his wounded hands and side. The evidence we do have is the Gospel narrative which has been preserved down through the centuries. And, of course, the amazing witness of those who have ‘ not seen and y...
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11 April 2026 – From My Diary 1996 A grandfather sought my advice. His wife suffered from dementia. He had organised a three day holiday with his grandchildren but wondered about going. I encouraged him to create memories with his family whilst his wife was in respite. When I visited her in hospital, she was not happy. Pastoral decisions are fraught with difficulty. A woman was delivering flowers. I suggested she give some to her neighbour, a widow who came infrequently to the kirk. The neighbour was thrilled. She sent a card and ‘I enclose a small donation anonymously towards whatever your good-self thinks best.’ The £100 confirmed the value of the ministry of flowers. In the S2 classes, I read George Layton’s brilliant tale, ‘The Mile’. It illuminates a surprising way to avenge the bully. At the Primary School, I did an assembly on POGs – the slam dunk and the POG hog, an adult who confiscates POGs. Everyone in the Primary 6 turned to their teac...
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10 April 2026 The New Scientist has produced an interesting collection of articles on ‘How to Think about the Human Mind’. One of the most extraordinary chapters introduces us to the placebo effect. Luana Colloca is a neuroscientist and says, ‘We must harness the placebo response to treat anxiety and pain.’ Whilst doing some research on people suffering from Parkinson’s, patients had been given the injection of a placebo which they believed was the real drug. ‘Despite this having no active ingredient, their rigidity somehow unlocked or the tremor decreased, and they reported feeling better.’ she said. In addition, changes could be detected in the brain. ‘Through the electrodes (implanted in the brain) , you could see a change in the neuronal activity along with the motor changes.’ A positive mindset that what is being given will work is helpful. One of the areas of research included determining whether the placebo effect can help to control pain. This would ...
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9 April 2026 Women played a very significant part in bearing witness to the resurrection. They effectively became apostles to the Apostles. They are numbered amongst our ordained ministries and trace back their historic heritage to the women at the tomb. Amongst their number are those un-ordained women who also bear significant witness to the good news. In this, we must not pass too quickly over the ministry of motherhood which is not a celebrated ministry within the Kirk nor the world but which has been vital to the missionary endeavour of the Church. I am the beneficiary of such a ministry and such good news. For on Christmas Day 1960, which is now sixty-six years ago, my mother gave my brother and I a beautiful book of Bible stories. It was called ‘The Way, the Truth and the Life’ and was lavishly illustrated with colour plates by Ralph Pallen Coleman. The story-teller was the late Professor Willie Barclay. The hard-backed book came in a cardboard box w...
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8 April 2026 St. Matthew makes two contrasts in his account of the resurrection. The first is between the women and the soldiers. After the earthquake, the angel descends from heaven and Matthew says, ‘For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.’ A little comedy has been woven into the fabric of Easter. The Roman soldiers charged with guarding the tomb and ensuring that the crucified Christ remains a prisoner, fall down as if they were dead whilst Jesus is alive! It is a truth which proves elusive to the world’s dictators wrecking so much misery, destruction and barbarity in so many corners of the earth. Love conquers death and God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong! If resurrection means anything, it means this that the victory does not belong to the wicked oppressor but to the bereaved mothers, the children with broken limbs, the dead underneath the rubble for now we know, ‘Nothing can separate us from the love of God’. The secon...