Yesterday marked the anniversary of the death of the Scottish preacher, Robert Murray McCheyne, who died in 1843, aged only 29 years old. His short life and ministry was marked by great revival amongst his congregation in Dundee and some wonderful writings now known all over the world. If you think you have never heard of him before, you might be surprised to discover that it was him who designed the Bible reading plan (aimed to take his congregation through the Old Testament once and New Testament twice throughout the year together) and who wrote a number of beautiful hymns, including Jehovah Tsidkenu.

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood sprinkled tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life giving and free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne’er can be lost;
In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field,
My cable, my anchor, my breast-plate and shield!

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,
This “watchword” shall rally my faltering breath;
For while from life’s fever my God sets me free,
Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be.

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.
Jeremiah 23:6

If you were once (or even still are) a Rainbow, Brownie, Girl Guide, Ranger, Young Leader or Guider, or a Beaver, Cub Scout, Venture Scout, then you'll know that today is Thinking Day, a day for Scouts and Guides all over the world to remember their Scouting and Guiding brothers and sisters all over the world. The date was chosen because both Lord Baden-Powell, who founded the Scout Movement in 1907, and his wife, Lady Olave Baden-Powell, who became World Chief Guide, were both born on the 22nd February thirty-two years apart.

I was wondering if anyone else had been a Scout or a Guide. As for me, I was a Brownie and rose to the heady heights of Sixer of the Gnomes. Having just got my Hostess badge, we moved from the country into the city so I lost touch with Guiding until late in secondary school when a friend invited me on her Young Leader camp. I had never been camping before but loved it! Soon I was Assistant Guider of a small unit in a very deprived area of the city with my Guider being my former geography teacher. It was a challenging time, often just trying to bring some stability and some boundaries into very fractured lives. Despite the constant difficulties, I was sorry when I had to leave when I moved to start work.

One of my Guiding highlights was taking part in a Millennium celebration of Thinking Day. Over 2000 people took over the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre for an afternoon of singing and displays reminding us of Scouts and Guides all over the world. It was possibly the most cheesy thing you could ever have seen. (If you ever visit, I promise to show you the video!) At the end, I realised that I had come off stage and had lost my woggle. I felt sorry for the poor security guard who had clearly never heard of a woggle as I begged to get back on the stage briefly to look for it.

It's funny how much of Guiding is that funny, almost secret, language. Who else knows what a woggle is? It's a bond to girls and women of all ages as we giggle over the outfits Brownies used to wear (brown tunic dress, brown cardigan, brown bobble hat and yellow cross-over tie) and the importance of getting more badges when you are 8 years old. I still remember the excitement of reading my Brownie Guide Handbook and of the day I made my promise to "do my best, to love God, to serve the Queen and my country, to help other people, and to keep the Brownie Guide Law", remembering that a "Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a Good Turn every day."

Today, as it is Thinking Day in the 100th year of Scouting, do you have memories to share of being a Scout or a Guide? It would be great to hear all about them.

Be Prepared...A Scout must prepare himself by previous thinking out and practicing how to act on any accident or emergency so that he is never taken by surprise.
Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of the Scouting movement (1857-1941)

If you were in Scotland today, you would probably be going to a Burn's Supper tonight. We celebrate the birth of Robert Burns, our national bard, every year on the 25th of January with a big party with good food, speeches, singing and dancing.

You will know many of his poems, even if you don't realise it. You'll have sung one (Auld Lang Syne) just a few weeks ago as you greeted the New Year. Other familiar poems and songs might include To a Mouse from which Of Mice and Men takes its title, My Love is like a Red, Red Rose, and Ae Fond Kiss.

The meal starts with the Selkirk Grace:

Some have meat and cannot eat,
Some can eat that want it:
But we have meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.

The menu will include typically Scottish food, probably starting with some cock-a-leekie soup or Scotch broth. The highlight of the evening though is the haggis as it is marched in by the chef led by a bagpiper. The host for the evening will then give the Address to a Haggis, hopefully adding to the ceremony of the occasion by plunging a small knife or sgian dubh into it as he says:

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;

I'll let you investigate for yourself what haggis is made from, but, be assured, (and this is coming from someone who was vegetarian for 10 years of her life) that haggis is delicious! It is served with neeps (mashed swedes or turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes). For dessert, cranachan, clootie dumpling or oatcakes and cheese might be served, followed by the national drink, whisky.

The evening continues with speeches - The Immortal Memory remembering Burns' life or work and the Toast to the Lassies and their Reply which are amusing gently poking fun at the other gender. There will be singing of his songs and recitations of his poetry and perhaps some ceilidh dancing, before a final rendition of Auld Lyne Syne. It's a great evening, so if you are ever over here at this time of year, do let me know and I'll make sure that you get to one!

(I also realised while typing this that it is exactly 15 years since our house burnt down - I remember being a little amused that this had happened on Burns' Night! Maybe that is a story for another day!)

Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair,
Whene'er I forgather wi' Sorrow and Care,
I gie them a skelp, as they're creepin alang,
Wi' a cog o' guid swats and an auld Scottish sang.
Contented wi' Little
Robert Burns, the Bard (January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796

I had mentioned in my 100 things that I belong to a denomination that only sings psalms in worship. I know this is very unusual so, after being asked about it, I thought I would share why my church does this and some of the blessings that come from that. This is not meant to start a psalms versus hymns argument (there is enough of that elsewhere on the internet) but instead to share a part of my church tradition by which others might be edified.

The reason behind Exclusive Psalmody (which also includes the singing of other songs in Scripture) comes down to the Puritan concept of "Purity of Worship" and the Regulative Principle, which is stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith as:

In summary, it means that the only acceptable worship is that which is specifically instituted by God in the Bible and that we can not do better than to sing God's own word in his worship. This is practised in my church by the singing of only psalms and biblical songs and by singing a cappella. This contrasts with the more common Normative Principle, which allows anything that is not specifically prohibited in Scripture as long as there is general agreement in the Church that is good and edifying.

I have found many blessings in singing the psalms. I love singing them, knowing that these are the same words sung for thousands of years by God's people and even by Jesus himself. All human emotions are expressed in the psalms, from anger at God and rage at feeling abandoned by him to rejoicing and praise. Sometimes these are emotions and ideas we find hard to share with each other, never mind in singing to God, yet they are here in God's word, inspired by the Spirit, and are clearly designed by him for singing. Through singing the psalms in church and in my own quiet times, they have been hidden away in my heart so that without me even noticing that I have memorised huge portions of Scripture.

If you are interested in listening, I have found a few links for you to experience psalm singing. (If you are really brave, you could try the Gaelic psalm singing. It divides people like Marmite - you'll either love it or hate it!) Psalm singing has to be sung in 4 part harmony to be heard at its best. Often in church this will happen spontaneously which really does make a joyful song! If your psalmody tastebuds have been awakened, I can recommend Discovery, the DVD of a recent Festival of Psalms - you might even spot someone you know!

Psalm 24:7-10 to the tune St George
Psalm 46:1-5 to Stroudwater
Psalm 65:1-6 to Dunfermline
Psalm 69 to Stornoway (Gaelic)
Psalm 117 to Regents Square
Psalm 103 to Coleshill (Gaelic)
Psalm 104 to Kilmarnock (Gaelic)
Psalm 121 to French

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3:16

Today is St Andrew's Day in Scotland. As well as being patron saint of fishmongers, fishermen, singers, and rope-makers, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland about a thousand years ago after, in the eighth century, his relics supposedly landed on a beach on the East coast of Scotland, now known as St Andrews.

Another legend tells of the Pictish king Angus fighting against the English in the eighth or nineth century. It is said that he looked up into the sky and saw a Saltire in the clouds. As tradition tells us that Andrew was martyred on a diagonal cross, King Angus saw this as a sign that Andrew was protecting them and then resolved to make him Scotland's patron saint if the battle was won.

Andrew's position as patron saint was confirmed in 1320 in the Declaration of Arbroath, the declaration of Scottish independence after the Scots were lead to victory over the English by Robert the Bruce:

What do we really know of Andrew though? John tells us that Andrew was originally a disciple of John the Baptist and listened when he pointed out Jesus, saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" He spent time with Jesus that day before returning home to share the news with his brother that ""We have found the Messiah". Andrew and Simon then became the first disciples to be called by Jesus, and they immediately followed him (Matthew 4:18-20).

Other than a few sentences, there is little else said about Andrew throughout the Bible. Tradition teaches that after the resurrection, he went to Greece and Asia Minor to share the Gospel. Perhaps then it is in the little that is recorded that we see his most important action.

Andrew, after only a little time with Jesus, recognised him for who he was and went home to share this truth with his brother so that he could also know Jesus. Andrew must have been listening to the teaching of John the Baptist, eagerly expecting the Messiah to come, and was ready to recognise Jesus when he began his ministry. His example is a reminder to us to share our faith and knowledge of God freely with others. In Andrew's case, he brought Simon Peter to Christ, with Peter becoming one of Jesus' closest disciples and the main disciple to the Jewish people. Andrew's initial influence should not be forgotten as we praise God for all that Peter did.

Window depicting St Andrew, Monimail Parish Church, Fife.
(Crown Copyright: RCAHMS, www.rcahms.gov.uk)

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-20

Happy Reformation Day! I hadn't heard of this holiday until recently, but I have learned that it has been celebrated by parts of the Lutheran and Reformed church for generations. It was on October 31st 1517 that Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, is said to have nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Luther never intended to split or even to leave his church. He was however angered about the use of indulgences, certificates sold by the church that claimed to release people from punishment in both this life and purgatory. He saw it as a money-making scheme and wanted to provoke debate on the real Biblical message on forgiveness.

Luther wrote in the thirty-sixth thesis, "Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters." The Bible teaches that a sinner is saved by grace, not by works. Paul writes to the Ephesians that "by grace you have been saved through faith."

In a way, we would sometimes prefer if it was the other way round. It somehow seems fairer that way. Good people do more and get more. I have one Muslim friend whose biggest objection to Christianity is that it doesn't depend on what you do and that it doesn't seem fair that "all you need to do is believe in Jesus." Of course, we forget the great gulf that exists between us and God for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:21-28). Thankfully however, we as Christians worship a God who offers grace to us, restitution through Christ's sacrifice in bearing our sins on the cross.

Luther's actions set off what we now know as the Reformation, as a new movement came about, returning to the Bible to see what God's word said, testing the church traditions and doctrines and the papal decrees against it. The church split, forming slightly different Protestant groups across Europe, but there were five main doctrines, known as the Five Solas, common to them.

The Reformation also led to the Bible being translated from the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic into local languages, rather than just the Latin of the educated elite. Luther is known to have been influenced by the lives of John Wycliffe and Jan Hus many years before. Wycliffe translated the Bible into English, and was excommunicated from the church for it. His name is continued today by an organisation that seeks to translate the Bible into every known language. Jan Hus, influenced by Wycliffe, preached in and translated parts of the Bible into Bohemian (Czech), and because of this was condemned as a heretic by the church and burned on a stake.

The Westminster Confession of Faith went on to state that "because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope." We look forward to the day when every nation can read God's saving word in their own language, and, more so, we look forward to the day when we are in heaven and see "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9).

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified...I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

My university is not unique with regards to its motto. Educational establishments over the world have been constituted with the motto, Initium Sapientiae Timor Domini, meaning "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

This is where our desire for learning comes from and where our learning has its purpose: to know God more and so to fear and glorify him. Taking prime importance in our lives, we should be seeking to read our Bibles, to learn more from Scripture, to pray and to have fellowship with God's people. But the godly men who set up these universities did not want to cloister themselves away to learn about God, but to put this knowledge into practice for the good of the people.

In the case of my own university, a need for "a more educated laity, given the shortage of doctors, lawyers and schoolmasters in the country" was recognised. Its teaching "embraced all the known branches of learning Arts, Theology, and Canon and Civil Law" and was the place of the first Chair of Medicine in the English-speaking world.

Even as I studied for my degree and now study for postgraduate exams, I find it so refreshing to learn new things. In the last few years, I have tried to learn new languages, have completed a course in Christian theology, learned the basics of Art History and now plod away at trying to play the piano!

Constantly learning stretches my brain in new directions so, rather than tiring me out, it exercises and relaxes me. I hope that I shall never stop trying to learn, but that I shall take every opportunity to try new experiences and to learn more. I have had so much fun and had so much more enjoyment from pursuing knowledge outside of prescribed study and am thankful for the small amount of wisdom I can gain from that.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
Psalm 111:10