adelaide place baptist church

One of the clearest indicators to me that times are changing was attending my first humanist wedding. I’d never heard of such a thing before and assumed that people who didn’t want to do the God thing went to a Registry Office. Indeed in England and Wales a humanist wedding is not legal and attendance at the Registry Office is still required. But here in Scotland a humanist celebrant can legally carry out a wedding so yesterday was a proper wedding. Without any kind of formal liturgy the couple can have as unusual a wedding as they desire or as solemn as any funeral. They called it a celebration of love in front of family and friends and all the elements of any good wedding were there, the beautful bride, the tears, the over-running reception, the drink… Yet for me there was something missing. By taking God completely out of the equation it was empty, it took something that God ordained Himself and sucked all the mystical magic out of the event. How can one have a wedding without God at the centre? To me you can’t as yesterday showed. So for me it was sad, but good on them for not being hypocritical and going for a church wedding they don’t believe in. Times are changing. Oh yes, did I mention that the whole day took place in a church? No sense of irony there then!

I often find that reading Old Testament prophecy makes me uncomfortable. Here’s a bunch of guys who aren’t afraid to tell it like it is on behalf of God to people who, frankly, should know better. I find that a lot of what they say easily echoes through the centuries and Amos is possibly the strongest of these echoes.

In a time when a Labour Government at Westminster taxes the poorest in a way that the better off become even better off Amos is much more than a clanging cymbal. Amos pulls no punches as he tells those in authority that God is unhappy and is coming after them, that the gravy train will come to an end. Lest we think that God is Communist in Amos he also has a lot to say about the apathy of the people towards their God and they’ll get theirs too. Overall, however, Amos is mightily concerned with social justice, the plight of the power and the powerless. Amos would remind us that those in authority only have that authority if their concern is to help those that need it. I wonder what Amos would say to Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling today? Probably something along the lines of ‘You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know your offences and how great your sins’ Amos 5:11-12

Powerful, scary stuff I’m sure you’ll agree

It was encouraging to read Iain Duncan Smith’s article in The Herald Tuesday 5th February as he commented on the social deprivation of the great city of Glasgow. Sometimes when politicians wax eloquent about areas of concern which you know they haven’t either got a clue about or no lasting interest, just an opportunity to grab a headline, you feel the tide of cynicism begin to wash over you. However this is not the case with Iain Duncan Smith. I know from those who have met him and indeed helped introduce him to the troubled undercurrents of Glasgow’s social imbalance he was deeply moved and has continued to visit the city, even at times when the spotlight has moved away from him on his return to the backbenches of Westminster.

Much of what he wrote is a disturbing reminder of how bad things can be in the city but he also highlighted the invaluable work that many voluntary societies have been doing, and continue to pioneer without a great deal of assistance from anyone else. It is their determination to do something to alleviate some of the problems that many of our fellow citizens face that has caught Smith’s eye and moved his heart.

On Wednesday night 30 January 2008 several hundred people from the Glasgow Baptist community met at Newton Mearns Baptist Church to pray, and pray specifically by name for those in government and councils who can help to make a difference to the troubled lives of many in the areas of deprivation in the city. It is so easy to become cynical and treat our politicians as our enemies rather than our servants. It could make a huge difference if we prayed more for them even as the Bible instructs us 1 Timothy2:1-2. Such praying is never wasted!