Stephen contributes to new (old!) book

Our minister, Rev. Stephen Steele, has contributed a historical introduction to the republication of a book by 19th century Reformed Presbyterian Thomas Houston. The book is on the subject of Adoption and has been described by Joel Beeke as ‘unduly neglected’ and superior to all other books on the topic written in the same century.

Originally published in 1872 (and then again in 1876), it has now been republished by Ettrick Press and is available to buy from their website. Stephen completed his MA thesis on Houston in 2009 and has previously contributed an article on him to the Reformed Theological Journal (2010), as well as the chapter about Houston in the 2016 book Preachers of the Covenants.

The new book also has a preface by Rev. Ian Macleod, originally from Scotland but currently ministering in Grand Rapids. You can download a sample of the book here.

Andy Lytle interview on Mission in France

Andrew & Heather Lytle, pictured with Sammy & Carol Foucachon (Eglise Réformée Evangélique de Paris)

We’ve been praying for the RP Church’s mission work in Nantes, France, recently - particularly in light of proposed new legislation targeting Islam, but which would also have severe repercussions for Bible-believing Christians. In fact, the French minister of the Interior recently said about evangelicals: ‘We cannot discuss with people who refuse to write on paper that the law of the Republic is superior to the law of God’.

A few months ago, Rev. Andy Lytle spoke about missionary life in France on the Generation Podcast. It’s well worth listening to, particularly as he describes what a Reformed approach to mission looks like:

Other helpful episodes of the podcast include interviews with Paul & Steve Levy and Rico Tice.

The Comfort of Knowing an Unchanging God in a Changing World

John Sprott was born in Stoneykirk in 1780 and had a fascinating life. Having trained as a minister, but unable to find a congregation in Scotland, he moved to Nova Scotia in Canada at the age of 38. A book about his life, written by his son, is largely made up of letters his sent back to Scotland, including many written to the editor of this very paper. Some of his printed letters were read as far away as Sri Lanka, and recent scholarly research on him notes that ‘his articles in the Galloway newspapers were undoubtedly useful for those considering leaving Scotland, for he would draw on his personal experiences to explain what was actually involved’.

Although he achieved much in Nova Scotia, part of his heart was always in Scotland. He said at one point that seeing crossing the Atlantic was now such an easy thing – and only took ten days (!) – he would like to get home once every seven years to see the heather and breathe its fragrance.

However, on one of these journeys home, at the age of 63, when he got back to Stoneykirk, he knew nobody. He asked an old man: ‘Where are my school-fellows?’, and the man pointed to the burial ground. Sprott said that he couldn’t move three steps without treading on the dust of some well-known acquaintance.

Describing the trip to a friend he said: ‘I was quite lost. The dark blue sea, the dark brown hills of Loch Ryan, and the green woods of Culhorn have the same appearance which they had when I was at school, but the old inhabitants have all disappeared. There are new merchants in the shops, new lawyers at the bar and new judges on the bench.

Summing it up, he said: ‘I crossed the long sea to repair the stock of friendship and renew the acquaintances of early years, but this was impossible’.

I wonder whether you can identify with that? You don’t have to move away somewhere and then come back to find your hometown changed. Perhaps you’ve seen many of your schoolfriends already buried – or else move away. Maybe you have always lived in the same place, and while it’s the same in some ways, it’s very different in others. Familiar shops closed have closed, old buildings have been demolished or fallen into disrepair, and new ones built in their place. There are new roads, new schools, new people.

All that is even aside from the changes that the pandemic has accelerated. Changes to how we work, how we shop and how we travel are here to stay. It can be easy to look out at it all, and say with Sprott, ‘I feel quite lost’. Or perhaps it’s not so much the changes around us that we’re as keenly aware of, as the changes in ourselves. Perhaps you can’t physically do some of the things you used to do, and it’s a daily reminder that age or ill-health has taken its toll.

It’s not hard for us to identify with the line in Abide with Me which says: ‘Change and decay in all around I see’. And yet in light of that all that, the Bible tells us that God does not change, and that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

That truth is both challenging and comforting. It’s challenging because it means that God’s standards don’t change. It’s been said that in the beginning God created man in his image, and that ever since, man has been trying to return the compliment. But try as we might, we can’t remake God in our image. Rather than conform God to our image, we must be conformed to his – something that’s impossible for us in an of ourselves, but has been made possible through the work of the cross and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Once we become God’s children, however, the fact that God doesn’t change becomes tremendously comforting. Because no matter what else is taken from us, he can’t be. Even if our world collapses, we can be sure that underneath the rubble, he will be there for us: unshaken and immovable. That fact also gives us confidence about the future of the church, when some denominations are forecasting that many won’t return post-Covid. But we need not fear; the church is built not on the changeableness of man, but upon the unchanging rock of the truth of God.

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 25th February 2021

Betty McGowan, 1932-2021

One of our long-time members, Mrs Betty McGowan, passed away suddenly in January at the age of 88. She was well known in Stranraer, particularly for her many years teaching in Park Primary School. Stephen conducted her memorial service, which you can watch below:

William Symington: A 19th Century Covenanter

Update: You can read a report of the event on the RP Global Alliance website by Prof. Robert McCollum, (Principal of Reformed Theological College, Belfast).

On Friday evening, over 100 households listened in via Zoom (as well as others on Facebook Live) to hear Stephen give a talk for the Scottish Reformation Society on Rev. William Symington, a former minister of Stranraer. You can watch a recording of the event below: