“But if the watchman see the sword come,
and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and
take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his
blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
[Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
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New Christian Observer articles for July 2017 include:
-- The Head of the
Church? – by Christian Observer Contributing Editor David Brand – Matthew 16:18,
the apostle Peter, and the head of the church;
Plus, links to ReVision
devotionals on the Fellowship of Ailbe
website by Christian Observer Contributing Editor T.M. Moore.
The proportion of people in
Scotland who describe themselves as having no religion at all has reached its
highest ever level, according to ScotCen’s latest Scottish Social Attitudes
survey.
The new findings from
Scotland’s most authoritative survey of public attitudes show that nearly six
in ten (fifty-eight percent) now say that they have no religion, up eighteen
points on 1999 when the figure stood at four in ten (forty percent).
Young Least Religious
Young people are least likely
to be religious; three quarters of young people (seventy-four percent of
18-34s) say they have no religion compared with thirty-four percent of those
over 65.
There has been a fall in
religious identity across all age groups, however it has been slowest among
those over 65. There has been an eleven percentage point increase in the
proportion of over 65s who say they have no religion between 1999 and 2016
(from twenty-three percent to thirty-four percent) but in comparison the
increase among those aged 50-64 has been twenty-four percentage points (from thirty-three
percent to fifty-seven percent).
Church of Scotland Losing Faithful
Most of the decline in
religious affiliation over this seventeen year period has been felt by the
Church of Scotland. Around half as many people (eighteen percent) now say they
belong to the Church of Scotland as did in 1999 (thirty-five percent).
The proportion of Roman
Catholics (ten percent), other Christian affiliations (eleven percent) and
non-Christian religious people (two percent) in the Scottish population has
remained relatively stable over the same period.
Ian Montagu, Researcher at
ScotCen said “The decline in religious identity in Scotland has been most
keenly felt by the Kirk as fewer and fewer people choose to describe themselves
as Church of Scotland by default. As each generation coming through is
consistently less religious than the last, it is hard to imagine this trend
coming to a halt in the near future. However, if the Kirk is able to push
through liberalising measures such as allowing ministers to oversee same-sex
marriage ceremonies, it is possible that its appeal may broaden somewhat to
younger, more socially liberal Scots.”
Discovering the Joy of a
Clear Conscience
Ash, Christopher
US$4.99
Conscience is a neglected
word that not many of us take seriously. But have you ever considered examining
your conscience as part of daily life? What if doing this were the only way to
know the joy of feeling clean inside?
Is such joy possible without
self- righteousness or even self-deception? Christopher Ash argues that it is,
wonderfully possible, through the good news of Jesus Christ. Here is an
invitation to rediscover your conscience and what the Bible has to say about
it. Ash examines what the conscience is, what a guilty conscience tells us, the
choice our conscience presents us, and the conscience's role as a guide, to
offer us the pure joy of a clear conscience day after day.
"How refreshing to see a
thoughtful and richly biblical book on the conscience. Christopher Ash performs
a vital service for the church by opening up God’s truth about this neglected
and, therefore, misunderstood area of biblical truth. The conscience shines
light into the darkest corners of the heart thus facilitating God’s people to
"guard the heart with diligence.'" (Proverbs 4:23)
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You Can Pray
Finding Grace to Pray Every
Day
Chester, Tim
US$4.99
“This book is not about the
steps you can take to become a great pray-er. The message of this book is that
you already are a great pray-er in Christ. Through Christ, you can pray.”
Tim Chester shows us how we
become great pray-ers who pray great prayers simply through knowing three
foundational truths about God:
God the Father loves to hear
us pray God the Son makes every prayer pleasing God the Holy Spirit helps us as
we pray When these truths are in place, we discover why prayer is easy, why
prayer is difficult, and the arguments and priorities of prayer.
Prayer is like a child’s
asking her father for help—and that’s not beyond any of us. Here you will find
the grace and encouragement to talk with your heavenly Father every day.
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Intimate Marriage
Gift Edition
Sproul, R.C.
US$5.99
From communication to sex,
from divorce to the sanctity of marriage, Sproul leads you past potential
problems into joyous communion with your spouse in Christ. This attractive
hardcover edition of Sproul's work on marriage is great as a gift to newlyweds,
on anniversaries, or anytime someone wants to improve their marriage.
