July Quote for the Month

"Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?" Malachi 2:10

"Wickedly violating the unity of the church will stifle God's blessing... The New Testament picture of the church as a body helps us to understand this. If one organ severs itself from the rest of the body it dies... Local churches can go dead through needlessly cutting themselves off from fellowship with other Chritians. Wrong attitudes towards other true Christians who see things a little differently from us can dreadfully damage our feelowship with God: People lose contact with God through sinful attitudes towards others of God's people." John Benton

June Quote of the Month

Better late than never and all that...

For this month's quote, I have chosen a verse from Luke's Gospel

"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more."

Luke 12:48 (ESV)

A very challenging verse, and one which everyone needs to act on.

April Quote of the Month

"men usually out of extreme hatred of one error embrace another"
Thomas Manton

Just a bit of food for thought.

Loose Slings

"It is not good to brand things with the name of error till we have proved them to be so... Loose slings will do no good... Oh! then, that in this age we would practice this: Be less in passion and more in arguement. That we would condemn things by reasoning rather than miscalling."

Thomas Manton, The Epistle of James

This month's quote comes from Puritan writer Thomas Manton and is one I personally find very challenging especially when dealing with the issues of abortion and the Kingship of Christ. As Christian we have a duty to speak out on such emotive topics and can easily find our anger justly roused over the state of our nation yet such anger is destructive towards our arguement. Equally we can find ourselves involved in over-heated debates regarding minor theological points with other Christians where sinful pride and presumption can easily creep in. Manton is not saying don't speak out rather to "condemn things by reasoning rather than miscalling".

February Quote of the Month

Sorry I have taken ages getting this quote of the Month sorted, my intellectual capabillites arent quite as good as my partner in crime here so have been searching around for one untill last Sabbath night when Uncle Robert came out with a beast quote from John Calvin during his sermon.

The sermon was based upon Jeremiah 23 vs. 28-29, The Power of Gods Word (feel free to listen online any time at http://www.lisburn.rpc.org/) and from the passage, Uncle Robert had explained how Gods word is like 3 different things, Wheat, Fire and a Hammer. When explaining about the Hammer he said how Gods word is used to:

"subdue the depraved affections of the flesh...even in the elect; but it does not break the elect, for they suffer themselves to be subdued." John Calvin

Happy New Year!

"I believe it ought to be our continual aim and desire to go forward, and our watchword on every returning birthday and at the begining of every year, should be 'more and more' (1Thess 4:1): more knowledge, more faith, more obedience, more love."
J.C. Ryle, Holiness

Welcome to 2008 from Don't Make Friends' With Salad.

This year we plan to bring you a quote to ponder on at the start of each month, such as the one above from J.C.Ryle from his book entitled "Holiness". A book well worth spending that money on which you received inside a Christmas card from some distant relative.

In the coming year we hope you'll continue to read the blog as we plan to bring you more articles, more events (including the 2008 Nantes Go Team and Castlewellan) and more guest writers. Also in the next few days we will hopefully be moving to a snazzy dot com address.

Thank you for reading and Happy New Year

P.S. Rumour has it the the blog of Rev.David McCullough (Dad!) has been ressurrected with a post concerning the debate over women ministers in the Presbyterian Church currently raging in Portadown. Click here.

Homeward Bound

"Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound."

These are the words of Simon and Garfunkel in their song "Homeward Bound". The longing to return home is an emotion we all experience at some stage. The desire to be with those who care for us and to be where we feel safe. This is not however the current experience of the songwriter as he sings "Everday's an endless stream" and "each town looks the same to me". This song reminded me of the difference there is between being a Christian and a non-Christian. Life is often described as a journey, for the non-Christian it is a journey into apparant nothingness with no real meaning but for the Christian it is a journey homeward towards heaven. Whilst the non-Christian may have an earthly home which may bring temporal happiness it will not fully satisfy unlike the eternal resting place awaiting those who have placed their trust in Christ. This confidence should set us apart from non-believers around us as we have a hope and a future whilst their lives have nothing of eternal significance in them. Thomas Manton describes the "best estate" of man as "vanity" whilst "a Christian's worst is happiness".

Homeward Bound is not however a unique title. It also forms part of a title for a Disney movie entitled "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey". If you haven't see the movie a brief plot summary can be found here. The incredible journey of Shadow (the Golden Retriever), Chance (the American Bulldog) and Sassy (the cat) involves passing through great mountain ranges to reach home. On our journey homeward as Christians we face many challenges and trials. There is one moment in which the characters climb the first mountain and believe they will see home on the other side. Instead they saw a great mountain range spanning as far as the eye could see. Often as Christians we feel like we face and endless range of trials yet unlike the animals in this movie we can rely on someone far greater than each other, Jesus Christ the Son of God, "who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy" (Jude 1:24), will be looking after us the entire Homeward Bound journey.

Glory Days Are Still Ahead

The summer has sadly come to an end. As you reflect over the past few months maybe you wonder if there'll ever be another summer quite like it or perhaps the endless rain left you disappointed and you felt this summer was a bit of an anti-climax. This sense of reminiscing times past appears in of the much music that we listen to whether it is the Lost Prophets' song "Last Summer", Bryan Adam's "Summer of '69" in which the line "Those were the best days of my life" is repeated or a personal favourite Bruce Springsteen's Glory Days in which he expresses his view that:

"Glory days, well they'll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye"

Whilst these songs can be great for remember good times, for example "Last Summer" always reminds me of Termonfeckin 2006 as it was the last track on the CD our tent produced for the week, I can often find myself despondant and wishing to be back in the same place and time with friends or family. The thing is, as Christian we don't need to be dreaming of the past because we have an amazing future ahead, in this life and in the life to come. God has a plan for our lives:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

Our usefulness to God will not end at 30,40,50,65,100. Every minute we spend on this Earth God has a purpose for. Every day that passes he is changing us through his Holy Spirit. The best days are yet ahead. This is true ultamitely in heaven where we will glorify and enjoy God perfectly.

If you're a non-Christian reading this you do not have this assurance. You may never have it this good again. In fact you probably won't. If your life is based around pleasure rather than God you are on a downhill slope towards destruction rather than a climb upwards. Turn to him who can save you from hell now. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then "Glory Days" will never "pass you by" and you'll spend true glory days with your Saviour for all eternity.

Motive Check

Currently I'm reading Andrew Bonar's biography of Robert Murray McCheyne. I'll give you a full book review once I'm actually finished it but I came across a challenging quote from his journal in regard to our eagerness to serve Christ in missionary work, such as Go Teams, in comparison to our service of him where He's placed us now, among our friends and family.

"Self-examination. Why is a missionary life so often an object of my thoughts. Is it simply for the love I bear to souls? Then why do I not show it more where I am? Souls are as precious here as in Burmah. Does the romance of the business not weigh anything with me? - the interest and esteem I would carry with me? - the nice journals and letters I should

write and recieve? ... Am I wholly deceiving my own heart? and have I not a spark of true missionary zeal?"

Robert Murray McCheyne