Letters From Alistair Begg

When you listen to music, do you focus on the melody or the lyrics? Certain people are able to carry the tune and remember the words, but my limited research suggests most are either words or music people. Here in Cleveland, we are able to enjoy one of the best orchestras in the world and find our spirits lifted by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons or moved to tears by Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Music is a powerful gift from God. It is impossible to imagine a world without it. The apostle Paul urges his readers to encourage each other by singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

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"There is no ideal place in which to serve God, save in the place in which He sets you down."

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In Revelation, we are given a vision of a vast crowd too great to count which is made up of people from all nations, provinces, and languages, and together they are crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” This is a picture to keep in mind always, and especially when in our Gospel endeavors it is a “day of small things” (Zech. 4:10). I remind myself as I encourage our congregation to read and watch the news through the lens of Scripture. Graeme Goldsworthy puts it well: “Scripture as God’s word must interpret history and culture, not the other way round.” 

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I have written previously about the way in which the “turn of the year” evokes strong memories of my previous life in Scotland. Why this should be true of this time of year more than any other is hard to say. Perhaps it is because of the song sung around the world, “Auld Lang Syne.” It begins with a rhetorical question: Should old relationships be forgotten? The answer is clearly no.

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Warmest Christmas Greetings!

It is a privilege for me to receive so many letters—even if at the same time, I bemoan the fact that I am able to respond to so few of them. Perhaps one day, when I am no longer in the pulpit, it will be possible for me just to enjoy corresponding with you!

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Dear Friend,

Today, I am reading Paul’s letter to Philemon, and I am challenged by his tone, especially as he is writing from prison! He informs Philemon that he is thankful for him and at the same time prayerful and joyful. It is clear that Paul is practicing what he preaches, having encouraged the Thessalonians to “be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances.”

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Dear Friend,

Pastors:

I was recently asked, “Why is the Bible difficult to understand?” In responding, I referenced the part in the Westminster Confession which explains that “not all things in Scripture are equally plain in themselves or equally clear to all,” while the things which are needed to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are clear and may be understood by all. Later on, as I thought about the question, it occurred to me that I might have answered, “So that I have a job!” It is an immense privilege to labor in preaching and teaching. On behalf of the fellow pastors, I say thank you to our congregations for their prayerful encouragement. Perhaps this should be a month of appreciation for pastors’ wives. They play a huge role in keeping us from the perils of conceit or despair.

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Dear Friend,

I recently noticed in a Scottish newspaper a letter from a Free Church minister in which he maintained that an increase in ferry breakdowns is a sign of “God’s displeasure” for sailing between the mainland and the islands on Sundays. The Free Church is calling on the ferry operators to “cease their breaking of the Lord’s Day for the sake of their business and the community as a whole” because it is the desecration of the Sabbath!

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Dear Friend,

Few if any of you will have heard of Canon Thomas Harford-Battersby. (Don’t Google, I’m going to explain!) He was once the vicar of St John’s Church in Keswick, a market town in the Lake District of England. He, along with his friend Robert Wilson, began the first Keswick Convention in 1875.

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Dear Friend,

It so happened that this past weekend I was in the UK during the celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. I was speaking at a conference in the town of Kilmarnock, which is in Ayrshire. It was there, in 1956, that I stood with my mum and waved my Union Jack as the Queen passed through town. For the past sixty-six years I have enjoyed the privilege of being one of her subjects.

Topics: Letters From Alistair Begg