Letters From Alistair Begg

Dear Friend,

I was six years old when Christmas Day became an official holiday in Scotland! That’s right—1958! Until the 1960s, it was the norm for most people across the country to work as usual if December 25 fell on a weekday. The reason for this was not secular but religious. The Scottish Reformation not only removed the dogma of Roman Catholicism but also frowned upon superstitious celebrations of “Yuletide.” In my own city of Glasgow, even singing a Christmas carol was considered a crime, and in 1640 an Act of Parliament made celebrating Christmas illegal. In my lifetime, the headmaster of a local elementary school in the Scottish Highlands was dismissed for having a Christmas tree in the vestibule.

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Dear Friend,

Perhaps my favorite hymn is “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven.” It was written by Scotsman Henry Francis Lyte and it is inspired by Psalm 103. When Susan and I were married in 1975, Susan chose the melody, composed by John Goss in 1868, as her processional music. It served to turn our attention from ourselves to the grace, favor, and glory of God.

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Dear Friend,

I remember the occasion as if it were yesterday. It was a Monday lunchtime in the early weeks of 1975. A handful of us had braved the opportunity to eat at the faculty table, and the conversation was lively. But I was completely unprepared for one of the lecturers to send in my direction what was virtually a “prophetic” word.

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Dear Friend,

The school buses are running but empty of passengers. I assume they’re testing the routes for the start of the new school year. How did summer go so quickly? Was it something that we said?

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Dear Friend,

Are you a melody person or a lyric person? I’m always surprised when people tell me that they don’t know the words to a song because, they say, “I only listen to the music.”

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Dear Friend,

I just finished reading David Brooks’s latest book, The Second Mountain. In it, he records the impact that John Stott had upon him. Years ago, my friend Michael Cromartie (like Stott, now in heaven) told me that he had suggested to Brooks that he should read Stott. Clearly, he did, and then met him. You can read his reaction in the book.

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Dear Friend,

I have a vivid recollection of seeing scenes from the book The Pilgrim’s Progress portrayed on screen using glass hand-painted slides in a large, unwieldly projector. (Yes, I’m that old!) When John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, he could never have imagined that it would have an impact that spanned centuries.

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Dear Friend,

We’ll soon be reaching a milestone in hosting our 20th annual Basics Conference for pastors and church leaders. It’s been a particular joy and privilege to have been joined by faithful friends in the Gospel who’ve taught at Basics. Sitting side by side with fellow teachers of God’s Word, we’ve shared the ups and downs of pastoral ministry and have encouraged one another to keep on keeping on.

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A faithful and fruitful prayer life doesn't always come easily. How should we talk to God? What should we pray for? How do we approach a holy God in our sinful state? Alistair Begg addresses these questions and more in this full-length interview on his new book, Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle.

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Dear Friend,

In the 1980s, I had the privilege of meeting and becoming a friend of the late Alec Motyer. (You may find this link helpful in learning about him: www.ivpress.com/j-alec-motyer.) Alec was a biblical scholar and pastor known widely for his commentaries on the Old Testament. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1947 and later was Principal at Trinity College, Bristol, UK. In 1986, we were speaking at the Portstewart Convention in Northern Ireland. During the week, we took walks together after lunch. I have the fondest memories of those conversations. When we parted at the end of the week, he said, “My dear boy, I will pray for you.”

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