for the Cookstown Bible week and it is a joy to be preaching the word of God in an almost full church each night.
land is a different place – and I love the differences. It’s still quite strange for me to drive through streets where union jacks are flying. Being patriotically British is not something one sees a lot in Scotland! This photo is the main street complete with British flag. I also love listening to Radio Ulster – it’s somehow very homey and warm – apart from the phone ins! Maybe I just tuned in at the wrong time but it seems as though Country and Western is the national music of Northern Ireland! There are some dull and dreary looking places (not helped by the rain) but overall the scenery is beautiful. But best of all are the people Ulster people are largely Scots. They have a dry sense of humour and are open, welcoming and friendly. There is a refreshing reality which makes its them a joy to be amongst. Northern Ireland’s greatest asset is its people.
When I posted the photo above of the statement of ethos – the atheists went mad! Is this not is what is wrong with Northern Ireland? Religious division. Imagine no religion, then we would have nothing to kill or die for! But here’s the problem….I’m not seeing the hatred and division caused by religion. I’m sure it exists and has been an exacerbating factor but one suspects that Marxism and Irish culture was a bigger factor for the IRA than Catholicism. It seems to me that Christian schools, whether Protestant or Catholic, where all are taught about respect for one’s neighbours because all are made in the image of God, are a good thing.
All I hear about is atheists talking about divisions and hatred. And I really just want to say to them. Get over yourselves. Stop using your doctrines to justify attacking people. And keep up with the march of history. Catch up with the times. It’s the atheists who want to talk up the hatred in order to impose their own values. You seriously believe that the only way to peace and love is your way, but you can’t even define what peace and love is, and you seem to be struggling to produce it. So here’s a wee experiment from the Bible (I know it makes you spit but hang with it!). There is the story told of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. How were the people of Israel to choose the right God and way to live? Elijah set up a wee contest between him and the 400 prophets and just simply stated ‘the God who answers by fire let him be God’. In other words lets see the results. As Jesus said, you shall know them by their fruits.
I look at the fruits of the atheistic secular humanism which now predominates in many schools in Scotland and I see the rudeness, indiscipline, lack of learning and the attempts at social engineering. Then I contrast with what I seen here – the respect, love for learning, discipline and freedom of thought and I know which one I prefer. So why won’t our atheists and humanists allow us the freedom to have these kind of schools in Scotland? Is it because ultimately they care more for their ideology than they do for the welfare of our children?
We have a lot to learn from Northern Ireland….maybe I’ll reflect some more on this when I get home…meanwhile got to head off to get ready for an outreach meeting in a hotel tonight and church services tomorrow. May the Lord bless this wonderful land and people.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
well said.
“ But best of all are the people Ulster people are largely Scots. “
According to the 2011 Census: One sixth (17 per cent) of the usually resident population on Census Day 2011 either had No Religion or Religion Not Stated. The prevalence rates for the main religions were: Catholic (41 per cent); Presbyterian (19 per cent); Church of Ireland (14 per cent); Methodist (3.0 per cent); Other Christian or Christian-related denominations (5.8 per cent); and Other Religions and Philosophies (0.8 per cent). • Bringing together the information on Religion and Religion Brought up in, 45 per cent of the population were either Catholic or brought up as Catholic, while 48 per cent belonged to or were brought up in Protestant, Other Christian or Christian-related denominations. A further 0.9 per cent belonged to or had been brought up in Other Religions and Philosophies, while 5.6 per cent neither belonged to, nor had been brought up in, a religion.
I would doubt that very many of those 45% per cent of the population who were either Catholic or brought up as Catholic had any ancestors who came from Scotland. The whole point of fostering immigration from Scotland was to replace the Catholic population.
“ It’s still quite strange for me to drive through streets where union jacks are flying.”
I think that there may be a very simple explanation for the large number of Union flags being flown in Northern Ireland and the absence of that explanation in most parts of Scotland is no bad thing.
Union flags in Northern Ireland tend to be associated with a certain attitude. (I think everybody can guess what that attitude is.) And they will also be displayed by a certain type of marching band. And, yes, we get those in Scotland too though not, perhaps, to quite the same extent.
Here are the names of six of those marching bands: Pride of Ballinran Flute Band and Black Skull Fife and Drum Band; silver bands Murley Silver Band and Dungannon Silver Band; and accordion bands Dunloy Accordion Band and Vow Accordion Band. These bands all play in Loyalist and related marches. And where else? Well, none other than in the Glasgow Tattoo 2017. Yes, there were six bands from Northern Ireland playing at that Tattoo and all of them were bands that play in Loyalist and related marches. I wonder why that was.
(Not sure if I already sent this so am sending it (again) just in case I didn’t.)