The General Assembly
In his letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul turns away briefly from the church problems he had been addressing and looks forward to heaven, which he describes as the "General Assembly and church of the firstborn" (Heb.12:23). All the Lord's people will be commissioners to this heavenly Assembly, and it will last much longer than a few days. This eternal Assembly will be characterised by truth. There will be no deceit, half-truths, or ambiguous compromises. There will also be an atmosphere of love and friendship. No one will be out to humiliate, defeat or attack anyone else. There will be peace and unity. There will be no scorning, angry arguments or counter-motions. There will never be a vote taken as every motion will be unanimously approved. There will be justice and fairness. Respect of persons, favouritism, prejudice and party spirit will have no place in this Assembly. Instead, everything will be done decently and in order. The Moderator will be Christ Himself. This will be a happy occasion. The Lord's people will not be grieved, pained, hurt or depressed by any of the Assembly's decisions. Tears will be a thing of the past. The motives of all who go will be pure. No one will be out to promote or make a name for themselves but all will aim only at the glory of God. What an Assembly that will be! We share Paul's longing to go there.
Information
In the meantime, however, the Free Church General Assembly looms ominously on the horizon. Regrettably we do not have the same enthusiasm for this Assembly as we do for the heavenly one. This is because, although every earthly Assembly should aim to be like the heavenly one, in our opinion in the last three years the Free Church General Assembly has grown less and less like the heavenly one and shares fewer and fewer of its marks. And, as the 1998 General Assembly approaches many of the Lord's people have a deep sense of apprehension. We have therefore prepared this Assembly Booklet. We have done so for two reasons. Firstly, to inform. In recent years many have complained that they had no idea what was going on at the Assembly and biased media reports only confused people more. This booklet, therefore, highlights and explains some of the crucial issues which this Assembly will debate. As you will see, these issues affect the very core of our Church's testimony - Biblical doctrine, worship and discipline. We believe that those who support the Free Church have a right to know about these vitally important matters.
Prayer
Secondly, we hope that this booklet will move people to pray. We would encourage prayer for the Rev D K Macleod (the Moderator-elect), the Assembly Clerks and all the Commissioners. We hope and pray that everyone involved will seek to make this Assembly one to be remembered for good reasons. May the Assembly be characterised by truth, love, peace, unity, justice, fairness and happiness. May all be done to the glory of God. We also sincerely hope and pray that the conduct and decisions of the Assembly will encourage the disbanding of the FCDA., so that all of us can return to the work of giving ourselves wholeheartedly and without distraction to the spreading of the Gospel.
This booklet is free and if you would like further copies then please contact Mr A Maclean, Meadowbank, Portree, Isle of Skye, IV51 9ES (Tel: 01478612059).
Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the editor.
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