Highland Christian Schools Trust - AGM

HCST Annual General Meeting 3 September 1999 About twenty people gathered at the Inverness Technical College, Longman Road, for the Annual General Meeting of the Highland Christian Schools Trust. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Tim Nixon, Chairman and Secretary of HCST. After prayer and the reading of Matthew 6:24-34, Mr. Nixon gave a report on the work of the Trust.
The Trust had been set up approximately five years ago and there were now seven trustees and an educational adviser. The Trust published a free magazine, Education Witness, of which several hundred copies of each issue were distributed. During the last year the Trust had been busy in contacting the new MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament) regarding the subject of Christian Education and had received a number of interesting responses, some encouraging. Certainly the establishment of the Scottish Parliament has major implications for education. Mr. Nixon referred to the small work which began in Lewis last year and had faced opposition but was now established as a school with nine children and a teacher; a generous donation had helped. Although the Trust had been involved thanks were really due to the Lord.
The circulation of the Trust's magazine resulted in many useful contacts. The Chairman referred to Redeemer Baptist Church in Australia which began its own school in 1982 with twenty pupils and now had a roll of five hundred. Redeemer Christian School was staffed by members of the congregation and the students were known to say; "All schools have rules: Redeemer Christian School keeps to them!"
A very encouraging letter had recently been received from an elderly Christian lady in Scotland. She referred to the need for Christian schools - these would strike a blow at Satan's kingdom. enclosing a generous donation she exhorted us to pray on.
Mr. Nixon referred to the financial report of the Trust which was available for those who wished a copy.
The Chairman then introduced the speaker for the evening, Mr Graham Scott of "Answers in Genesis".
Mr. Scott spoke of his own sister's involvement with Christian schools. She had influenced their own decision to take their daughter out of the state system at the age of eleven and to teach her at home. If they could have their time again they would begin at the age of five. They were glad that their daughter, now an adult, was different - she was often the only young person at the church prayer meeting.
Refering to the opening verses of Psalm 73 Mr. Scott said that there we saw the Psalmist going through a period when he was unsteady on his feet spiritually, as he looked at the things going on around him. This lasted until he saw things in a divine, scriptural context (v.17). He rested on the foundation spoken of in Psalm 40:2. We need loins girt about with truth. Stability is needed in family and society. Christians have lost sight of the foundation. All our doctrines and beliefs go back to Genesis, the most-attacked book in the bible.
Mr. Scott referred to the Palawan people in the south of the Philippines. When the Amencans drove out the Japanese during the Second World War these people had no oppressors for the first time. Missionaries had an open door. Many responded to the gospel, yet spiritual growth was small. A minister realised that the problem was that they had not started at the beginniug but had started with the cross. Who am I? why am I here? Where am I going? - we all need to know the answers to these questions. A missionary prepared fifty Bible lessons, 'Firm Foundations - From Creation to Christ' and these have been found particularly effective with Muslims, who have difficulty with the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.
Rules come from authority. We must establish that fundamental or absolute authority comes from the Creator alone. Christ as Mediator spoke with authority because He Himself was under the true authority.
We are learning today that we need information. Darwin did not ask or answer this question. One cell in our body has such genetic information that if it was typed out it would fill 1000 volumes each of 500 pages!
The Lord did not allow Joshua latitude. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success' . (Josh. 1:8) Joshua's Bible included Genesis. The Bible must govern our thinking in every area. When the Scotts had started home-schooling their daughter, the main problem was with relatives who were critical - yet they had no scriptural arguments.
Mr. Scott quoted from Michael Denton, a critic of evolutionary theory and author of 'Evolution: a Theory in Crisis': "Ultimately the Darwinian theory of evolution is no more nor less than the great cosmogenic myth of the twentieth century".
God made man special, in His own image. We read of Adam naming the animals - how? Scientists tell us that fallen man uses only l0% of his brain capacity; perhaps Adam used 100%? It was not until the l9th century that modern man could build a vessel the size of Noah's ark.
God made Eve. Here is a problem which faces so-called 'theistic evolutionists': where did Eve come from? They say that she was an advanced hominid. Yet if Eve was not in Adam then neither were we. She came out of his side.
Evolution says that death and struggle led to man's existence. This means that death and struggle are quite normal, just part of life. We should not be concerned about tragedies. Yet we know that death is wrong. Death is an offence. It is man's actions which have led to death. Adam sinned and the world is in chaos.
Children do not have to be taught to do wroug! Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig-leaves. God however made them coats of skins, slaying an animal - perhaps a lamb? God covers sin. Jesus even 'covered' Judas by giving him the honour of the sop at the Last Supper.
All doctrine goes back to Genesis. Upon the foundation of Creation are built laws marriage, standards and meaning of life; upon the foundation of Evolution are built lawlessness, homosexuality, pornography and abortion. There call be no real standards with evolution as the basis for society. The foundation is false.
In Matthew 19:4-5 Jesus quotes from Genesis chapters 1 & 2. If Genesis is fictional then Jesus was deceiving us. Or if He did not know that it was fictional then He was not God. Either way His divinity is destroyed. In John 5:45-47 Jesus links His own authority to the authority of Moses' writings.
There are major contradictions between creation and evolution and the two cannot be reconciled. The Bible says that this is obvious (Rom. 1: 18-20). Evolution is a religion. H.S. Lipson, Professor of Physics at the University of Manchester, called evolution a "scientific religion". For a long time after Darwin evolution was not widely accepted. Even fifty years ago it was not taught in schools. After World War II there were two major developments: (1) Television. Through this medium intellectuals have been able to get ideas into the mind of the common man. (2) Education. In the 1950's humanists captured the high ground the teacher training colleges. Many Christians have been indoctrinated in the new philosophy. Rather than man 'on the way down' it taught that he was'on the way up'. The idea now was to 'release' children and to employ 'discovery' learning.
People forget that Hitler was voted into power. Why did this happen? Because of the intellectual credibility given to His philosophy by Darwin. Even secular writers today can see what Darwinism has done.
How can all this be changed? Think of Nehemiah. The destruction of the gates symbolised the loss of authority, or invasion by another authority. We see this today in evangelical homes and churches. God's authority has been replaced by that of parents and elders. "We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses". (Neh. 1:7) How can things be rebuilt? Like Nehemiah we must get back to the foundation, back to the Word of God and to obedience in every area. The Lord will hinder our progress until we put things right in ourselves and our families.
In concluding, Mr. Scott mentioned several useful books which were on display and also the 'Creation ex nihilo' magazine. Many opportunities arose through the circulation of the magazine to speak to people about their souls. In the question time that followed Mr. Scott mentioned that the pamphlet 'Bone of Contention' had been greatly used to bring people to Christ.
The meeting was closed with the singing of Psalm 100.

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