Twelve Apostles Stone Circle, Dumfries

Near Dumfries in Scotland, between the villages of Newbridge and Holywood, sits the Twelve Apostles stone circle, not to be confused with its smaller but more local namesake at Ilkley. The stones are more like boulders, and well-spaced apart. Having so large a diameter, it is not as atmospheric as some, but its scale has a majesty of its own. Only eleven stones are now extant, but it is thought to have originally boasted nineteen. Despite this, the missing twelfth stone is predictably called Judas Iscariot, after that treacherous member of the Twelve rejected his Lord and flung himself into a lost eternity.

Arguments about election and predestination aside, I sometimes wonder at the missing persons from our little assembly at Salem Chapel. The proverbial empty seats which were once occupied by no-longer-sanctified bottoms are a sad loss. I am now in my tenth year of this pastorate, and can recall several persons who used to belong to us, but no longer do so. The reasons are varied: laziness, apathy, joining sects, the allure of more modern songs played by the 'competetition', sexual deviance, disliking ‘long’ sermons, or even some who offered no reason at all. There are also those who have nobler reasons, such as moving away or going to heaven.

Of course one may be a Christian and not join a church, and one certainly need not join mine. Nevertheless, the missing places in a church may well imply missing places in heaven. Those who are too worldly-minded to fellowship with Christ's people on earth may have no desire to worship the King Himself in Glory.