You Shall Not Remove Your Neighbour’s Landmark

Kilmartin Old Church and Manse (now Kilmartin Museum)

KILMARTIN SERIES: 1

“You shall not remove your neighbour's landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
[Deuteronomy 19:14 NKJV]
‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbour's landmark.’
[Deuteronomy 27:17 NKJV]

Years ago, a group of Christians were led by The Lord to come to Kilmartin to form a Spirit-filled church. That group eventually became the Living Stones Christian Centre, which thrived for 40 years or so until it closed in 2017.

In the next few meditations, we would like to look at why in those early days of what was known as The Latter Rain Movement, many believers were led to uproot from their homes and move elsewhere believing that The Lord was guiding them. Some of us at Cornerstone Kilmartin were among those who heard the call at that time, some more recently. We will focus on Kilmartin and the Glen as we want to understand why this place has been so special as a focus of Christian worship for centuries, and why it is now in danger of being overtaken by spirits of Humanism and New Age ideology. To do this, we must look initially to the distant past to help us understand the present tidal wave of change that is sweeping through Kilmartin Glen.

To begin, we need to see that the land is central to our existence and that the Bible maxim ‘First the natural, then the spiritual’ — what we see in the natural world (the land around us) gives insight into the spiritual realms (the land within us) — is emphatically set out in what is happening in this small but pivotal area of western Scotland. There are many such places around the globe and they all have one thing in common; our forbears recognised an intensity of spiritual force, a profound presence. Iona; Lindisfarne; Glendalough and others all have that 'presence' in abundance.

The Book of Deuteronomy tells us that someone who moves a neighbour’s landmark (or boundary) is cursed. This is a matter of inheritance — both natural and spiritual — and there are forces out there that want to encroach on that inheritance; nibble at it incessantly, and deprive each one of us what is ours by right of possession. We become aware of it in Kilmartin; this a spiritual battleground.

We already know that Christian faith is being inexorably eroded in modern times — not everywhere; some places are thriving — and our right to believe freely in our Creator God is being openly and increasingly challenged. These forces; these spirits seek to remove our landmarks; break down the walls of our salvation and take this land --- both natural and spiritual --- for themselves

We need not fear — The Lord has always maintained a remnant to carry His light through the darkest of times — but vigilance is essential; standing on the Watchtower; discerning the times.

Friday 11th June 2021

You cannot enjoy life by heeding outside pressures to change. Imagine what would happen if a lily did what some of us try to do. We say, “Oh, I must give up this; I must go here and there.” Imagine a lily’s hauling itself out of a pot and saying, “Well, I don’t think I smell nice enough. I don’t think I look exactly right. I must change myself!” The lily’s duty is to obey the law of its life where it is placed by the gardener.