Yesterday morning we picked up my mother-in-law at the airport. We haven't seen her for 3 years and we are enjoying having her with us. Kirk, Carrie and Brodrick also came down from Dundee.  And Carrie's mum and brother flew in Yesterday afternoon. So, we are enjoying having some guests in our home.

The Lord gave us a good day yesterday. I finished preaching on Romans 3,  "The Only Way to Heaven."  We had good attendance with some out of town. Pastor Edgar from Dundee, Kirk and Carrie's pastor, surprised us by visiting last night with his wife and son. 

Thank you for praying for our ministry. I prayed on Saturday night for God's special enablement for those praying for our ministry. You are a vital part of what God is doing on our field.

It was a beautiful overcast cool morning today. The sun has popped out now (mid-afternoon) and it is heating up outside.

The Lord gave me several good opportunities to share the Gospel. The first opportunity was the best. Please pray that God will water the seed sown in this young man's heart. He offered to give me his name and number and we are hoping to do a Bible study. He also indicated that he will visit the church. I was praying for an opportunity to use Romans 3 in witnessing today and this was that opportunity. We went through the last half of that chapter as we considered how God's law through conviction points us to grace for Christ's righteousness. 

I handed out about 250 flyers and had a few other good opportunities. I'm always a bit overwhelmed in Edinburgh because there are so many directions you can go to give the Gospel. The harvest is great and the laborers are few. 

We have had hot weather (low 70's) for the past couple of days! It has been wonderful. This morning I put out flyers early to get done before the heat came.  Thankfully I was finished before the sun broke through the morning haze.

The Lord gave me 2 good opportunities. One was with a 15 year old paper boy. I was surprised by his age as he was about a foot taller than me. Please pray for this young man. He has never read the Bible or gone to church. The other opportunity was with a middle aged woman who attends a church of Scotland. She hopes that she will go to Heaven. Our conversation was brief but I encouraged her to read I John 5 to see that she can know that she'll go to Heaven.

The Lord gave us a good Sunday. It was our 3 year anniversary of planting the church. We began on the first Sunday in July in 2010. I preached yesterday morning on "Navigate to Glory" from Romans 3. We didn't finish and will have a continuation of that message next Sunday. I've always gone to Ephesians 2:8-9 when speaking to those who believe good people go to heaven. I now hope that God reminds me to go to Romans 3 which deals with this topic in depth. It is an excellent argument against man's goodness and for man's need for God's grace.

We were busy on 4 July....so we enjoyed having several friends over last night. It was a gorgeous day. My wife gave me a Weber BBQ for my birthday and was put into use. We also had a small campfire and enjoyed a lovely time.

I had a divine appointment last night. God's good to give these. Please pray for a friend of mine whom I have witnessed to on numerous occasions. I have no doubt that this was of the Lord as He clearly directed.  We are praying for God's power to awaken hearts.  I'm convinced more and more that it will take God's Spirit's power to bring people to Jesus. Please keep praying. God IS working in answer to your prayers.

God gave a glorious day for the funeral. Yesterday it was chucking down rain and 52 degrees. Today it was sunny and mid 60's. The attendance at the funeral was superb.  There were just over 120 people present. There was standing room only for about 30 of us.  God was glorified in the funeral and grave side service. The reception was lovely with wonderful tributes to a man who faced death convinced of the goodness of God. Please continue to pray for Shellie and her children.  God's grace is evident and the Lord was magnified in everything today. Thanks for praying.

The Lord gave me some wonderful open doors this evening. I knocked on doors in our area and met some of the people in our community. I enjoy doing that. Most people were very friendly. I had 3 extended opportunities to speak about God's Word. I appreciate a person who has an open mind towards the Bible.  Two of these three were particularly thoughtful. Please pray that God will encourage visitors to attend our ministry. It is not easy to visit a new place and to hear truths that are unfamiliar.  But, God can give grace to help them come.

Please also pray for a ladies Bible study that Katie is going to do on Monday evenings in July. She is excited about this opportunity for some ladies to get together around God's Word. Thanks for taking these requests to the Lord.

Thankfully, it didn't get me that bad. But, I got my first dog bite doing flyers. I'm laughing but it could have been serious. I had a pit bull come out an open back door round the corner of the house and bite my Flyer Distribution Tool.  Now, most of you know this as my F.D.T. otherwise known as a plastic cheeseboard. The flyer was presently shredded. No matter how uncool you thought the F.D.T was, it has just saved my hand from a bad mauling. :) He did take a very small piece of skin from my thumb as well.

What did I do, I repeated, "No, no, no, (I wish I would have thought to say, "bad dog.").." at high volume and great soberness. Thankfully the dog's owner wasn't too far behind.

In all seriousness I was thanking the Lord for his protection. That is my first dog bite in three years of doing this. So, if you have lately prayed for our safety, please thank the Lord for answering your prayers. 

Jeff Smith went into the presence of His Lord this morning. It is a joy to know that his absence from his body makes it possible for him to be present with his Lord.  The last song that I sang with Jeff on Monday was, "He the pearly gates will open, so that I may enter it."  Praise the Lord, Jeff isn't suffering any longer.

Please uphold the Smith family in prayer as they grieve the loss of husband and father. Please also pray for Carl Miller and Jon Gleason as they lead in the funeral and graveside service.

Today was a fun ministry day. I took the bus into Edinburgh this morning and spent the day there. My first witnessing opportunity was great. Jim is from Germany. He is Catholic and believes that good people go to Heaven. After looking at God's Word he said, "Those are questions I can't ask at home or my mom and my priest get upset."  He took a John and Romans and I hope to hear from him by email.

The next opportunity was a Catholic construction worker from Glasgow. He is working on a work site in Edinburgh. I talked to him on his break.

The next two guys were homeless alcoholics. The one was very belligerent as our conversation began but the other was softer. A good ways into our conversation I told the belligerent man that God's commands were for our good. He told us not to be a drunkard for our good. He tried to defend his sin and I said, "I'm looking at a broken man whose life has been shattered by alcohol."  That may seem unloving. But, he took it the other way. After that this man was my friend. He was more tender than at any other point in our conversation. He told me early in the conversation that he has a minister friend near London. Please pray for Jim's salvation.

I spoke to a young man who is from the same area where we used to live. He was an atheist who never thinks about religion. He was very in tune to our conversation. Please pray for God to awaken Billy to his need for Christ. I left him with a John and Romans.

After that I spoke with a young Christian from California. I spoke to him about Biblical separation and invited him to visit a church that is 15 minutes from his house. It is a very good independent Baptist church which my dad used to pastor in the mid 80's.  He said he would visit since the Lord had a guy many thousands of miles from his home invite him to a church within minutes of his home.

The last witnessing opportunity was with a non practicing Catholic Irishman. I was able to take him through many Bible verses until he finally left saying that he hoped that there was no hell. God was working in his heart and our 20 minute conversation has given him an opportunity to see God's truth.

I had one other great opportunity with a young man from Latvia who is here in Edinburgh. I gave him the flyer and he said that he had his Bible there with him. He is staying with some "Christians" and is beginning to seek after God. I gave him a John and Romans as well. He does not live far from our church. Please pray for a follow up opportunity with him.

God's good to open doors for the Gospel. It was a good day to hand out literature. The vast majority were taking the flyer. Thanks for praying for divine appointments.

Shelly has posted an update about Jeff (Jeff Smith, Missionary with a brain tumor.)  You can see the update at www.caringbridge.org/visit/jeffreysmith3

Katie and I visited Jeff and Shellie Smith this afternoon. I told Jeff when I left that I would encourage you to continue praying for him. I enjoyed singing and praying with him. It's obvious that he is aware but is unable to communicate.  He did communicate with me once as I was leaving. I had just prayed and told him that we loved him and would continue praying.  He was able to smile and let me know that he understood. Please uphold this couple and their children in prayer.  God's grace has been evident as they've bravely faced Jeff's brain tumors. Thanks for taking this need to the Lord.