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.

Showers of blessing seems like an appropriate song for today. It was a day with frequent heavy downpours which we need. It's been very dry lately and my garden appreciates the goodness of God today.  

The church services were likewise refreshing. We had faithful attendance and enjoyed our time together. I preached this morning on "Preparations for Worship" from II Chronicles 30.  I enjoy this story of King Hezekiah and his reinstating the Passover.  Tonight we looked at Jewish History as taught by Professor Stephen in Acts 7. We made it from Abraham to Joseph.  

Thank you for praying for our ministry. God's good.

I just finished putting flyers through the village of Bilston. I met a dear elderly lady today. I was passing her and she said, "That's a big smile." We started chatting and I found out that she had gone through WW2. It shook her confidence in God. My heart goes out to her. Please pray for God to build real faith in her.

I had a follow up divine appointment as well. It's fun to have a further opportunity to speak with someone about the Lord. Thanks for praying for open doors for the Gospel.

Benson turned 9 today!  The Lord gave him a great birthday. The weather was nice. School finished yesterday. He also got some exciting presents!

Our service tonight went well. The adults looked at Psalm 55, When Friends Forsake Me.  "Cast thy burden upon the Lord...."

The Lord gave a good opportunity to share the Gospel last night. Please pray for an older man in our community who has cancer. He said that it has made him think more about eternity. God's timing was perfect as I made a late run to the store for ingredients for the birthday cake. 

This weekend is Loanhead Gala Days.  This is a big community celebration and is always lots of fun. Last year was freezing cold with high winds and rain showers. The weather the past several weeks has been dramatically different than that. So, Lord willing, the weather will be good.

We've enjoyed some special days lately. God gave us a delightful Father's Day. The kids put together a nice gift for their dads. I preached on Abraham and Isaac walking towards the hill of Sacrifice. I did an acrostic of FATHER.  Follow God's Word, Act on God's instruction, Take steps of faith, Honor God's promises, Earn God's approval and Rejoice in God's provision.

Yesterday was also a special day as Katie and I celebrated our 13th anniversary.  We took the day off and headed to a safari park for the day. It was a lot of fun. We watched a bird and seal show, drove past lions, rhino's, buffalo, saw elephants and giraffe's etc.  It was a gorgeous day.  We were even a bit sunburned.  The weather has been very nice this summer. Praise the Lord. God gave a good witnessing opportunity at the park with a young man who was working there.

This morning I put out flyers in a nearby village. Please pray for W_________.  She was very open to studying God's Word and may come and visit our church. It was an obvious divine appointment. Please also pray for the flyers that were put out.  The wicked bird was swooping in before I left.  The Watch Tower Witnesses *(J.W.'s) were going through the area where I had put out flyers.  This has happened numerous times. Please pray that this cult will not succeed and that God's Word will prevail.  Thanks for your intercessory ministry for our field.

Jeff Smith update: (Missionary friend dying of a brain tumor.)  A man from our church went with me on Saturday to visit Jeff.  He still has his smile, but has lost most of his other abilities. We sang a lot of songs with him. After singing God is so good I said, "God is good isn't He?"  Jeff was able to say, "He is." He was also mouthing many of the words to our songs though he appeared to be sleeping. God's grace is evident in He and Shellie's lives. Please continue to pray for them and their family.