Blog

offer update and outreach

06/12/2022 11:54

We heard back from the "seller/company" today. Our contact in the company has a meeting with the managing director tomorrow. He said that he will bring up the sale with him and see if he can get us a response. I will let you know once I hear what they have decided.

I put out flyers this morning and had a good divine appointment. An older man spoke with me. He lamented that the churches are empty. The church where he was married is closed. I told him that we are open and encouraged him to visit. Please pray that God will do a great work in John's life.

Fellowship Sunday

04/12/2022 14:25

We were blessed with good attendance this morning and a great time of fellowship after the morning service. We have enjoyed having a cafe area for Sunday PM fellowships which we enjoy every Sunday. This morning we had a meal together after the morning service.  It was good tasting and it was good for our church family to be together.

Everyone is excited and thankful for God's provision of a new location. We begin there this coming Wednesday.

I preached this morning from Joel 2 a message which I titled, "A Solemn Assembly." Interestingly, Joel gives a guide to making God jealous to do great things for His people. My points were, Alert the people, Stop the people, Sober the people, Congregate the people, Sanctify the people, Prioritise the people, and plead for the people. 

Sadly, solemn assemblies of serious people seeking God is not a popular church model in our day. Please pray for God to awaken hearts and that we would sincerely turn to Him as He intends. It was a very good morning.

The Lord gave us 3 really good conversations as we knocked on doors yesterday. I'm thankful for my wife and her participation in our ministry. We enjoy doing soul winning together.  

Changing Locations

02/12/2022 14:28

God has provided a wonderful new place for us to meet starting this next week.  Thank you for your part in seeing God supply our need while they renovate our current location. The new location is only half a mile from our current location and closer to Loanhead where our church started.

Please continue to pray about our property of desire. We have not yet heard back regarding our offer.

 

Street Preaching

29/11/2022 15:43

What a beautiful (but cold) day to preach on Princess St. in Edinburgh! It was about 1 degree C  (33 F) when we got going this morning around 10:30. But, the sun was out and it was not windy at all. Both of those stats are more rare than we could wish. It was ideal for street preaching. 

The place we preached is one of our favourites. It sits at a very buys pedestrian cross roads (North Bridge and Princess St.) in a very busy shopping district in Edinburgh. A mall, the St. James Quarter, is just around the corner. The Apple Store is right beside us. Waverley Train Station is nearly across from us and so the footfall is very high. This is an ideal place in these colder months when people are not sitting as much outside.

God continually gives us encouragment when we are out. A young man stopped to visit with us. He is 20 and he just got saved this past year. He was baptised in October. It's great to see His love for the Lord and hear a bit of his testimony. Someone stopped into their work and asked if anyone wanted to do some Bible study lessons. He thought, "Why not try something different?" He did and God brough him to faith in Jesus.

There were some times this morning when it seemed very quiet except for the preaching of God's Word. I very much appreciate and need your prayers as I preach on the Street. Only God can awaken men's hearts and I need His enablement. Thank you for praying for both Tommy and myself. Tommy hands out literature while I am preaching. He also speaks with anyone who has a question or comment. Thanks for praying.

A solid day.

27/11/2022 14:47

We enjoyed a good morning physically and spiritually this morning. Some that had been ill were back with us and we had a good time around the Word of God. It's also been a sunny calmer day and that is a blessing as well.

I preached this morning on Ezekiel 22:23-31. The text includes that which was preached the night God called me to preach some 25 years ago. "And I sought for a man among them, which should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it, BUT I FOUND NONE." It is a convicting text, but God used an illlustration of the preacher to answer a specific prayer I had prayed and God clearly directed me into the ministry. The preacher was Evangelist Tom Ferrel.

I preached this morning on the judgment of God against an unclean land which was conspiring against Him and which was without anyone intervening. Scotland is not Israel, but she has had more Christian priviliges than most countries. My prayer is that we (born again believers) would be effective in standing in the gap interceding for this nation and all of these people.

We had one lighter moment this morning as a 3 year old escaped from his class towards the end of my message and assaulted (tried to climb) the platform. His dad finally caught him. Last week it was a window washer trying to wash our windows during the invitation time. :)

Thanks for praying for our ministry. God gave us a great day.

Street Preaching

22/11/2022 19:22

The Lord gave us a good outing street preaching this morning in Edinburgh. The weather was COLD, but there was no precipitation and the winds were light. Some of the road construction noise from last time had ceased. So, that was a blessing as well. There were some other blessings. Two women from Wales spoke with Tommy and said that they do evangelism. Two men from Mylaysia are visiting Edinburgh and stood and listened for a while before getting information about the church. Another man stood for about 15-20 minutes listening. He then went and took a flyer from Tommy.

God gave a divine appointment on the way there. We walk about a quarter of a mile from where we park. Most of that way I walked with an older couple from England. I had given them directions as they took a Gospel flyer. I was able to share the Gospel as we walked.

On the return to the car, we met a young man. He also walked with us. Please pray for Al (19) that God would bring Him to Himself. It seems obvious that God is already working in this young man's life. He stopped at the car with us and chatted for a while. We gave him a lift down the road a little ways and I've got his mobile number. I hope to see him visit our church, although it would mean a 30 minute bus ride for him. Thanks for praying for God's power in our evangelism.

brrr...

21/11/2022 11:07

After a very mild and wet autumn, it was dry and very cold this morning. The frost was very thick and it was a bit slippy (British English) as I ran this morning. When I left to put out flyers this moring it was 29 F and it has warmed up to 32 F. That's ok. This past week, the boys helped me put out my Christmas lights and I told my wife that if it snows before Thanksgiving, I'm going to turn them on. Unfortunately, no snow is in the forecast.

I spoke briefly with one man this morning and enjoyed putting out around 150-200 flyers. Thank you for praying for the power of God as we put out His Word. 

We had a visitor last night at church. She is the first person to attend as a result of our street preaching ministry. She is looking forward to visiting again. Please pray that God will speak to her heart and encourage her as she investigates His truth. We thank the Lord for that blessing.

Still no word on the property of interest. Thanks for praying. (Below: Beautiful frost on our car.)

A good Sunday in the thick of it. :)

20/11/2022 13:22

Sometimes in ministry, you feel like you are in the "thick of it." Despite that feeling at times recently, God gave us a great Sunday morning. We didn't set attendance records or have any visitors, but it was trully good to be in the house of the Lord. God met with us and encouraged our hearts.

My message this morning is one of the great texts on prayer. Jeremiah 33:3, Call unto me and I WILL ANSWER THEE and SHEW THEE, GREAT AND MIGHTY THINGS, which thou knowest not. We looked at every word this morning and God strengthened our faith.

My points were call me, hear me, watch me, recieve from me and believe me. If we believe Jeremiah 33:3, we are spending real time in prayer. Thank you for your part in helping us receive from God in answer to your prayers.

nothing yet....

19/11/2022 19:01

Thanks to the many people who are praying for God's will regarding the property of interest. We still have not heard back on the offer. I will update this page once we know what God has done with that desire.

Katie and I had a good time knocking on doors this morning. It's amazing how many people we are finding home in this area. We didn't have any lengthy conversations, but spoke with a lot of people. Thanks for praying for our outreach.

Another village completed

16/11/2022 13:02

God gave beautiful weather to us this morning. Yesterday was an all day rain event, and so it was nice to be able to get out with literature. Please pray for the power of God upon the seed that was sown. We also have a street preaching video from Monday running as an advert on Facebook for the next 7 days. It will be shown in local people's Facebook feed. Please pray for people to get engaged with God's truth.

Last night I enjoyed speaking with a supporting church pastor in Georgia. They are planning a mission trip over here for October of next year. It was  a blessing to catch up with Pastor Jennings (Crooked Creek Baptist Church.) We're excited to see mission trips start back up after covid shut everything down.

We're also thankful that God has allowed us to schedule a week of meetings with Evangelist Barry Webb for February. Brother Barry and his wife, Cheryl, have been over here two other times and we really enjoy their fellowship and ministry.

In March, I hope to have a national missionary to Italy with us. I'm seeking right now to line up other meetings for him. Please pray for God's blessing on these extra opportunities and for those who are making plans to come over and help us.

Meanwhile, we don't know exactly where we'll be meeting as a church in 2023. Tomorrow is a very important day in that regard as a company board is meeting to give a response to our offer on a property. Please pray that God's will would take place in that meeting. Although we greatly need a property, we only want what God has planned for us. Thanks for praying with us about His will.

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