God blessed us with a beautiful morning this morning and so we headed back down into Edinburgh to do some street preaching. I preached in two places this morning. Both are in the heart of Edinburgh. Constantine joined us this morning. That was helpful. Tommy was able to hand out literature while Constantine recorded the preaching. Please pray for fruit that will remain and wisdom as we seek to make the most of this new Gospel opportunity. (Here is a link to the last 20 minutes of my first time street preaching as pictured below.)

The Lord gave us a good start to Sunday services in September with solid attendance is both Sunday School and Sunday morning. The weather change and the changing daylight hours is starting to be noticeable as we transition to the autumn. We had a very good summer this year in Scotland. We turned on one heater in the auditorium this morning to take the nip out of the air.

I preached this morning on Jesus cleansing a leper from Mark 1:35-45. My message title was, "You Ought To" and we looked at six "you ought to's" associated with Jesus from that story. There was a good spirit and I'm very thankful for each person who makes up our church. Thank you for praying for Free Baptist Church.

As some of you know, I asked for prayer about street evangelism in the video update I sent this past week. I've prayed for about 12 years that if God wanted me to do street preaching he would call me to do it. Those who know my testimony know that only the grace of God could enable me to step out into that ministry.

A couple weeks ago I saw street preachers in Edinburgh and I really wanted an opportunity to declare God's Word. I began praying again about street preaching sensing God was leading in this way. God gave me two verses. Numbers 21:8-9 "And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."

And so, we started praying about equipment (Portable PA system and mic) and got ready to go. 

Our speaker arrived yesterday and we enjoyed using it on our youth activity. Today, Tommy and I went into Edinburgh by a monument to the Duke of Wellington on Princess St and I preached. I preached for about an hour and 20 minutes and God gave exceptional liberty. Please pray for fruit that will remain. I know that I can't do this ministry, but I know God can. Please pray for God's continued enablement and wisdom. As always we appreciate your vital ministry of intercession.

Tommy made some new church signs which will hopefully help people to get into our church building. It's a bit confusing as you have to enter up a stairway in the back of the building. We have church greeters, but they are only out before the services. And so, I'm thankful for Tommy's help with this.

God gave us a good morning. We looked at finding God's will in our Sunday School lesson on the life of David. In the morning service I preached a message from Deuteronomy 12:1-7, "Diligently Do." The theme was on how to obtain God's blessing in the land of God's promise. 

Please pray for God to continue to do a great work in the hearts of God's people. We long to see His best for ever member of the body of Christ.

Parker was my door to door partner today. We had three back to back "not interested's" and I said to Parker, "Wow, it's tough today. Sometimes quickly closed doors are just the Lord hurrying you on to a good opportunity." As it turned out, God did have a great opportunity for us. We witnessed to a man in his 20's and had the privilige of sharing the Gospel with an open Bible in hand. Please pray with us that this man will trust Christ. He gave agreement to all vital parts of the Gospel. It would be a joy to see him trust Christ. Thanks for your prayers.

God gave us a productive week. Tommy went with me on Wednesday as we helped Pastor Dillman put flyers out in their area of Livingston. I was also able to complete the update video with the help of my family. I have sent a link to all of those who are connected with us by email. If you don't have access to our email updates and would like to see the video, please use the "contact us" form on our website or send us an email to our email address.

Yesterday, I went into Edinburgh to do evangelism. God gave me 3 good witnessing opportunities. The first was with a tall man. I said as I walked beneath him, "How's the weather up there?" That led to a fun conversation that focused on God's mercy. His idea of God's mercy is that God accepts sin and the sinner. I explained judicial forgiveness and God's mercy for us in punishing Christ in our place. He also did not want to agree with God about his sin. I ended with, "Until we acknowledge our sin we won't seek the Saviour."

The next opportunity was with two construction workers who appeared to be on break. I said as I walked up, "Break time already?" They laughed and entered into a conversation as I said, "Did you get to church yesterday?" The one man answered, "The pub is my church." I said, "You pay a lot to worship there." Most of our conversation was on how alcohol hurts us, our society and our family. Please pray for conviction. It was a straightforward conversation, but the man ended with, "I wish you all the best." I responded, "I wish you would find Christ."

The last conversation was with two alcoholics. They were drinking at 11:00 AM. They were middle aged men (36 and 45.) They acknowledged that their sin was killing them. I gave them John and Romans and explained the Gospel and God's power to deliver us from the power of sin. Please pray that God will set them free.

Today I put out leaflets on the South Side of Edinburgh about 2 miles from our church location. I had 3 short witnessing opportunities. One was with a man who was antagonistic about the content of the flyer. He said, "My idea of God is that He is a forgiving God (meaning he accepts sin and sinners.) I said, "Yes, but how does He forgive? By crucifying His Son for our sins." 

I also shot some short videos yesterday and today. A supporting church has asked for a video and I'm seeking to prepare something which we can share with all of our supporters to update you on our family and ministry. Thank you for praying and keeping up with our ministry.

God blessed us with a good evangelism week this past week. We did some organised evangelism on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Saturday, Katie and I did door to door. We enjoyed three good Gospel conversations. On Friday, I had a divine appointment with a shop clerk named Henry. Please pray for his salvation.

This morning our attendance was pretty good and there was a good spirit which is normal for our church. I preached on Luke 14:16-24, "It's Supper Time." It's amazing to think that our Lord prepared such wonderful spiritual provisions for us and that He personally seeks to get us to His table.

Please pray God's blessing on our evangelism whether through literature, door to door or other means. Thanks for praying.

It's been a good outreach week. Tommy went into Edinburgh with me on Tuesday. We stopped at the shop and bought him the same umbrella (see previous post) as the rain continued into Tuesday. We both had one good witnessing opportunity.

On Wednesday Don Dillman came my way and we put out the, "Open Letter" flyer in Loanhead and Liberton (outskirts of Edinburgh next to Loanhead.) 

Today, I put out the flyer again in Liberton for a short while this afternoong. 

Our prayer meeting went well last night. We celebrated the 21st b-day of a young man, Cameron, who attends our church. It was fun to suprise him with a Costco Cake (for all of us) and present him with a study Bible. Please pray for God's grace for Cameron.

Last night I preached lesson 3 in our study of 1 Peter. We looked at 1 Peter 1:6-7 focusing on what to remember in times of trial.

I did something today that I don't ever remember doing before in Scotland. I bought an umbrella. :) It was raining this morning, but I really wanted to get out and do some evangelism in Edinburgh. And so, I stopped and bought an umbrella. Thankfully, I only needed to be under it for about 30 minutes and then the rest of the time was just light rain. I put out the, "Open Letter" flyer.

God gave me three good divine appointments. The first is with a young lady who lives in Edinburgh. I hope she will visit the church. She is intrigued that we do not believe in evolution. (For those who don't know,.... God doesn't belive in evolution either. I'm thinking about writing a flyer entitled 10 reasons NOT to believe in evolution and if I do that is going to be reason number 1.)

The second conversation was with a man from England who was singing in a choir that was performing in Edinburgh. (It's festival season right now in Edinburgh and there are 1,000's of venues.) We had a good chat. Please pray for Richard to get saved.

The last opportunity was with a young man from London. He's 26 and is envious of people of faith. My first question for him was, "Are you willing to let God be God?" Most people do not want God to be God, but want to put themselves in HIs place. We had a good conversation as well. Please pray for Will.

There were other smalls chats and many Gospel flyers received by people from all over who are here for the festival. It was also encouraging to see  a street preacher down on Princess St. I stopped and spoke with some of the men that were with him. They were from several churches, but I believe they came over from Glasgow as their literature had that address. 

Thank you for praying for our outreach.