What a beautiful day...

Last night at the Bible study/prayer meeting, the Lord was faithful to His Word…where two or three are gathered in His name…well, we had three times that…six ladies and three men in attendance. Quite frankly, I felt like a fish in a bowl surrounded by nine half starved cats. This was the first Wednesday night meeting I have done in the Snizort Parish. The people of Scotland are very reserved. I have noticed that if I don’t ask them for their name when I introduce myself to them they won’t give their name. Isn’t that weird. It is just one of those cultural enigmas. All in all they are very friendly, but they don’t initiate their feelings well.

I am doing a quick run-through of several of the highlights on trials and suffering in 1 Peter. Last night we were reminded by Peter that because we have been born again we have an imperishable, undefiled inheritance in Jesus that will not fade away that is reserved in heaven for us. The trials of our lives are not there to beat us down, but to perfect in us the very same essence of trust and faith in the Father that was present in Jesus. Just one amen would have been nice to let me know the people were with me. However quiet it was, I had the confidence of knowing that God had led me to say the things I did. Afterward, four or five people said that they were encouraged and two, in particular, made a point of saying that what I said was perfect for that group. Apparently, several of them have had a rough go of it recently. One of the ladies asked me when I was going to share my testimony. She had heard from a friend in Broadford that I had given my testimony and that it had really ministered to several there. I told her that I would do it next Wednesday. So please be praying for that.

Some of you know how much I love the wind. Today it has been howling. Yippee! I have just come in from standing out in the almost gale-force gusts. The wind is coming in from the north and was quite chilly. I could only take it for about 30 minutes. I could have enjoyed it longer but a heavy mist is hanging over the mountains and I could actually feel the moisture. I can’t recall if I have told you this or not, but the sun doesn’t set here in the summer until about 10:45pm and the sky is still full of light until around midnight. And then the sun rises at about 4:30am. It has really messed with my sleep! For those of you who play golf, this is literally golf heaven. Just think, you could tee off at 5am and get in 5 rounds of golf, easy. Anyone ever played 90 holes in one day? Who knows, maybe I will give it a try while I am here….eat your heart out.

Tomorrow, I will be driving to Dunvegan, which is on the west central coast of the Isle. It is there that I will be serving during August and September. I thought I would go and just scope it out and see what I will be looking at. It is quite chilly today and continues to blow hard...I love it!!!

I will be preaching in Uig and Anisort on Sunday morning and then at Kensaleyre in the evening. Usually, an interim preacher is not allowed by the Church of Scotland to preach more than twice. I don’t know the rationale behind that, but the elders didn’t think that it would be a problem, since I am only in the parish for one month. The parish has been without a pastor for almost a year and the elders are the ones who carry the preaching responsibilities and since they have been at it that long, I thought I would give them a break. They each responded with smiles of appreciation.

I am continually amazed that my heavenly Father has blessed me with this opportunity to minister among the Scottish people. I don’t know what the eventual fruit of this time will look like, but I know that I stand on His promise that His Word will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieves the purpose for which He sent it. (Is. 55:11) Thank you for upholding me before the Father’s throne of grace.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25

The Word going forth...

I woke up this morning to a howling wind. For me, the stronger the better. I love the wind. And there was a light mist in the wind, which made it even better. On my way to Broadford, I just had to pull off the side of the road and stand in the blustering wind and thank God for His power and grace. I want to have the fresh wind of the Spirit on me the whole time I am here...for His glory!

Well, it has been a week since I was able to add to the blog. I was staying in Broadford until the Snizort manse was made ready for occupancy. I had access to the internet, there, but as of yet I do not even have a phone at the new manse. I have been told that one is in process. Every country has its own version of "red tape", and I think the phone system here embodies theirs'. Anyway, I am back in Broadford for the day, due to a funeral.


Ben Johnstone, the pastor of the Sleet Parish, is away in Italy for a wedding (thus, enabling me to stay in his home while away) and he had asked me to cover for him in the case of emergencies or funerals. Guess what? I will be doing my first funeral in Scotland. Though the man was highly respected and considered a wonderful gentleman and church-goer, there is no evidence that he ever made a personal commitment to Christ, in a public way. His family, his surviving children were equally warm and cordial to me (I am sure they never dreamed that their father would be presided over by a foreigner...though they did comment on the fact that, given the fact that my name did have Scottish origins, made them feel like I was sorta homefold). None of them have ever made a confession of Christ and I was able to share the Good News of Christ's saving grace. They gave me permission to say whatever I felt led to at the service tomorrow, so we will have a evangelistic service!! Praise His name!! As I told them, God desires that life come out of this death. The service is Tuesday, July 8, at twelve noon. For those of you reading this, that means if you are wanting to pray for the service, you will have to do so before you go to bed tonight, otherwise you will be praying ex post facto.


The manse that I am staying in, in Kensaleyre, is a two story home, with, get this, five bedrooms, a huge study, 2 1/2 baths, a huge kitchen, tons of storage space, a wash room, garage and a view that would be worth it if it were just a one room house. I will be there this month and then I will go to, what is referred to by others as, an even nicer house, in Dunvegan. I will be there in August and September, while Linda and her family come for a visit.




I preached in two churches yesterday...Uig and Arnisort. Each church had about 25-30 present and there was a warm reception by both to the Word of God. Over the course of the next three weeks, I will be preaching three times on Sunday and leading a Bible study at the midweek prayer service in Kensaleyre.



Please attend yourselves to Colossians 4:2-4. When you pray, pray this passage on my behalf.