Blog Dial Down

My time will get very tight in the coming month of June when I will
be finishing and then resubmitting my thesis by July 2. I will also be
tending to Cupar Old Parish Church, a fairly large church for Scot-
land, when my colleague goes on a personal retreat and then an ex-
tended holiday in June and July. I expect I will be especially pressed
for time in June. Therefore I am putting the blog on hold until I get
through June and into July. I appreciate you remembering me in your
prayers.


Blessings to you and yours. Over and out.

Gaining Momentum

Just recently my ministry colleague/supervisor at Cupar Old Parish
Church and I met with a representative from the Presbytery of St.
Andrews, and the same from the national office of the Church of Scot-
land. We met for the six-month evaluation of my one year placement
at Cupar Old Parish Church. I was quite pleased with the results of
the meeting and felt affirmed in my ministry.

My ministry colleague, Rev. Dr. Ken Jeffrey, asked about when I could
start looking for a permanent placement with a congregation. He expres-
sed his belief that I am ready to move on as soon after my end date of
October 31, as possible. The representative from the Church of Scotland
said that I could not accept a call to minister in a congregation until after
my final evaluation at the end of my probationary time. But he said he
would arrange to have mine early in September. That's the earliest time
he could convene an evaluation panel. Wow! I still can't believe I'm doing
this. This is exciting!

Ken will be away June and July for spiritual retreat and holiday. He
feels confident enough in me to put me in charge for that time. I hope it
will not be too busy. I will be doing a sermon series on the book of Ephe-
sians. I continue to carry on with my thesis. It is due by July 2, but I
may be submitting it by mid June. With so much to do over the past
six months I have certainly been developing my time management
skills. I am serious about the wise use of my time. It has been good for
me to develop in this area. Meanwhile there is no word on the process
of my visa from my immigration attorney. Anyway, I don't have any
time to seriously work on my visa until my thesis is submitted.

All the best to you and yours,

Force Multipliers for Christ's Kingdom

Last Sunday night I was excited. On the first and third Sundays of
the month there is an informal evening service at the parish hall of
the church where I serve as assistant minister. I often lead the even-
ing service, but because I had preached at the morning service, one
of the retired ministers led us in a communion service.

Last Sunday night after the service, three of us joined together as a
prayer group. There are normally six or seven of us, but several reg-
ulars were away for the weekend. For several years the group has
met after the evening service to pray for a long list of people and con-
cerns. It has been a privilege to meet with them ever since I first met
with them last November.

Before we prayed I asked the other two about the healing prayer con-
ference they had attended the day before. They shared with me their
desire to set up a healing prayer team composed of at least twelve peo-
ple from the five churches here in Cupar. They were eager to pray for
people and witness Jesus heal and transform the lives of sick and hurt-
ing people.

We had not been praying too long when a 30-something man walked
in the room and asked for our help. We invited him into our circle and
then chatted with him for a good long while. Some of his stories were
rather far out and wild, and I wondered if he might have released him-
self from the psychiatric hospital just outside of town.

It surprised me that he did not ask for money, but offered to give a lot
of money to the church. (Later he confessed that he did not have any
money at all). We listened to him and tried to answer a variety of ques-
tions that he posed. We offered to pray for him, but he backed away
from that.

I continued to talk with him alone outside the building. It was a good
chat, mainly about Jesus and about our need for him. I prayed a short
blessing for him, and soon he was off into the stillness of the night. My
heart really went out to him.

But what excited me was the eagerness of my two woman prayer com-
panions to reach out to this stranger and to minister to him in Jesus'
name and in the power of the Holy Spirit. They truly are prayer war-
riors. They were not discouraged by this encounter, but they talked
about wanting to do this type of ministry on a regular basis.

There is a tendency here in the Church of Scotland for her members to
expect the salaried ministers such as myself to do all the ministry-type
things. In contrast to this is the desire of these two women to do minis-
try themselves, and that really excites me! They desire to be force mul-
tipliers for Christ's Kingdom and not leave it up to the ministers such as
myself. My heart was thrilled to see them in action. I am starting to re-
cognize more members of the Scottish churches who also sense a calling
from God to become involved in ministry. They truly are force multi-
pliers for Christ's Kingdom!

All the best, and blessings to you and yours,