Sozo and SOLAS

For a number of years now, I have had two key interests: Christian heal-
ing and the renewal of Christ's Church. Those two interests have only in-
tensified in me as I have been in Scotland, especially the last two years
as I have committed myself to ministering here longterm. Last Saturday
I had an opportunity to develop those two interests in the reality of liv-
ing in Scotland. It made for a long but rewarding day.

Saturday morning I went to a training session put on by the leaders of
the Healing Room ministry in Cupar that I am a part of. Our small group
of eight people has been offering prayer to persons in the town of Cupar
since early in the year. We meet every Thursday at 6:30 pm for prayer
and praise. From 7:30 until 9:00 we break up into twos and threes and
pray for people who come into the YMCA. We have been averaging two
people a night coming into Healing Rooms for prayer. I have witnessed
people's lives being changed and healed over time.

Saturday the team members and several people interested in healing
gathered to listen to the first DVD of a program called Sozo. The pro-
gram comes from the healing ministry of a church in Northern California.
There are four training DVDs, and we heard the first one on receiving
God's forgiveness and forgiving others. The Greek word sozo means to
save, deliver, heal, and preserve. That's our aim every Thursday night
as a group of us gather for our weekly Healing Room. For over ten years
now I have yearned that healing in all dimensions would be a vital part
of my pastoral ministry in a local congregation. So the training on Satur-
day and, indeed, the past year has been a wonderful time for me to devel-
op in healing ministry.

Then in the afternoon I went to a conference co-sponsored by Ravi Zach-
arias International Ministries and a group called SOLAS. The conference
focused on Jesus bringing light and life to all people in Scotland. I have
always admired the evangelistic and apologetic ministry of Ravi Zacha-
rias and his large international team. What Francis Schaeffer was for
generations of Christians emerging in the 1970s and 80s, Ravi is for the
younger Christians coming of age in a whole different world. I had ex-
pected that only 50 people would turn up, but there were over 600
people in attendance. SOLAS, a Scottish ministry, was the main spon-
sor of the conference. Solas is a Gaelic word meaning light and the min-
istry seeks to be light in the darkness by promoting the proclamation of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
SOLAS emphasizes that the Cross of Jesus Christ is central to the procla-
mation of the Gospel. I left the conference with a renewed focus on what
God did through Christ on the Cross and with a bigger view of what God
is doing here in Scotland, the UK, and Europe.

The singing at the conference was out of this world. People really sang
from their hearts. The conference ended with In Christ alone my hope
is found, one of my favorite songs. I end this posting with the first stanza:

In Christ alone my hope is found,
he is my light, my strength , my song;
this cornerstone, this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

Blessings to you and yours,