An Eye Update

My eyes just a couple of days ago.
A big difference from early this year.

Last Friday I was into the Eye Clinic at the Aberdeen 

Royal Infirmary for my latest checkup on my right eye. 

My doctor, Dr K, was quite pleased with the progress 

of my eye since the surgery I had in early June. The 

inflammation was greatly reduced and the pressure in 

the eye was up to where it was suppose to be. I went 

away quite pleased with the progress of my eye. I will 

be back for another checkup in four weeks. 

Last May, just before my surgery, I would never have expected such a positive report from Dr 

K. My right eye had been shrinking for several years. But late last year the eye became greatly 

inflamed and the pressure inside it dangerously low.  I was not in pain, but I could not keep my 

eye lid open. During the winter and spring of this year I was travelling down to the Eye Clinic 

every other week, sometimes once a week. At one point the eye was in such poor condition and 

deteriorating so rapidly that I was informed that the eye might be lost. I prepared for the worse.  

But that is when I experienced with my own eyes the power of prayer. Dear Christian brothers 

and sisters in my hometown were praying mightily for my eye. Here in NE Aberdeenshire I re-

ceived prayer from others in the Christian family. Word spread among believers throughout the 

area. I really felt supported by the prayer of Christian brothers and sisters both far and wide. 

People whom I had not known have stopped me on the street and elsewhere to ask me how my
eye was. They were happy to receive the report that I gave, that their prayers were answered in
such a positive way. I am firmly convinced that the power of prayer changed what had been a
very terrible situation for me into one of healing and life. 

My eye is doing so well that sometimes I forget what a traumatic situation I was in the first half

of this year. It seems so long ago and so far way. How easily I forgot how the Lord Jesus was 

there for me as my Good Shepherd. I am mindful of how fragile life is and how quickly situa-

tions can change. But whether I am in good times like now or in bad times, God is God, and I 

am not, and God is my Shepherd. I ask for your continued prayers on my behalf, for my life
and ministry as well as for my eye.  Be sure to see the photo just below. 

The Right Rev Dr trying to look silly. 

Blessings to you and yours, 

                                             

Sunday, Sunday, Up in the Pulpit

The pulpit, organ, and Communion Table at St Fergus
Parish Church

The picture at the left shows the front part of the sanctuary of St Fergus Par-ish Church. There is a depth of rich-ness of colors of the sanctuary. I was thrilled by its beauty ever since I first set foot in the church in early June of last year. My favorite time of the week is Sunday when I lead the worship ser-vice here every Sunday. My favorite time in the service is when I mount the steps of the pulpit to preach. 

Ever since I first came to the church, I have preached from the pulpit. I would rather preach from down below, closer to the people; but that would just not sit right with the people in the pews. It is not a battle I choose to fight, so I preach from the pulpit. I am a happy camper just as long as I am preaching, whether from above in the pulpit or down below on ground level. I enjoy preaching every Sunday from the pulpit. Except for twenty-two occasions to preach during the year of pas-toral ministry in 2008/09, I had few times to preach from the middle of 2003 until the middle of 2012. One reason I love being here at St Fergus Parish Church is that I have the opportunity to preach every Sunday.

In over thirty-five years preaching, I have always carefully selected my preaching text. I tended to choose passages from the Psalms or the epistles of Paul. But here I've decided to follow the gos-pel readings of the Lectionary.  This year the Gospel Readings have been from Luke. Each Sun-day I preach from the selected reading from that Gospel. For the last several months the readings for each Sunday have been from the parables of Jesus in Luke. I find the parables challenging to preach on and have tended to disregard them in my sermons. But since I committed myself to keeping to the discipline of preaching from the Gospel passage assigned in the lectionary, I preach from Jesus' parables. Each week when I begin my study and reflection on the assigned text from Luke, I always wonder how I can preach from this text. But by the time I enter into the pulpit to preach the text, I am excited to share what I have learned during the week. 

The reason that I choose to preach from the assigned Gospel readings from the lectionary each Sunday is because they focus on who Jesus is and why the Father sent him into the world. The dear people of St Fergus Parish Church are good and decent, even religious; but they know very little about Jesus Christ. They haven't heard on a consistent basis what is of first importance: that Jesus died on the Cross for the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the Scriptures and that he arose from the grave, also in accordance with the Scriptures. The people in the pews have heard that, and yet they really have not heard it. My task as a preacher is to proclaim the life-giving Gospel of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ whenever I preach and Sunday by Sunday. I am held to that by keeping to the assigned lectionary texts of the Gospel of Luke. As I climb the steps into the pulpit at St Fergus Parish Church each Sunday, I am excited. It is the highpoint of my week. I am proclaiming the Gospel of the Jesus of the Cross and the Empty Tomb. There is no other message I'd rather proclaim. As always, I ask for your continued prayers. 

Blessings to you and yours, 

Andwele-'God Brings Me'

Andwele teaching at the popular Bible
Teaching time Friday evenings at  
St Andrews Church/Peterhead.

I have a dear friend, colleague, and brother in the Lord named Andwele, although that is not his real name. Andwele is a name from Africa that means God brings me. Both Andwele and I share the same conviction that God has brought both of us here to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and the people of the Northeast of Scotland as ministers with the Church of Scotland.  

Andwele came to Peterhead via the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (his homeland and where he entered into the ministry), Kenya (where he did advanced biblical and theological studies and was active in Christian ministry), and Aberdeen (where he did his doctoral work in biblical studies and was invited to minister with the Church of Scotland). Because he is from the DRC, French is his primary language.  But because he has studied and ministered in Kenya and Scotland, Andwele has become remarkably proficient in English. Like me, he is doing everything he can to understand and speak the Doric Tongue.   

We enjoy the company of each other. Whenever we are together we talk, talk, talk. We talk a lot about what we see God doing here in the Peterhead area. We both have enjoyed the scholarly side of the Christian faith by going through the research process for our PhDs. Both of us are pastors, seeking to be in relationship with people in our con-gregations as well as those outside. Andwele has a passion for evangelism (sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who do not yet know Him). I focus on building up and equipping believers for life and ministry in Christ. We firmly believe that God is mightily at work here in the North East of Scotland. We also strongly believe that both of us have been especially prepared and equipped to play a part in the revival and renewal of God's People in this region. We are encouraged to meet with other men and women who have been yearning (some for over a decade)  for God to do a new thing in these parts. We get excited when we look to see what God is doing in these days and desire to play our part as God leads us.

I have a lot of fun being with Andwele. He is confirmation to me that I am called by the Lord to be here in Aberdeenshire and in St Fergus Parish Church. Andwele is a fellow scholar / pastor, a dear brother, a wonderful colleague, and a close friend. As you remember me in your prayers, also remember Andwele. I will try to remember to do further postings about him in the future.

Blessings to you and yours, 

The Joy of Preaching

I know, I haven't posted on the blog since August. Well, I have my reasons and I will share them
with you in postings to come, but not now. I just want to briefly share with you my joy of preach-
ing. When I mount the steps into the pulpit on Sunday mornings at St Fergus Parish Church, I feel
like a knight in full armour mounting his war horse, prepared for defending and extending the Roy-
al Realm. I am Sir Geoffrey the Lion-Hearted, groomed and trained for battle. As a preacher, I go
forth armed with Truth, Faith, and Prayer as only a few of my armour and arms. I experience great
joy in preaching as a valiant knight serving Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  

But I also enter the pulpit as Pastor Jeff the Tender-Hearted. I am a brave knight in my imagina-
tion, but I am a Pastor/Shepherd by calling. As I look out into the congregation, I see the faces
of women and men, boys and girls, with names that I seek to learn. I have heard the stories and
struggles of many of them. I sense a compassion for them that is a little bit like, but nowhere
near, the love that a mum has when her newborn is placed in her arms. I also know first hand the
stupid games we humans play with God and ourselves and how our hearts are prone to foolish wandering. We are utterly lost. And I, the God-ordained undershepherd, am called by the Good Shepherd himself to give my life for God's sheep. That contributes to the joy of preaching as well.

As I am up in the pulpit preaching, I realise that I am also Jeff the Broken-Hearted. It comes from
being a sinner as well as being sinned against. I need the blessed balm of the Gospel, of the Cru-
cified and Risen Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. I need God's forgiveness. I need to forgive
those who have hurt me. The forgiveness that only Jesus can bring is at the heart of the Gospel.
We are all broken-hearted and in desperate need of the Gospel. Only the Cross and Empty Tomb
of Jesus Christ can make us whole-hearted. This is what gives me great joy in preaching: preach-
ing the powerful, life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Blessings to you and yours,