Paris, Thanksgiving, etc

I only have five minutes on this computer, and it has a French layout so some of the keys are in different places. That means I can only type a few words.

Tonight I was sitting by the River Seine in Paris with my legs dangling over the river. There was such a sense of peace. I am thankful for breaks like the one I have enjoyed this week. My brother came and I joined him in Paris for a few days after Thanksgiving. Before that I had a big dinner with an American family near Glasgow. It has been a good week. No time for details though. Time is up! Will write more soon!

Life is so fragile, handle with care

It never ceases to amaze me how fragile human life really is, and yet we tend to act as if we will live in this world forever. This year, I have been reminded again and again of the reality of our mortality. Less than 24 hours ago, I was hit with a double portion of this reality as in one phone call I found out about two people who had just lost their lives tragically.

One was Carlos Ortega. We called him Carlitos. He was a small man with a heart of gold. Whenever I went to Guadalajara, Mexico, he would be one of our main drivers. He would come to us in his old car and take us around to wherever we needed to go. He also helped out with our work in any way he could. He was the pastor of a small church in the city and really seemed keen to learn how to better help people. He also had a great sense of humour and could always make us laugh. I counted it a blessing to know him and always looked forward to the next time that we would meet.

I just found out, however, that Carlos stepped out into a street at the wrong time and was run over by a taxi. Next time I go back to work in Guadalajara, that huge city will seem empty without him in it.

The other was a pastor of a Spanish speaking church in America. I was actually just recently planning to call him because I wanted to take a friend of mine from Scotland to visit him at his church in a few months, but I got the news in the same phone call today that he also has just died. Apparently, he fell down a mountain in very suspicious circumstances. It appears that he has been pushed. I don't think it wise for me to write any details here at this time, but I was absolutely shocked.

It never ceases to amaze me how little value some people put on human life. That they would kill my friend like that horrifies me. Whatever their "motive" may be, it is just incomprehensible to me that someone could value ANY human life that little. However, it happens all the time. One of the new Christians in our church here has been dealing with the very same kind of horror, as his girlfriend was murdered a few months ago. Apparently, his brother killed the girl and then a few days later killed himself.

Life is precious, and we need to value it. We need to value the lives of others, and we need to value our own. The truth is, none of us knows how long we have in this life. We need to make the best of the time we have, and we also need to make sure we are ready for the life to come because we really don't know how long we have here. This isn't "sermonizing". This is reality, and I have been reminded of it more times than I like to think this year.

However, I refuse to despair. I will mourn, but I will not give up. I value life too much to spend the moments I have feeling sorry for myself. I will give tribute to the lives of those who have gone before me by living my life today as well as I can, ready for eternity while I value this moment that God has given me.

So for Carlos Ortega, Stan Grenz, Daniel Cordova, Bruno Radi, and the others I knew whose lives were taken so much earlier than expected in 2005, I give thanks. Each of their lives has helped to shape me in some way and to make me who I am today. But I will honour their lives, not by lying down in self pity at having lost such great influences in my life, but by living my life and valuing each day as a gift from God. Life is fragile. It must be handled with care...and it must be cherished.

Christmas Fayre

As I de-iced my car on Saturday morning and put my gloves on my freezing hands, I knew winter was officially on its way. And that meant that Christmas was also on its way. This fact became even more obvious as I arrived at the main hall of Oxgang Primary School and found Christmas music playing and Christmas decorations all over the room. I then knew for sure that Christmas season had officially arrived! The occasion with which we were welcoming the season was a Christmas fayre that the Riverside Church was hosting for the community of Kirkintilloch.

Various businesses and individuals took part in the Christmas Fayre. Stalls were set up selling designer clothes at good prices, hand-made Christmas cards, hand-made crafts of various kinds, and other items of interest. We also had a chocolate fountain, which brought joy to the many chocoholics in our midst, and Santa Claus himself came down from the North Pole in order to take part in the festivities. A great crowd of people came out to take part in the day, and Santa (who looked suspiciously like our own Ian Ross from church) gave away a lot of gifts to the many children who lined up to sit beside him in his grotto. Outside, there was also a fun fayre operating with bouncy castles and rides. I didn't envy the workers who were out there in the below freezing temperatures, but the children didn't seem to mind at all.













Feedback from the day's event has been fabulous. It was another good opportunity to make contact with the community and provide something for the people who live in Kirkintilloch, and we had great opportunities to share with people who just needed someone to talk to or who had questions about God and life. Some of these people also joined us in church for the first time the next day, giving us yet another opportunity to seek to know them a bit more. We also raised a good amount of money for underprivileged children that we will be using to buy gifts for children in poor families who would not otherwise be able to afford a gift for Christmas, so in every way it seems to have been a very good way to begin the Christmas season.

In the community

I had never been much into football (soccer, for those reading this in America), but recently I found myself in charge of a soccer tournament. It was a most interesting experience, and I must say it went really well.

A couple of weeks ago, as part of an effort to get the church more involved in the community, I was in charge of a family football tournament and fun day here in Kirkintilloch. The tournament was opened by Brown McMaster, the chairman of the Partick Thistle football club, and was well attended by the community. There was a good group of young people playing football, and we also had a fun fayre (kind of a mini-carnival) with various rides and attractions.

Graeme Adams, the worship leader at the church, worked with me to organise the event and did a wonderful job. Kenny French, from church, also proved invaluable in helping to organise and advertise the event, and just about everybody from the church participated in some way or another. We also had help from the Scottish Football Association, and local businesses helped to sponsor it in various ways. For example, Tesco (the grocery store) provided burgers and hotdogs for the barbecue that we had at lunch time. Also, the local newspaper was out to take pictures. It turned out to be a great day, and already I’m seeing signs in the community that the reputation of the church is beginning to change as people are seeing it as a group of people who care about and participate in the life of the community.

On the morning of the event, it looked like we were in trouble. The clouds were ominous and rain seemed certain. However, we felt confident that we were meant to continue, so we decided to go on with things with the assumption that the rain would not come. The weather held out for the whole day and the event was a great success. At the end of the day, the people running the fun fayre told us that they had two other events the same day in nearby towns that both got rained out, so ours was the only place where the weather allowed outdoor events to continue.

Now we’re getting ready for the next community event. This coming weekend, we are having a Christmas Fayre. Then next month we plan to focus on helping to give gifts to underprivileged children. It’s exciting to be able to be a part of making a difference in the community and to see people being touched by God’s love in a practical way.

Changed lives in Kirkintilloch

It’s been great to see how dramatically God has been changing lives lately here in Kirkintilloch. The main service at the church has grown considerably in recent months, and its done so not so much through bringing people in from other churches but through the addition of previously non-churched people coming into our midst and seeking God’s grace in their lives. And God has been granting what they’ve been seeking in some dramatic ways.

A couple of months ago, a young man came into our midst who was going through a terrible crisis. He had recently been in prison and had since experienced a double-tragedy in which two people he loved died violently. I just happened to be dropping by the pharmacy where he was getting some medication when the owner of the pharmacy told me there was someone there who could really use somebody to talk to. I sat down with him, and we talked about how nothing is impossible for God. He perked up and got really excited about the possibility that even his life was not an impossible thing for God to change. He started coming to church and soon came to faith in Christ.

The same young man brought two friends with him, and they also soon came to Christ. Then another young man came into the church through the Teen Challenge ministry that the church is involved with, and he gave his life to Christ on the same Sunday as they did. All four of these people are coming from rough backgrounds of drug-addiction, but it’s been amazing to see how dramatically their lives have been changing over the past couple of months.

We invited all four of these new Christians to have lunch with one of the families from the church on Sunday afternoons and then started having a “coffee chat” after lunch. The “coffee chat” has become an informal chat over coffee and tea about life and the things of God, and it has given us a great opportunity to help these new Christians to begin to grow and to begin to find some answers for situations they face in life.

One of the four brought a friend with him, and she expressed after the first coffee chat that she was really moved by the things we were talking about. On Wednesday afternoon, she came to the Coffee Corner, which is the coffee afternoon we have at the church in which the church is turned into a coffee shop for the afternoon and people from the community come in to visit. We had a talk over coffee, and she asked Christ into her life.

Now there are others who are starting to come into our midst from the same kinds of rough backgrounds. On Wednesday night I stopped by the church to make some photo-copies, and a young man just “happened” to be passing by and see the lights on in the church. He walked in and began to share about his need to get his life right. He said he’d come to church on Sunday.

Then today, which is Saturday, I was working on sermon preparation in D’inisi, my favourite local coffee shop, and this same young man “happened” to come in for a cappuccino. We had a great talk about God and about his life, and he went away excited about coming to church tomorrow and about seeking a new beginning in life.

Also, on the same Wednesday night, I met another man who was standing in the parking lot of the church as I was leaving. He asked, “What do you do in that building?” I explained that it was where a church met. He said, “Really? That’s interesting because I was just thinking that I need to seek God and try to get my life right.” He asked if we could help him, and I expect to be seeing more of him as well.

In addition to all of these people who are coming from the background of addiction problems, a number of other new people have come into the church lately as well. It’s exciting to watch as they grow in the realisation of God’s love for them and to see their lives changing day by day.

It seems that the foundation that has been laid over the last couple of years here is starting to really bear fruit. My prayer is that when I leave here just before Christmas, we will have everything in place for all these precious people to continue to be helped and encouraged in their faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that we are working well in that direction as they seem to be relating well with the people who are being prepared to continue working with them in the year to come.

As I prepare for yet another new beginning in my ministry at the end of the year, I am thankful for all the people who have been experiencing a greater new beginning in their lives here in Kirkintilloch. All the glory belongs to God. “He who began a good work…will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6b)

Irish bluegrass

It was a scene I would have expected in the hills of the deep south in America. But it wasn't America. It was Northern Ireland.

A few weeks ago, whilst over in Northern Ireland for the weekend, I walked into a house I'd never been to before and took my banjo with me. A friend of mine had asked me to bring it with me because the owner of the house liked the banjo and wanted to meet me. My colleague, Mark, was with me with his guitar, so we started playing. As we played, other musicians started showing up with instruments such as the mandolin, guitar and others, and before we knew it there was a bluegrass jam session in full swing.

After we played for awhile, the owner of the house told me that they had a bluegrass band and had been asked to play for a big event in Cork for Saint Patrick's Day next year. However, they had a problem. They didn't have a banjo player, and bluegrass is incomplete without a banjo.

He said they would fly me to Ireland for the event if I would play with the band for the event. I said, "I would be glad to, but I'll be in America at the time so it would be an expensive flight." However, he was not put off by this. He said they would fly me out from America if I could just make room for the event in my calendar.

I agreed, so in a few months I'll be taking on a new role...playing banjo in an Irish bluegrass band. Life is always full of new adventures and surprises.

My computer crashed

Though my schedule is still very busy, I've reached a point of balance where I could start keeping up with things like my journal if it weren't for one thing. My computer's crashed! I've had a lot of trouble with it lately, and it has finally reached the point that it can no longer be saved. I'm borrowing a friend's computer today so I can catch up on urgent things, but I don't think I'll be able to really catch up with things until I have another computer. I have a new one on the way next week, however, so I plan to write more then...