What a great start!  The Lord blessed us with 23 children yesterday. They all enjoyed it. The day was overcast and rainy. But, it didn't hinder the attendance at all and may have helped. 

The program ran very smoothly. The visiting team and our church folks worked very hard to make it a great day. Thanks for praying.

Tomorrow is the beginning of our Holiday Bible Time. We are very excited and trust that the Lord will give us a good week.  He gave us a great day today. The team helped with Sunday School. That was a blessing. They also participated in the ministry of music. That was a great encouragement as well.

This morning I preached on "To Go or Not to Go....that is the question.....but should it be?"  It was a topical message on church attendance.

Tonight we had a focused prayer time in preparation for the week. We also decorated the hall with posters and steamers. It is a fun environment which the kids will enjoy. Thank you for praying for this week. Here we go!

We are really enjoying our time with the group that is here. The Lord gave us a great turn out for our Thursday night Kid's Club. I think there were 19 children present. (Two of the children are from the States.) That is wonderful as we get ready to go into the week of HBT.

Today we are putting out more flyers and getting everything ready for our ministry this next week. Skits are being practiced. Songs are being prepared. Craft materials have been organized. Game props are being assembled. etc. We had a few divine appointments this morning as we put out flyers. Praise the Lord. Now, this afternoon, we are getting ready to put a banner out by the road. Tomorrow evening we will be decorating the hall where we meet. 

Thanks for your prayers. God's good. We are anticipating the good work that He is going to do this next week.

The team arrived with no other difficulty than an aborted landing and a safe return to the skies after touching down. They are adjusting to the time zone pretty well and helped put out some flyers today.  There were two divine appointments this morning. One older man has kept all of our flyers and still reads them on occasion. He also had the John and Romans. I had witnessed to him three years ago and he remembered the conversation. It was encouraging to hear that the Lord is working there although this man doesn't seem to be aware of it. 

This afternoon we went into Edinburgh and handed out flyers. I had a great opportunity to witness to David. Please pray for God to awaken this young man's heart. He had a tragic accident steal his faith in God. I shared news of the recent tragedy (bus accident) with him and told him of the faith of the parents.  His heart was tender and he thanked me for our conversation. We spoke for about 20 minutes.  

Thanks for praying for our upcoming HBT ministry. We are anticipating a great week.

I was able to put flyers out again this morning. I listened to a some good messages while I was walking. (Last week I downloaded several messages by Pastor Phelps.  On Sunday we learned of the death of his son. It's amazing to me how many times in these recent messages he referred to God's grace for trials. We are continuing to pray for those affected by this heart breaking loss and those who were injured.) The Lord helped me get out several hundred flyers.

This afternoon our friends who are helping us with HBT arrive. We are excited about this children's ministry next week. Please pray for God's blessing on each child who attends.

Our hearts broke this morning to learn of the tragic bus accident in Indianapolis. Most of you are probably aware that Colonial Hills Baptist Church lost 3 precious lives in the accident and that many others were injured. We know the families of two of those who died and have been praying for God's super abundant grace for all.

God gave us a good normal Sunday. These are the building blocks for the future and God gave us a solid day. I preached this morning on the lost coin and the lost sheep in Luke 15. Next Sunday I am preparing to preach on the lost son. I was encouraged today to realize that the Son of man has come to SEEK and to save that which was lost. Praise God He is active in pursuing.

Tonight we looked at the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. God had a plan to take the Gospel to Ethiopia and it involved a strategic encounter with a man seeking God and the man of God. Thanks for praying for our ministry. These are days where you are just trusting the Lord for another toe hold to get His work done. We appreciate your prayers.

A friend from our community who visits the church assisted me today as I put out flyers. It was good to have his help. His wife has been attending our ladies Bible study and he has been coming to a men's prayer time on Monday nights as well. It's good to have older Christians who are interesting in still serving the Lord.

The Lord gave a couple of very good opportunities. In our prayer time on Monday night we prayed for God to use the trials of life to bring people to Himself. I men a woman this morning who is going through a severe trial. Please pray for her. I gave her a copy of John and Romans and prayed with her that God would help her to know Him through His Word. Please pray that this will be a turning point in her sorrow and that she will find joy in Christ.

I also spoke with a man whose background in geology has led him to unbelief. It is sad because geology ought to lead people to the knowledge of a worldwide flood and a realization that there must be a God Who created and designed this world. He had grown up in what I believe was a Christian family.  His name is the same as the first man, whom he does not believe in. Please pray for God to open His eyes.

I spoke with three others for whom I have prayed. One indicated a desire to come and visit the church. Please pray for Him to follow through. Thanks for praying for our ministry in Loanhead.

My feet know that the flyer distribution has begun. I put flyers out this morning for close to 4 hours. I enjoy getting out in the community and today I also enjoyed listening to several messages while I walked. The Lord allowed me to speak with a couple people for whom I have been praying. I also had a few opportunities to speak to people about the Lord. Thankfully the hot spell has broken and we are enjoying more seasonable temps in the low 60's. Please pray for children to come in response to the flyers.

The Lord gave us a very nice time with family this past week. We spent a lot of time with Kirk and Carrie, Carrie's mom and brother and Katie's mom. We enjoyed the hottest weather Scotland has experienced in a long time. We hit 84 degrees on one day. That is almost ten degrees hotter than the hottest day we had ever previously experienced in Scotland. It has also been very dry. I purchased a sprinkler today. (I never thought I would do that in Scotland.)

God gave us a great day. It was a very normal good ministry day. I preached this morning on the Maniac's Message from Mark 5.  (I know that lends itself to jokes about the preacher....)

Tonight I preached on Simon in Acts 8. He looked saved but showed by his fruit that he was not a true believer.

God's good. We're very thankful for family time. We've been here for 3 and half years without returning to the States. Please pray for wisdom as we seek to do a furlough possibly the end of next year. We can only be out of the country for a total of 6 months in our first five years or we jeopardize our visa situation. Thanks for your prayers.

Parker turns 6 today! Wow! It seems like yesterday we were on deputation and heading out to Colorado with a ten day old for an 8 day missions conference at Beth Eden Baptist Church.

We are enjoying sharing the day with family. The kids and Katie went into the national museum to meet the rest of the family. I'm following them shortly.

I wanted to show you our HBT (VBS) flyer and encourage you to pray for our upcoming Holiday Bible Time. (It looks fuzzy in the photo below but the print is actually very clear.) We have a ministry team from Bethel Baptist in Shaumburg arriving on 30 July. We are praying that God will give us a great turn out. 

The Lord also gave me a great opportunity to witness to a Muslim young man in Dundee on Monday. I invited him to a tent meeting at the local park where I met him. (A good church in the area is having special meetings there this weekend.) Please pray for their outreach and that he will attend.

Katie's ladies Bible study on Monday nights is going really well. She had six ladies this past Monday.