Fear is a liar!

On Monday, I has the privilege of speaking to the Portknockie ladies guild.  It was my first time to attend a ladies guild, but what a fun day it was.  As it was my first time, and Portknockie is such a wee village, I will admit that I had fairly low expectations for attendance and engagement.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  These ladies take their guilds very seriously, and that was so refreshing.

I was invited to this event last fall, so I’ve had plenty of time to come up with my message and I didn’t really feel any sort of pressure or nerves as the date drew closer.  I had intended to use my thoughts on the Lord’s Prayer (the podcast I did in January, for Radio Free Buckie) as it was a pretty easy message from a fairly well-known passage of scripture.  Last week, as I was looking over my notes and praying about my time with the ladies I felt the Lord was leading me in a different direction than the one I’d planned to go in.  In fact, I felt it was pretty clear he wanted me to scrap the Lord’s Prayer message entirely and talk about fear instead.  What?!

As I was praying about the afternoon and looking over my notes, 2 Timothy 1:7 kept coming into my mind, “He has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but one of power, love, and self-discipline.”

Seriously?!  Who was I to talk to anyone about not living in fear?  I’m the kind of person who loves the adjectives, low-risk and secure.  I don’t dislike change like many people do, but I don’t really fancy the idea of high-risk anything.  Bungie jumping, parachuting, swimming with sharks, fear factor kinds of things that get your adrenaline pumping are absolutely, 100% not for me.  I like certainty.  I like organization.  I like well-planned, well-thought out endeavors.

In the end, the Lord won, and I ended up talking about how fear is a liar.  The kind of fear the Enemy whispers in our ear makes us focus on ourselves – on our intellect, gifts, skills, talents, as well as our shortcomings, anxiety, envy, pride, jealousy, fear, low-self esteem, and our past failures, and keeps us from fully relying on God to step in and shine through us.  This kind of fear makes us plant our feet in the sand and say to the Lord, “I will go this far, and no further,” because we cannot control or manipulate the outcome.  In our own strength and intellect, we cannot guarantee a win.  And that’s the point.

Satan absolutely does not want you and I to be reliant on God to accomplish His purposes in this world.  If I only allow myself to be used by God to the extent that I can accomplish the work on my own intellect, gifts, skills, and talents than I’m able to keep all of the glory for myself, and that’s not how God works.  He works best through my weaknesses – in the times when I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that without Him and his intervention, there is no way that I can do what it is He’s called me to do.

Without Him, I am not going to be able to talk to that person about Jesus.  Without Him, I’m not going to be able to serve effectively in this ministry he’s given me.  Without Him, I’m not going to be able to love people like he loves them.  I’m not going to be able to be the kind of encouragement, or teacher, or prayer warrior, or life example He has called me to be.  And that’s exactly what our Enemy wants from us – for us to be self-reliant, mediocre Christians who look only within ourselves for the ability to get things done for Jesus.  Because he knows that when we act in our own power, on our own intellect, within our own gifts, skills, and talents we will be far less effective for Jesus than we would be if we’d just say, “Yes, Lord, whatever it is You want me to do, I’ll do.  Where ever You want me to go, I’ll go.  However You want me to serve, I’ll serve.”  And then for us to fully trust in Jesus to show up and show out when He promised he will.

What about you?  Has the Lord asked  you to do something specific, and you’re pushing back because you know its way outside of your comfort zone?

~Brittan~

Revival? What’s that?

Missionary life is, in a word, difficult.

It’s not necessarily troublesome because we sold everything that offered us stability and a life in America. That’s scary, sure, especially when the time comes for us to move back.  We’ll have to find a way to start over from scratch, but that’s a problem for another day, and one that can be solved fairly simply.  The Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills, I have no doubt that when He calls us back to the States he’ll provide for our needs there.

Missionary life is not problematic because we moved thousands of miles away from everything and everyone we know and love.  Ten years ago, that might have been a legit consideration, but thanks to technology and the Internet, we can talk to our family and friends every single day for free, if we like.  And, we have made some beautifully dear friends here in Scotland, and leaving them now, or in the foreseeable future, would absolutely break our hearts.

Missionary life is not particularly arduous because we’ve had to learn and adapt to a new culture, new foods, new ways of doing things, a new language, new government structures, etc. To be honest with you, we positively love, love, love living here.  A small town isn’t for everyone, but it is for us.  A small church isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it is ours.  A mature congregation isn’t often the target audience pastors and church planters set their sites on, but we serve here with gladness.  We’re living out God’s purpose for our lives here, and you’re a part of that.

What makes missionary life so wearisome are unmet expectations in why we came here to begin with.  As you know, we came here three years ago to help usher in revival.  To reinvigorate the Church in Buckie – not just the Church of Christ, but the Church in general.  We came to teach, preach, disciple, and proclaim who Jesus is and what he’s done for the human race.  We’re here to help people understand the greater purpose for their lives, and to bring hope, help, and restoration to broken and hurting hearts and families.  We came to see the Gospel transform a community in rapid decline.  We came to help others who are on the same journey.  We came to see Jesus move in mighty and undeniable ways…..and we’re still waiting.

We haven’t been resting on our laurels; hoping, praying, or believing that all we needed to do was show up and God would show out.  We’ve been busy – praying, fasting, searching, working, and listening for the Lord to direct our path here, and He has.

We haven’t been frequently distracted by worries over money.  When you live 100% on the generosity and faithfulness of others, money worries can easily overwhelm and terrify you.  But the Lord has graciously given us absolutely amazing partners – that’s YOU!  Because of your devotion to the work of the Gospel here in Scotland we have been able to share Jesus with more people than we can count.

When we moved here in 2017, I purchased a dozen NLT bibles to give away, and it took us two years to give all of them out.  This past Christmas, we made an appeal for fund to purchase another dozen NLT bibles to be given out during our Christmas in Narnia events, and praise be to the Lord, y’all responded in a big way.  In case you haven’t already heard, we gave out SIX of those bibles to new Believers in less than six weeks!!  We’re planning to have a baptism service sometime in March to celebrate the decisions that have been made for Him because YOU helped us give away a Bible.

When we arrived at the Buckie Church of Christ in July, 2017, Sunday morning attendances fluctuated between 8 and 14 people, depending on what week of the month it was. On January 5, 2020 we had 30 people attending, with 10 folks out (traveling, working, or ill).  In 2017, there were ZERO families with children coming to the church.  Today, we have 6 kids who attend regularly with their families, and I can say with joy that their singing, laughing, and rustling sounds are breathing new life back into the dried out bones of the Church.

Yes, God is absolutely, positively, undeniably moving here!  But it looks a whole lot different than revival does in America.  And it certainly looks a whole lot different than what we imagined or expected.  The Church here is decimated, numerically but also spiritually.  The State Churches are so liberally minded and politically tied that they have become a roadblock to evangelical Christianity.  State churches and many of the mainstream denominational churches hold the tenants of their denomination above the authority of Scripture; and where the two disagree these churches opt to uphold and proclaim their denominational creed over Biblical mandates.

There are pastors all over the country (including our wee village!) that openly deny the authority and inerrancy of the Scripture.  They stand in their pulpits and preach a social gospel that feeds people’s egos and idols, but does not call for true repentance of sin, righteousness in living, or accountability to God’s authority as Lord and Saviour of their lives.  These are good men and women, who love people and have a genuine desire to help others, but they are paving a path to hell that is being gladly followed by millions!

In this country, the Gospel is under direct attack from both that government and the State church.  Traditional family values are under attack.  The Bible has been disregarded and deliberately tossed in the rubbish bin in favor of political correctness, a false sense of tolerance, and whatever ‘gospel’ is being preached by the deepest wallet.  Christians are being told by the government that we cannot call sin, sin.  We cannot tell people their lives are a mess because they are living outside of God’s will for them.  We cannot tell them that Jesus loves them and died for them.  And that’s not just outside of our own walls….the government is now regulating what we say INSIDE our churches.

This week alone, the Scottish and English parliament’s have revoked Franklin Graham’s speaking tour of the UK; siting his views on traditional family values and same sex marriage as hate speech, which flies in the face of the political and social agenda of the UK.  The Destiny Church movement in Scotland, offered their buildings as open venues for Franklin Graham to come and speak in, and the town councils where those churches are located have (at the behest of Parliament) issued immediate eviction notices to the Destiny Churches who are meeting in rented buildings within those communities.   You see, Jesus and the Gospel are under direct attack here in Scotland and the UK.  Christians are being openly persecuted for holding Biblical views and morals.

Recently, we announced on Facebook that Chick-fil-A had opened a restaurant in Aviemore, Scotland, despite having to close their location in England because of the LGBTQ uproar.  The owner of the resort where the restaurant was opened has claimed to be a Christian and was prepared to take the heat because his customers had been so pleased with the service and quality to that point.  I am sad to report, that restaurant has now closed down after being open less than 6 months because the political pressure the Scottish Parliament and their affiliates put on that business owner; simply because Chick-fil-A stands for traditional family values and support Christian based programs and initiatives.  Satan is hard at work in the UK, using whatever means necessary to thwart the message and hope that is brought through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christians feel they no longer have a voice as these types of attacks build in momentum and frequency.  The Church is discouraged.  Evangelical pastors are tired and disillusioned.  Satan believes he can smell the stench of defeat in the air and is gathering his forces for a mighty ambush, set to inflict a fatal blow.

What can we do if its this bad already?  We wait.  We watch.  We pray.  And we stay focused on the certainty of the task the Lord has set before us – to go into all the world, teaching and proclaiming the Gospel, making disciples, and baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because only He can bring the gift of new life.

Because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection power that raised him triumphantly from the grave, Satan is an eternally defeated foe, and he knows it.  But that fact does not stop me (and you) from conceeding defeat in our personal lives to the Enemy.  When we become so focused on our own discouragments, unmet expectations, disappointments, and the skirmishes around us we deny the Lord’s power and provision that, “greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.”  As Christ followers, the Lord did not call us to wallow in the hard, but he, through Jesus Christ, has given us the authority and power to boldly proclaim the Gospel until he returns again, despite the hard.

So yeah, revival is coming.  Will it be easy?  Definitely not. Will I see it in my lifetime? Maybe…maybe not.  Am I allowed to get discouraged?  Sure, for a minute or two.  But then, I embrace the difficulties that come with being a Christ follower and I put my armour back on and join the battle again.  What about you?

~ Brittan ~

 

More than just a chipped china inheritance

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved my Gram’s dinnerware.  It isn’t anything especially fancy or particularly expensive.  In fact, I believe she acquired it with coupons, piece by piece from the grocery store sometime in the 1950’s.

Johnson Brothers Friendly Village is a traditional dinnerware pattern best known for its charming depictions of idyllic village scenes.  Regardless of how my Gram came by it, it was always a part of my childhood and reminds me of her.  To this day, whenever I pull out a plate or bowl, I am transported back in time to hot Kansas summers spent with my Gram canning sandhill plum jelly, and holiday dinners and family celebrations.

Before she passed away, my Gram, a wealthy woman, asked each of her four grandchildren what we wanted after she was gone.  For me, it wasn’t her jewels or crystal, or her silver service, or valuable knick-knacks; what I really wanted was the chipped-up Friendly Village dinnerware in the kitchen cupboard that will forever remind me of the sweet times spent with my Gram and Grandpa.  Out of all the things of value that she owned, that was my choice, a seemingly worthless set of broken dinnerware.

The Ladies Bible Study group at church recently began a study in the book of Ephesians, and this week we spent some time looking at verses 15-23.  I was particularly moved by verse 18:

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance (emphasis added by me).”  Ephesians 1:18

So many times, we (as Believers) focus on our inheritance – our position in Christ Jesus as heirs to his Kingdom, and we overlook the fact that before we were ever given the opportunity to become His heirs, He chose us to be his inheritance.  Do you see how amazing that is?  Out of all creation throughout eternity, Jesus chose us – You and Me to be his inheritance.  And the verse doesn’t just classify us as an everyday, run of the mill, “oh…so I got that” kind of inheritance either.  It calls us his rich and glorious inheritance.  Woah…  I have wondered how that conversation might have gone between God the Father and Jesus.  I can imagine it was probably pretty similar to the one I had with my Gram regarding her ‘worthless every day dinnerware’ and my ostensibly foolish choice.

As I’ve pondered over this scriptural revelation, I have wondered what exactly Paul meant when he used the words ‘rich’ and ‘glorious’ to describe humanity as an inheritance.  I mean, I look at humanity and I would have probably more easily chosen the adjectives: stubborn, selfish, egotistical, deceitful, arrogant, willful, cruel, and narcissistic just to name a few off the top of my head.  Webster’s defines glorious as: delightful, wonderful, completely enjoyable, brilliantly beautiful or magnificent, and splendid.  For rich, Webster’s suggests: precious, high-priced, dear, intense, vibrant, fruitful, luxuriant, and valuable.  Definitely not words I would have chosen; I’m so glad the Holy Spirit didn’t consult me.

But you know, this revelation doesn’t just end here.  Not only did Jesus choose us as his rich and glorious inheritance, but he chose to pay for us as well (1 Corinthians 6:20 – “for God bought with a high price (NLT)).  Hold up, wait a minute!  Paying for something seems to negate the idea of that something being an inheritance.  And yet, Jesus knew that for us to be an eternal inheritance – to be allowed to spend eternity in Heaven with Him and God the Father would require a payment – a sacrifice.  His sacrifice.  You see, Jesus didn’t just want us for a wee while.  He wants us, His rich and glorious inheritance, forever.  Wow!

This verse certainly has added a new depth to my faith because it reminds me that while I might not think of myself as worthy, valuable, magnificent, or beautiful Jesus always has.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on us being Jesus’ inheritance and what that means to you.  Please leave your comments and questions below.

 

Still learning, at my age

Where I come from the tendency is to categorize people one of two ways – you’re either a grace person or a truth person.  Me, I tend to be a truth person (big surprise!), although I often wish I could be more like my husband who is clearly a grace person….and liked by everyone because of it.  Actually, I wish I could find the right balance between grace and truth…then I’d be truly wise and always know what to do in every situation, but I digress.

As many of you know, I’ve been taking online classes, so I can finish my degree.  One of my classes this semester is an ethics class.  Recently, the professor posed the following essay question:

“You are an English teacher at a high school. One of your pupils is a bright and dedicated young woman, whom you have always enjoyed teaching. She has often achieved A grades throughout her school years, and is now in her final year and getting ready to graduate. Unfortunately she has been very ill this term, and missed several weeks of schooling. She has just turned in a report which is worth 40% of her final grade, but you realize that she did not write it herself – she has copied a report found online and tried to pass it off as her own work.

If you report her plagiarism to the school authorities it will be entered on her permanent record and she will no longer be eligible to attend the university that she has planned on attending for the past year. If you refuse to accept the report, her final mark will be very poor and may harm her chances of being chosen for this university. If you mark the paper as though you believed it was her own work, she will do very well, and stand every chance of getting her desired university place.

What should you do?  Be sure to refer to an ethical value system or approach and a philosopher associated with that approach to explain your perspective/response– the value system could be one that you reject or that you embrace in helping you to explain your decision-making process.”

So, as you may have already guessed, my first (and natural) response to the question posed was to take a truth stance, which is probably best categorized as the hard line approach to the situation.  The student obviously knew the rules in advance and yet she cheated, stole, and lied about it, believing her teacher was either too dumb or too soft to catch her out.   No sir, not me.  I’m nobody’s fool….

Of course, as one does in these kinds of situations – that is, situations where we…okay, maybe not we……where I like to feel as if I’ve achieved some level of moral superiority in my truth position, I read the question to my husband and asked what approach he would take to the situation, fully believing that he was going to give the same response I did.  I mean, after all, right is right and wrong is wrong, and clearly this situation was black and white.  Right?  Um….no.

After a minute or two to ponder his response, my beloved husband clearly took the softie route….I mean, the grace route.  If he were the teacher, he would call the student in and give her a chance to confess; and if she did confess all would be forgiven, and he would allow her a few extra days (because of her situation of being ill and out of school for several weeks) to do the work and turn in a paper of her own.  She would not be allowed to get an ‘A’ on the paper because she missed the initial deadline, but the grade would be fair and reflect the level of work she put into the report.  However, if she refused to confess to plagiarism, he would be forced to turn her into the school and would not accept the paper because it clearly wasn’t her work.  Only then would she would have to suffer the consequences of her bad actions.

This is the part where I roll my eyes and then slap my forehead as I plummet from my moral high-horse, landing outside of absolute black and white, and squarely in the land of grey.  Ha!  I bet you thought I was going to say grace.  Fooled you!

You see, what I want more than anything is to not be ‘that’ person….the one that sits proudly on my moral high horse with the rod of legalism shoved up my backside, pronouncing judgment against someone else’s life choices…

What I really want to be, is more like Jesus.  You may have heard of him.  He’s the guy who changed everything about philosophy and ethics and morality as it was known back then, and is known now.  I want to be the gal who is confronted with a black and white situation and still choose the path of truth AND grace.  I want to be able to look at every situation through the perfect eyes of Jesus…because I know who I am and what I’ve done.  No surprise here, but my life was a mess at one time, and when I reflect on it I see that I, too, have made bad choices, messed up, and hurt others out of selfishness, desperation, and fear; and yet, I have been shown grace and truth time and time and time again.  I’ve been given second, and third, and umpteen-thousand chances to do the right thing, make the right choices, and be a better person than I was yesterday.  Some days I get it right, and other days….well, I’m lucky to still have friends, family, or a husband that loves me when I go to bed at night.  And we’re all like that.

We all have days when we make decisions that, upon reflection we wish we’d done things differently.  Frequently, when things have gone pear-shaped, we shake our heads and thoughtfully posit, “What would Jesus have done?”  Me, I want to find a place where my first response is, “What would Jesus do?”, and then I want to act like he did.  I want to treat people with respect, dignity, and be the kind of girl who is known for offering second, third, and bazillion chances to people.  I want to lay aside my pride and really care about people and what they’re going through.  I want to get better at understanding people rather than just passing moral judgments against them when I believe they’ve broken the rules.  Yeah, I want to be that girl.  Some might call her a naïve, gullible, even foolish; but hey, that’s okay.   People in Jesus’ day thought those same things about him, and he ended up changing everything.

Shepherd’s Pie anyone?

As many of you know, in January we kicked off our Sunday night services with a first century church approach.  We begin each week with a common meal, usually something simple and hearty, like a bowl of soup and a dessert.  Occasionally, I’ll switch things up and make a regional favorite like mac-n-cheese, stovies, or this week’s menu of shepherd’s pie for those who don’t love soup (aka. Sam!).  After we’ve eaten we move into the worship center and engage in about 20 minutes of video driven praise and worship, and then Sam spends about 35-50 minutes teaching from the Bible.  Our attendance has been running consistently in the low 20’s each week, which seems really tiny compared to most of our church partners in the States, but for winter time in Buckie it’s great.

This week was a bit unusual in attendance, we have a lot of people out ill with the flu and late winter colds.  To be honest, the day could have been really discouraging had the Lord not provided encouragement for us in some unexpected guests in our evening service.

Last night at 5:55 p.m. Sam, myself, and two of our faithful ladies were staring at each other over a massive pan of shepherd’s pie, feeling a bit disappointed that we were the only four who had come out for church.  We knew in advance that a couple of folks would be out of town or at another church for a baptism service, but where was everyone else???  We could only assume the worst as I silently contemplated how many freezer containers I would have to come up with to ensure the 10 pounds of shepherd’s pie I’d fixed wouldn’t go in the bin later this week.  As the four of us sat in silence the door opened and an unfamiliar face popped in – “Are you having a night service?”

Suddenly the room felt like it had been jump-started.  “Yes!  We’re just getting ready to have dinner.  Please join us!”

“Oh, you’re having dinner?  What time is the service, we can come back later?”

“No need to come back, we have plenty of food, and we’d love for you to eat with us.”

“Okay, let me go get my husband…”

A few minutes later we were joined by this lovely couple who live near Inverness.  They happened to be in our area for a mini holiday and were on their way home when they passed by our building and saw our lights on.  As we ate dinner together we learned that he is an ordained minister in the Free Presbyterian church in Scotland and he is not currently assigned a church but travels and preaches in a few churches ranging from Dingwall to Oban (on the West coast); and his wife is an American expat from Illinois who came to Aberdeen with the Rotary Clubs of America in 1990 to study for two years at the University.  She met and married her husband and has been in Scotland ever since.  It was fun to hear her accent, which is definitely not Illinois any longer but certainly not Scottish either.

Even though it was just the six of us we had a great time of fellowship, worship, and teaching.  As I flopped in my chair last night at 9:00, having managed to get the remaining pan of shepherd’s pie into the fridge, exhausted and a bit despondent about the low attendance, Sam remarked that the couple told him they were blessed by our service and that they hadn’t eaten all day so the meal was an unexpected treat.  Instantly, my heart broke for them and at the same time my feelings of self-pity and discouragement evaporated.  We may never see this couple again, but I know that the Lord placed them in our path to encourage us, and us in their path to feed them.

Friends, we’ve been in Scotland for six months now, and while I would not say the honeymoon phase is over a lot of the glitz of a new ministry has worn off.  Traditionally, February and March are the most difficult months here, and this February is proving to be a bad one for our community.  Last week 5 people passed away from various illnesses.  The previous two weeks before saw nearly that same number each week.  Yes, the days are beginning to get longer by a few minutes each day but illness and seasonal affected depression are at their peak in our community just now.  Morale is very low and it’s easy to make excuses to stay home and do as little as possible.  The enemy is working overtime to keep people distracted, grief-stricken, and ill so they can’t or won’t come out and hear the Word taught.

Sam’s Sunday night teaching series is appropriately named – Game of Thrones.  There is indeed a battle raging in our world for who will be King on the throne of our heart, and currently it looks like the enemy is making his move.  What he doesn’t know is that we don’t give up that easily.  We know who wins this battle, and the Devil’s time here in Buckie, Scotland is running out!

Oh, look…it’s time to get lunch sorted…shepherd’s pie, anyone?

Sunday Night’s

Hey y’all!  Well, here we all are, 2018 is officially well underway and most of us have recovered from the Christmas and New Year festivities.  I’ll confess, Sam and I spent the week between Christmas and New Year vegging out, mentally and physically recovering from all the busyness of December.  Our first Christmas and Hogmanay in Scotland was incredible though, and we are both so grateful to be serving the Lord here.

Last week (January 7th) we launched our long anticipated and much prayed over Sunday night services, and we had a great attendance and heard lots of positive chatter this week.  Of course I wanted to find a way to exercise my gift of hospitality, so we started out the evening with a soup and sweet dinner.  We’d also invited several other pastor’s from our community who do not currently have night services at their churches and were pleased to have many of them attend as well.  I know as someone who serves in a leadership role in church how nice, and important, it is to just be a part of the congregation and get fed spiritually.

We started the service with a great time of modern praise and worship; and while we don’t currently have a band we have been able to download new Christian praise and worship songs and videos from the Internet and use those to facilitate a great time of corporate worship that is much more modern than what you’d normally see in a church service here in the UK.  I’m so grateful for technology.

As far as the teaching goes, Sam has been working really hard over the last couple of months on putting together lessons that are a good combination of his “How To Study the Bible” and “Footprints” series.  If you’ve ever been a participant in either of those studies you’ll know that he has an incredible gift for taking the Bible and setting it inside of the bigger picture of history and world events, and ties that all together with God’s plan of salvation for us found all through the pages of Scripture – from Genesis to Revelation.  This current teaching series will last this entire year, and very likely extend into the next couple of years, so he’s got his work cut out for him, that’s for sure.  But everyone loved his lesson and are looking forward to coming back next week.

Sam capped off the night with an amazing Gospel presentation from Genesis 5.  Yep, that’s right, the first geneology found in the Bible is a presentation of the Gospel message of Jesus.  I was floored when I saw this, especially as someone who’s been in church my whole life, I’ve never before heard this but I want to share it with you because it is just one more confirmation that we’re God’s plan A!  Pull out your Bible and turn to Genesis 5…

Name                                              Meaning

Adam                                              Man

Seth                                                 Appointed

Enosh                                             Mortal

Kenan                                             Sorrow

Mahalalel                                      The Blessed God

Jared                                               Shall Come Down

Enoch                                            Teaching

Methuselah                                  His Death Shall Bring

Lamech                                         Despairing

Noah                                             Comfort

If we are to read these name meanings as a sentence it says:

Man was appointed mortal sorrow; the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing comfort. 

Praise the Lord!

He did it for us

**This was a Lord’s Supper meditation I wrote and shared with our church in October, and the words of it have stuck with me all month long. I wanted to share it with you guys in the hope that it will encourage and inspire you to be bold for HIM this Christmas season.**

I don’t think anyone would disagree with me if I said, the difficulty with death is the finality of it.  Once a person is gone it’s too late to say that last goodbye, to take back angry words, to share family secrets, to impart words of wisdom, or to say, “I forgive you,” “I’m sorry,” “I love you.”  Often the words we’ve left unsaid singe our soul with a regret that is carried throughout the rest of our life.  I’ve heard many people at funerals wish for just one more hour with the deceased to make amends, say the words that were left unsaid, and purge their soul of regret.  If only they’d only known their time was up…

As I was thinking about the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples I was wondering if he may have felt like many of us do about saying goodbye…if there was anything he wanted to tell his disciples before he would be taken from them?

So I looked through Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s accounts of the Last Supper, which are the model we use for our own Lord’s Supper time, and they all are pretty similar.  Jesus and his disciples are in the upper room, Jesus offers a blessing for the bread and a prayer of thanksgiving for the juice, and he tells his disciples to remember Him in the same way every time they’re together.  Pretty simple and straight-forward, and yeah, I’ve heard that version about two-thousand times in my life.  Surely there has to be more to that last night than just dinner and a quick demonstration?

So back to Scripture I went, turning to John’s account of the Last Supper.  I’ll admit, I was skimming through, glancing at the section titles for reference.  I flipped clear through the book of John and was a bit confused that there wasn’t a section titled “The Last Supper”, so I flipped back through again, thinking I’d missed it somehow.  But nope, nothing labeled “the Last Supper.”  How odd…the other three Gospels have it, so why not John?  I must investigate this further, so I started reading in John 12 and that’s when it hit me…there was so much more to that last night with Jesus than a few verses describing the Last Supper as we practice it, and Jesus’ final words and teachings to his disciples wasn’t just for their benefit, but also for ours.  So let’s take a quick look at it.

So the first thing that Jesus does in that final week of his life is found in John 12 – Jesus spends some time with his dear friend Lazarus and his two sisters.  Of course, he first has to raise Lazarus from the dead, but hey, he knew this would be the last time he would see his friend for a while, and his heart was breaking for his two sisters who he loved very much as well.  So he raises Lazarus from the dead, they hang out and have a meal together, Lazarus’ sister Mary anoints his head with some expensive perfume, and the next day Jesus and the Twelve head down the road toward Jerusalem.

Bethany is only about 1.5 miles from Jerusalem, and raising Lazarus from the dead wasn’t something people saw everyday.  John says that the news of that particular miracle had definitely spread up the road ahead of them.  The already crowded road into Jerusalem was especially packed that afternoon with spectators hoping for a big show as Jesus and his disciples walked into town.

We know from the rest of Chapter 12 that Jesus makes his famous “Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem” and then quickly tanks his popularity by telling these massive crowds that the cost of following Him would be much too high for them.  He goes on to tell them in that same sermon that the time of ignorance about the truth of God had passed, there was no longer any valid excuse for man to not follow God’s plan, and those who wanted to truly be His followers would have to give up their life for the sake of His message.  He states clearly to this massive crowd of people that he has been sent from God, that he is in fact the Son of God, and that judgment for the world had come because of His message.

Woah!  If Jesus had been a politician the Twitter feeds and party polls would have gone absolutely bonkers, reporting a major downward shift in his popularity because of that statement.  John says in 12:37 that in spite of all the miraculous signs Jesus had done – like raising Lazarus from the dead the day before, most of the people still didn’t believe he was the Messiah, which is exactly what Isaiah prophesied hundreds of years before.  I guess not a lot has changed in 2,000 years.

The next event John records is the night of the Passover feast, beginning in chapter 13 and this is where we start to see Jesus’ urgency in saying everything he wanted to say to his followers.

Jesus and the (120) disciples are all crammed into the upper room of house, preparing to celebrate the Passover.  Jesus feels this first last command is crucial in the life of a Christ-follower, and knowing us as he does, he understands that he can’t impress the sheer importance of it and what it looks like in practice by simply talking about what it means to serve others; but actions speak volumes over words so he straps on a towel and goes around the room washing the feet of his disciples.

The entire point of Jesus’ teaching exercise, which is that in order to be a true disciple of Christ we must always humble ourselves and follow the example of Jesus by serving others first.  No form of service is beneath us, and no anointing is so sacred or grand that it excuses us from any form of service to the Kingdom.

It’s at this point in the evening that the Passover meal would have been served.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke all wrote about Jesus blessing the meal, breaking the bread and lifting up the wine, which is the same model we use in our Lord’s Supper each week.

Getting back to John’s gospel account though, at this point in the night Judas is revealed as the betrayer and in shame and embarrassment he leaves the upper room.  After a quick discussion between the disciples regarding Judas’ behavior including some of the disciples promising they would never sell out, Jesus tells Peter not to be so pious in his devotion – that he’s going to betray the Lord three times before the night is up.

As the room settles into a stunned silence, Jesus, feeling pressed for time, takes the opportunity to impart a few more final thoughts with the disciples at large (the 120) – these are the things he absolutely wants them to grasp and remember.

• He tells them to truly love each other, and that by doing so they will show God to a world who doesn’t know Him.
• He tells them to trust Him, and also to trust that God sent him.
• He gives them assurance about life after death by telling them he’s going to prepare a place where they can be together for eternity.
• He tells them that God isn’t a mystery as some religions want you to believe – that anyone who loves Jesus and lives their life by the teachings and commands he gave, can absolutely know God because Jesus and the Father are one in the same.
• Jesus encourages them with a promise that anyone, at any time in history, who believes in Him, loves Him, and follows His teachings will be able to obey the Lord and accomplish a life’s work for the Kingdom, just like Jesus did.
• He promises the gift of the Holy Spirit who would continue to reveal the deeper Truths and mysteries of God to them so they (and we) would not lose faith in His message.

At this time during the evening, Jesus knows that Judas has betrayed him to the religious leaders and the Temple guard would be dispatched to arrest him forthwith.  He knew the first place they’d come was to the room where they were now, and he wasn’t quite ready to leave his Disciples just yet, there was more he wanted to tell them privately, so he says to the eleven left, “Come on, lets walk for a while.”

As they’re making their way through the dark and crowded streets of Jerusalem, heading toward the Kidron valley and the Mount of Olives where Judas and the Temple guard finally catch up to them, Jesus continues to share with them his final thoughts.

• (maybe they passed a vineyard and he uses it as an appropriate illustration – chapter 15) He teaches them the deep truth that apart from His Gospel message and a daily relationship with Him we cannot bear any fruit that is useful to the Kingdom. He warns them that those who do not love him and remain faithful to his teachings will be removed from his protection by God and will be thrown away to wither and die.  He encourages them to remember that God carefully prunes those who are producing fruit so that they will be even more productive in the future, but not to lose heart during the pruning process – that the pain of pruning is meant to bolster the harvest, not destroy the vineyard.
• He reminds them again that his deepest desire is for them to love each other, and that that is going to be the most effective evangelism tool they will posess.
• He tells them plainly to get ready; the world is going to hate them. He says they’re going to be punished unfairly, they’re going to be criticized as false teachers, thrown out of the synagogues, beaten, imprisoned, starved, mocked, and even killed because of Jesus’ message, but not to lose heart because Jesus will be with them in the form of the Holy Spirit, and they will be able to testify to the truth of His message because they had been with Him from the beginning of his ministry.
• He encourages them to remember that in a few hours-time they will feel like their world has ended, that the last 3 years was all for nothing, but not to lose heart, that joy will come in the morning!
• And then he blesses them with his own gift – the gift of peace – and we know that’s a peace the world cannot understand, nor can it take that peace away from us. Because while His disciples will suffer in this world, and some will even be killed for his name, we can all will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus has overcome the power of this world and He is waiting for all his disciples beyond the temporary pain we endure for Him in this world today.

Now, these guys were a wreck at this point.  John 16:6 says they were “grieving over what he’d told them.”   So right there, in the middle of the road, Jesus just decides to have an impromptu prayer meeting for the benefit of the eleven men who were walking with him.  And he prays this incredible prayer of empowerment over them.

And as I read through His prayer this week it brought me to tears because I know that Jesus wasn’t just praying for the eleven men standing with him on the street, but when he was praying that prayer he was thinking of me, and you, and every other person who would follow him one day.

And in this prayer he prays for our boldness and certainty – because he’s trusted us with this amazing message of hope, and he knows that we will be able to accomplish incredible things for the Kingdom, but we don’t always believe that.

He prays for unity of heart and mind among all those who would ever follow Him – that we wouldn’t be divided by legalism, church doctrines, and cliques, but that we’d all cling tightly to the original message that he taught.

He prays for his Father to teach us his word, to make us holy, to adopt us as sons and daughters, give us His name, and cover us with the same familial protection that he covered Jesus with while he was in this world.

He prays that his Father would protect us from the evil of this world, and that when we suffer we will not lose hope, and we will not turn from our faith in Jesus’ message.

He prays that we will not keep the amazing message of love, hope, peace, and eternal life to ourselves – that it is a message for all the world and that as His followers we will be quick to share his message boldly, wherever we go and with everyone we meet in order to bring glory to God the Father, and to Jesus his Son.

As we prepare to take the Lord’s Supper today, I pray that we will hear and understand Jesus’ last words to us.  I pray that like these eleven men, we will not only remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, but we will think of these final words Jesus spoke to all of us.  Words that have the power to change hearts, restore lives, and bring healing to a lost and broken world.

Ophelia

So apparently there’s a hurricane headed our way today.  It doesn’t happen often, but Scotland has been known to experience a hurricane or two in her time.  Strangely, most of us here are at peace simply because life on the north east coast of Scotland is typically windy with a chance of rain on a daily basis.  Add in the fact that we all live in snug stone houses, many which have withstood worse storms for well over a hundred years, constructed with walls nearly 3-feet thick, double and triple glazed windows, and Ophelia is no more than a blip in our daily schedules.  I guess with all our friends, family, and partners located in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina we couldn’t escape our fair share of inclement weather this year.

It’s hard to believe that we were here in Scotland just one year ago this month (October 5 – November 9, 2016) on a vision trip, seeking the Lord’s will in whether or not we should come back as missionaries.  We prayed for the Lord’s guidance and provision for nearly two years preceding that trip, and many of you joined us in those prayers.  While we were here we prayed like crazy for discernment and wisdom, and when we left we both felt strongly called back to Scotland, and Buckie in particular.

In what can only be described as a series of sovereign events over the last year the Lord has provided every means necessary in order to get us back here as quickly and painlessly as possible, and we are grateful every single day for His timing and provision.

Not a day goes by where y’all don’t cross my mind and my prayers, because without you none of this would be possible.  I am also thankful for the brilliant {and free!} technology that allows us to stay in touch with family and friends so easily.  When Sam was here before he spoke to his parents once a month for just a few precious and expensive minutes.  Letters back and forth took weeks to arrive, and his parents watched their grandchildren grow up in photos with visits back to the States happening once every few years.  Now, we speak to friends and family on a daily basis through email, messenger, and video chats, which make the distance separating us seem minuscule.

But there is a spiritual storm raging here, and it’s pressing us on every side.  Every single week one or both of us have encounters with people who are far from Jesus.  We have conversations with hard-hearted folk who have been left bitter because they have only ever had bad encounters with Churches and people who claim to be Christ-followers.  We’ve seen people failed by a broken secular system and they naturally assume the Church is just as faulty and flawed, and they are extremely leery to have any part of it.  We’ve had heartbreaking conversations with good people who are caught up in bad doctrine, misguided theology, archaic traditions, and are Scripturally illiterate.

The work around us is mentally and spiritually exhausting, but the Lord continues to provide us with rays of light and peace each week.  We’ve had 18 – 21 folks in church for the past several Sunday mornings, with a few folks out ill or on vacation.  Our ladies Bible study group is continuing to grow, and the Lord is revealing Truth as the ladies enthusiasm for His word increases.  People in the community are beginning to take notice of our wee fellowship and asking questions.  And the Holy Spirit is moving and active in our Sunday morning and Monday night prayer services.

In Luke 10:2, Jesus promised his disciples an abundant harvest if they were willing to get out in the fields and work.  So, here we are, Lord…please use us.

 

 

 

Cream(less) Asparagus Bisque

Good afternoon y’all!  I’m super excited to share with you this absolutely incredible and simple asparagus bisque, which is not only scrumptious but also low fat, low carb, packed full of vitamins and nutrients, and it’s even vegetarian, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Cream(less) Asparagus Bisque

Just 6 simple ingredients, 10 minutes to prep, and about 45-50 minutes to simmer, blend, and serve.  All in all, a gorgeous easy meal in about an hour with minimal work.  Now that’s a recipe I know we can all handle.

One of the best parts of living in Scotland for me is the weather.  I know for many of my Southern friends and family who seem to be part reptile, the idea of weather consistently in the mid-50’s with a possibility of a rain shower every single day for months on end is probably horrifying, but for me it’s absolute heaven.  I noticed that it was 89-degrees in north Georgia yesterday and I thanked Jesus once again that I live here!  The idea of sweating my brains out in the middle of October just does not appeal to me, at all.

With cooler temperatures most of the year here we can easily purchase tons of what y’all in the States consider spring or winter crops, like gorgeous cabbages, Brussels sprouts (still on the stalk), dozens of different varieties of taters, all colors of carrots, parsnips, turnips, sweet rutabagas, beautiful broccoli and broccoli rabe, basketball sized cauliflowers, and emerald bunches of asparagus.

This week I found myself in possession of  two bunches of asparagus with stalks as thick as Sam’s middle finger.  Now like me, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Gross, those are going to be really woody and tough.  Why would you want to use those?”  But let me assure you, that over here, because of the cooler weather these beauties were tender and succulent.  However, if you’re in the States, or a climate where larger stalked asparagus tends to be tough and woody once the stalk reaches anything thicker than a pencil in diameter, don’t despair,  you can use those in this recipe and it’ll all work out just fine.  Trust me.

So this recipe came together really quickly, and I know you’ll be able to adjust many aspects of the basic recipe to suit your tastes.  Since I was dining alone, I quickly blended the soup to a fairly smooth texture, but there were definitely some small pieces of asparagus, chili pepper, and leek present, as you might notice in the photo.  I don’t mind a rustic bowl of soup for myself, however, if I were going to serve this to guests or Sam I would run an immersion blender through it and get it super silky and smooth, like the texture of a bisque.

So without further ado here’s the recipe.  Enjoy!

Prep: 10 minutes        Cook: 45-50 minutes       Serves: 6 (1-cup servings)

2 bunches of fresh asparagus, roughly chopped into 1/2″ pieces (approximately 1 pound)

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1/2  of a leek, finely diced (optional – if you don’t have a leek increase onion to 1 whole medium onion, finely chopped)

2 red hot chili peppers, thinly sliced into rings (or a tablespoon of crushed chili flakes)

4 cups vegetable stock

1/2 cup low fat Greek-style yogurt

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1. Place all chopped vegetables in a medium saucepan with vegetable stock and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down to a simmer and cover with a lid.  Allow to simmer until asparagus pieces are fork tender.
2. Blend soup to desired consistency using an immersion blender (if you’re using a regular blender or a food processor scoop vegetables out of broth to prevent burning yourself or overfilling your blender).
3. Remove soup from heat source and stir in Greek-style yogurt.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

Where does the time go?

Hello, friends!

Thanks for stopping by and witnessing the resurrection of our website and blog.  I’m absolutely embarrassed that I haven’t taken the time to write a blog post in months!  I’ve been so focused on everything else that I’ve completely disregarded my writing schedule and y’all have suffered for that.  I’m so sorry.

Rainbow in the middle of Church Street

Roadsign in front of the church

Looking out over the Firth

Lore of fisher folk

Our new (to us!) car

The view from our bedroom window

Sam, enjoying the wildflowers at the square

Walking home from the grocery store

Sam, enjoying his pea soup at Soup & Sweet luncheon

Scarves for sale at the woolen mill in Elgin

Scarves hanging at the woolen mill in Elgin

Baxter’s museum

Mortar and pestal at Baxter’s museum

Copper pots at Baxter’s museum

A general store display at Baxter’s museum

Cash register at Baxter’s museum

This is a 2-lane road, seriously!

Sam, at the beach on a cold day

Us, at the beach on a fall morning

Albino snail

Love this view!

The serving crew at Riverside Soup & Sweet luncheon

Looking over the Firth toward the Highlands

Seals at Portgordon beach

My new friend, Seamoss

The spread at BCC potluck

BCC potluck

First, I want to say a huge “thank you!” to each of you for your prayers, emails, and words of support and love over the past couple of weeks.  Sam is doing really well and is recovering each day.  He was released from the hospital on Wednesday evening and has been very good about taking care of himself and doing what his doctor told him to do.  According to his doctor every one of his test came back with good results and minimal residual damage.  His official diagnosis is angina and high blood pressure, but there are medicines for both and with proper diet and exercise they saw no reason why he shouldn’t live many more years in health and happiness.  He has a follow-up appointment with his GP tomorrow morning, and we’ll find out what we need to do to go forward and get him back to full health as quickly as we can.

We are daily amazed at how much God takes care of us.  If we’d been in the States when his heart attack happened and the two subsequent TIAs (mild strokes) we would not have been able to afford to have him treated at a hospital, as we didn’t have health insurance.  In coming to the UK we had to pay our National Health insurance up front as a part of our visa fees, so every test, scan, blood draw, x-ray, CT, prescription medications, and the hospital stay was covered by National Health.  He received exceptional care, and he even said the food wasn’t too bad.  God certainly held the timing of this event in his hands and allowed it to happen once we arrived here and not before, and I for one am so grateful that we serve a God who cares that much about his children.

Okay, moving onto the news that you really want to hear!

Sam and I have decided that we’re going to use this blog format as a replacement for a newsletter, at least for a while anyway.  We have several reasons for this decision, but mostly it’s simply a time issue right now.  We’ve been so busy trying to get settled and sorted that sitting down for long periods of time to do any real writing has just taken a back seat to other, more pressing matters.   And to be honest with you, life happens every day, not just once a month.  There have been so many funny encounters, awesome stories, and incredible ways in which the Lord is working here and if we wait to share all those things in one newsletter they just lose their potency, for us and for you.  This format will allow us to share things with you as they happen – as if you’re right here serving along side us, rather than as a blip in our month.

I can’t believe we’ve been in Buckie over two months now, the time has just flown by and so much has happened.  We’ve had an incredible first couple of months getting to know the church and the community around us.  Sam has preached every week except for the Sunday he was in hospital, and his sermons have been really good.  He’s decided to do a study through the book of Luke, and each of his sermons have been on point and well received among the congregation.  We have seen a few folks who had fallen away from the church over the past couple of years without a minister have started to trickle in, and many in the town are talking about us, just waiting to see how things go before coming back.

In addition to our study through Luke, Sam has started a study in the book of Hebrews for our adult Bible study which happens on Sunday morning at 9:30.  This group runs between 7-9 people currently, and they have all been really active participants as we’ve really dug into the book of Hebrews and the superiority of Jesus over the Old Testament system of worship, and some of the current trends in Christianity of the resurrection of Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the observation of Jewish feasts/festivals/and laws among Christians.

I (Brittan) have recently gotten involved in a food ministry at a church here in Buckie called Soup & Sweet.  This is a weekly luncheon for the community which raises funds for an addiction and crisis ministry in town, run by our friend, John Coppard at Riverside Church.  I’ve been allowed to get in the kitchen and make soups and desserts and I’ve had the chance to get to know a ton of folks in the community though this event.  The majority of people who attend on the Tuesday lunch are older, some are physically or mentally disabled, and many have been life-long residents of Buckie, Findochty, Cullen, and the surrounding areas.  Several of these folks attend other local churches, but some have never attended church, or are casualties of the Church.  This outreach ministry is strictly food based and open to everyone, but each week I see opportunities arise where I can meet hurting, lonely folks, pray with people who are ill or distressed, and offer a smile and a kind word to people who are very much the fringes of this wee community.  Monday’s (the day we cook) and Tuesday’s (the day we serve) are my favorite days of the week now!

I’ve also had the privilege of hosting our ladies Bible study group at the manse now for the past month and have really enjoyed getting to know these women better.  We’ve been looking at God’s Sovereignty through the book of Ruth.  Its been a fun journey looking beyond the love story at how God is always in control and His plan will always be accomplished.  We’ll finish up Ruth this coming Wednesday and then move right into a ten-week study on Psalm 119, which will take us to Christmas.  I can’t wait to see what the Holy Spirit reveals to each of us as we sift through the words of David.

Like many of you, we’re getting geared up for the Christmas season here, although in Scotland Christmas is a much more low-key event than in the States.  Our first planning meeting for our Christmas service will be held on Tuesday.  I’m super excited to see what ideas the congregation has for this year, and we’ll start brainstorming ideas for next  year as well, especially since we hope to have a year of diligent groundwork in the community done and may attract a larger crowd for next year’s event.

We will be announcing the dates, cost, and rough itinerary for our summer 2018 short term mission trips by Thanksgiving, so stay tuned for more information to come if you’re interested in coming to Scotland next summer!  We’re currently planning two work based trips, a ladies only trip, and we’ll offer a couple of spots for summer internships for college students as well.  We’re really excited to see who God is going to prompt to come and join us in Scotland next summer, and we’re already praying that the Lord will work in your hearts now.

We are extremely grateful to each of you for your continued partnership with our ministry.  We can feel the Spirit of the Lord beginning to stir in this community already.  We’re going to be doing some intentional prayer walking around town over the next couple of weeks, praying specifically for each of the churches in town, and against the strongholds the Enemy has here.  We believe with our whole heart that the Lord has a great revival planned for northern Scotland in the next couple of years, and we know that the best facilitator to revival is prayer.  We have discovered that our wee congregation has some mighty prayer warriors in it already and we’re trying to figure out a way to maximize that in our community.

Much love to each of you, and our prayers and thoughts are with you and your families.

Love and hugs,

Brittan & Sam