20 Schemes, Why I am involved !

A few years ago I was browsing through 9Marks website and came across an interview that Mark Dever did whilst in Scotland with a guy called Mez McConnell. What peeked my interest in Mez's testimony was that he was identified as a pastor in Niddrie, Edinburgh.
Whilst at High School I used to travel from my home in Haddington, East Lothian, 15 miles or so into Edinburgh to play football(soccer) for a club called Edina Hibs whose home field was in Niddrie. During my late teens when I was a member of Musselburgh Baptist Church, I used to pray for the Edinburgh City Mission work in Niddrie and our church soccer team would train at the Jack Kane Centre in Niddrie. So Niddrie was a part of Edinburgh that I was familiar with for two reasons still close to my heart, my love for Christ and my love for the beautiful game, soccer.
As I listened to Mez's testimony I was moved to tears as he testified to the saving power of God in Christ towards him and I found my heart strangely knit with his as he shared his vision for the work of the gospel that he was engaged in Niddrie. I decided that I should write to Mez and encourage him in what he was doing and assure him that I would be praying for his ministry. As we interacted over the next few months it became evident that God was knitting our hearts together beyond mere acquaintance and I rejoiced that God was indeed giving me an opportunity to be involved in gospel work in my beloved homeland of Scotland and more than that, in a place that I was somewhat familiar with.
It is very encouraging to see how the Lord has directed in terms of the raising up the 20 Schemes endeavor and the desire and intention to seek to plant 20 churches in Scotland's poorest housing schemes. This is a noble vision and a tall order in light of the abject darkness that marks Scotland as a whole and the weakness that marks the evangelical church too. However in my recent visits to Scotland, Dec/January 2011/12 and May 2012 I have observed encouraging signs of spiritual stirrings amongst God's people.
I am involved in 20 Schemes because I believe it is a worthy effort at fulfilling the command of Christ to make disciples. I am involved in 20 Schemes because I believe God has raised up Mez for this generation to do a hard yet wonderful work in a tough place. I am involved in 20 Schemes because I believe what Mez is seeking to do is what the church in Scotland should be doing, reaching the lowly, broken and perishing of Scotland's poorest areas. I am involved in 20 Schemes because I believe the planting of churches is the greatest need of any nation. I am involved in 20 Schemes because I still love my kinsmen after the flesh and many of them sit in darkness without hope and without Christ.
Please pray for 20Schemes and for Scotland, a land once rich in Christian faith, but now a land lost in sin and misery and perishing ! If you would like to know more about 20 Schemes please feel free to contact me or look up 20Schemes on Facebook.

Dr James White on Islam at IBC

It was a real joy for us at IBC to see our church well filled for the visit of Dr James White, Director of Alpha and Omega ministries. I have enjoyed the work of Dr White from afar but never had the opportunity to meet him in person. It was a delight to enjoy time for dinner before the meeting and become acquainted with him. Perhaps it was his Scottishness that connected, but it was a real joy to spend time with him and hear of how the Lord has been using him in the whole realm of Islam and his defense of the Christian faith.
Notwithstanding his reasonable attempt at a Scottish accent, not bad for third generation, the material of Dr White's lecture on Islam was excellent. I felt sorry for him having to try to cram what he could into the 75 minutes we had allotted for this gathering. He did a good job in whetting our appetite and helping us to see the importance of understanding Islamic theology if we are going to engage lovingly and meaningfully with the Muslim about the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
I heartily recommend Dr White's material from last night and I look forward with eagerness to the publication of his upcoming book on Islam. Anything I have read from Dr White has always been helpful and it is with thanksgiving to God that we have such an apologist for the Christian faith in our generation.
It is my hope that we will be able to have Dr White visit with us again for another lecture, or perhaps a longer seminar on Islam or one of the other many subjects he is able to deal with.
For those of you interested in reading the Qu'ran and wonder where to begin please find the link below to Dr White's website.

http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=2123

A New Year and New Opportunities !

The dawn of a new year always presents us with time for reflection and meditation. The old year is gone, with all its ups and downs, with all its victories and defeats, with all its progress and regress. Standing on the threshold of a new year we are presented again with the reality of our mortality and at the same time the opportunities that lie before us.
In my meditations on Scripture this week I have found myself thinking about Simeon in Luke 2. His messianic expectation was graciously fulfilled by God and the old saint rejoiced to hold the hope of the world in his arms as Jesus was presented in the temple by Mary and Joseph.
The comment of Luke regarding the Lord Jesus is significant and encouraging to think about at the dawn of a new year. Luke 2v32 'a light for revelation to the Gentiles...', Simeon is recorded here as quoting the words of Isaiah 49v6. The promised Messiah who was destined not only for the glory of Israel, but as a light for revelation to the Gentiles.
A few decades later the apostle Paul would recall this scripture in the face of Jewish hostility to the gospel in Antioch in Psidia, Acts 13v14ff. With the gospel beginning to have a substantial impact upon the Gentiles, the apostle remembered the words of the prophet Isaiah too in Acts 13v47.
What is remarkable about Paul's use of the prophet's words is that they seem to refer not to Christ directly, but to Paul and the witness of the apostles. This is of course in keeping with the fact that the apostles were indeed Christ's representatives to the nations declaring His gospel and establishing the Christian church.
As I pondered this use of Isaiah 49v6 by the apostle Paul I was stirred to realize that this is now the task of the church, to take the gospel of Christ to the nations, to function as a light for the nations, just as God intended.
With Christ as our King, and the apostle's doctrine as our teaching, we are called by God to move into the new year seeking new opportunities to bring the message of Christ to the nations ! What a privilege ! What a blessing ! What a challenge ! The new year brings us new opportunities ! May God guide us and direct us to maximize our opportunities to take the message of Christ to as many was we can ! May God guide us strategically to spread the message of His light that we may bring salvation to the ends of the earth !