November Prayer Diary

The November Prayer Diary is out!
This monthly prayer diary is constructed from prayer requests handed in to the Friday lunchtime prayer group and can also be found on the Round Church and St John's websites (see links to the websites in the sidebar on the right). Please feel free to use the diary and join us in praying for our congregations, community on Islay and the wider world. Click on the following link to view the diary. You can also download the diary by right clicking on the link and selecting “save target as” November Prayer Diary

Ministerial Support

I received an email from John Blanchard earlier this week.
For those of you who don't know him he has a worldwide evangelistic ministry and perhaps his most famous book is entitled 'Ultimate Questions'. This has sold over 14 million copies worldwide in many different languages.
Apparently he was evacuated to Islay, from Guernsey during the war and has very fond memories of that time. He is back here next June and he emailed me introducing himself and asking if 'there is any way I can serve you' whilst I am on Islay.
I found this expression striking, to say the least. Here is a man with a worldwide ministry asking if he can serve the ministry here, when you might expect him to perhaps suggest that whilst he's here 'he could teach me a few things, or help things along a bit...'
There is no doubt that ministers need support and I have a great deal of support here on Islay. It is no exaggeration to say that without that support the church just would not function. The support offered reflects, for the most part, the teaching in Romans 12 where we are told, for example,  'not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought' and to use our gifts for the benefit of the 'body of Christ'. In other words its all about Christian team work and ministry.
When you see a church working in this way it is a great witness to all that is great about being a Christian, but sadly not all 'ministerial support' is like this. There are those that work within the church to different agenda's, pledging support for the ministry but actually doing something else..... namely working for their own glory or self importance. They like to be seen and they enjoy the praises offered for the 'support'. They are quick to criticise. Such individuals and groups can be very damaging even though at first sight they may appear solid and faithful workers for the gospel.
The video below has long been known to us and when we first saw it some years ago we just laughed at it, but now we look at it with new eyes, eyes that know what ministerial support should look like. So, to all of our Romans 12 friends and co-workers with Christ.
Thank you :)

October Prayer Diary

The October Prayer Diary is out!
This monthly prayer diary is constructed from prayer requests handed in to the Friday lunchtime prayer group and can also be found on the Round Church and St John's websites (see links to the websites in the sidebar on the right). Please feel free to use the diary and join us in praying for our congregations, community on Islay and the wider world. Click on the following link to view the diary. You can also download the diary by right clicking on the link and selecting “save target as” October Prayer Diary

Protection from the storms of life.

We will be singing this song at the Islay Fellowship meeting this evening. It is a great encouragement when the storms of life break around you. A reminder to trust God to protect you from the storms and floods. Such promises resonate well with us at the moment, but like Hurricane Irene our storm is abating and the floods are falling. Thanks to all those that have been so encouraging these last few months. :)

What is Church all about... what is it meant to be?

A friend sent me this video and it says so much in so short a time. Take a moment to play it through a couple of times.

It reminds me that I am not called here to get people into church. I am called here as a minister to introduce people to Jesus Christ and encourage them to become disciples. That is how it has worked for two thousand years and it is still working.

It has always been so that there are those that laugh, some even oppose at considerable lengths, but the message goes on. That is the message that I will be giving and I hope to get more and more effective in that.

If you like the video and want to know more, give me a call or come along to the Islay Fellowship meetings at the Baptist Church, Bowmore, 7.30pm on Wednesday evenings.

It's been a long time..

It has been almost 3 months since I last added anything to the blog. It has been a difficult time. It's been as if my life has become polarised - on one side amazing things happening, on the other side very vindictive forces at work. An important series of meetings take place tomorrow that I hope will break that cycle of polarisation and allow us to get back on track.

Gwen and I were reading from 1 Corinthians and came across this;

1 Corinthians 16
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.

That about sums it up for us.

Puppets Training Weekend

Last weekend we had a training day at the Round Church led by our good friend Chris Watt from 'Out of the Box' in Inverness. All of the churches on Islay sponsored the visit which was endorsed by our Presbytery Youth Worker Jess Reynolds. The photo below just gives an idea of what happened on the Saturday but Chris also came along to three services on Sunday and was well received by young and old alike. It is clear that the proper use of puppets could be a usful communication aid in so many settings eg schools, Sunday Club, open air events and Sunday Services.

Next steps?

Buy some puppets,  get training, get script writing, and then go for it !