Let me invite you to......... books, music, friends and places...........
6th October, 2025
What a lot of invitations given out over these 10 years!!
Did you accept some of them?
Why not revisit a few....and accept the challenge!
Maybe.....your answer or choice will be different now....
Maybe....you will reach out more than you did before....
Maybe.....you will discover a new taste!
6th September and 7th July, 2025
Let me invite you to contact three people you know and trust.....and share with them (honestly)where you are at these days........maybe take time-out with one or two of them..... and pray with them and for them.....(are they as content/discontent as you at this time?)
16th June, 2025
Let me invite you to write a psalm....to the God of Psalms 31....32 and 34....
Maybe 6 verses? or 20 lines?
Using some of the words you have read in these 3 psalms...
Be honest.
Be bold.
Be grateful.
28th April, 2025
Let me invite you to Pray for 5 people you know....to meet with Jesus....
Why not tell them you are praying for them.....if it is safe and appropriate to do so....
17th March, 2025
Let me invite you to visit another church during Lent and notice how they pray......when.....where..... and if they have written prayers for anyone to say......
3rd February, 2025
Let me invite you to search out an image or two.....of sheep! Or even to go out and find some in a field somewhere!
And read Psalm 23 in that setting....or with the image in front of you..... Is there anything new that comes to you?
8th January, 2025
Let me invite you.....when you have some free time to yourself...... to sit down with your Bible (and a notebook?) and have a read through one of the Gospels and note W W J D.....
13th November, 2024
As we move closer to Advent....and then Christmas itself..... let me invite you to make a song-list.......
your favourite carol to sing with others...
your least favourite carol!
a song that points you to Jesus...
and then to listen to them......pondering the words all over again....
7th October, 2024
Let me invite you to.....draw!
Yes, okay, not everyone's cup of tea......but go on try......
Ezekiel chapter 37.........
29th August, 2024
Let me invite you to get your hands on a copy of Red Moon Rising.....Pete Greig.....the birth of 24-7 Prayer (and so much more!!!)
19th July and 27th May, 2024
Let me invite you again to find a suitable song or piece of music and take some moments out with God....
Be still with Him...
Wait...
Listen...
Ask....seek.....receive.....
12th April, 2024
As we consider the theme of THY KINGDOM COME.....is there a song or a book or a poem that comes to mind?
(I was thinking about the song Seek ye first......and the book of Daniel in the Old Testament!)
Why not take time to check it/them out again?
14th March 2024
As we consider our soul-health in this issue..... I can do no better than point you to the hymn....When peace like a river....
https://youtu.be/AHe_qmo3gX4?si=iW6HrNo3lXGlsSZn
9th February, 2024
As you step into Lent 2024, let me invite you to take time and revisit some of the people and songs and stories in this particular Seed....... there is a lot to feed on in all these previous issues!
5th January, 2024
Let me invite you.....to take time out with God.....on your own.....or with a few others........regularly in 2024.
Wait with God.
Listen.
Ask....seek...knock on heaven's door......
Receive.
Once a month? Weekly?
And do you use a journal or notebook? Keep it going!
30th November, 2023
Let me invite you to a song....for CHRISTmas......the real focus of Advent...... from Rend Collective (worth searching their Christmas material on YouTube!)
https://youtu.be/ADK3Z7mQ81c?si=vp4vr3XAXtD57i3H
3rd November and 8th October, 2023
Let me invite you.....to search and choose another song of worship that is meaningful for you in your life.......and find somewhere to give yourself in worship afresh as you listen to the words and the tune.....
2nd August, 2023
Let me invite you - again - to take up the invitation below - again - and be encouraged by others words and experiences......
9th June, 2023
Let me invite you.....to scroll through the many invitations below....and let God refresh and renew and inspire you.....
1st May, 2023
Let me invite you....to Pray for your 5.....
31st March, 2023
There are no shortages of people and songs and places in this part of the website - so dig around deep and deeper!! Enjoy all that you discover!!
8th March.......and 4th February, 2023
Let me invite you to find a quiet, comfortable place......with a meaningful song...or book...or piece of art.....and slow down.....with God....... Ask....Seek....Knock on heaven's door........and Receive from Father, Son and Holy Spirit...
13th January, 2023
Let me invite you to listen (again) to the song by Amy Grant.....Thy Word is a lamp......
https://youtube.com/watch?v=a6LC8cu03Ig&feature=shares
25th November, 2022
Let me invite you to sit back (if you can while listening and watching).....and sing along to Hush, there's a baby!
https://youtu.be/1YurJsAVorg
28th October, 2022
Let me invite you to look at your book shelves....
What are you going to read next?
Is there a book about Jesus, God, the Bible on the list?
30th September, 2022
As I look back over these last 7 years, since Lasting Fruit was launched, I have invited you to meet some grand people, to listen to some good songs and to read some meaningful books......so this month I invite you to sit down with a cuppa and dig around here....revisiting people and songs and books!
24th August, 2022
Let me invite you to slow down at this time and listen to the song
Be still, Be still, My soul....
https://youtu.be/sPsgGIzY9-g
11th June, 2022
Let me invite you...to search out on YouTube the many and varied versions of Psalm 23 in song.....there are a fair few.....The Lord's my Shepherd set to different tunes.... The King of Love....and several others!
30th April, 2022 Let me invite you to check out what Thy Kingdom Come is all about...... www.thykingdomcome.global
1st April, 2022
Let me invite you this month to scroll all the way down to what Paul Friend said about Keith Green - and his relationship with Jesus.
I hope you will then search out Keith's music on YouTube....
4th March, 2022
Let me invite you.... to set yourself a goal for Lent....
Maybe give up something...and use the money or time to help someone else?
Maybe take an added time each day to pause and pray with God - at midday or at a set time in the evening?
Maybe keep a journal - with prayer points or Bible thoughts?
3rd February 2022
Let me invite you to scroll down and re-read James Goldie's story....outrageous amazing grace!! :-)
And he is growing in his service for the Lord these days!! PTL!
7th January, 2022
Psalm 1 in song....
https://youtu.be/Njsm-LQ0big
10th December, 2021
At this time of the year let me invite you to sit back....listen and watch....because....Hush! There's a baby....
https://youtu.be/1YurJsAVorg
October 2021
People like James Goldie and Elijah Brown and Keith Green have their stories sown here....plus so much more!!
Let me invite you again to taste the fruit from their life-stories and from the songs and books sown here over the past 84 issues!
Grab a cuppa...feet up....dig away!
Fridays 13th August and 11th June, 2021
Let me repeat the invitation of last time - to discover the benefits of the Lectio 365 App - and especially with P-R-A-Y in mind.
Barbara and I have found the morning and/or evening devotions so very meaningful and a great aid to pausing with God and re-centring ourselves on Him.
The work of 24-7 Prayer is well worth a look at.
Have you discovered the Prayer Course? And Prayer Course II??
Thursday 13th May, 2021
Let me invite you to discover the Lectio 365 App - a very helpful devotional resource that can help you pray the Bible every day. It is written by leaders from the 24-7 Prayer movement.
A very meaningful resource!
Monday 19th April and Thursday 11th March, 2021
Let me invite you to listen to a hymn I always associate with Easter.....with the Cross....with Jesus' death....
There is a green hill...
https://youtu.be/ogRvBVRvqvk
Friday 5th February, 2021
Let me invite you to listen to a song - old but ever new......a song that seems to sum up Paul in his letter..
It is well with my soul....
https://youtu.be/AHe_qmo3gX4
Thursday 31st December, 2020
Let me invite you to listen to a song from CityAlight in Australia.. a song appropriately called Shepherd https://youtu.be/xMxfBbr2FTM
Sunday 29th November, 2020
Let me invite you to the Advent challenge above for December.....after all...is a chapter a day too much to fit in??
Monday 2nd November, 2020
Let me invite you to Remember!
Take some time-out....and why not scroll back through recent weeks, months or years.....get out some old photos? Look back at emails or texts?
Sometimes it is good to remember others who have made us who we are.....events that shaped us.....memories that live on....
Friday 2nd October, 2020
Since October 2015 there have been invitations to people and places and songs..old and new!
Let me invite you again to read stories of faith from James Goldie, George Thomson, Elijah Brown, Caroline Ferguson, Paul Friend and the late Keith Green...
Let me invite you again to places and songs that have become meaningful to me....before and after 2015!
And let me invite you to consider....what is your story of faith? where is your memorable place? what song or hymn is significant for you?
(And if you want the shortcut....search out the song Outrageous Grace on YouTube!)
Friday 4th September, 2020 As we ponder on the theme of suffering and illness.....let me invite you to sit back and listen again to the words of a older and familiar hymn....When I survey..sung here by Fernando Ortega
https://youtu.be/Tkx8WAycYAc
Friday 7th August, 2020
From James Goldie, Elijah Brown and Keith Green (above)
.....from songs and books and stories of faith... there is no shortage of fruitful blessings in this Seed !!
So let me invite once more to dig and meet and listen and receive!
Friday 10th July, 2020
Let me invite you to listen to this old hymn from a new worship band
What a Friend we have in Jesus - Celtic Worship
https://youtu.be/pi1-5kmbkyQ
Enjoy!
Believe!
Pray?
Friday 12th June, 2020
Let me invite you to look afresh at the words above....and to pray for the Kingdom of God to be evident 'on earth as it is in heaven' in the places that disturb you at this time - in our world, in our country, in your community, in your family............and to be ready to see the answers!
Friday 15th May, 2020
Let me invite you to take time out with an old hymn - and rest in God's Everlasting Arms at this time...
https://youtu.be/XvNfjLmlviI
Wednesday 8th April, 2020
Let me invite you to take time out to consider the words of an old hymn...with a wonderful chorus.....Turn your eyes upon Jesus
https://youtu.be/j5qc0EcNgqw
Friday 20th March, 2020
Let me invite you to find a place with space and visit this link on YouTube.....a right good playlist - Hope in the Darkness courtesy of Partick CofS Trinity Youth - thanku!!
https://youtu.be/saVqsKt0ERQ?list=PLqclAweJVRgYs4SsX7TOY5BKdMSC8eMmy
Saturday 11th January, 2020
Let me invite you to visit YouTube!
......and search out some piano worship music and chill out for a time as your 2020 starts.....and before January gets any busier!!
Thursday 28th November, 2019
Let me invite you to send a Christmas card to a stranger this year..
Pray it over carefully.....who..what..when....
And send in Jesus' name with lots of God's love!
Monday 23rd September, 2019
I have just finished reading a book that I cannot recommend enough.... Love, Interrupted by Simon Thomas (of Blue Peter and Sky Sports fame)
It is a very honest book.
It is a challenging read from a man whose wife died 5 days after a cancer diagnosis.
It is a story of Christian faith sorely tested.
It is a book that humbles and encourages.
It is a book that will stay on my book shelf for others to borrow.
Friday 16th August, 2019
Let me invite you to do some digging around here....and re-visit the people and places and songs and books of this part of Lasting Fruit.
Be fruitfully blessed!
Be encouraged!
Be informed!
Friday 5th July, 2019
I had heard of it happening up north in Thurso.
And then I heard of it elsewhere.
Facebook posts.
And not the restaurant chain!
God at work across this country in this place and that place!
And just a week ago an article about it all enthused Barbara and myself....and I really recommend you search it all out at
Friday 7th June, 2019
On this Pentecost weekend (or whenever you are reading this) let me invite you to pause and sit down and read (again) Acts chapter 2 and try to imagine ALL that happens here…if that is at all possible.
You may wish to read the words in a Bible translation that you do not usually use.
And when you have finished reading…don’t be a hurry to move on…take the time to consider the lives that were changed here – forever – and how this Pentecost day experience affects your life – now – today – tomorrow………
Friday 10th May, 2019
Let me invite you to start praying now - and to mark in your calendar these dates above - as we long for the Kingdom rule of God to come anew in our day.
Friday 12th April, 2019 - Holy Habits?
With Lent almost over...I wonder what have been your daily and weekly habits in these past few weeks?
As a Church we have been running a follow-up course for some 30 people after our BIG Alpha course last Autumn. We spent time considering the habits of the Early Church from Acts chapter 2.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
I wonder how you react to this 'list'?
I wonder how many are a part of your daily and weekly routine?
I wonder how your church measures up??
I wonder if you will add a new holy habit before or after this Easter?
Friday 15th March, 2019
Lent is here.
Lent is the approach to Easter.
Lent is a challenge.
Let me invite you to stop...pause...and consider what you have stopped for Lent....and what you have taken up..........there is still time to change your daily or weekly routines!
(I have given up reading fiction by the way!)
Tuesday 12th February, 2019
So....last month I invited you to think about a particular cd track that we had been listening to......
Today....as I sit at home, with a stack of cds in front of me in the room, let me invite you to consider your music collection.....cds or vinyl, streamed or physical.....and the radio channels you listen to.
Do you have a balanced selection?
Do you have too big a collection??
Do you feed your soul as well as your ears and mind???
It's a good exercise to repeat every so often!!
Friday 5th January, 2019
As Barbara and I travelled home after Christmas with family we put on a cd in the car...yes a cd!!
One of the tracks we listened to was an old classic - yet ever new in its meaning! It is the song It is No Secret What God can do.... and it has left me wondering what God wants to do in 2019..what He can do.....and what we will see Him do!
As you listen.....please turn the words into a prayer for this year
Friday 30th November, 2018
Let me invite you...to listen....to slow down....as Advent comes...
and Christmas draws nearer...
(ps...there's 2 hours worth of listening here!)
Friday 2nd November, 2018
Let me invite you to our Church!
Someone came up with the idea of a very special poppy remembrance display to help us and others at this time of 100 years after the end of World War 1....and so, some 16,000+ poppies later, we have a display that is attracting people from near and afar.
You are invited to look at our website www.libertonkirk.net and follow the Poppy...or check out the Liberton Kirk page on Facebook for several photographs from church members and others.
Friday 5th October, 2018
3 years ago I invited you to meet James Goldie (above) and read his story of faith.....I invite you to do so again....so dig away below and meet James - and others!
Yesterday I discovered some songs on YouTube while listening to UCB Ireland radio station...thanku thanku to them!!
The Canopy Sessions - and Sean Curran - richly blessed me.
A refreshing attitude to worship.
Uplifting songs!
Please please take the time and follow the links below.....and dig away on You Tube for more!!
The first link is about them.....then 2 songs - God I need You and Heaven....
Saturday 8th September, 2018
Let me invite you to pause and pray just one part of the Lord's Prayer.....for somewhere of concern in your life at this time...
'as it is in heaven...'
Ask God to bring Kingdom rule and blessing - as it is in heaven.
Friday 3rd August, 2018
Let me introduce you to the Metro Big Band - from USA.
Last Sunday evening these jazz-loving-Christians played and sang and performed and shared their faith in Jesus at our church - wow we didn't want them to stop!!
So...grab a cuppa...sit back....tap your toes for about an hour and enjoy!! :-)
Thursday 12th July, 2018
Barbara and I have recently discovered the PrayerMate app - and it is proving a real help in our daily praying. It came to us via the Bible Society.
Let me invite you to give it a try - through Google Play Store for Android (or also available for iOS).
Friday 8th June, 2018
Let me invite you to share in the work of TEARFUND in their 50th Anniversary year.
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Out of the shadows and building peace The little-reported conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh still isn’t fully resolved after 30 years. However one man believes he has a surprising peacemaking resource – the region’s wounded and disabled people. Joseph Stalin left a terrible legacy: millions were killed, imprisoned in gulags or just starved to death. However, 65 years after his passing, Stalin’s legacy still casts a long shadow. The landlocked region of Nagorno-Karabakh – in the South Caucasus, to the east of Turkey – still lives in the shadow of that legacy. In 1921, Stalin gifted the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, then Armenian, to Azerbaijan. Karabakh Armenians lobbied President Gorbachev for the region to be returned to Soviet Armenia in 1988. The request was refused and an ethnic conflict broke out between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, turning to full scale war after the Soviet Union dissolved. Thousands died and thousands more were injured and left disabled. This is where we discover another terrible legacy of Stalin… No way back ‘Where I grew up in Yerevan, you wouldn’t see anyone in a wheelchair,’ remembers Vardan. ‘Even today, in Nagorno-Karabakh, there’s still no concept of disabled people having any rights, or of them being properly integrated into society.’ People with disabilities were either hidden away in institutions or inside the family home. And those who had experienced the horrors of war had nowhere to turn, to deal with the traumas. Vardan was asked by former nurse and peer Baroness Cox to set up the centre, after working in a rehabilitation centre in neighbouring Armenia. To get the work going, he was gifted a building, albeit one badly damaged by the bombing. Fit for purpose He set about renovating it and making it fit for purpose. He also began employing nurses to work there – setting up a special one-year training course for them to become ‘rehabilitation therapists’. When The Lady Cox Rehabilitation Centre finally opened in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, in 2000, they could only deal with a small number of those needing some kind of rehabilitation. Today, the centre has 60 nurses and treats around 1,000 people every year, but Vardan estimates that they are still only able to treat about one tenth of those needing their help. The scope of the centre’s rehabilitation work ranges from treating spinal injuries for war veterans, to speech therapy and psychological care. The work of rehabilitation keeps expanding, and now includes art, sport and much more. Over half of those who receive the help are children, with large numbers of elderly patients too – the oldest is currently 96. Spread the vision He hopes that the current centre will be seen as a ‘centre of excellence’, to be emulated across the region and beyond – Vardan believes that the combination of occupational and physical therapy offered here is currently unique. He has already been able to share the principles of their work with a delegation from Myanmar. There are hopes of a similar project being set up there. ‘My dream is peace, and I believe the people who have been damaged by war can help to bring this about.’ Along with expanding the rehabilitation, he passionately wants to see people with all types of disability brought out of the shadows and integrated into regular life in Nagorno-Karabakh. Vardan has become a keen advocate for disabled people’s rights and the prejudices over disability. ‘We’re working hard with the families; before, it was a stigma to even bring a disabled child into public places. Now they are coming to us with their children to get treatment. Things are changing like a rocket.’ Blessed peacemakers ‘This region is really fragile – the peace that we have. My hope is for the centre to be a centre of trust, where the people from different countries and ethnic groups can come together, and forget that they were enemies. And central to that will be the patients themselves, who learn and heal together without prejudice. ‘We have held a number of round table discussions with disabled ex-combatants – these have received a lot of attention. It surprised me that most, if not all of these ex-combatants, were ready to live together, if Nagorno-Karabakh can be recognised. ‘My dream is peace, and I believe the people who have been damaged by war can help to bring this about.’ Vardan Tadevosyan is an Inspired Individual. The Inspired Individuals programme exists to identify, develop and connect new leaders who are aspiring to live like Jesus and whose dreams have the potential to transform some of the most needy places and people in our world.
Pray for this work
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Thursday 10th May, 2018
Perhaps it is a long time.
Perhaps it is a daily rhythm.
Let me encourage you to pause and pray.
Pray the words of the Lord's Prayer above.
That you may experience God's Kingdom rule in your daily life and see evidence of His will being done.
Friday 13th April, 2018
Let me invite you to listen to Stormzy singing Blinded by Your Grace....what a song!! The link to the YouTube clip is below - really worth watching!!
https://youtu.be/HPuj6UISMhs
Friday 16th March, 2018
Let me invite you to listen to two songs from the 1980s that came my way again this past week......
Amy Grant singing El Shaddai and Thy Word.
Friday 9th February, 2018
Let me encourage you to visit Partick Trinity Church of Scotland!
Why?? Well...Barbara and I joined others there last evening as they ordained and inducted their new minister. He had been our recent probationer minister at Liberton and so we travelled - with others - from Edinburgh to Glasgow - and a part of the city that had held my very first school many years ago!
Let me invite you to visit www.particktrinity.org.uk and be refreshed, encouraged and challenged as you travel around the website.
Let me invite you to pray for them.
Let me invite you to visit them one day!?
Friday 12th January, 2018
Let me encourage you to find a place with space early in 2018 and sit...or kneel...or lie down......and take time to converse with Father God.......asking,
seeking, knocking, listening....waiting......and then with the Holy Spirit leading plan ahead your next step of faith and discipleship. What will
you attempt for the LORD in 2018? Who will you lead to Jesus? Who will you add to your prayer list?
Friday 22nd December, 2017
Let me invite you to follow the links below - Christmas carols from King & Country! Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/5l1CS0Jhk90 Little Drummer Boy!
https://youtu.be/SkvYR4BcHYc O come, O come Emmanuel
Friday 1st December, 2017
Let me encourage you to track down a book that I have just started reading...a book that was recommended to me back in the summer.
Simplify by Bill Hybels (ten practices to unclutter your soul).... uncluttering my soul sounded just what I needed whatever the time of year! Does it sound good to you?
Friday 3rd November, 2017
......let me invite you.....to have a look around your home....and pick a book that means something meaningful to you.....and lend it to someone else.......
Friday 13th October, 2017
Early on in this section I invited you to listen to a particular song.
At this milestone time I repeat my invitation!
Outrageous Grace…..a great song that my sister sent me several years ago….I really encourage you to ponder the lyrics……
Friday 22nd September, 2017
I would not be where I am today without the love and companionship of many people.
I would not be where I am today without certain books!
I would not be where I am today without a few good songs!
Let me encourage you to scroll down below and be encouraged by the stories of faith + the books + the songs that have travelled with me or come across my path!
I really really don't think you will be disappointed...... and hopefully you will realise those who have been an encouragement to you, those books that have been a part of your journey in faith and the songs that have helped to shape who you are......
Thursday 31st August, 2017
Let me invite you to search out a book.
The Shack – by Wm Paul Young.
It has just gone to my top 5 list -ever!
What a book!!
My cousin mentioned it to me a while back and then I saw it sitting on a friend’s shelf and asked to borrow it. A few days later it was read.
And I don’t think I will be the same again.
God – the Trinity – has a new dimension for me now.
What a good read – it is a grand story in itself!
But – oh but – I really really recommend you buy or borrow a copy and settle back for a ride that will take your mind - and life – here and there and back to the Bible and everywhere in between!!
I am planning to buy my own copy now – and one to pass on.
There is also a film recently released – and the dvd will be out in October!
The final page on the LF site here has a suitable link!
Friday 4th August, 2017
Drausio Goncalves is the minister of Bristo Craigmillar Church of Scotland here in Edinburgh - although Brazil is his home! I have come to know him over these last couple of years and we share a common burden for prayer and sharing the Christian faith.
Let me invite you to read on and share in his recent experience of God in his life and work.
The Beauty of the Lord
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4
David was so amazed by the presence of
the Lord that he declares how beautiful God is. I used to see this passage as a poetic expression, a metaphor to explain the impression and the impact God caused to King David.
One day, not long ago, however, I had an experience with the
Lord that changed my view of that text and of life. I felt a real and living presence of the Lord, encouraging me in such a way, he was reaffirming his covenant and his love for me. After that as I
read texts like Psalm 27:4 – the beauty of the Lord – it now means more than poetry. I saw the beauty of the Lord.
Tears came down as I shared it with people close to me. It has been like a second conversion or a second baptism if you like – by the way I have not come from a charismatic background, quite the opposite!
Then I decided to take this forward, I did
not want this to be an amazing experience lost in my past; I decided to go deeper in my relationship with God. I informed the Kirk Session that I would start going to church three times during the
week for two hours to worship, pray for the church, for our lives and for the parish.
When I started, my initial feelings were, ‘what a waste of time, two hours doing nothing’, but I
committed myself to it as an offering. God then showed me so many things, he worked in my heart, in my life and in the church. In the quietness of the dark winter time the triune God was there. After
a while it became a joyful moment; God’s beauty is there, present and like David says in the Psalm, ‘I seek to dwell in the presence of the Lord all my days!’ After one year it became more than 6
hours a week. It is now part of my life.
God’s beauty is a gift available to all His children. It is sometimes so difficult for some Christians to find a time in their busy schedule, but those who take a step of faith receive this gift. I also started a journal from the very first day and it is amazing to see God working progressively in the time that has passed.
This time of prayer became a habit and a priority. I have been busier as these two hours or so became the most important commitment in my diary. And it brought me discipline. I have learned how to manage my time wisely and this gave me an opportunity to do things I could not done before.
Seek the beauty of the Lord!
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Friday 14th July, 2017
Let me invite you to sit back for the next 5 minutes – and listen to this song.
Welcome Home by John Nuttall.....just click on the link below
May God bless you as you listen…and ponder….
Friday, 23rd June, 2017
…..to pack a good book for summer reading!
So what are you currently reading – for rest and relaxation or for personal study and Christian growth?
Can you read it comfortably with Jesus looking over your shoulder – or would he prefer you bin it?
I am again pointing you to Max Lucado and his books. They are not long chapters, in many ways easy to digest – and yet they look at big topics!
Just Like Jesus has to be read I think – more than once! And what about Facing your Giants or A Gentle Thunder? (Time to visit the local bookstore or Amazon??)
At the moment I have The Great House of God on the go, looking at the Lord’s Prayer.
Whatever the summer weeks ahead may be for you – plan to read at least one Christian book – for your soul’s sake!
Friday 2nd June, 2017
Let me invite you to listen a song that I found inspiring and encouraging at this time of year - Hope and Glory by Tim Hughes.
Here is the link......
Thursday 11th May, 2017
Let me invite you...to pledge2pray with ThyKingdomCome!
It has been wonderful to see people respond to this prayer venture here in Edinburgh, in Scotland, in UK and many, many places around the world. The venture starts on Ascension Day (May 25th) and concludes (hopefully not) on Pentecost (June 4th). There are great resources for individuals, families and churches and more information at www.thykingdomcome.global
Oh Father God, hear our prayers, may Your will be done and may Your Spirit fall on us. Amen? Amen!
Friday 21st April, 2017.....Let me introduce you to John Young, our minister at Liberton Kirk here in Edinburgh. He has served the Kirk for just over 20 years now and Barbara and I value his love and fellowship, wisdom and leading in Christ Jesus more and more. He truly models Jesus to us... This is his story of how it all began for him...
It all happened one night in a small Hindu village in South East Pakistan, but my journey had begun years before.
I was born in Sialkot, Pakistan, where my Parents were serving as Christian Missionaries. My experience of their faith, and that of the local Pakistani Christian community, was a very positive one. Here were people who lived out their beliefs, at considerable personal cost, and who looked after each other and served the poor. When I returned to Scotland at the age of eight I got a bit of a shock. Church here was different – cold, dutiful and joyless – and faith was something people seemed to put on once a week, along with their Sunday clothes. By the age of sixteen, I had my mind on other things.
It was towards the end of my first year at University that I got a bit of a shock. I suddenly realized I could no longer pray the words of the Lord’s Prayer and mean them, and it struck me with some force that I no longer had a faith in God. But that night, alone in my bedroom, unable to sleep, and with no God to protect me, I encountered evil first hand – a dark chaotic sinister terrifying presence which made me question my very sanity. In desperation I turned to prayer once more, and a sort of peace returned. Looking back in the cold light of day, however, it was easy to dismiss it as just a bad dream.
I was studying for a degree in Social Anthropology, a secular discipline which did it’s best to explain away religious beliefs in sociological terms. The more I studied it, the more I realized how little it was able to do this. Meanwhile, I was sharing a flat with fellow anthropology student who happened to be a lapsed Roman Catholic and keen supporter of the Communist Party. Our almost daily discussions and debates ranged far and wide, but at the same time they forced me to think hard about things I had not properly considered for years. By the time I was in my third year I was beginning to explore the topic of faith again, and my journey was taking me back towards the faith of my childhood.
Then one night, as I lay on my charpoy under the night sky, I had an encounter with God. I was 22 years old, and had been conducting some ethnographic research into the kinship systems of a Hindu tribal group. This involved living in a remote village and learning about their culture and beliefs first hand. My neighbour had invited me to join him and his male relatives as they delivered gifts to the village of his son’s bride-to-be. On our arrival we were well entertained, and towards the end of the evening, as we sat under the stars, we began to share stories. At one point our host, assuming I was a Christian, asked me to share a Christian story. Embarrassed, I tried to put him off, but he insisted, and eventually I told him a story that had got stuck in my mind and memory – the story of the woman caught in adultery, told in John chapter 8. It’s a powerful story of God’s wisdom and grace revealed in Jesus, and its telling generated a rather thoughtful silence.
That night I couldn’t sleep. The same thought kept coming back to me, again and again. “John, you need to make your mind up about me, and if you don’t do it tonight, you never will.” I tried again and again to dismiss it or to postpone making a decision, but the thought kept coming back, and in the end I had to face up to the truth. I had to choose, there and then, which sort of world I wanted to be part of – a godless world, with its false hopes and disappointments, or a world full of grace and truth, with Jesus.
I chose Jesus. Best decision of my life!
Friday 31st March 2017......let me invite you to take a few minutes to click on the links below and listen to 2 songs that have come my way in recent days....and both seem so appropriate for this time of the year!
Dear Refuge of my soul...... words and link to YouTube
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1290663081012314&id=424079124337385
and a wonderful truth that God is the Lion and the Lamb!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT-HulZ6TQA&sns=em
Thursday 2nd March 2017........With Lent having just begun let me invite you to settle down for the next 28 minutes and watch part 3 of the new Alpha Film Series – Why did Jesus die? Perhaps you will want to share it with someone else afterwards?
Here is the link to click on….. https://youtu.be/IYi6Y2lUWXs
Friday 10th February 2017.....
Let me invite you to settle down for the next 25 minutes and watch part 2 of the new Alpha Film Series – Who Is Jesus? Perhaps you will want to share it with someone else??
Here is the link to click on……. https://youtu.be/uhUr-Ui-S8s
Monday 23rd January 2017……Let me invite you to look around…….. what book are you reading just now? What books are waiting on your shelves to read? Are there dvds and cds that have now no place in your possession? Should they go to a charity or to the rubbish bin? It’s a useful, healthy habit to develop……even when stuck in bed with a bad back!
Saturday 31st December 2016
Let me invite you at this time of the year to take some time and re-visit the stories and people and places and books and music below....... and then to share one or more with someone else ......after all you never know whose life may be amazingly touched by how God has been at work in another's........
Friday 9th December, 2016…………Let me invite you to watch and listen to a
song by the Newsboys. Barbara came across this on Facebook and shared it with me……let us share it with you today! Click on the link below for ‘We believe…….’
Friday, 18th November, 2016
As LastingFruit moves into its 2nd year…..so this section moves on!
'Let me Introduce' becomes ‘Let me Invite you’ and I really hope that over the next issues you will take up the invitations offered!
This time I invite you to pause and watch/listen to a video on YouTube.
Barbara and I have been part of the Alpha group running during this season of Looking Outward at our church – and it has been 11 weeks of blessing and challenge and encouragement and laughter and food and learning and prayer with 20 others. Below is the link to part 1 of the new Alpha Film Series and I hope you will take time out – 22 minutes – to consider afresh the question - Is There More to Life Than This?
Please please do email me or contact Alpha.org if we can help in any way after you have watched the film………. Thank you for watching!
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Saturday 29th October, 2016.....let me encourage you to scroll down below and find a song or two.....and take time-out to listen to them over the next few days. Songs have always been part of my life - and so many have encouraged and inspired and challenged me! So...please please enjoy enjoy!! (And share with someone else?)
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Friday 14th October, 2016.....where do I begin?! If you have time please scroll down and start with Goldie and work your way up with those songs, Caroline, the Trinkie, George, Paul Friend on Keith Green, Joy in Canada....and so much more!!
Let me introduce you to my church family - Liberton Kirk, in the south east of Edinburgh. It was Barbara who first visited it, attending the annual memorial service in December and discovering the warmth of its welcome.
When we got married it has become our spiritual home and over time we have become involved in its life and work…..Upwardly, Inwardly and Outwardly.
Of course God isn’t finished with it yet – it is a work of grace in progress!
God isn’t finished with me yet - thankfully!!
So let me invite you to visit the church website at www.libertonkirk.net and to discover more of who we are – or even to visit us one Sunday or during the week at Liberton Café?
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Last evening, some of us watched episode 2 from the new Alpha Film Series.......let me invite you to click on a link below and do so too! 25 minutes of good viewing!
Bear Grylls and Alpha.org? Yep! Here is a link for you.....
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This time let me take you a classic hymn that has meant much to me in these last weeks....it is SO true still!!!!
'What a Friend we have in Jesus'
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I hope that we all have people and books and places and songs that have encouraged us along the way on our Christian pilgrimage…..I really would not be where I am without them all for sure!
So this time….let me invite you to take up a fruitful challenge……
Let me encourage you to re-visit all my ‘introductions’ (one a day?) and after you have been hopefully fruitfully blessed let me ask you to either share one (or more) with someone else….or to share an introduction of your own from your life?
So…..Goldie, Elijah Brown, Paul Friend and Keith Green, Caroline Ferguson, George Thomson and Joy Wiseman……....and your encouragers are?
Or the Trinkie re-visited?
Time to hear some of those songs again or re-visit those bookshelves?
And what about that Amy Grant song in Seed 3 this time??
Please be open to be encouraged – and to be an encourager to another!
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This time let me introduce you to a book that I borrowed from the library a few weeks ago……..A Survival Guide for Life by Bear Grylls. I was intrigued about Bear’s faith since I heard he was very involved in promoting the forthcoming new Alpha film series. I am still slowly working through a book that clearly focusses on Family, Friends, Faith, Fun and Follow Your Dreams in his own unique style! A chapter or two a day is giving me much to ponder over as he writes about ‘how to achieve your goals, thrive in adversity and grow in character’. Each chapter is very short so that helps!
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I really encourage you to ask your librarian to reserve/order your copy!
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Let me introduce you this time to a song that I first heard a few weeks ago when around 100 of us gathered in our city to share and pray together over one lunchtime. It was a very powerful corporate expression of what we all believed.
I believe in………a Hillsong worship song.
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Let me introduce you to Joy Wiseman.
Many years ago her parents became friends with my parents and our families grew to know each other. That friendship has lasted over the miles and over the years and I value Joy’s faithful encouragements and prayers through good times and bad times. I shall let her continue in her own words…….
Hope is not that God guarantees a life of bliss and perfection, but that in all seasons, trials, and circumstances … God is with us. Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up. [Eugene Cho]
As I write, it’s May. Here in Ontario Spring has come late, after a long and unforgiving frigid winter. Now, signs of new life! Buds forming & blooming, colours bursting, sunlit brilliance masterfully stroked over winter’s grey sketch. And it’s amazing.
I’ve been learning a lot lately about waiting. Perhaps you’re an expert in that department, but even with 50 a tiny speck in the rear view mirror, I confess I’m still no natural! I resist … especially if the waiting is prolonged or painful. You’d think by now I’d readily recall that during the bleak seasons of life, those ‘dark nights of the soul’, God’s still at work, even if I can’t see anything. He’s faithful. I’m His beloved. But I forget.
My husband Terry and I have long known His faithfulness firsthand. The past 10 years of our marriage have been especially fraught with roller coaster highs and lows … potentially life-threatening kidney cancer, unexpected job loss, the constant gruelling presence of chronic pain & fatigue, and a bipolar diagnosis that turned our world upside down. So we’re not unfamiliar with God’s unfailing presence and provision through the tough times. He IS faithful. We are His beloved. But we forget.
So our most recent challenge — forgoing financial security, holidays and time together while Terry completes a God-led career segue (graduating last year as a clinical counsellor) — should be a breeze, right? I wish! It’s taken far longer than I expected. Truth is, I’ve struggled, fighting anxiety, weariness, frustration, often feeling ‘less than’, wondering if we heard Him right, confusing a comma for a period, our timetable with His … forgetting that in winter’s bitter cold, underneath it all, hidden from sight, life is still happening. God is at work, unrushed. Preparing. Maturing. Transforming. Silently calling into being that which was not. He IS faithful. We are His beloved. But we forget.
More recently God’s been impressing on me that I’m to welcome, not battle, the waiting. To embrace life in limbo, between what was and what will be. To resist the enemy’s lies that speak death, not life, fear, not faith. To remember that “God often does His most powerful work in the hidden, unseen places” [Lysa TerKeurst]. To keep trusting Him in the darkness and hold on fiercely to my hope. Because my hope has a name … Jesus.
Now – finally! – a change of season is on the horizon. A move, such that Terry can counsel from home and together we’re able to come alongside others in providing hope and a safe place for those suffering from mental health & life challenges, born of our own story and shared calling. Life in vibrant colour? I can hardly wait!! But (and here’s the key) I still must. God’s timing is perfect. He is faithful. We are His beloved. I remember.
Are you in a season of waiting? If not now, then chances are you will be. Remember … He is ALWAYS faithful. He IS working. You are HIS BELOVED. Don’t forget!
Originally from Scotland, Joy now resides with her husband Terry and (unofficial!) ‘therapy dogs’ Wuzzy & Easy near Toronto, Canada. You can follow her at inpensivemood.tumblr.com.
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Two books on the go at the moment!
Fresh Power by Jim Cymbala and Alpha, Questions of Life by Nicky Gumbel are on my table these days. As a result of a fresh moving by God’s Spirit on the need for Prayer to be a priority in the Church in these days I am trying to read these two books at once!
* Fresh Power is challenging me again as I read Cymbala’s call to experience God moving among us by His Holy Spirit in power. It is my heart’s desire for myself, my family, my church, my city, my nation.
* Nicky Gumbel’s book is helping me think through how to present all this in our day and age.
Let me challenge you – what book is on the go at the moment for you? What book will be next to be read? Is there a Christian book on your list??
How are you prioritising prayer in your life, in your church, in your town or city?
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Let me introduce you this time to OPEN DOORS…
OPEN DOORS is ‘an international ministry serving persecuted Christians and churches worldwide’. It supplies Bibles, leadership training and other programmes and services and seeks ‘to mobilise the church in the UK & Ireland to serve Christians living under religious persecution’.
Please do pray for them.
Please consider how to support them.
They would love to hear from you!
facebook.com/opendoorsuk
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With Seed 2 having changed........do you know or remember this song from yesteryear?
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Meet George Thomson........an ex-colleague of my wife's and now a fellow Christian pilgrim in life to us both!
I have had a faith in God since I was eight years old, and this is when my journey with God began.
I first attended Leith Tabernacle in Henderson Street, where my neighbours took me along every Sunday and I loved it. Learning stories about how God loves me and I also enjoyed the singing of the children’s songs too.
However, it was June 1990 when my Father had passed away with Cancer when I learned as an 8 year old what suffering meant.
It was difficult for my mum as she was faced with raising me up as a lone parent and felt she would struggle to give me her best. And it was her best that she gave.
In coming to terms with my Father’s death and questioning why, my friend had said why don’t I attend his church at Leith Baptist (Madeira Street) Church. So I went along with him and it was here where I met David Brown, who was working for the Children’s panel at that time and had a love like Jesus for children and his ministry for God was to give children with a difficult upbringing a chance of a holiday to Port Ban Caravan Park in the west coast of Scotland.
My mum was overjoyed that I could go a holiday and mum encouraged me to go and enjoy a break after what was a time of sadness. I’m sure mum loved the break of me being away also!
However, one day at Port Ban I was feeling low and missing my dad, when David said to me, “George, you may not have an earthly Father, but you have a heavenly Father who loves you very much”. Those words cheered me up and I began to find out more about God, Jesus, his love and about the Christian Faith.
Then as I was growing older I changed churches and I moved to Newhaven Parish (Church of Scotland) whilst attending the Boys’ Brigade, where I achieved the Queens badge, the highest award in the Boys’ Brigade. I was in the Boys' Brigade for 15 years, where my faith grew more. I also attended the church at this time.
In 1999 I then began to attend Bellevue Chapel in Rodney Street where I felt God’s peace and love in a way I have never felt before.
My friend Willie Shepherd whom I recently met for the first time in 1999, was attending with me after through a small conversation we discovered we both wanted to experience God more. So we both decided to attend Bellevue as it was close to Willie’s house, and my friend David Brown had taken me there one Sunday for a visit.
Soon after, Willie and I were thinking the same thoughts that we both wanted to get baptised and announce that we were Christians who want to follow God.
So I was baptised in 2001 and became a member of Bellevue Chapel.
I also joined the church's team for the Bethany Christian Trust Care Van, a service which goes out at night serving soup, rolls, tea and coffee to homeless and vulnerable people in Edinburgh's city centre. This is something which is very close to my heart and I continue to do to this day and this Easter will be my 17th year in volunteering for the Care Van. I now organise the care van team for a local church in Edinburgh and I am also a full time employee in the retail shops for Bethany Christian Trust.
During my time at Bellevue my faith grew more and due to family circumstances we moved to the Stenhouse area and started to attend our local church in 2011. I became a member later that year.
In June 2013 I was voted on as a deacon for a minimum of three years. And Stenhouse Baptist was where God began opening doors for me in my life.
Over the past few years, God has opened doors for me to develop the gift of preaching. And it was around this time where I joined the Scottish Baptist Lay Preachers Association, where I am still currently a member.
However, God had a plan and it was at my first conference where I saw Lyn Blanche who I thought was attractive and had a warming personality that I drew closer to.
The Conference was over in the west at Newton Mearns Baptist, in Glasgow, and meeting Lyn I thought this woman was from the west as she said she stays in Coatbridge. However, it was to my surprise that Lyn said she would class herself as a Leither as when she was young the family home was Kirk Street in Leith. Her parents were members of South Leith Baptist where a certain Alan Berry was minister who was the founder of Bethany Christian Trust.
And, in cutting a long story short, God allowed us to get to know each other and we fell in love and Lyn Blanche is now Lyn Thomson.
Lyn was and is still a rock to me in my life and, in particular, after only 2 weeks of marriage when I lost my mum to kidney failure.
It was tough and I questioned God’s timing.
But I have learned that God is faithful and a God of love and that He works for the good of all who believe.
I now stay with Lyn in Coatbridge and I commute to Edinburgh for work where I work for Bethany Christian Trust in one of their retail shops and Lyn supports me in helping for the Care Van also.
I still continue to preach in churches and just have finished an Expository Preaching Course at the Faith Mission College in Edinburgh run by Rev Peter Grainger.
God has been faithful to me and shown his love, and he has blessed me with amazing people and friends and family.
My life now is open to where God directs Lyn and myself and that is where I want to be…..open to all that is in store on the Christian walk, by trying to help others along the way.
I’d like to say a special mention to those close to me who have been an influence in my life: Mum (Janette Thomson), Dad (Adam Thomson), my wife Lyn Thomson, David Brown, Mike Taylor, Glen Cartwright, George Cruickshank, Willie Shepherd, Alastair & Barbara Cameron, Jim Blanche, Kathryn Blanche.
Thank you all for your encouragement and love.
I believe that God has given me this gift to both challenge and encourage people in their daily walk with Him…..and so I press onwards with Him before me!
I believe that God has given me this gift to both challenge and encourage people in their daily walk with Him…..and so I press onwards with Him before me!
LENT
Let me encourage you to be encouraged by the lives below and re-visit that book...those songs...and that place at this time of Lent.
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Let me introduce (remind) you of a hymn from yesteryear (1757) that has refreshed and encouraged me so recently once more.
Come Thou fount of every blessing…..may it be blessing to you at this time I hope and pray.....
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This time…let me introduce you to two websites and two great projects that I have come to value over the last year or two.
www.trypraying.co.uk is a great way to encourage people to pray – especially those who don’t regularly go to a church….and some great statistics to show us all how many people pray – more than we think?
The booklet (UK/USA) is a 7-day-guide…and it works!
There are stories online to prove it.
There is an app available (worldwide) to download now!
And it is all worth sharing with someone afterwards!
www.40-days.com is a 40-day journey designed for the period of Lent, but can be followed at any time of the year!
Catching the Wave is the booklet available and at the moment some 4,000 people have decided to take the journey…..using the daily themes and prayer suggestions provided.
There are stories to read of times of revival blessing from the Hebrides to Edinburgh and Wales to New York and ways to go deeper after the 40 days…..it is a great aid being well used!
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2 more songs from Keith Green for now....
To Obey is Better than Sacrifice (live) is another of Paul's choices
and.....So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt
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Let me introduce this time to Paul Friend on Keith Green…..plus a couple of his songs of course!
Paul was on the staff at Bethany Centre during my time there and was a true encourager! His passion for Jesus and His teachings still live on as he serves Ferniehill Evangelical Church. We also share a common interest in Manchester United..woohoo!
These are his words on a man who has inspired us both.....
KEITH GREEN – ‘NO COMPROMISE’
It is June 1982, when a young man behind a Grand Piano delivers the following message to a packed concert arena. “This generation of Christians, that you and I are a part of; we are responsible for this generation of souls”. It was a typical message from Keith Green; he had spent the last seven years delivering them all over the world. He had become overwhelmed with a burden for lost souls and it appeared to drive every fibre of his being. He was adored by millions of Christians across the globe, but his one motivation, to stay true to the gospel message he believed God had given him to share. At every opportunity he would ensure that it was God, and not himself who would receive the Glory. Declared as a prophet to his generation, Keith was counter cultural to the celebrity worship leaders of today. For that reason alone his life is certainly worth a closer look.
When you look at the family Keith was born into, it’s not difficult to understand why performing became second nature. His parents were gifted musicians, and Keith made his first stage performance with his Mother aged just five. When Decca records came calling aged eleven, he was quick to sign the recording contract placed in front of him. Promises of stardom were part of the deal, and a feature in ‘Times Magazine’ seemed to ensure it was only a matter of time before Keith Green would be a household name. However, another young starlet, Donny Osmond would arrive on the scene the following year and Keith was quickly forgotten by the public. Fame had proven to be a fickle master, and perhaps it was this experience that led Keith to be suspicious of those who would try to create a celebrity of him in the future. By seventeen still writing and singing across clubs in America, he felt his music could have a higher meaning. Over the next four years he embarked upon a spiritual journey eventually finding Jesus aged twenty-one and realising that the higher purpose for his music would be found not in himself, but in Jesus.
Keith threw himself into this new life in the way he threw himself into his stage performances when he was a young star on television; he was an all-or-nothing kind of guy. Having come from total despair, to a new life in Christ it is not hard to see why he would be so grateful to Jesus for this new found purpose. He realised that his passion for music could be a problem in his desire to evangelise for God, he found it difficult to justify charging people to come to his concerts, he was concerned they had come to listen to him rather than hear from God, and so made the decision to temporarily give up his music. However, God had other plans and made it possible sometime later for Keith to use his natural gift to spread the gospel and evangelise through his music. Over the next few years demand for his ministry was constant. Keith would never call himself a performer, opting instead to use the term ‘Music Minister’ and often wore a T-Shirt on stage proclaiming “Jesus is the Only Star”. Keith realised that the Christian church was trying to create a celebrity in him, and he would resist this at every point in his ministry. One telling moment in a 1978 concert sees him telling his audience to stop clapping, and instead to listen to the lyrics.
Money often follows celebrity and Keith was aware of the problems that came with it. He spent much time pouring over his ability to write music that many were willing to buy, thus creating an opportunity for him to gain wealth. As the royalties from his music began to pour in, Keith decided that founding a ministry was the only way he could justify this new found wealth, and so, in 1979 Keith purchased a small farm in California and began welcoming people to come and live there. Many of them had addiction issues, and Keith recognised the importance of residential discipleship to continue their journey into freedom in Christ. At this time Keith also took the radical step of selling his Albums at a price determined by the purchaser, as a result of the decision by 1982 he had given away 61000 albums. He was determined that the Gospel message of his music would not be limited by a person’s financial status, and he was also determined not to become personally wealthy. God honoured Keith in his decision and the ministry still continues today.
Keith’s decisions regarding money and status are in stark contrast to Christian Musicians in the current era. Many Christian musicians today have accumulated vast wealth, and as a result have become detached from ordinary church members. Keith refused to allow this to happen to him, proclaiming to anyone who would listen that he wanted his life simply to be a prayer to God and reflected this in his music. He called Christians to lead a radical life of ‘no compromise’ in following Christ.
It was this aspect of ‘no compromise’ that was the greatest gift Keith received from God, it allowed him to view his entire Christian life from this perspective, ‘Does this honour God?’ was his question and if the answer was no, he would not entertain it. He would not compromise with producers who demanded he change a line in one of his songs as they deemed it to harsh to the listener. Keith would refuse saying ‘God demanded obedience from those claiming to follow Christ’. There was simplicity though in Keith’s refusal of celebrity, for example, throughout his whole ministry he never signed a single autograph. He knew that the glory should go to God, and he would refuse the temptation to take any for himself. Keith only lived till he was twenty-eight. Only seven years after his conversion Keith along with two of his children would die in a tragic plane crash. In those years he impacted the Christian world in a way rarely seen before. As the church looked on at his funeral in shock wondering why God could take such an ambassador for Christ at such a young age, it was his wife that provided the words that would make them all realise that because Keith had lived a ‘no compromise’ life, God could still use this to impact the Christian world. She said “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear any fruit”. It was true, a video of Keith’s last concert would be discovered and played to many hundreds of thousands across the world, it was a call to mission to mobilise the sleeping church and many young men and women. It would lead many to head out into full-time mission.
Why was Keith Green able to impact in this way? Simply because he recognised that the glory was not for him. Instead, it was for Jesus. He would remind his fans of this – all he wanted people to hear was words from Jesus.
When I hear the praises start….is one of Paul's choices
There is a Redeemer….is known by so many people around the world
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Let me introduce you to a book this time.
Just Like Jesus......by Max Lucado
It is the book (apart from the Bible) that I have given away most to others and it was a book that I first read in my early days with Bethany….
It is a book that is uncomfortably so good….
It is a book that deeply challenges, hugely encourages and cannot be put down easily…..a copy still sits by my bedside after all these years as a reminder of what God has done, is doing and will do in my life….
It is a book that will, I believe, change your life….
It is a book, I suggest, that you buy or order sooner rather than later…..and probably more than one copy!
It is a book about how much God loves you and is
changing you to make you be Just Like Jesus….
It is a book I hope you will read for yourself….and let God do the rest….
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Count your blessings…a great classic hymn…..honky-tonk Salvation Army style however! Enjoy……and count your blessings!
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Meet Caroline Ferguson….whom Barbara and I met last year in 2015 when we gave her a lift at a friend's wedding...she is a great navigator as a passenger......but a greater trophy of grace!!
“ I once was Lost But Now I’m Found “
My name is Caroline, I am 30 years old. I once was lost in the Darkness of this world in which we live. Born and bred in North Lanarkshire with my parents. Life was pretty good up until the age of 13 when my parents divorced, I began High school & my life became full of drink, drugs & relationships.
That was until at the age of 17 I was searching for answers in my life & through the death of a close friend and the love & care of a Christian school teacher, I found the answers I was looking for in Christ, my life has never been the same again.
I began an awesome journey then, that I am still on now. It has taken me all over the world serving Jesus and witnessing to others!
In my day job I am a support worker, I support people of all ages in their own home. Even in my job I get to share the Love & Compassion of Christ.
In just over a few weeks’ time I am heading off to Mumbai India for a 3 week Mission trip to work with Oasis India. On this trip we will mainly be working with Ladies from the Red Light area and their children. The plan is that on our 1 & 2 weeks we are going to take groups of women on a 3 day retreat where will share the Gospel & minister to them. Please keep myself & the team in your prayers.
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The Trinkie is just outside the town of Wick……it is an outdoor swimming pool located on the coast past the former coastguard station near the town. The walk along the coastal road on a breezy day is truly invigorating! It is a place we always went on family holidays…climbing over the rocks..hunting crabs in the shallow pools…watching the waves crash in on wild, windy days!
It is the place I went to time after time when life was heavy.
I would stand and tell God my problems and heartaches.
I would look at the waves and realise that my God was all-powerful.
I still need my Trinkie-fix when I am up north.
Do you have such a place? Somewhere to go when life is hard going and talk to God? Maybe a bench in a park? A path through a forest? A room or chair in the house? The kitchen window??
However hard my trials and temptations, however severe the waves crashing in, I have discovered that my God, the LORD God is more than able to help me…..
(pictures below!)
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Outrageous Grace…..a great song that my sister sent me several years ago….I really encourage you to ponder the lyrics……
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James Goldie was the first person I thought of for here..... We met while living together at the Bethany Christian Centre and then in the Discipleship Flat next door.....what interesting life-changing days they were!!! Please take time to read his story......
My name is James Goldie and I was born in 1976 in West Lothian in Scotland. My childhood was spent between two towns in central Scotland, ‘Armadale’ the town that I grew up in up until the age of 13, and ‘Whitburn’ the town I moved to after my parents’ separation and eventual divorce. During childhood I have fond memories of staying over at my grandparents’ home in Whitburn every weekend. I recall playing football outside her house was a welcome escape from an unpleasant home life.
My dad has a chronic alcohol problem and would regularly take his frustrations out on my mum in violent outbursts. Although he never hit me or my brother, to this day he has no idea how much his behaviour affected his children. By age 13 I had started drinking and using drugs myself. I was frequently in trouble both in school and the community.
As the years passed my drug use had progressed from recreationally to a full blown addiction. My drugs of choice were Amphetamine, Valium and Alcohol. My days consisted of begging stealing or borrowing in order to have what I needed for that day. This was now a way of life for me and I knew nothing else.
I remember being in my flat in Whitburn ( in withdrawal from alcohol), owing money to people who could have turned up at any moment and a vivid thought came into my head that I was to go to Edinburgh. I heard this twice. On the second time I was able to get up and walk out the door.
I ended up in Livingston at a hostel I had stayed at when I was 16. The hostel workers knew me and advised me that I was too old for their service however I should go to Bethany house in Edinburgh (This was evidence enough that I needed to go there) and they gave me the bus fare. I arrived at Bethany and there were no beds available. Undeterred I went back each day and eventually got moved in.
This was the first time I met a Christian. I was overwhelmed with the generosity and kindness and the fact that someone was interested in me for who I was not what I could do. I began to take an interest in the gospel. About 6 months after moving in I gave my life to the Lord. My life did not change immediately (I had two stays in a rehab). I wanted to give it all up so many times.
I gave my life to the Lord in 1998. From then he has guided me to work in the rehab at Bethany, go back to college, moving to Northern Ireland with my now wife and family. I now work in a hostel supporting people who are hurting as I once was.
Any spare time I now have is spent writing songs / music that I can sing whilst giving testimony in any place that will allow me to share with them.
Joel 2 v 25. I will restore to you the years that he swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
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I met Elijah Brown when his wife, Amy, worked with me a few years ago at Bethany......his passion for Truth and Justice has stayed with me...moreso in these needy times in our world.....please do read on!
Elijah M. Brown, Ph.D. is the Executive Vice President of the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, a human rights organization based outside of Washington D.C. empowering a global movement to advance religious freedom as a universal right through advocacy, capacity building and technology. Originally from Texas, Elijah completed his PhD from the University of Edinburgh with a thesis that focused on the role of the church in South Sudan’s north peace process and touched on issues of conflict resolution, missions, refugee concerns and religious freedom. His research took him to Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Washington D.C. From 2009 – 2014, Elijah served as an Associate Professor of Religion at East Texas Baptist University (ETBU). While at ETBU, Elijah was a Faculty-in-Residence and the founding Director of the Freedom Center, one of the only centers on a Baptist university or seminary in the United States focused on international religious freedom. In 2007, he was named one of 35 global emerging leaders by the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), a network representing 40 million Baptists worldwide. In 2015, Elijah was appointed to a five-year term as the Vice Chair for the Religious Liberty Commission of the BWA.
In 2015, the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative (www.21wilberforce.org) helped impact 135,000,000 through media awareness about religious freedom, train 2,200 individuals living in persecuted communities, mobilize over 40 members of the United States Congress, submit 19 first-hand testimonies to the United Nations on behalf of individuals in Eritrea, and positively impacted the religious freedom situation in 8 countries. With 77% of the world living in contexts where they experience restrictions due to their religious beliefs, the Wilberforce Initiative encourages you to learn the steps you can take to ACT on behalf of religious freedom around the world by signing up for their weekly Speak Freedom a!erts and daily prayers for the persecuted at www.21wilberforce.org.
Elijah has been married to Amy for 13 years and together they are the parents of two young children. For fun Elijah enjoys reading and has traveled to 23 countries. For those looking to go deeper in their spiritual walk, he has found the writings of Henri Nouwen to be particularly helpful. Elijah and Amy currently live outside Washington D.C. and continue to reflect on how much they enjoyed living in Edinburgh, Scotland. He can be followed on Twitter @ElijahMBrown.
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George Thomson
Keith Green
at the Trinkie
Caroline Ferguson
James Goldie
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