One Happy Guy!

Allow me to introduce you to Oliver!
He is a lovely Irish gentleman living in Auchinheath, Scotland. Born and raised a good Catholic boy in Ireland, Oliver has had several bad experiences with water. Two particular incidents where he almost lost his life left him permanently fearful of water.

Well, Oliver has discovered Christ...and with the discovery also the command to be baptized in water... (by the way, that still means immersed in my books...) "Pastor Ken, can I have a small word with you... is there any other way? I am horrified with water..."

Of course I tried to comfort and humour Ollie by telling him,
"I've never lost one yet..." Oliver went away somewhat perplexed with my answer. I'm not sure what his expectations were. I tried to encourage him by saying, "Oliver, I think this will be the perfect occasion not only to bury the 'old man', but think it will be an excellent opportunity to bury the 'old fear'.

So here is a quick picture of Ollie... baptized this past Sunday... completely triumphant!

James Fraser of Brea

Years ago I read a work of Alexander Whyte on the life of James Fraser of Brea. Fraser’s classic “Memoirs” has long been a source of profit of many down through the years. Sadly, this is long out of print and extremely difficult to find. Whyte’s description of the life of JF and his struggle with the work of sanctification so related to my own, that I knew I must lay my hands on this book as well, which I did several years later. At once I consumed it… underlining and making a few notes in the margin. But all too soon, I was once again in the battle we all face of making what I had read, reality. I suppose if I were to calculate how many books in my library were bought in hopes as to becoming the cure for sin; the sum would be quite scary.

I’m in Scotland now working away at church planting again. While here, I am in the process of re-reading this wonderful classic. It is so far out of print… you would consider yourself fortunate to run across anything upon the subject of James Fraser of Brea. Good luck with Google / Amazon!

JF was a man of numbers… he knew how to count! Throughout his memoirs he is constantly enumerating: the 3 steps to this, the 4 observations of that, the 5 ways to the other, the 6 secrets for… He could have been the “Series King” if he had lived in the 21^st century.

Here begins our story: “The Memoirs of James Fraser of Brea”

The following piece is found in the author’s own dedication to a Mr. Thomas Ross, Minister at Kincardine.

“I have thought the disregarding of the Lord’s providences to be one common great sin, not only among open enemies, but among professed friends of Christ. All God’s ways being wisdom and goodness, are worthy of observation; and those providences that concern our spiritual estate most of all.”

“I have in nothing been more refreshed, quickened and edified, than by hearing and reading of the spiritual experiences of others of the Lord’s people; and in nothing more comforted and sanctified than by a serious recalling to mind of the Lord’s dealings with me.”

Here comes the first of many…

“Three ways doth the Lord reveal Himself:

• by His word
• by His works of creation
• by His works in providence.

These three are the several glasses through which the invisible God is seen.”

Psalms 66:16 “Come, and I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my soul.”

And with many other words the author begins to give a brief justification for the writing of his memoirs.

• His word is forever settled in heaven… and cannot be altered without curse.
• His work of creation continues to reproduce itself… having not really altered since creation.
• His work of providence has more of a direct impact upon our daily lives.

How shall we define the “works of providence” in our lives? The manner in which God has led us this far? The dealings of God in our life? I understand the word, providence, comes from the Latin “provideo”, meaning to see a thing before… in layman’s terms, God knowing and seeing a thing before it happens making provision for our lives; whether that be an escape, a helping hand, a job or career change.

• Few of us would debate the eternal value the word of God has been to each of us.
• Few of us would consider making light of the beautiful, mysterious and vast nature of creation.
• Few of us would stop and consider, recount to themselves the beautiful, mysterious and equally intricate manner in which the Lord has guided us through this life thus far.

When I look back upon my 47 years, I can hardly begin to enumerate the many ways in which God has preserved me, provided for me, protected me…. put up with me!

I suppose the direction I am going with this is one of consideration, contemplation and thanksgiving.

Years ago we would sing a hymn, “Count your blessings, name then one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Now, no music required, just a good memory… get to work and be blessed.

By the way, if you would like to read Whyte’s article, it’s available on the web.

www.newble.co.uk/hall/fraser/biography

Right Place – Right Time…

Everyone loves those moments… the moments when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. As Christians, we hold there is something greater behind these events besides luck or coincidence. We’re more comfortable with phrases such as ‘divine appointment’, ‘an open door’ or a window of opportunity’.

Psalms 37:23 from the New Living Translation it reads, “The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Isn’t that a wonderful thought? God is directing our steps…and that He delights in every detail of our lives?

Another favorite passage of mine regarding this divine coincidence is found in the tiny book of Ruth. Remember, Naomi has returned home to Bethlehem from Moab. She is accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth. Things are tight. Not much food in the cupboard, so Ruth leaves one morning to try her hand at the custom of gleaning, which means going behind the harvesters and picking up what’s left behind. Being a foreigner, she was probably unaware of all the abuse and difficulty she was getting herself into. After all what’s a Moabite woman doing gleaning in Bethlehem’s harvest fields? Suffice to say, she could have faced a rather rude if not injurious morning… that is had the Lord not been concerned about every detail of her life!

I love the language of the King James Version, (Ruth 2:3) “…and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz…” You have to love this! It’s early morning in Bethlehem; Ruth leaves Naomi behind and wanders down main street, through the town square and out where the fields are. She looks to this field of wheat and workers and then looks to that field of wheat and workers… and it just so happened that she landed upon the field of the kinsman redeemer who would abundantly satisfy her need for food. And eventually provide her a nice home, marriage, title to all the fields and a son named Obed, who would become the father of Jesse, who would become the father of David, King of Israel. Would you call that a fortunate turn of events?

When we arrived in Scotland, the town of Hamilton had been selected for us as the place for our church plant. We knew little to nothing of the town, the people, their needs or what lay in store for us. I guess you could say, “our hap was to light on town of Hamilton.”

I’ve taken the expense to enclose in this newsletter a brochure from our main office entitled – Europe. On the cover is a skinny kid wearing a Glasgow Rangers top… his name is Gary Matthews. He attends Harvest Christian Fellowship in Hamilton, Scotland. Let me tell you his story!

John and Karen, Gary’s parents had been exposed to a church which was quite abusive. The sectarian views had left them confused and disillusioned. They had all but stopped going to church. One night Karen was praying, “Lord, just like the man from Macedonia prayed, Lord, would you send someone here to help us… send someone to Hamilton!”

Little did Karen know that God was preparing a family in Texas to relocate to Scotland?

Little did Karen know that God was doing a new thing, breaking through barriers just to answer her prayer? Little did Karen know that God was guiding the Scottish leadership to the little town of Hamilton to be the first church plant in this new partnership?

The Matthews family became one of the first members of Harvest Christian Fellowship. Today, they are involved in a variety of ministries of the church one of which is the prayer ministry of our church… (Wonder why?)

In a library located in Texas, there is a sign that has been seen by many college students. It reads, “It costs too much to be out of the will of God.” Which is a truth negatively stated. Being the optimist, let’s rephrase it, “It pays rich dividends to be found in the will of God.” Nothing – nothing – nothing surpasses knowing and doing the will of God. Ruth was in the will of God, doing the will of God when Boaz crossed her path. Right place – right time!