Saturday, October 28, 2006

Still Alive...

...and kicking!

Sorry, we have been down in England over the last couple of weeks and we have had little or no internet access. We are all well, and I am sitting here in a Travel Lodge checking my 89 unread emails and writing a long lost blog!

We have had a great time in England - so much to write about. But that will wait for another night! Gotta go now and sleep. Had a tough day driving today - around 8 hrs from Torquay to Bolton. Should have taken 4 but roads chocca blocca! Aaaaggh.

I will publish a few new blogs next week - promise!

Until then ...ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................



p.s. - this was written on Saturday but I was so tired and slow writing the blog that I did not have enough time on my Internet Card to publish it! UPDATE - we are back in Scotland now. Will do a catch-up blog tomorrow....

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Welcome to the Weekend!

Hi there folks. Welcome to the weekend! Today, Mary & I are heading down south again to minister at a couple of churches - Dalkeith in the morning and Coatbridge in the evening. We are leaving the kids behind this weekend as last weekend was a quite hard for them. We got home around 3am after a four and a half hour journey through thick fog! So they are staying with my mum & dad... and we are kids-free!

We will be staying with our good friends Keith & Anne Pointon.
Today, there is a big women's event in Musselburgh (always dangerous!!!!!) The AoG women's dept are having a special day with guest speakers from England. Mary is looking forward to meeting up with old friends again, but I am not looking forward to my make up session - JOKE!

The picture below is of my great friend David Thomsom from Edinburgh leading worship ... with our Godson Luke playing the bongo drums! Really blessed me to see david be a great example to his son AND trusting and training Luke to play with him. What an example!

Will blog again at beginning of week with news about the weekend. We also have exciting news to share with you. Until then ... have a great weekend.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Improving Your Serve



Hi there, Mark here! Still alive and kicking.

We are all well and have just returned from 9 days away down south. We squeezed in a lovely 5-day family holiday with the Ritchie Clan in a beautiful place called Crieff in Perthshire. Loved it.


I will write a catch up blog tomorrow with all our news and let you know what's been happening over in the Philippines. In the meantime, here are a few latest photos and a wee article I wrote for the upcoming Solid Rock Prayer Calendar here in Fraserburgh.
Enjoy and be challenged ....

IMPROVING YOUR SERVE

Andy Murray – a great Scottish tennis player and future Wimbledon Champion (by faith) – was recently interviewed after the US open. He said that he was happy with his progress but that he needed to improve his serve. This little phrase got me thinking and I began to think of ways in which I could improve my serve – not on the tennis court(!) but in my life.

The Bible says in Psalm 100:2 - “Serve the Lord with gladness.” Let’s break this up …

“SERVE” – not a popular word these days. In fact, loathed. In this age of living within your rights, social inclusion, doing what I want-where I want-when I want, suing and counter suing … serve or serving is almost an alien concept. In fact, we love to be served – whether it is in airplanes, restaurants, spas or in business. Nice feeling. Great to have people running after you and your needs. But …

… this is fact the exact opposite of what God admires, His Word expects and His Son demonstrated. Jesus, The Son of God, Creator and beloved of all heaven came to this sin-stained and evil-driven world not to have people run after him and grant his every request, but to actually pour his life into serving and transforming ordinary people’s lives. Often, not the wealthy or those who could afford it, but the desperate, poor and ‘no-hope’ sorta people. Amazing. Don’t believe me? “For Jesus did not come into this world to be served but to serve …” Mk 10:45

THE LORD – we are not serving a church or a person, but when we do ANYTHING as a Christian, we do it directly to the Lord. He is the one we love, follow and serve. To be honest - when we hoover the floor in the church, or pick up someone for church or teach in Sunday School or wash dishes at the tea after church – we can do it for different motives. Very often we feel as if no-one really appreciates what we do or encourages us to keep going. The church is full of hurt and burned out people who have been disappointed by leaders who never really appreciated them. Servers who have lost the will to serve.

Hold on a minute, there is hope. Change your way of thinking. Listen, you are NOT serving a church, but a Saviour who gave absolutely everything for you. He sees; he knows; He is aware; He appreciates you; He in encouraged by you; He loves you. A man of God I know called Brian Bailey was taken into heaven by an angel in a vision. In heaven he noticed that absolutely everything that someone did on earth was rewarded by the Lord – a smile, work, a small word of encouragement, a pat on the back – everything that a Christian did was rewarded. So you see, you are not serving people, but serving a King. The Apostles, these amazing man in the NT who did incredible things, always called themselves “slaves of Christ” or “Servants of the Lord”.

WITH GLADNESS – it is not enough to be a server; we have to have the right attitude whilst serving. We can serve with great ability, but if there is not a smile on our face then we will burn out and quit. I am so fed up of lifeless, sad and miserable Christians. We have been saved from an eternity of indescribable pain and misery in a place called hell. Not only that, someone has died for us and exchanged His life and rewards so that we can live the fullest and best life that anyone can ever ask for. His mercy has saved us from what we deserve and His grace gives us what we don’t deserve. I mean, does it really get any better than that? Tell me what religion or sect or pill or philosophy can give you that kind of offer! None.

We should be glad. We should be full of joy, happiness, excitement and we should always have room for a smile. God is not only interested in our service, but the way in which we serve. Jonah was a great preacher but as miserable as a rainy Monday. God spared Nineveh but also had a hard job changing the mood of a depressed prophet!

Just after we went to the Philippines in 2000, an American missionary couple called Martin & Gracia Burnham were kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in the south. Sadly, the military could have captured them in the first week but the terrorists were allowed to walk out of a surrounded hospital and escape into the forest for a large sum of money. The Burnhams saw the terrorists behead another American in front of their eyes. They ended up running around the forests of Mindanao for a whole year, in chains. They had malaria many times and were very sick. They lost their shoes and were bare footed for months. They endured so much hardship – spiritual, physical and emotional turmoil.

In May 2001, one year after being kidnapped, Gracia told her husband that she was feeling absolutely rock bottom. She felt no-one cared and had lost confidence in the Philippines, America and even the Lord. Martin rebuked her and read Psalm 100 – “We must serve the Lord with Gladness Gracia, no matter what we feel like or what might happen.” These were his last words. A minute later the army surrounded and bullets began to fly. Martin was hit in the chest and died immediately. He died serving with joy.

How about you? Right now, take a piece of paper. Come on, really challenge yourself. Draw 2 lines to make it 3 columns. Column One – “What the Lord has done for me” Write down everything that your servant king has done for you. Column 2 – “What I have ever done for the Lord” Column 3 – What I am doing now for the Lord”

Examine your results. Are you serving the Lord with gladness? Or have you lost the lifestyle of a servant? Do you enjoy serving the Lord, or are you living in disappointment? Now is the time to challenge your life and attitude. Time to change. Time to stand up and shake yourself. Time to serve again. And when you do, do it with a smile on your face.

And just like Andy Murray - when he wins his 1st Wimbledon and receives his reward from his queen – one day we will stand before our King and receive our reward! All because … we improved our serve.

Selah.