thou in me dwelling, & I with thee one

We just went to the most beautiful Spanish vineyard! The sweet family that owns it showed us around their winery and stayed around to hang out while we tasted their wines! (at Son Puig)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all that I’ve learned since I moved to Scotland. I’ve really been thinking, “what have I learned?” Change is a funny thing; it’s funny because you never realize you’re changing while God is nurturing and growing you. You realize after it’s happened. You look back and think, “wow, I was a completely different person eight months ago!” but two and three months ago I didn’t quite see it yet.

Even though there have been some pretty life-changing instances here during Street Café (my favorite mercy ministry), helping to lead youth bible studies, and kid’s church, I think the Lord has grown me most gradually. Because I look back at my time as an intern and think of all the opportunity to act as a Christian and I can see a change in the way the Lord has worked through me. I’ve learned from my experiences and count them as blessings.

Romans 5: 1-5 

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

I love these verses and believe in them, character produces hope and that won’t put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who’s with us. The Holy Spirit is with us so all of our suffering, experiences, and learning won’t hinder us but produce endurance. How incredible? That even when you can’t think at all because you don’t know what you’ve learned or what you’re going to do about a certain situation, you can pray and know that God will surely use it to give you endurance. So that soon you will see his purposes are for His glory. You are for His glory. That’s how we can stand in His grace.

That’s what we ought to be doing. Praying, when we don’t know what we’ve learned or what we should do. Knowing we’re for His glory and praying that we’ll be used.

Romans 5 verse 10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

So basically, moral to the story is that sanctification isn’t happening overnight. (hahah, because that would be crazy) We are sloooowly but surely being sanctified and becoming more and more like Christ, but we won’t be perfect until we’re with him. But we shouldn’t be discouraged, but faithful and encouraged knowing that we’ve been reconciled to him and are now living for him in hope.

How much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?

It’s my prayer in these last two months in my mission, to remember that while I was reconciled as an enemy of God, now I am saved much more, everyday as a follower of Christ, by his life…

I can’t believe I’ve been an intern here for 7 months! I love you St Columba’s and the ministry that God has grown here to strengthen me and my church family, all for His glory.. (at St Columbas)

Walks (at Loch Leven)

Loch, loch, lochhh @ginatroberts (at Loch Leven)

I’ve been reading a lot about Abram lately. Seeing the call of God in his life as both humbling and encouraging because Abram didn’t just live life. Life didn’t just happen to him. He lived a big life and what made it big was the call of God.

The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household, to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse;
And all people on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 11:27 – 12:9

God said, “Go from your country” and the literal translation in Greek says, “get yourself out” or “go yourself.” It doesn’t say go if you want to or go if you feel like it or if you’re comfortable. It says go, I will bless you, that you may be a blessing. God clearly has a plan to use Abram.

It says too, “to the land I will show you.” Abram had to have faith in the call of God. Often times we make idols of our own comfort. We feel perfectly fine in our hometowns or in the towns of our universities and we can’t be bothered understanding or ministering outside of our comfort zone.

Hebrews 11:8 says “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Even though he didn’t know where he was going. How radical is that? That God said go and he went. Abram wasn’t like, “Well I don’t know about that God, I’ve got a lot more friends and family here and I’m comfortable here where everybody knows me so, I think I’ll stay.” Haha, could you imagine? It’s comical to think of someone responding to God’s call in this way, but we do it everyday.

It is so missionally radical that God blesses us, only that we may be blessings.
Really, the call of God shapes us so we can ask, “Where can I most be a blessing?” Right now there are people in your life who need you to tell them the truth about something. That’s the only purpose of our friendships. God blesses you and I so we can be blessings to each other so His kingdom will grow. We worry to follow His call because we fear we will lose our security at home, when realistically, our security is in Him alone and He will be with us wherever He calls us. We won’t be going anywhere without Him.

Tim Keller said, “The call of God works to the degree you are willing to get out- out of the familiarity and out of your comfort zone.” We have got to have courage and follow Christ and we really need to start acting like Christians.

It’s funny because now that I’m living in Scotland, sometimes I think, “Holy cow, I stick out like a sore thumb” and other times I think, “maybe we aren’t so different after all.” The point of all this though, is to say that God has called me to depart from my culture, yet, I’ve found God here just the same.

When Christians depart from their original culture, Christians can never first of all be Asians, or Americans, or Russians, and then Christians.

Christians are always Christians, followers of Christ, first.

When Jewish Christians in Jerusalem heard of Greeks conversion they thought now that the Greeks are Christians they need to be culturally Jewish- but Paul said, no. They are Christian Greeks.

They are Christians before they are Greek.

“The courage to break his cultural and familial ties and abandon the goals of his ancestors out of an alliance to a God of all families and all cultures was the original Abrahamic revolution. In the same way, Christians depart from their original culture. Christians take a distance from the gods of their own culture because they give their ultimate allegiance to the God of all cultures and His promised future… When Christians respond to the call of the gospel, they put one foot outside their culture while the other remains firmly planted in it. Christians, distance is not flight from one’s original culture, but a new way of living in it because of the new vision of peace and joy they have in Christ.”

–Miroslav Volf on Abrahamic Revolution

See, it would be so easy for us as Christians away on missions to think, ‘I’m a Christian now, I want nothing to do with you’ or rather, to stay in your culture and say ‘I’m this first and Christianity is sort of a peripheral hobby.’

It would be so easy to be a Christian first and foremost in a culture that you didn’t know because otherwise it would be quite difficult to be Scottish before you’re Christian. Although, if I were home, it becomes all too easy, scary easy, to be an Auburn student first and then a Christian. This is why it’s tricky.

You have to be Abraham: one foot in your culture, yet a transformed member of that Christian culture because of the missional experience outside of your home culture.

You’ll be able to critique your culture and not be afraid to stay in it.

I’ve just had the best time with my family here visiting me for a week for Christmas! Family Christmas shenanigans were thoroughly enjoyed! Having the whole bunch together with church friends was sweet and I can’t believe how quickly it flew by..

Having them here and being around fellow Alabamians definitely put my trip into perspective in thinking about being home in the states in a few more months! I can’t believe I’ve already been here five months and I’ve only got five more to go! Thinking that my time here is flying, I want to cover my time here in prayer, prayer that I would be used for His glory and that He would really be seen.

I’ve been thinking that when I’m back at school or in the next few years in grad school I need to be involved in the church in the way that I have been as an intern here at St. Columba’s. Sincerely looking forward to the Lord’s future plans for me in the church when I get home.

So friends and church family at home, please pray that I would have gospel-intentionality in my conversations and relationships here and that my relationships here would prepare me for my future purposes for Christ when I’m home..

Thank you friends, for helping me cover my time here in prayer!

I’ve wanted to share with everyone at home all that I’ve been learning lately and how I’ve been growing. Fill you all in on the ways God is using me here for his kingdom. Street Café has turned into a crazy kind of blessing. Crazy because it’s something I’ve never done before and now I can’t get enough of. This past Friday night it was below freezing and raining and I still loved it. I’m thankful that I’ve had so many opportunities to talk to complete strangers about Christianity. The Lord has shown me His grace through this ministry. Before I volunteered with Street Café I wasn’t sure that street evangelism was such a good way to reach folks, but now I’m a big believer..

While we were handing out hot drinks, I had one really encouraging conversation with somebody. He was really honest about himself; he said he was a Christian and he’s become more aware lately of how sinful he really is. We talked about how we are both guilty of making idols of ourselves and thinking way too much of ourselves and not enough of God. I told him that it’s like we are trying to fulfill ourselves with something other than God- and we will never find anything that fills us like Him. I said, it’s like everything else fails us and he agreed. I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation with someone I had just met. Especially, because this was only my third time to go out with Street Café.

This is such a clear image of God’s grace. Since my ministry here, my heart and mind have changed and the Lord has used me in ways that I didn’t know I could be used. I’ve become more confident in talking to people about Christianity, asking them if they have given it any thought, or if they would like to come to church with me. And that has nothing to do with me. It’s all so clearly God. It’s not a matter of my mind, but my heart.. I think it’s important to pray that we have willing hearts to serve. Because I’ve grown to love something and glorify in a way that I had no idea I could.

When we are willing and eager to serve, God is so gracious. He has given me a confidence and a way to share my faith through hanging out with strangers and offering them hot drinks in the middle of the night when it’s absolutely freezing. His grace has allowed these conversations to be so gospel-centered in a place that is so dark. My ministry here has become so deep and so full of God’s grace- I see it clearly at Street Café and I’m so thankful.

Reading Jeremiah and it says, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart and soul.” God is so gracious to be available to us when we seek Him with all our heart and soul. I depend so heavily on the Lord when I go to Street Café because it becomes so clear that my ministry here has nothing to do with me and everything to do with glorifying God. I realize that what I am doing, I am doing for God and with God through His grace.

When I think of my time here and the ways the Lord has used me for His mission, I feel blessed and at peace knowing that it’s by grace that I’ve been able to glorify Him. At home, one of the verses that my pastor uses in the benediction is the priestly blessing from Numbers. It says, “May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.” How sweet is it to have peace from God, knowing He has been gracious to you for His ministry?..

Good morning, Arthur’s Seat.. You’re so beautiful, friend! (at Arthur’s Seat)

Last night I volunteered with Edinburgh City Mission to hand out hot drinks and talk to folks walking around the bar and club scene in Edinburgh. ECM calls it Street Café… They basically figured out that when it’s freezing out at night, conversation starts flowing when you offer people free hot drinks.

I’d never volunteered with street evangelism before so, I really didn’t know what it would be like. I mean, I’ve been to bars.. so, I could only imagine what it would be like to try to evangelize to these folks. I ended up absolutely loving it. I’ve always known that talking and socializing were two of my strong points. The only thing I ever got in trouble for, in school: talking.
I think before I volunteered at Street Café I had this idea that most forms of street evangelism can be pretty off-putting and intimidating. I think the way we did it last night was great. There were three older guys and myself. We just stood around as if we were hanging out ourselves. We brought canisters of hot water, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and cups. It was a small table just in an archway beside the street. So, when people walked past they could see us talking and offering other people drinks.

I had so many opportunities to talk with people and the first thing they would ask is you know, “Why are you here?” It’s really quite cool because, the answer always was, “Because I’m a Christian.” We would begin talking to people while we were making them a drink and just ask general things like “Where are you from?” and “Are you a student?” It’s so sweet to love on people first by feeding them and love on them secondly and most importantly, by telling them why you have fed them. Not to make much of ourselves or what we have done, but what God has done. And that’s the whole point of our lives, isn’t it? That we try our best to forget ourselves and try our best to glorify God.

We’d tell them that Christianity isn’t a religion, but that it is a relationship with Christ. I think what blew their minds most was me telling them that I am certain I have a relationship with Christ. For those who were interested in knowing Christ, we gave them the Gospel of John to take with them..

This is why I love the C.S. Lewis quote “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” What will matter will always be our souls for God. We should look at our friends and people we are just meeting and care about their souls. That’s why Jesus called his disciples fishers of men.. We’re His disciples growing the Kingdom of God through ministry.

I can remember a few people by name that I invited to my church. I told them I’d be praying for their relationship with Christ. I spoke to a homeless woman who grew up going to church. She said she was a Christian and I genuinely believed her for several reasons. She said she had been in prison and the only thing that kept her spiritually alive was God and the freedom she had in prayer. Woah. She kept saying, “God always answers prayer, even if he doesn’t give you everything you pray for, he always gives you what you need.” This woman was homeless and still faithful - incredible..

Just like before we went out, the four of us came back to the church and prayed over the people we had just met and the people we hadn’t met who need to be fulfilled in the way that only our Father can fulfill. I prayed that God would draw people to him to become followers of Christ and that those people would become disciples to their friends with testimonies that would really hit home. And for those of you, who read my blog, please pray the same, that God would make disciples and make them multiply in a dark place desperately in need of His light…

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9: 37-38