Tag: scotland

Dawn Waits

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Another morning, another logging of the books. Well, actually only one book this time! Just finished it this morning, so thought I’d write a few words while my thoughts are fresh…

44. A Sad Departure by David J. Randall. This book was both depressing and encouraging at the same time. How can that be? This small book, published in 2015, is subtitled “Why we could not stay in the Church of Scotland”. And this book resonates deeply with me because of the fact that it is a historical account of something that I was very much a part of. A controversy arose in the Church of Scotland in 2009 when it was deemed acceptable that a man living with another man and practicing homosexual sin should be inducted as a minister of the Church of Scotland. For the next few years, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland discoursed and debated and defined a trajectory upon where it would be acceptable that practicing homosexual ministers should lead churches. This book was a concise and darkly fascinating look at how this happened and the response of those who believe that the Word of God is a higher authority than any denominational structure. At the end of the day, that is really the question. Rather than a question of a particular sin…from where do we get our authority? From the cultural mores of the world or from the very Word of God? To what or whom do we owe our honour and allegiance? This fallen world we live in or very God Himself? There is a very telling phrase that was actually spoken in one of the General Assembly meetings – in May of 2011, I believe. It was acknowledged and agreed upon by all that the Bible only speaks of homosexual practices in a negative and condemnatory way. But, as was stated on the floor of the General Assembly, “…we now know better” than the Bible. When the foundation is allowed to crumble – nay, when the foundation is attacked with C4 charges! – the degradation of the house is surely not far behind. So this tragic decision by the Church of Scotland led many churches and ministers to decide that they could not in good conscience remain part of a denomination that valued the praise of man above that of God. Many churches left, many pastors left. And my church – Gilcomston – was one of them. This is part of the reason why this book was one I knew I had to read. I was a part of Gilcomston South Church of Scotland from the years 2010-2013, during the heart of this controversy. I knew the basics of what was going on, but as I read this book, I realized that there were a lot of details that I had no idea of. It was even worse than I thought at the time! And this book was full of names and places that I remember hearing Pastor Dominic talk about and ask for prayer for, as these various churches submitted to God even in the midst of persecutions and troubles. And my own church made our decision sometime in 2012 that we also would not remain part of the church of Scotland. As a member of Gilc, I cast my vote along with the rest – and it was almost unanimously that our congregation voted to leave the Church of Scotland and form a new congregation. And so we did. I still remember the abuse that our church (and specifically Pastor Dominic and his family) received in the papers and media for this decision. I probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time the weight they were under. I probably didn’t fully understand the attacks of Satan that were aimed at Dominic and his family and our church. But God strengthened us mightily and enabled us to carry out the decision that was made. We indeed left the Church of Scotland. And so I’ll do something I don’t normally do and link back to a post that I wrote the day we worshiped together as an independent church for the first time, on March 10th, 2013. Click here for my words on that day. Now to get back to this book. It is a small book, but it is a good history that was written very shortly after the events for which it speaks, which is always useful. Many years from now, memories dim and accounts of this may be muddled. So this work by Randall is surely important for the look it gives into the mindset and spirit of various ministers and congregations. This book depressed me because of the apostasy and feeble-mindedness of the Church of Scotland. This book encouraged and uplifted me because I am reminded that there is yet a remnant that God preserves. There are even yet faithful believers in the Church of Scotland – never let it be said that I am condemning those who remain within. But I am encouraged that God has empowered various churches to take a stand for the truth and authority of God’s Word. May we be ever faithful to the Word of God. May we be ever obedient to our God. May we humble ourselves continually under God’s mighty hand. And He surely will lift us up – at the last day, if not sooner. To God be all glory, now and forever. Amen.

Reading Between the Lines of Autumnal Tendencies

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Hello friends! Been a bit too long since I’ve written…and I honestly don’t even feel much like writing now, but I suppose I should at least attempt to write something. I’m sitting here at Starbucks – not for long though as it is sunny and delightfully cool outside and I shall not waste that – and sipping on my coffee…and yeah, guess I can write a few words! I’m listening to a preliminary mix of a CD I hope to be completed sometime in the next few weeks. It’s not there yet, alas. Alas. Speaking of mixes though – why don’t I share one I made earlier this year? This must have been sometime in…July? August? I actually knocked out 3 mixes in short succession and I don’t exactly remember which I made when – and I’m not going to share all three today! But going alphabetically because why not? This one came about shortly after my Colorado trip with Robbie in which fantastic and memorable times were had. On Sunday of that trip, we had a hiking day in which we drove outside of Denver some ways, found a cool path and hiked up and back. It was beautiful and so different than the Houston I’m usually in. But as we drove there and back, we listened to the music on Robbie’s Spotify – and I realised he had some most excellent dance tunes! By dance tunes (this time), I mean more modern dance/pop music…music that’s fun to listen to, even if the content is a bit lightweight! But hey – great road trip music. And so when I returned from Colorado, decided I needed to memorialize the trip by making a mix using Robbie’s music. I messed with the flow a bit…but the content is pretty much straight Robbie. Thanks man. So now – for a fun, frothy mix…I humbly present Denver 2AM:

1. The Ocean – Mike Perry feat. Shy Martin
2. Summer Air – ItaloBrothers
3. Don’t Let Me Down – The Chainsmokers feat. Daya
4. Paper Planes – M.I.A.
5. Heroes (we could be) – Alesso feat. Tove Lo
6. Alone – Marshmello
7. False Alarm – Matoma & Becky Hill
8. Havana – Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug
9. Closer – The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey
10. Faded – Alan Walker
11. Habits (Stay High) (Hippie Sabotage Remix) – Tove Lo
12. Baba Yetu (Deep Radio Edit) – Supanova
13. Tilbake (Saevik Remix) – David André Østby feat. Marie Hognestad
14. S.O.S. – Indila
15. Sugar – Robin Schulz feat. Francesco Yates
16. So Good – LZ7
17. Runaway (U & I) – Galantis
18. Reload (Vocal Version/Radio Edit) – Sebastian Ingrosso & Tommy Trash & John Martin
19. Don’t Wanna Wake Up – Capital Kings
20. Tidal Wave – Sub Focus feat. Alpines
21. Headlines – Robin Schulz feat. Ilsey

So there you go! A bit more words shall I put to page? John (Dixon! From Scotland!!) was here this past week and it was glorious. I shan’t write about all we did(honestly, we didn’t do that much! But definitely enjoyed taking him to a Dynamo game – my first too! Good times were had wandering around Houston in the grey and the rain and the cold…he picked the wrong week to come to Houston for sun and warmth that’s for sure!)…for truly the best part was just being with him again and having quiet moments talking and being together. Sitting on the couch one evening, watching the baseball(World Series – Dodgers v. Red Sox – ugh) and talking about random life thoughts. Or down the street at Christian’s, enjoying a burger, half-watching the Rockets game (but not really) and again just chatting about our past, our future, our hopes, our dreams. You know. All that good stuff. I think one night, I was texting Julie about something and once she found out I was with John – she asked, “Why are you chatting with me when your friend is there!?!” And I thought about it and see that we’re chilling in the living room, half on our phones, half paying attention to whatever was on TV and then making random comments to each other now and again and realised…this just feels like being flatmates in Aberdeen again. A normal evening together. And so having that experience this past week was…quite nice. I treasure the friendship I have with John dearly and I thank my God for that. And I pray that God continues to bless John in all things!! To Him be the glory throughout, now and forever.

Now, before I spiral off into further flights of emotion, I shall take my leave. It really is a good time to get out of this dim coffeeshop and into the glorious light.

Sons of Scotland

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About to head out from Starbucks, but Saturday post is deserved!  It’s been a nice morning…got to sleep in a bit, and then as I started drinking my coffee, realised there was a World Cup game on!  So got to watch the Argentina/Iceland game, which was a beautiful game and in which Iceland shockingly managed a draw!!  Go Iceland!!  I really don’t have any other country I’m rooting for…no America…no Scotland…no Ireland…so really I’m just hoping for good games and beautiful football.  That’s my sports news of the morning!  Later today, going to meet up with Julie – going to be fun to hear all about her recent France trip.  And will just be good to see her again, since it’s been so long!!  Later this afternoon…going over to meet up with Earnie, then we’ll go downtown to see the Scotland/USA rugby match YES.  I am honestly slightly torn who to root for(yes, I am a terrible American).  It’s probably good I don’t have a Scotland rugby top or I would probably wear it.  So that shall be tonight and I’m psyched.  Oh right – and last night was fun too…Erica and Meagan came over and we had a lovely time of dinner – Chinese take-out for the easy Friday night dinner win – and chat and laughing and finally movie watching – yay Jumanji which never ceased to make us laugh…haven’t laughed that much in a while!! – and yeah it was just a very fantastic chill Friday night with friends.  My favourite kind.  Now I should probably get some errands done and then maybe if I feel like it clean my room a bit.  We shall see.  I’ve also been meaning to write something for a while – these past few months have been shockingly poor in terms of poetry output!! – but I feel super antsy now(probably the espresso..) and so definitely not staying here in Starbucks any longer to write.  Sorry not sorry.

Now I’m off, friends.  Have a gorgeous day – delight in the Lord!  Peace and love.

Ashes

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And another Tuesday rears its head.  I have a few minutes in which to write, so write I shall!  This morning a tragedy befell me.  After a long and happy life, my cafetiere(or french press, if you want to use the coarse wording…) finally died the final death.  The crack that has been worrying it for some time finally finished propogating all the way around the glass and so when I began to try and pour my coffee into the mug…let’s just say quite a bit of coffee went in a direction other than the mug as well.  But this cafetiere has had a long and full life since I bought it in…2011 I think?  I still remember being shamed by Pastor Dominic back then when he found out I drank instant coffee!!  A rough paraphrase of his words, “James – my estimation of you has somewhat lowered hearing that.”  Thereupon I immediately went to John Lewis and bought this gorgeous little cafetiere and indeed it has served me well.  Now…I’ve written far too many words memorializing this coffee-making device and so I shall end with the happy news that because I am silly, I actually bought a back-up cafetiere from JL when I was in Aberdeen back a year and a half ago now.  So…now I’m excited to put that one into service!  May it last seven years as well.

And I suppose I should also log my latest read, which again – should not surprise you if you’ve been following my chronicles:

9.  The Life and Diary of David Brainerd edited by Jonathan Edwards.  Yesterday as the weather was still somewhat nice( Houston is heating up drastically though and I am sad!), I walked down to EQ and finished up this book on the porch, basking in the sunlight and the gentle breeze.  But better than those external factors…finishing up this book chronicling the life of a man who loved God and longed for His glory.  Oh how I wish I could make every one of you read this, but truly – what a wonderfully convicting and heartening work.  I looked it up on amazon just now and the version I read is only $13.58 and it is worth every cent.  So…buy it please.  And read.  I don’t remember this book affecting me quite as much the last time I read this, but I suppose I am in a different place now(emotionally, spiritually, geographically, whatev – ) and thus I should not be surprised at the change.  But I can now say with confidence this is surely in the top three of my all-time favourite biographical/autobiographical works.  I am a history nerd, I know…so partly the reason I love it so is the window into 18th century American Christianity, of course.  And I am a theological nerd(surprised?) and so reading the doctrinal thoughts and convictions of Brainerd(along with the notes by J. Edwards!  Brainerd actually died in the home of Edwards, so Edwards has quite a few first-hand comments regarding Brainerd and his circumstances) is supremely fascinating.  But…the reason I love this book the most is because it is a glimpse into the mind and heart of a man who loved God passionately and desparately.  And this book is the story of a man who poured himself out to the utmost, even to death.  All for the glory of God.  And so my heart cries for similar passion and love.  May I live such.  I am nowhere close.  But may I strive and may I cry.  If only I could live in such a humble, broken manner.  All for the love of my God.  

Blast

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I have to say, it is a bit silly how much the weather affects my mood! And I’m weird, because the weather today probably didn’t positively affect anyone else the way it did me. As I drove home today I gloried in the ever-changing grey sky…and then walking to my car after shopping at Sprouts, realised why I was so pleased with the weather. It was cold, grey and there was a hint of precipitation on the breeze. In other words…Aberdeen weather. So yes, grey and cold and wet makes me nostalgic and makes me happy all at the same time and it is wonderful. I don’t know what it is about a darkening grey November sky though…there’s something faintly sad yet achingly beautiful about it. The trees are just starting to threaten to drop their leaves and the breeze softly caresses my face and my blood quickens. Beauty and wonder and love, all wrapped up in a crisp fall day. Oh how silly am I to revel so in this quiet grey evening. But I do love it so.

Final Straw

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Happy Monday, friends!! I’m sipping on my delicious monday morning coffee and about ready to start work here. First – thought I’d dash out a quick few sentences. I have recently been trying to “purge” my music/movie/book collection of any unworthy or undesirable works. Some of this purging is quite painful, but it must be done. I’ve let my collection get alarmingly big and my (somewhat) minimalist self cringes at that. During the music section of the purge(which was entirely unsuccessful as I think I only got rid of 7 CDs!!), I found some stuff that I’d forgotten I had…stuffed it into my car and now I’m enjoying listening to Dominic’s sermons again(oh how I miss Gilc at times!!) and then today listened to one of Snow Patrol’s albums again. Wow I forgot how full of raw emotions their songs are…such a delight to listen to this morning as I drove to work in the dark. And listening to their songs brought back memories of listening to the same music as I drove to work back in Aberdeen…driving along the North Sea and seeing the sun slowly rise over the horizon. The clouds whirling and retreating from the relentless march of morning, the wind dancing through the surf of the sea. And that is enough nostalgia for this day. Ever up and ever in, my friends. Let us grasp hold of this day, remember the hope to which we were called and go forth and conquer. Peace and love.

Trembling

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And so shall I post once more?? Thought it was best that I let the last two song-heavy updates stand on their own. I also should probably zoom off soon, since I’ve spent quite long enough here at Starbucks! But I still have a little coffee in my cup, so I shall write a little more. Pardon the spaciness of my thoughts…I’m in an intriguingly odd mood lately. Odd as in I’ve spent time in several different countries in the last few days…and this time has left me abundantly encouraged and oh so thankful and I really do not think I can quite put my thoughts to page. But…I shall try, at least a little bit. This morning, me and Julie went to Dish Society for breakfast…because I was craving their food partially, but really so Julie and I could catch up and I could tell her a least a bit of my last week in Scotland. Despite all my many tangents, I think she got a good overview of my adventures! Can I capture that here? Maybe.

Anyways. Today is my first full day back in America for over a week. Yesterday afternoon, my plane touched down in Houston and I was once again in my home country. And how was I feeling? Bittersweet. For truly, it is good to be back here and be able to call Dad and family again on phone and see all my Houston friends again(Reliant K and Switchfoot concert tonight with Peter, et al!). But after such a beautiful week with my friends in Scotland…I must admit to a bit of sadness after leaving them (again!).

Oh this is a nightmare – I have no idea how to properly chronicle this past week…and I may admit defeat and try again tomorrow or Monday. I think I shall just thank the Lord my God for giving me this holiday and blessing it in such a way that I had prayed for but wasn’t quite sure would happen. Being with my dear friends again(Chris, Jo, Joel, Laura, John, Ruth, Jackie, Graham, Tineke, Mark, Rosemary…and more!!) was amazing and I realized I am blessed far beyond I deserve with such good and precious friends. Even after being gone three years, I can still talk and laugh and deeply connect with them. But more than just the fun times with friends(and it was indeed fun!!), I relished the chance to commune with my God. I set aside particular times to get alone with my Father God and these times were blessed be Him, of this I testify! As I walked the cliff side path south of Stonehaven on Monday afternoon and felt the sea spray on my face and looked out and watched the sea meet the sky in a beautiful embrace of grey and blue and white and saw the grass dance in the cold sweet breezes and as I sat upon a rock on the seashore and gazed upon the horizon and thought upon the fact that God has called me His true son and placed His hand upon me in perfect love and as I closed my eyes and prayed to Him, I felt at peace. There are so many things in our lives that we feel ill equipped to handle and so many futures we desire were our own and so many trials and tribulations we wish were not our own! And so to realise that God knows us, heart and soul and eyes brimming with tears and passions…this is gloriously precious. And to remember that God loves us His children with an unending and all encompassing love…this is beautifully divine. And so as I sit here in Starbucks, recalling this past week, how God blessed me with such a time of communion with my God…I rejoice. I sing. My meditations this day are full of the glories of the Lord. My heart this day is a-tremble with the thoughts of my Father. My eyes this day are bright with the passions of my God. Let us pour out our souls before the Lord our God, all ye nations -let us rejoice and sing to Him this day He has made! Amen and amen.

A Philosopher

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So, per popular demand(if one person constitutes popularity, that is – *bows to Noemi*), I shall write a quick update here…

And where is here? Well, I just happen to be at a burger place in the Houston airport. And I just happen to be heading over Scotland way in…oh about two hours!!! I simply cannot describe the anticipation that fills my heart and I don’t have time to tell of all the people I’m longing to see again….but it shall be grand and simply glorious. Oh what a gift God my Father has granted me, to be able to go to Scotland and see so many dear, dear friends!!!

And now, my turkey burger and fries are here…so this short update shall conclude.

Love you all. Always.

Rainbow

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So – time for a little pre-work entry! I haven’t done this in a while…and I feel in the mood to write before I officially start work this morning.

It is pouring outside and sometimes it’s easy to complain in the midst of an early morning drive to work in a Houston Deluge(trademark that!)…but this morning, as I came in, I just realised how blessed I truly am. I’m thankful for the vast quantities of water that have been heaped onto Houston these past few days…I’m thankful that I have a paying job that I can drive to…I’m thankful that I have a sturdy car that keeps me dry as I drive to said job…I’m thankful for delicious peppermint mocha that warms up my inside…I’m thankful for the many lovely friends I have as I remember good times that we have enjoyed together(like at Sarah’s bday party last night!!)…I’m thankful for modern communication devices that enable me to talk to people hundreds and thousands of miles away…oh and also…I’m thankful that the United Kingdom remains united as Scotland voted resoundingly to stay within the Union. So it may be dreary and grey outside and manic and busy inside my office here…but that matters not. I am thankful to my Lord who gives me…everything.

United

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Good evening, friends!! It’s a bit late(especially for a Wednesday night!), but I did want to get a few words written.

Tomorrow is a momentous day for Scotland. Tomorrow, the people of that fair land vote in the “Independence Referendum” and answer the single question – Should Scotland be an independent country?

So much virtual ink has been spilled by various blogs and pundits on whether Scotland should remain part of the United Kingdom or become independent, and I almost hesitate to write anything at all, especially because I’m not even living in Scotland anymore! But, after reading Chris’ most eloquent essay earlier today on his thoughts and feelings on the upcoming referendum, I knew I simply must write a few words.

Sadly – it is also late enough that I feel my words slipping away, so an essay is not to be. So rather than pour out my thoughts upon this page, I’ll go to bed(which would be wise considering work in the morning!). And as I drift off to sleep, I’m going to be praying for Scotland. As much as I think that it would be best(both economically and global-politically) for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom – my prayer is this – that, as always, our Father’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. And I pray that God bless this wonderful country of Scotland as its people go to the polls this day. And I pray that no matter the outcome, the Scottish people will show love to each other, that there be no bitterness by the losing side, that there be no lack of charity or malice shown by the victorious side. And I pray for the future of Scotland. Your will be done, our Lord.