BrianIngraham.com | ASPIRE

Version 2.0 of our new bible reading groups website is now online.  Check it out at www.biblereadinggroups.com.  Thank you Ryan and Scott for all your hard work!

At the end of every year Kellie and I host our staff Christmas party.  This year more than 20 of us gathered to celebrate the year and a bit of Christmas together.  As you can see from the pictures our team has many hands. Many people are working hard to advance this work in Glasgow.

In the pictures you see that we really do like each other and enjoy being together.  It is so special to co-labour for Jesus with people I love and respect -it is so right and yet so rare.  I am thankful.

May God continue to bless us with a spirit of unity and love as we enter a new year running after Jesus Christ together.

Just over a week ago I found myself sitting in an old church building in Scotland listening to young men honing their teaching skills.  The weekend was called “Simply Holy Spirit.”  A weekend of teaching our people some of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, some about spiritual gifts, and some about the fruit of the Spirit.

Todd Weller put together the vast majority of the content and coordinated the teaching effort.  There were two focuses for the weekend.  First, to teach our people about the Holy Spirit.  Second, to train and give opportunities for young people to explore teaching or worship leading gifts.

Our church is both a church and a mission.  Although we are clearly a local church, which gathers weekly to worship and learn and spur one another on towards love and good deeds, we are not just a local church.  We are also a mission to Glasgow and to Scotland.   What I saw in these young teachers made me smile, knowing God is rising up a new generation of preachers who have the potential of seeing thousands return to believing in Jesus Christ, convinced that God is who the bible says he is, and certain that God will do everything he says he will do.

The future is looking a bit brighter.

Last Sunday marked our first service in our new location, and I must say the building is striking and incredible!

The first thing I noticed when I stood up to start the service was the spiritual brick walls I was constantly fighting through at the Queen Margaret Union felt completely absent.  There is something special about worship and bible teaching in a location saturated in years of prayer, bible teaching, and faithful following of Jesus Christ. 

My biggest encouragement in this whole process (and there are many) has been the warm and genuine welcome from the leadership of Kelvin Stevenson Memorial Church.  They exude a love and maturity in Christ that blows me away.

Here are some pictures of our new location.  Yes, it is stunning. No, the pews are actually not bad as they are padded and well spaced.  God has proven once again that he still hears prayers by doing something so amazing for us and I am filled with joy.

First of all, after months of searching, many “No’s”, and a global prayer effort we have finally received a “Yes!”

Kelvin Stevenson Memorial Church (just a short walk away) has voted to allow us use of their building on Sunday afternoon/early evening; AS WELL AS THURSDAY NIGHTS.

We are also launching a mid-week Thursday night service!!!

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Secondly, on another exciting note, our church is teaching a bible overview course this weekend using pictures, maps, and time-lines.  It seems there is much confusion on when certain people and events take place in relation to each other in scripture.

To illustrate our confusion, some brilliant people in our church put together this comical promotional video.

We have been working so hard to find a place for our church to meet but so far we have received “no” after “no”.  I cannot believe how many places have turned us down or been too expensive.

In the past week I have personally viewed 3 location possibilities.  One was too small, one had inconsistent availability, and one makes me quite hopeful—it’s not a “no” yet.

Our time at the Queen Margaret Union is becoming increasingly difficult.  The union has been incredible to work with, but now that the university is starting up again our presence is clearly straining.  They have been flexible to keep us thus far, but we need a place soon.

This week we will be turning in a proposal to rent from a local church and we could use some prayer.  They will be evaluating our proposal this week and next. I hope to hear back from them in two weeks time.

I could really use some respite from the strain of this uncertainty and instability.  If this is not the right place may God open another door soon.  

Our formal offer was denied.

This is now our 5th ‘no’ on the same building and our 2nd rejected formal offer (the first was in 2006).  It will be interesting to see where things go from here.  Our highest priority is to find a great and affordable location for our church beginning in mid-September and then to sort out our longer-term plan.

This may not be the end of our building quest, but it is definitely a ‘no’ for now.

Keep praying for us!

Yesterday was my birthday! (insert cheering here) And while we are waiting to hear back from the owners of the building about our offer I have been enjoying a fantastic birthday weekend.  Nichol and Susan gave me a card with this timely quotation on the front.

“There is no use trying,” said Alice; “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen.  “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day.  Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”  –Lewis Carroll.

Daring to try what many call impossible.

Our Solicitor (a lawyer who writes formal offers for real estate property transactions) considers our hopes for this building “incredibly unlikely.” We are making an offer three times lower than what the owners would like. In our defense, we had a formal appraisal done on the building last week and based on that we are offering a bit more than the value of this church building if used for a church. In the unlikely event the owners are desperate to sell and against all odds accept our offer, he believes, in this current economic climate, getting a loan will be even more unlikely.

No matter how incredibly unlikely this seems we refuse to stop trying. We pray, we act, and we wait to hear back. Tomorrow our formal offer will be submitted and we hope to hear a response early next week.

Our situation requires God’s intervention followed by more of God’s intervention. It will be interesting to see how this resolves. Good thing God still hears prayers!

(photo by Jordan Phillips)
It is great to be back in Scotland with my family after being away for the past two weeks.  Even though I hate being away, I enjoyed my brief time in the U.S. for Scott and Monica’s wedding in Portland.  Scott is a great friend from Scotland who helped start the church here, went to Multnomah seminary and met his bride while studying in Portland.  The second week found me almost two hours outside of Budapest, Hungary for a missionary conference (think central Kansas, but rural.)  I had a chance to teach a workshop for a couple days and the response from it was quite… surprising.  I thought the material was simple, but the range of opinions brought about a thought provoking time for all of us.

These past two days I have been reacquainting myself with what is happening with our building situation.  It seems our building has not yet been surveyed and valued as it was supposed to be while I was away.  The surveyor was hospitalized last week, but has rescheduled the survey and valuation for Thursday, August 13th.  SO MUCH hinges on this survey.  It will tell us the value of the building, the condition of the building, expected repairs in the first 5 years…things like that.

Since we have been without a church building, we have been meeting in the ally next to our old church building for our regular prayer.  It has rained every Tuesday I have been in town for about a month and a half.  And yet there we were last night asking God to intervene.  Asking for a low valuation.

It is hard to value a church building and even professionals are not quite sure what the value is going to be. What this survey declares the value to be, this will be the official value of the building.  We are praying for a LOW VALUE.

In the next 10 days, we are wanting to make an offer.  This is a huge moment for us.  Pray all the details come together and that, against all human expectation, the owners of the building sell it to us quickly.  (I plan to write more about this next time.)

Strategic Prayer Point:  Low Valuation Of The Church Building On Thursday August 13th.

We believe in a God who still hears prayers and still intervenes.  I am secretly praying that somehow we will be able to worship in the building by Sunday, September 20th.  We have nowhere to meet from that weekend on.  Join with us in making a loud cry to heaven for a miracle in our situation.  Thank you for praying.