BrianIngraham.com | ASPIRE

These are some of the things I have been praying about these days.

• Thankful. After 5 years living in Scotland and praying over the University of Glasgow I was finally invited to speak at the Christian Union. It was a great honour to be asked to speak and God seems to really have blessed the time.
• Thankful. On Sunday our church had a feast. This time we also had an “open mic” for musicians and singers to play. Wade cooked up some fantastic food. Leah, Aimee, and Lesley pulled it off amazingly. (Stephen’s Blog Post)



• Fruit. God seems to have used the feast to intrigue people about Church and about Jesus. I am praying that God continues and nurtures this “interest” so that these people give their lives to him.



• Thankful. It has almost been 1 year since we have been back in our building. We do not own it yet, but in the mean time God has been so good to us. We perpetually live with the understanding we could be kicked out with the shortest of notice and yet one year later God still allows us to meet here. I do pray that we will be able to buy the building soon, but I am also thankful for this time of cheep rent.
• Re:Awakening. Next February begins the Re:Awakening conference; a conference targeting the Student population in Scotland. I have been invited to speak at it which completely lines up with my heart but I have been asking God, “Do You want me to speak?” and if so, “Will You powerfully move?” www.re-awakening.org.uk (site not completely ready yet)



• Revival and Awakening. One consistent message from our time in London two weeks ago was how Scotland is decades behind spiritually.  D.L. Moody in the late 1800’s was preaching and seeing a massive revival 1/4 of a mile from our church. For a while Scotland burned bright for God, but then generations grew up who knew nothing about what God did in the revival and who chose to reject God. I am praying for something I have never seen; a real reviving and awakening of the emerging generations here in Scotland. I invite you to join with me in praying for this until it happens.

God still hears prayers. God is still moving. I am so thankful for all of you who join with me in interceding for us and for Scotland.

Stephen Irwin has written two interesting blogs on the church.

The first is of our baptism and service yesterday which you can read HERE.

And the second, he found an old picture of our church that is nearly 60 years old which you can read about HERE.

Enjoy!

In missionary circles, much is made of the “10/40” window, roughly described as the nations between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north ranging from Northern Africa to Asia. In this window we find the centers of the other main world religions such as Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim… For the record, I want to state that I am a huge fan of mission’s efforts to these desperately dark nations, they need more missionaries, they need Jesus. The other day, I became aware of more Churches choosing to exclusively focus their efforts on this region of the world, and although it seems to have good reasons behind it, It is a short-sighted and unbiblical mistake to ignore the rest of the Jesus needing planet.

I was thinking about the missions need in Glasgow, Scotland. Now I have lived here for 5 years and have interviewed Christian leaders as well as heard reports on the state of Christianity from the Church of Scotland and conclude that I am being generous in the following Glasgow statistic. It seems 1% or less of people under 40 years of age in Glasgow would claim to be a Christian.

• Using the statistics from the most recent edition of “Operation World,” it seems that if you are in Saudi Arabia walking down the street you are 4 1/2 times more likely to be walking past someone who claims to be a Christian than someone within a decade of my age here in Glasgow.
• You are almost 13 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Egypt…
• You are 2 1/3 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Pakistan…
• You are 2 2/5 times more likely to be passing a Christian in India…
• You are 1 1/2 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Thailand…
• And shocking to me, you are more than 1 1/2 times more likely to be passing a Christian in Iraq than someone within a decade of my age here in Glasgow

That said, ‘Never believe statistics.’ There are regions in those nations far, far more absent of the Gospel of Jesus Christ than my generation here in Glasgow. Everyone of those nations in the 10/40 window continues to need more ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. Yet the great commission refers to ‘The ends of the earth,’ Jesus talks about ‘All nations.’ In our zeal to see the gospel sent to the nations let us not run the strategic error of neglecting the rest of the planet, places like Sweden, Argentina, Uganda, Russia…

Let’s not over think missions. Let us get those men and women, called by God, who have been divinely given a heart for a people or a place, to the field God is calling them to. And may they be ready for either years of ploughing hard soil or the altar of ultimate sacrifice. And may those who stay also prepare for years of sacrifice on behalf of the gospel being sent to the ends of the earth.