If that wasn’t cool enough I was invited to Abbeyroad studios in London for lunch and a wee chat with Les Moir. I was in absolute awe of the place; studio one where the LSO recorded the Lord of the Ring score, and of course Studio 2 where The Beatles cut records decades ago. Les saw how much I was enjoying myself and said, “Heaven’s better than this!” and you know what? He’s absolutely correct! I thought that was a really cool thing for him to say.

On top of this my band and I have been asked to open the main stage at this year’s Revolution@CLAN – Scotland’s biggest Christian music festival. We’re so stoked about being asked; what a privilege.

I’ve also been up and down the UK more in the last 3 weeks than I’ve even been in my life! I was asked to Bournemouth to share my music and testimony at Mordown Baptist Church during their mission week outreach. Roger Carlswell was hosting and interviewing the various visiting ministries. I’d met Roger at a similar outreach event in Edinburgh a couple of years ago. This time we got to spend a bit more time together and I found out a bit more about him. Roger is incredible and  inspirational in the way he engages with everyone he meets. It doesn’t matter who it was or where we were,  Roger would witness and share about Jesus. What I really admired wasn’t just the boldness in taking every opportunity that presented itself, but the absolute conviction in the way he spoke about Jesus Christ. When I got home from my trip to Bournemouth I decided I was going to take a more proactive approach should an opportunity arise in my own encounters with whoever. Let’s face it; what is the worst that could happen if we shared our faith with someone? Lose a little face? Get ignored? Be told to “Get lost?” Are we so afraid of such a reaction that we decide to keep our faith to ourselves? I know I’ve shied away in the past for fear of a negative reaction.

It got me to thinking – ‘What if I shared my faith with 100 people, and 90 people didn’t want to know, but 10 did? What if 1 of those were led to Jesus? What if all 10? WHAT IF ALL 100!?!?!‘

But the truth is absolutely logical; if I shy away and don’t share my faith at all, the chances any of them choosing to follow Jesus is very unlikely. I met a man about a month ago who told me God was on his case to help out with an event. The man was more than qualified to do it, but doing so could have had an affect on his business. He told me he had a dream. In the dream he was taken into the throne room of God and brought before the Almighty Himself. He said God spoke saying, “And you would deny me!?!” and as he heard the words the whole of heaven shook. When he woke he took on the job.

The thing that really struck me about this is it got me thinking; what God will say to me when I get to heaven? How many opportunities will I have missed that could have led others to Jesus? How many times will I deny Christ? So I have been much more proactive in sharing my faith. I haven’t rammed it down anyone’s throat. I just ask questions like, “Are you a Christian?” If they say no, I ask what they believe. I totally respect the beliefs of others especially when they differ from mine as they have the same right to choose what ever they want. I might not hold the same beliefs but I respect their choice. If people don’t want to know about Jesus I just have to respectfully accept that. If they allow it I share my beliefs and why I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. I kid you not the difference has been incredible!

With my trip to the Isle of Lewis these last few days, where my family are from, I had the opportunity to share my music and testimony as I usually do. After both gigs I got to speak to various people and opportunities presented themselves, through conversation, on both nights. Just by being a little bit bolder with the two guys I spoke with, and asking a few questions about their own faith, they both decided to become Christians. It was incredible!!

Just before I came home yesterday I was sitting having a chat with my granny Macleod. She’s in her 80′s and has been going to church, reading her bible, and praying for most if not all her life. I asked her if she’d ever prayed the ‘Salvation Prayer’ to which she answered no. We prayed together and asked God to forgive us for the SIN in our life. We thanked Him for Jesus coming to the world. For dying on the cross to atone for the SIN of mankind. For reconciling us to God the Father, then rising from the grave on the third day, and for those who believe and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ will know eternal life.

Afterwards my gran bust into tears and said, “I couldn’t thank God enough that it would be anyone other than my grandson to say that prayer with me.” It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever done, and will probably ever do. So if you are a Christian and you have a hunger for sharing the truth of salvation and Jesus Christ with those who do not yet know Him, my advice to you would be to have a little faith in yourself and be bold, ask others what they believe should an opportunity arise, and share what Jesus means to you and why you trust in him. What’s the worst that could happen?

SM.

The other day I ran into one of the blokes who bullied me at school. Always had visions of retribution in mind should I ever meet any of the plebs that made my first year of High school a living hell. I could tell by the nick of him he was very likely on smack. I actually felt really sorry for him; we probably have more in common than the folk I’d consider close friends. It’s funny, I just realised that the image I’ve had of the folk that bullied me at school has always been that of the 12 year old kids, albeit cruel little (enter offensive word here), they were back in 1992. I never considered what kind of people they’d changed into. I hope for their sake it was something they grew out of. A lot of my anger issues came out of my bullying. I made damn sure nobody pushed me around when I left school which ended up having a severe backlash; I would just go out looking for trouble after a skinful of liquor. It was only recently that this dawned on me. I’ve carried a lot of bitterness and resentment in the last 20 years because of the bullying. Even when I wanted to find forgiveness, and even after saying the words out loud, there was still anger in my heart; I just couldn’t let go. After seeing that bloke and the state he was in I’ve realised that not everything is in black and white nor does it stay the same; I’ve had to let go. A close friend said to me, “These guys have likely never given you a second thought since 1992,” and I totally agree. It’s taken nearly 20 years, but I’ve finally found it within myself to forgive and let go of all the hatred I was carrying. I just wanted to share this because that anger, hatred, and resentment, had a massive part to play in the type of guy I turned into during my late teens and early 20s. It might seem impossible (as it did to me) but if you can’t let go of the things eating away at you on the inside it will just fester and eventually dictate who you are, and stop you from being the person you can be. Let it go.

SM.

The folk on the bus were really encouraged and it was good to see them again at the concert on the Saturday. Again I shared my testimony and music, and how my life changed following Jesus as Lord and Saviour. I do make a point of saying that the morning after I gave my heart to Jesus I was still homeless, I still had nothing, and I was still estranged from friends and family. The difference was I no longer looked at myself as the centre of the universe; I looked to God first in all things. After a while I began to see life for what it really was: beautiful! I then overcame my problems, well the big ones anyway, and started to work on my relationships, and everything else started to fall into place.

This was the hope I told them about, the hope of new life in Jesus Christ. I know it to be true because I’ve lived it. Gordon gave the people in the audience a chance to respond at the end of the evening. I was fighting back the tears when I saw half a dosen people come forward for prayer. I heard that people also gave their own hearts to Jesus. How GLORIOUS! I wonder where they’ll be in 6 years time.

My Father

Jesus is Lord

Blessings in Christ Jesus,

SM.

SM.

We were scheduled to play at the after hours event.  Due to a breakdown in communication from all parties, there were no monitors in our tent.  It wasn’t really an issue, but after a wee workaround we got upgraded to the Atrium tent which was a big-top with a massive rig…. AWESOME!!!  There was a good turnout and the gig went really well.  I think we went well passed our allotted time slot but it didn’t seem to bother anyone.  We played a couple of new tracks, Light beams & Emmanuel, which went down great. The night ended with our rendition of Chris Tomlin’s rewrite of Amazing grace.  We were blown away by the response of worship!  The audience and we worshiped our socks off before finishing with Hallelujah.  I made the mistake of having a very nice cup of coffee at the end which kept me up a good while.

Today I had the great privilege of leading worship at the Youth tent.  I must admit I was quite nervous because, although I had led worship before, I hadn’t led at this kind of event with a house worship band.  I chopped and changed my song selection right up to the hour before.  I know some of the guys in the band, Gus Stirrat and Brian Macleod, and they are both awesome and competent musicians.  They gave me advice on the little things I was unsure of, and the rest of the band were just as gifted, helpful, and hospitable during the rehearsal.  I did throw in some upbeat ‘Ho-down’ songs for the end, which is a bit more my style as apposed to tradition worship, and they went down really well with the band.

We did our first section of worship which was just awesome!  There must have been 150 kids in attendance but I got lost within the songs in my own worship.  After a great word from the youth pastor on living after God’s own heart like David, we cut straight into the upbeat Ho-down tracks.  Well, the place went mental!  We were asked to sing amazing grace again, then asked to sing more!  People of all ages were turning up and celebrating in the praise.  Grown-ups and teenagers alike were jumping, dancing, kneeling, running around, completely free in worship in a way I had never been witness to.  We worshiped till nearly 9pm.  I was singing at the after hours tonight too which started at 9:30pm!!  I got to give my testimony and share some of my own music with the same group of kids.  They were so cool and listened.  What a privilege.

My 2nd CLAN experience has been truly wonderful.  I have been so blessed.  Humbled doesn’t even cut it.  To know God has brought me from the man I was 5 years ago to what I had the sheer joy of taking part in today and yesterday is humbling beyond measure.  I got to sing about Jesus last night with my best friends and brothers in Christ last night.  I lost myself in worship tonight with brothers and sisters, many who I have never met, in a way I have never experienced.  CLAN 2011 is already one of the special and treasured moments of my life.

SM.

It’s been an interesting week for sure.  Had some time off at the beginning of the week and chose to relax and spend some time with my family.  Managed to record a demo of a new song which I’m really chuffed with.  With the help of some friends I’m starting to get the hang of mixing too.  Thursday night I played at Craighalbert church near Croy.  Was treated to lovely Chinese food before hand.  The evening went well and it was great to see some familiar faces.  Had a nice chat on the drive home with Craighalbert’s Pastor John Dick.

Friday was my son James’ last day at primary school.  We went golfing in the afternoon and treated him to a Chinese takeaway for dinner. He left for camp Scout camp Saturday morning so made good use of the time together.

Saturday it was on the train to Rochdale.  The weather was hot and, despite being put on the wrong train to Blackburn, I made it to Rochdale where I met Pastor Wayne Hudson.  I was invited to play and share at an outreach day, including lots of fun activities and a BBQ, by Branches Fellowship church in Rochdale.  The event went really well, met some really nice folk from the church and the estate, and had Indian takeaway for dinner. It was gooooood eatin!

I was up early bells Sunday morning to catch the train from Bolton to Edinburgh, met my wife and baby daughter and went for a picnic (M&S) before jumping on a train to Aberdeen shortly after.  Arrived in Aberdeen at 17:20 as I was playing at an outreach event at Deeside Christian fellowship.  It was another good evening.  The weather was just glorious!

Finished the evening off with some local ice cream (they must have been speaking to my wife), great fellowship, some prayer, and a train journey home the following morning.  Looking forward to some mince & tatties!

SM.

I was asked if I would like to come and share by a man called Colin Ruddock who is the director of 1nC Promotions (One In Christ). I met him at the first Gospel Rock gig in August which was also in Manchester.

When I first met Colin he spoke at Gospel Rock about an event 1nC Productions was hosting at The Living Room; a popular venue in Manchester frequented by footballers and celebrities. The aim of the night was to showcase Christian music artists as well as showing the Non-Christian community that alcohol is not a necessity when socializing. Colin’s vision was to have an alcohol free event. The Living Room manager was against this as the club needed to make money through selling alcoholic drinks. To cut a long story short, it would appear that on the day of the event the venue had some refurbishment issues and were not allowed to sell alcohol on the premises due to health and safety regulations. What a revelation!!

I got really excited listening to Colin speak about the event and I could see his vision. As a recovering alcoholic, and the numerous alcohol free evenings I have enjoyed,
I really wanted to support the event but was due back in Edinburgh for my own gig the next day. I spoke to Colin after the the Gospel Rock event and told him how much I supported what he was doing. The very least I could do for the event was ask people, via Facebook, to pray for a successful evening.

Colin informed me that the evening was great and absolutely jam packed. I can’t take any credit as I am sure God wanted it to be a great success. The fact he answered prayer testifies to this.

Getting back to the Living Oasis gig today, I got to meet and hear other Christian performers in music and poetry. Their God given talent was absolutely first class! There was also a great crowd at the event. There was also worship spread out through the event which was fantastic. Colin’s vision is to see Christians coming together to meet with God regardless of denomination. It was wonderful to be a part of that, to meet brothers and sisters in Christ that I had never met before, but to recognize that we are family in and through Him. It was a wonderful experience. I was deeply blessed by the speakers, poets, and other musical performances. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my time.

This brings me to the point of this blog. Last night our church had the monthly Soul Cafe event. Soul Cafe is a monthly held at my church, Abbeyhill Baptist in Edinburgh, where people can come together and enjoy fellowship and a time of praise and worship with our Worship Team. If I’m being honest I would have to acknowledge that Soul Cafe numbers have dwindled but we do recognize that we have a core attendance. There have been recent meetings with Soul Cafe members, my Pastor, and Worship leaders, as they want to see Soul Cafe grow and bless others in Edinburgh as it has blessed us.

Last night a close friend couldn’t have put it any better when he said, “I don’t know about you, but there isn’t much that the world has to offer me at the weekend. I want to be here with brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to be here in the presence of God. I want to be filled with His spirit. I want to be here with my family doing what I love the most; praising God!” This struck me to the core. My good friend was right! There is no other place I want to be other than with my family in Christ worshiping the Lord my God! My friend continued to reveal what had been right there in front of us that we had failed to see.

“There are over 200 churches in Edinburgh and I doubt many of them will be hosting a similar event on a Friday night. Think of all the Christians sitting in their house watching the TV when they could be here worshiping with us. We need to reach out and tell our brothers and sisters that they can come here after a long week and be revived and refreshed.” I don’t quote my friend word for word but you get the idea. We are taking steps to reach out to our brothers and sisters. We aim to come together as a body and worship and to testify to God’s goodness. We believe that through this we will see God move in a mighty way, take the good news of Jesus into our communities, and it is then we will see a mighty revival happen before our eyes.

Revival was a topic of point today. Indeed, on a number of occasions different speakers spoke proactively about God moving in Manchester, which they would see renamed Godchester. They spoke of the mighty revivals in the past including the Western Isles, Wales, and Ireland.

My family are from the Isle of Lewis. It was great to hear how passionate these speakers were when they retold the tales of revival on there. People on Lewis were waking up in the night with such a conviction of SIN that they got up, got dressed, and then proceeded to take themselves to the police station to confess. The police officers didn’t know what to do with the crowd of people that had gathered in the night so they called the church minister. Amazing.

I am very excited at the moment. I can feel it in my bones that God is about to do something enormous and at a scale that it can only be of God!

The last thing I’d like to share is about prayer. I saw a man today called James speak about prayer. He said a couple of things which quite literally left me feeling inspired.

No man is greater than his prayer life:

This was incredible! I suddenly felt very very small. How often do I put my own life before my prayer? How many times has God answered my prayers when I am in need and yet I still fail to do it as regularly as I should? Why is it that the little things in my life take precedence over my time with God? Why do I constantly forget to recognize that through prayer God and I can be closer in every way? I do not exaggerate when I tell you that my prayer life is now at the top of my priorities!

Prayer is always visible to God even when invisible to others:

I might not have worded that correctly, but I will try and explain. The most common times of prayer, for myself, are either with my family, meetings, at church, gigs, etc. I will admit that I pray more with other people than I do on my own. While all this is great, I can’t help but feel how much I would benefit from more 1 on 1 time with God, on my own, speaking right from the heart. This is also now on my list of priorities.

Though today was a face paced day of travel over the border and back, I really was blessed. I should be arriving back in Glasgow in about an hour and then home to my family. Tomorrow I will be in Glasgow for a night of praise with Origin Scotland. I’ve never played the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. I’m getting to sing a couple of my songs. Really looking forward to it.

I also played at Bellevue Chapel last Saturday.  Bellevue Chapel has lost a family member as the Pastor’s wife had recently passed away.  Her vision was to open the church doors to the community as well as reaching out and meeting the community’s needs.  That particular night saw the church doors open at 10:30pm and I sang and told my story until midnight.  There was some great interest from people coming home from the bars and pubs.  I spoke with the Pastor afterwards and he was very kind and encouraging.  It broke my heart to see how much he missed his wife.  It was, however, great to know that we were seeing her vision come to light.  Again, it was a great privilege.

There was also a gig this evening at Danderhall; a village just on the cuff of Edinburgh.  It was a nice, quiet, and intimate gig.  Met some really nice people.  It is such a joy to tell people about Jesus!   I don’t consider myself a preacher or an evangelist.  I can only tell people what’s true in my life.  Christ is very real to me!  I couldn’t imagine life without Him!

Last night I got to lead worship, amongst some other activities, at our friend’s 25th Wedding Anniversary.  It was a fantastic evening of celebration.  The incredible thing about this family is that, although they have only been Christians for 4 years, you would never know they were so young in their walk because they are completely devoted to the Lord in every aspect of their lives.  Mum, Dad, and 2 kids are all such beautiful inspirations!  What a great thing it is to know that God saved my life and that I have brothers and sisters in Christ!  It is simply amazing:  Amazing Grace!