Before we left Scotland, Matt and I decided we had to try a native Scottish dish called “haggis.” It is a sausage of sorts that contains several things you really don’t want to think about when you are eating it. So the morning we were leaving Edinburgh, Matt and I went out for breakfast and had some haggis. Here’s a little travel advisory: if you come to Scotland, skip the haggis! Oh well, it was fun to try it.
When we left Scotland we travelled to the town of York. York has been around since a Roman settlement in 300 AD and then the Vikings were there a few hundred years later. Ultimately, it became a northern capital of England in their battles against Scotland. It has great architecture, old walls you can walk on around the city, and an area called the “Shambles” with buildings right out of a Dickens tale. The centerpiece of York is the HUGE church called the York Minster. You may wonder, “what’s a minster?” According to the people at the church, minster means a “missionary sending center.” The York Minster was for many years the center of the Protestant Reformation in England under Henry VIII. Henry acted for the wrong reasons, but God used those circumstances to spread the gospel in England and Scotland and ultimately to America.
When I learned what a “minster” was, I thought: isn’t that what every church needs to be—a missionary sending center with a red-hot passion for seeing lost people come to know Jesus.
Starting Monday, I will be attending the Toolbox Conference at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity and FBC will be starting the week of Mission Siloam. As we pray for God to use Mission Siloam to enlarge His kingdom, please pray that God will use this conference to help me enlarge my heart for a lost world.
On a lighter note, we toured Hampton Court Palace outside of London which was the home of Henry VIII. This is an enormous palace with “drawing rooms” and “withdrawing rooms!” and even closets that were twice as big as our hotel room. Henry had way too much money to spend and apparently was a legend in his own mind!
When we left Scotland we travelled to the town of York. York has been around since a Roman settlement in 300 AD and then the Vikings were there a few hundred years later. Ultimately, it became a northern capital of England in their battles against Scotland. It has great architecture, old walls you can walk on around the city, and an area called the “Shambles” with buildings right out of a Dickens tale. The centerpiece of York is the HUGE church called the York Minster. You may wonder, “what’s a minster?” According to the people at the church, minster means a “missionary sending center.” The York Minster was for many years the center of the Protestant Reformation in England under Henry VIII. Henry acted for the wrong reasons, but God used those circumstances to spread the gospel in England and Scotland and ultimately to America.
When I learned what a “minster” was, I thought: isn’t that what every church needs to be—a missionary sending center with a red-hot passion for seeing lost people come to know Jesus.
Starting Monday, I will be attending the Toolbox Conference at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity and FBC will be starting the week of Mission Siloam. As we pray for God to use Mission Siloam to enlarge His kingdom, please pray that God will use this conference to help me enlarge my heart for a lost world.
On a lighter note, we toured Hampton Court Palace outside of London which was the home of Henry VIII. This is an enormous palace with “drawing rooms” and “withdrawing rooms!” and even closets that were twice as big as our hotel room. Henry had way too much money to spend and apparently was a legend in his own mind!
1 comment:
You were brave to try Haggis! Did you take a bite or eat the whole thing?
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