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Month of Prayer and Giving Day 16- Striking a Balance

Month of Prayer and Giving Day 16- Striking a Balance

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Ephesians 5:15-17

Is the worship at Grace Baptist Church West Edinburgh too ‘free and modern’ or too ‘strict and ancient’? That depends on who you ask. These assessments – for the avoidance of doubt, considered criticisms – highlight the importance of balance.

Balance – and the ongoing effort to achieve it – is a big issue with Ali McLachlan and the growing church in West Edinburgh.

Do they hold on to their resources since they don’t have their own building yet or do they help purchase a building for a new church plant in North Edinburgh? Do they keep men they have been involved in training or do they send them away as missionaries to Poland and church planters in Govan? Do they think about themselves – or others?

May I humbly suggest that Ali and the friends in West Edinburgh are not – at least in some ways – balanced? Rather, they are the balance.

They are the balance to churches that seemingly always think of themselves and almost never of others. They are the balance to churches that are either so mired in controversy or marred by compromise that they have no little remaining zeal to push back the darkness in their land. They are the balance to those who speak in glowing terms about the past but do little but glower about the present to say nothing of the future.

But make no mistake about it. Being the balance is not as glamourous as it looks. This is especially difficult when there are other issues to deal with like ill health. Ali’s wife, Caroline, has not enjoyed good health over much of the past year. This has made it difficult for her to provide the support she has steadfastly provided Ali over a number of years.

Will you pause today to thank God for Ali McLachlan? Will you ask God to continue to strengthen him, his family and church? Will you ask the Lord – in His great mercy – to renew Caroline’s health and strength? Will you ask the Lord to continue to enable them to be balanced where they need to be and a balance where we need them to be?

While you’re at it, will you pray that churches across the land will discover the delights of imbalance for the gospel’s sake? It might just help balance things out at West Edinburgh.

“Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”
3 John 8 ESV
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