An Update Letter

We can hardly believe we have been in Edinburgh for nearly 8 months. So much has happened since our arrival. Below is an edited copy of a recent update letter I wrote on 17 April 2006.

We arrived on 4 September 2005 and were welcomed with a marvellous fireworks exhibit set to Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony at the Edinburgh Castle. Actually, it was for the last night of the International Festival, but we like to think it was for the first night the Tweeddales were in Scotland! Levity aside, our time here has been a tremendous occasion for us to experience the richness of living in another culture, grow in our marriage as we learn to adjust to our new home, enjoy the blessings of the global community of the body of Christ as we worship in the Free Church of Scotland, continue to prepare and train for the ministry of the gospel, and daily trust in God’s provision for our lives.

We live in a small, humble fully-furnished city centre flat for which we could not be more grateful. Affordable housing can be hard to come by in Edinburgh. In God’s gracious providence, we were able to procure living arrangements via a couple from Edinburgh who came to study at RTS. The flat is owned by the father of our friend, and an elder at Buccleuch & Greyfriars Free Church where we worship. We constantly marvel at the connections between Jackson, MS and Edinburgh! As an aside, we do have a guest room, so please come and visit!

Buccleuch is only two blocks from our flat and is an oasis for our souls. The preaching is solidly evangelistic and expositional, the singing is robust and fervent (we have greatly profited from a cappella psalm singing, although we do miss hymns!), and the fellowship is encouraging and edifying. The congregation is pro-active in reaching out to folks within the fold and extending mercy to the needy outwith the church. One of the most remarkable qualities of Free Church worship is the communion season. Before communion on the Lord’s Day (which is observed quarterly), preaching services are held on Friday and Saturday evening in preparation for taking the Lord’s Supper. We were blessed to have Iain D. Campbell from Back Free Church on the Isle of Lewis for our first communion season. The sense of preparation, occasion, and anticipation that accompanied the weekend was a ministry to our hearts as we remembered the finished work of Christ on our behalf.

My studies are going well. Studying the puritans has proven not only academically stimulating but spiritually heart-warming. My topic is focused on John Owen’s Christological interpretation of the Old Testament as developed in his exposition of Hebrews. At either the end of May or the first of June, I will sit my first year review board. A committee from the University will examine my work to determine the viability of my topic and my status in the program. Upon passing this board, I will enter into the main core of my research. Hopefully, if I can keep up the pace, I will complete my thesis by the summer of 2008.

Angela has adjusted to life in Scotland with grace. She has worked hard to make our wee flat a welcoming home. In February she was offered a job as a clinical assistant in the radiology department at the Royal Infirmary. This was a tremendous answer to prayer, as landing a job proved much more difficult than we anticipated. However, though nearly two months has passed since her offer, she has yet to start her job! The post is new, so there is no precedent. Our guess is that the hospital is still ironing out the details of the position. We have been somewhat discouraged by the process; nevertheless, we trust in God’s timing. Hopefully, she will start within the next week!

Financially, we are unsure how the next two years will unfold. I have applied for several scholarships but have been unsuccessful. Competition is steep and the puritans do not seem to be a priority for funding. I have one more application that I hope to hear about by the end of the month. In addition, I intend to tutor in theology next year which will help defray some of the coast of tuition. We like to think of this as part of the learn-not-upon-your-own-understanding factor of our Edinburgh experience. We are learning the valuable lesson that our security does not depend on the stability of our savings account but on the One who gives us our daily bread.

I have had some opportunity to preach and continue to get offers. So far, I have preached four times with another two at the end of the month. In February, I wrote a book review of Joey Pipa’s study guide to the Westminster Confession for reformation21. I will also be writing an article on John Owen for reformation21 in June or July. Additionally, Reformed Academic Press has just released an updated version of The Essential Commentaries for a Preachers Library that I co-authored with Derek Thomas. I also contribute to a web-blog entitled The Conventicle which can be accessed at theconventicle.blogspot.com. It is a place where post-graduate students at New College with an interest in the puritans can discuss their work.

There is much more we can praise God for, but that must await another update letter. Do pray for us and for Scotland. The gospel that once thundered from the pulpits of this land is constantly under attack. Pray that Angela and I will not only be able to prepare for the work God has for us in the future but also reach out with the gospel to the people we encounter in the present.