Our fortnight of activities in Methven got off to a good (and thankfully dry) start with our village barbecue this afternoon. Despite a last minute change to the advertised time, we still had a good turnout of adults and children from the community. The pictures below show some of those who came along. We hope to meet a lot more locals over the next two weeks as we bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the village.

​More information on the planned events can be found here.

This week we’ve made the most of the glorious sunshine to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to people in the villages of Tibbermore, Lochty, Ruthvenfield, Huntingtower, Pitcairngreen, Almondbank and Harrietfield.
 
Invitations to our special fortnight of events in Methven were distributed in each of these places and as always we saw some interesting sights along the way!
 
Harrietfield, a small settlement a few miles from Methven, hosts a fairly large church building which now lies empty, having closed its doors in 1995. It’s amazing to think that once upon a time there was such an interested in Christianity in Perthshire that even tiny settlements like this had large buildings in which God’s name was praised.
 
There’s also an interesting war memorial located at the end of the village. It is touching to think that even little rural places like Harrietfield were painfully affected by the two world wars of the 20th century. Interestingly, under the names of those who died in WW1 it says, “They gave their life that others might live” and beneath the names of those who lost their lives in WW2 it reads, “They gave their today for our tomorrow.” We are extremely grateful to those who lost their lives on the battlefield to give us freedom and a future.
 
In the Bible, Jesus says, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). However, He Himself would later display an even greater love than that, as He laid down His life upon the cross, for the benefit of those who were actually His enemies because of their sin. The good news is that Christ loved us and “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3) upon the cross so that we might have forgiveness and freedom from sin, and a future with Him in Heaven.

In the past few days we’ve continued our visits and distributed Good News Perthshire postcards in both Balbeggie and Wolfhill.
 
Some suggest that Wolfhill got its name because the last wolf in Scotland was killed there. While there seems to be some disputing this, it does appear that wolves undoubtedly did inhabit the area at one time.  
 
Another interesting suggestion is that the name Wolfhill came as a result of the infamous, “Wolf of Badenoch” (Alexander Stewart, the Earl of Buchan, so nicknamed because of his terrible reign of cruelty and his burning of Elgin Cathedral amongst other things), camping there in the 14th century while on his way to Perth to be officially forgiven by the church for his wicked ways.
 
It’s true that we all need forgiveness for the wrong we’ve done in our lives. However the Bible is clear that forgiveness is not granted by the church, but is received directly from Jesus Christ Himself, on the basis of His death on the cross, which the Bible says was “for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The Bible says that “through this man (Jesus Christ) is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 13:38)
 
The good news is that if we’re willing to turn from our sins and trust in Jesus Christ, we can receive full and free forgiveness today.

Another day of blue skies encouraged us to take the good news of God’s love to the village of Guildtown, about 6 miles north of Perth. Good News Perthshire postcards were distributed to the 100 or so houses in the area and we had the opportunity to say hello to a number of residents who were out enjoying the sunshine in their gardens!
 
It was interesting to see a number of signposts around the village pointing out the Guildtown Millennium Path. The good news for us today is that Jesus Christ is not merely a signpost pointing out the path to Heaven; He Himself is the way to Heaven.

​Whilst here on earth he claimed; “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no-one comes to the Father (or gets to Heaven where the Father is) except through personal faith in me.” (John 14:6)
 
Isn’t it good news that the way to Heaven is so simple and yet so sure? An old hymn poses the question…
 
The way to Heaven is straight and plain,
Will you go?
Repent, believe, be born again,
Will you go?​

It was a beautiful night to spend some time distributing Good News Perthshire postcards in one of the most peaceful and picturesque parts of Perthshire, the little village of Stormontfield.

​Stormontfield is a small settlement a few miles from Scone Palace and Scone Race Course, and lies on the banks of the River Tay opposite Luncarty. It was historically home to a cotton spinning mill and its small population consisted primarily of the mill's workers.

New houses were built there in recent decades following the closure of the mill, and within the small hamlet you'll also find fishponds, a lade, and a community hall. 

​You'll also come across St David's Chapel, with its unique sun dial which says "tak tent o time ere time be tint, for time will no remain." Or to put it in more commonly understood language... "take account of time before your time is finished." Wise words indeed!

The Bible poses the question, "what is your life? it is even a vapour that appears for a little time then vanishes away." (James 4:14) In light of the brevity of life, the Bible also encourages us to think carefully about where we'll spend the afterlife (either Heaven or Hell) and that "it is time to seek the Lord." (Hosea 10:12)