Avizandam In Scots law, this term describes the careful consideration given by the judge before an important decision. Join me each week as we explore various topics from a spiritual perspective and take matters Avise endum This is episode six of the John and Goodney story. We've covered a lot of ground. Last uh episode we talked mainly about uh Christopher. And um We mentioned that when he was 18 months old, We moved her first church in Pittsburgh.
I should preface that by saying that as we went to Dallas for the four years of study. We had anticipated going back to Scotland where there's a tremendous need for the preaching of the gospel. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we had one summer when we were at seminary gone there for a while. um tested the waters as it were but uh no offer came.
uh to pastor a church there.
So towards the end of my seminary studies, we were praying as to where the Lord would lead us. Uh one summer When I was at seminary, I had done an internship. In a small chapel on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. A former client of mine. A man called John Clunis, an evangelist.
was now um ministering to the Lord in The US and was living in Pittsburgh. And on our way to Scotland one summer, he invited us to spend a few days with him and asked if I would preach. at uh this little chapel. I readily agreed after all. I was studying at seminary.
So I preached there, and then they asked if I would come back the following summer. I was still at Dallas Seminary then. to serve the Lord, to do a kind of internship, as it were. And I did that, and then they asked. if I would come as her first Pastor.
Initially, we were quite reluctant, thought the Lord was going to call us elsewhere. But as we prayed, we realized that this is where the Lord would have us.
So immediately on graduating, I think the next day after I graduated with a U Haul, we made our way to Pittsburgh. Goody, what were your emotions and feelings as you realized that life for you now? was going to be in Pennsylvania. the United States of America and not in Scotland or in the Faroe Islands.
Well, it was mixed obviously, and I remember when I told my parents that John was going to go to seminary in the US. I said to them, This is just going to be four years, then we'll be back in the UK.
So I had that in my mind that we were going to go back to the UK when John graduated.
So it looked like now that God was having us continue to stay in the US.
So I was okay with that. I you know, I don't know the Lord's will further than what is happening at a certain time.
So I took that as the will of God that we would be in Pittsburgh. Didn't know how long or Whether we would like it or not. But it actually, in fact, was very good, and it was good to start in a very small church. We got to know everybody. and people s new people started coming.
And we would get to know them by Inviting them into our home, which was great. And so the church grew very fast. In fact, and we made many good friends that are still friends today. Um I would explain when I went to uh Pittsburgh, uh the s the situation is very different from here. We're at Servic presently at Calvary Church in Charlotte.
Um There was no office. There was no staff. I was the only person.
So that was quite a challenge. I had to do my first funeral, wedding, and so on, without really consulting anyone. But the Lord helped. And uh soon an office was supplied. And uh we began to minister and as Gooni said Uh the Lord blessed us.
Southwest Pennsylvania is beautiful. Uh country. uh the rolling hills and uh Also, we got to know the uh Stealers, some of them began to come to the Chapel, I had the joy of Baptizing some of them and also speaking at the chapel services before the game.
So, We're still Pittsburgh Steeler fans. I would say I am, Goodney has little or no interest. In um American football, but there we are.
So after being there seven and a half years, We moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and that's quite a story. When I had been a student, a law student at Edinburgh University, I spent several weeks. working on a building site in London, Ontario. And then I made some money. I stayed with Scottish friends there.
I sort of hitchhiked, made my way around. Eastern Canada, or at least part of it in those days, Air Canada, had very cheap flights if you were under 22, which I was. And remember one. Saturday evening, coming into Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I'd never been, didn't know anyone, checked into the cheapest place in town, according to the student handbook that I had, and went for a walk in one of the main streets on a Saturday night. And there's a man handing out tracks, turned out to be gospel tracks, and I got to speak with him, and he arranged for me to go to a certain church.
That Sunday, where the people were very warm, received me, and after many, many years. That was the church. that then called me from Pittsburgh. To Halifax, Nova Scotia. It's a beautiful province.
Tell us how. Christopher settled in and how life for Uh was for you. Uh in Nova Scotia, good name.
Well, it was very different from um Pittsburgh, and I think I was surprised at the big differences. I didn't realize until we move there that it very much was not US. They were very um warm and friendly. Mm. But uh there was um atmosphere of we have done it like this for ever and we don't need to be changing anything.
But we fit in. Christopher was going into third grade.
Now he settled in very quickly and made friends at the school. and friends, a church. But to Compare an American school with a Canadian school was difficult because Uh they did not spend money on uh playgrounds around the school or have tar or cement walkways, it was all just grass and mud. And the weather in the winter was not good. It was very cold and lots of snow.
And so it was kind of messy. That was very surprising to me. The school itself was small, but it was a neighborhood school.
So in that way, it was good. But uh it was very different from Pittsburgh. Um So, anyhow, we adjusted to life there. It was very cold in the winter. As Goodney said, the Nova Scotians are very hospitable.
So we quickly made friends, and again the church began to grow. In fact, during the time In Halifax, Nova Scotia, and we're only there three and a half years. A sort of mini-revival happened. There were a number of medical personnel in the hospital coming to Christ. and their spouses.
And it was just marvelous. I was able to get them together. and teach them the basics of the Christian faith. That was very encouraging to us to see souls saved and the Lord used us in different ways. One summer Good and I went to a camp away up north in Ontario.
I was to speak at it and there was a long, long drive. there. And as we were beginning to drive, Good and I both realized that um Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the church there was not to be our home for too long. And we began to pray as to whether the Lord was releasing us from that assignment. And they may have had something else in mind.
And by the time we came back, we agreed that the Lord was calling us somewhere else. We didn't know where, but we began to pray. I think the Lord puts sometimes things on our hearts, a certain restlessness. uh a desire for something else. Of course, we've got to be careful that that Is not just a whim, or we're running away from problems, but as we waited on the Lord, we became convinced that the Lord was leading us elsewhere.
And in due time, I'm showing the story here: a church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Um Contacted us, got an initial call from an individual, and I'd never heard of Kalamazoo. I thought it was a ridiculous name, quite honestly. I thought the man was joking when he said he came from Kalamazoo. But there is a beautiful town called Kalamazoo, and we ended up there at Calvary Bible Chapel, where we were for almost.
10 years.
So, Gunni, how did this impact us as a family? We had to travel all the way from Halifax, Nova Scotia. driving in our two cars all the way to Kalamazoo. Michigan, that was well over 2,000 miles, I think. Tell me how you felt about that and how it impacted Christopher as a little boy.
Well, every move is a challenge. I don't like moving, but you know, there's also an excitement going to a new place. And of course, we didn't know much about Uh Michigan. But Christopher really suffered with that move in that he loved his friends in Canada and he couldn't believe that after uh a few years in Canada, we were moving again. And he was very unhappy for a few weeks about his friends, missing his friends.
But you soon um got better about it. He started football. I think it would be in the sixth grade in Michigan. And when he started that, that was what he wanted to do. He was very excited that he was now playing football.
So he adjusted eventually to life there. We loved the area. It was very pretty. We were about 45 minutes from Lake Michigan.
So we could go there for the day in the summertime. It was very pretty and we enjoyed that kind of life. Yeah, and um God graciously blessed us at the church. Um We gathered a great staff, in fact, one of the best I've ever worked with, including. Tim Hathaway, who came about a year after I had been there.
If you come to Calvary, you know he is presently our pastor of worship here.
So Tim and Vicky joined us. Uh other Pastors with their wives came and uh we In the goodness of God, had a wonderful team of pastors, elders, deacons serving together. And again, the Lord graciously blessed us with two morning services. My calling is to glorify God through the exposition of His Word, and most Sundays. I preached one series in the morning and another series in the evening.
That's a lot of hard work, including all of the other pastoral and administrative help.
So that was A very busy time of her life. God granted me good health and energy to do that, and I love doing that. Uh to preach the the wonderful, unsearchable riches.
So it was a happy time for us as a family. And then uh About well, it's over 20 years ago now, we received a call. From people in Charlotte, Calvary Church, Charlotte, we never heard of it, inquiring if we would be interested in them sending us some literature. and um meeting with us, which we did, and in God's Goodness in February 2006. We find ourselves in In Charlotte, North Carolina.
We knew the state before with a friend living in Wilmington, and for many years we had visited her. Uh at um The beaches there, Riceville Beach, Carolina Beach, Curie Beach.
So we knew something of. North Carolina. And we came to the church. We were told that there was a number of problems. That they'd gone through a bit of a crisis, but in God's goodness who is bringing us there.
And uh We count it a privilege to presently serve in Charlotte. North Carolina. I think we're going to end our story there. We've skipped over a lot of details, but I think the main thing I want you to understand is. that uh God guides us.
And in the ups and downs of life, he is with us. And thank you, those of you who know us. that we went through one of the greatest challenges, and could say tragedies over life during uh COVID. With Christopher.
So I've asked Goodney to say a little bit about that. uh about the passing of our son Christopher. Yeah, no one expects to lose a child, and so that's Sunday morning. in April of 21. I got a call as I was walking into Calvary that his wife was taking him to emergency.
And okay, we knew he had had a bit of a cold during the week. We didn't know how bad it was because we hadn't gone to the house.
So I said, did something happen this morning and that you're taking him to the emergency? She said, yeah, he's complaining. that he it hurts when he breathes. The next call came just as I was walking into the service at eleven o'clock. that he was in an ambulance on on the way to Pine Mill Hospital.
just a few minutes from where he was at the emergency. and uh he was gone. by midday.
So it was a total shock. I think I'm still in shock. to see his children walking behind the casket going to the cemetery. A few days later was very hard. And um something that you can only Trust the Lord to get you through.
That's what I did. But that doesn't mean it's easy. It doesn't Help. He will never come back, but what does help is that he is with the Lord and we will be united one day. And so we love our grandchildren.
His children were everything to him. He loved them. And uh it's um Yeah, it was a tragedy we did not expect. As you look back, you think, how were we able to get through that situation? The answer is the Lord's strength.
Some of it's a bit of a blur. Um But um I left uh from the pulpit of Calvary Church to go to a hospital very close to us. And uh Still in my Sunday suit, I uh stood by. the uh body of uh my son Uh Christopher, and I can still see that and I just let out a A terrible groan, and I realized in a split second our life would never be the same again. Yeah, God is the same, Jesus Christ.
It's the same yesterday, today, and forever. People ask Do you ask why? Why would God take your only son? And many people have many sons and daughters. That's all in the purposes of God.
What I do know. is that God sent His one and only Son into this world. and that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. And Christopher trusted Christ, He's with the Lord, and we anticipate that great and glorious day when, with all of the Redeemed, we will be with Him forever, never again.
So, with that, I'm going to end. Thank you for listening to this for these special editions of Avizandam. And I finish, as always, by saying Avizandam. You're listening to the weekly Avizandam podcast from The Verdict featuring Pastor John Monroe. John is Senior Pastor at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Listen to John's daily program, The Verdict, on broadcast radio or major podcast platforms. For more information about the Verdict Ministry, visit us online at calvarychurch.com slash the verdict.
