Four Books Recently Read

I have recently read two short biogaphies of men of God I have known personally.

The first was a wonderful little biography that my father-in-law has put together with a brief losing piece by my oldest son. Both were Bud Mort's pastors. So glad the folk at the Met Tab were willing to publish it. They have made a vary good job of it. I knew about Bud but a lot of the details were unknown, however, and it is good to have read this delightful little story. Bud became profoundly deaf when young and his daughter, Linda, is mentally disabled. These and other tough issues were hard to accept but by the grace of God Bud not only accepted them but was more than conqueror through Christ. Every Christian could benefit from this book and it might make a good present for an unbeliever, especially if they are deaf or touched by the tragedy of disability in some way. Not feted by the high and mighty, here is another of whom the world was not worthy.

The second sadly has not been done half so well. The pictures are poor and the typos many. Better, however, that it is done at all than not. The content is excellent. It has been my privilege to meet Brian more than once but this little book gives his background in a way that could not be covered in that brief time. Here is the story of another hero of the faith, briefly told. I would urge all who have an interest in the gospel and in mission to read it. The book explains something of the history of Cubao Reformed Baptist Church and some of the works connected to it. Short contributions from others supplement the main body of the work which is by Brian himself.

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Then I have also been reading this Crossway Short Classics eries. I have now read all of them. I made notes about B B Warfield's one on the emotional life of Christ elsewhere. Anpther two I have read were by Thomas Chalmers and Jim Packer.

Chalmers. I have long known the phrase "The expulsive power of a new affection" and was aware that it is a work by Thomas Chalmers but it is only now that I have taken the time to read this very encouraging sermon or essay in this beautifully presented form. It is not brilliantly written and seems to be a little repetitive but the main point is hammered home effectively and is very worthwhile to keep in mind.

Packer. I was half expecting this to be the essay Packer wrote as a preface to Owen on the death of death but it What did the cross of Christ achieve? is a separate work originally given as a lecture. It is a very through piece of work and provides support for the orthodox position, support I am sure I have been leaning on for years without knowing it as others have imbibed the points he makes. Very well worth reading and digesting.

Heroes

We had one of my heroes with us last night - Brian Ellis of Manila. It was great just to have an update on the work of Cubao Reformed Baptist church and the wider work. I was gratified to see such a  good turn out. Men like Brian and Keith Underhill in Kenya who have just gone and given their lives to establishing Reformed Bapatist churches are the giants of our day - real ordinary men but men used by God in wonderful ways. Check out CRBC here on Facebook.

GBA 2011 06

At 2.30 pm this afternoon we had a short and happy business meeting where 55 messengers from 34 different churches. Then at 5 pm we had an excellent news session.

Brian Ellis showed a slide presentation on the work in the Philippines. Crawford Gribbin said a little bit about the church he belongs to in Port Laois.

David Butler from EMF spoke about the encouraging work of Andrew and Vivian Birch in Majorca. The only discouraging factor here is the lack of conversions among the indigenous people. Daniel Webber retires soon to be succeeded by martin Leech. Iorg Muller will be coming from Germany to carry on Martin's work.

Walter Johnston is a regular at the Assembly and it was encouraging and challenging to hear him talk about the prison work that he and others from the church are involved in.

Adam Laughton reminded us of his imminent move south to be involved in the London Gateway church planting project which will now begin in West Gravesend.

Martin Grubb flagged up a forthcoming conference with Jim Renihan Roots that refresh.

Finally, a London pastor spoke of the beginning of opportunities in the local mosque in East London.

Philippines 11

So my final full day in the Philippines is nearly over. It started quite early around 8 am when Dennis, one of the members at Moonwalk Community Bible Church, picked me up and drove me over to the church. (En route to church we passed a RC church that runs a market just outside every Sunday!). Moonwalk is in Parañaque and is in one of these subdivisions as they call them, where gates with security guards keep out undesirables. We have them in England (gated communities) but these are at a much lower economic level I guess. Anyway Moonwalk (a slightly better heeled congregation for the most part I guess) was originally begun by Cubao and then planted as a church by Steve Hofmaier, (here too) a graduate of Al Martin's old Montville, New Jersey seminary, in 1987. Moonwalk also has a small seminary, which is a pity in some ways but that's Reformed Baptists for you.
They kicked off with Sunday School at 9 am mostly in Tagalog but with plenty of English. Steve is teaching on missions and if you are in the know the Al Martin style hallmarks were all there. I was slightly bothered by that but got through it and preached quite well on Ezekiel 37 again (good not to have to be translated) and then joined them for lunch too, chatting mostly to Steve who spent six months in Nairobi with Keith Underhill years back and had been to Aberystwyth. By the time I left anyway I was much more centred on the 99% of things that we do agree on and was very glad for the opportunity to have been there and to have enjoyed such sterling fellowship. Dennis, accompanied by his wife, kindly drove me back to Cubao, where there were quite a few still around enjoying coffee, chat and singing. They knew people and so took opportunity to chat too before returning. Ray Seveses here is brother to Rolly, one of the elders at Moonwalk. They have just appointed a third elder and so Steve, who sees himself as very much a missionary (unlike Brian) is keen to move on but the congregation are rather dismayed at the prospect.
Back here there was time to talk to Joseph and Theresa (no English) with their toddler Jores (JOseph/theRESa - typical Filipino) and try and remember the CCM girls' names. At 4 pm it was time for the afternoon service. Joel Pascual, one of the deacons preached. They provided simultaneous translation for us monoglots. Joel is coming to England in October to be best man to Redy who is marrying Naomi Clark, a member at Waterford House Evangelical, Strood. Perhaps we can link up. He told me that his father is a bishop in a Filipino cult (see something on Filipino cults here, although I think this is an RC site).
After church a few stayed to sing and to say a formal hanks and goodbye. That was very nice. I really have enjoyed this time and received so many blessings.
Brian and Necy kindly invited me back home again for a bite to eat (very tasty spaghetti dish) with them and their (as yet) unconverted housegirls. I also had another interesting chat with Brian clarifying the set up, asking where he sees things going and chatting about various things. Clearly there are constant headaches but it's great to be with someone who God is using quietly but quite extensively in many ways. The Ellises I should have mentioned live opposite Faith House, where the older CCM girls live. He told me they have another property somewhere currently not in use.
Anyway I walked back to the church, did a little packing, did a little dip into the coconut jam I bought last night and then read a little before bed. The rain has just started to teem down once again.

Philippines 09

So today was Calvin day. From 9.30 until about 2.45 a good number gathered in the GMA lecture hall to hear three lectures on Calvin. Brian Ellis gave the first on Calvin's life. It was a very helpful introduction. Brian lectures on the Reformation and knows his audience and so was able to highlight the things that needed highlighting. Not knowing my audience and having far too much material as ever I struggled a little on Calvin the theologian. I will try and put the original paper on the blog over the next few days (the first part has been posted). Noel Espinosa gave a fine paper to close on Calvin as pastor and preacher. I will be using some of his quotations for my series. There was time for questions and that was worthwhile and for fellowship over food. I noticed from my guidebook that Filipinos love their food. That certainly seems to be the case - lots of rice and good meat with everything.
I was very kindly given some lovely Filipino gifts (from kultura filipino) to take home as a token of appreciation for my efforts. Very nice. There was also a good bookstall and after Brian took me to see the literature warehouse they have - yet another ministry that I've seen pictures of in the past. Like the other ministries, it is located not far from the church.
I'm out for food with Pastor Mon and his family tonight so that will be good. I think I am going to be a tourist tomorrow - weather permitting.

Philippines 04

So after a few days of not too much we really had a full Lord's Day day here in Manila. Jose kindly brought me some breakfast around 8. I'd been up much earlier but had snoozed until then. At 9 am Sunday School started with adult Sunday School in the church led by Pastor Mon Macapagal, looking at the words compassion and kindness from Colossians 3. That ties in well with CCM, which he did mention at the very end. Throughout the day things were quite bilingual so I missed quite a bit but enjoyed singing in Tagalog as best I could and listening to the language and trying to figure things out. By 10 am the church was full and not long after Brian Ellis led the service. I preached on 1 John 1:1, 2. I had 5 points (Mon noted my Calvinistic bent later!) and so Brian summarised each point which seemed to work well, despite being slightly flustered that he was the one expected to lead plus a pastoral problem that cropped up at that moment. Anyway we got the message about not sinning and about looking to Jesus and the need of the whole world hearing over. It was nice to see many familiar and unfamiliar faces there. One characteristic thing here is that most of the children greet you by taking your hand and touching it to their forehead. The front two rows are filled with children from their homes and their housemothers, etc. Because of this the balance is quite young and feminine but there is a good range of ages present. Most are local but some travel quite a way. After the service I was able to join people eating lunch under the roof erected last year at the side of the buildings. I had lovely conversations with various ones. It was raining through much of the day, which was refreshing but perhaps kept some away in the afternoon. The afternoon meeting started at 4 pm and this time was led by Pastor Mon Macapagal. This time I preached from Ezekiel 37 on the dry bones, which went okay although we struggled with some words. Part of the problem is that many English words are often used in place of Tagalog ones and so translation is not easy. Anyway I think that in both services people got the message. I tried to be animated. Mainly members then trooped down from the main auditorium to a smaller room where we observed the Lord's Supper. Brian Ellis led and I spoke briefly (without translation) on Isaiah 1:18. Several people are away and there are one or two concerns. It was lovely to see Brian leading the people in prayer and to see a happy fellowship in action. The thirtieth anniversary is coming up soon and they are thinking of organising a hog roast! After this I was kindly invited back to the Ellises house for a meal and conversation. It was nice to get something of Brian's background who was once a Methodist and an OMF missionary but came to Reformed convictions reading Owen's Death of Death an Ephesians 1 and then joined Wattisham Baptist Chapel before beginning work afresh in Manila, eventually planting the church, which began meeting in his front room. They have a literature ministry as well as everything else, but that is sometimes forgotten. There are issues, of course. Sometimes people leave and we spoke of other estrangements in the Christian world too. There' plenty to encourage though. It's nice to be among so many who are self consciously Reformed in theology - in a good way! While there I was invited to phone home and was glad to break into Sunday dinner back in Childs Hill, where all seems to be well. That was good. What a wonderful privilege to see this great work at such close quarters.

Philippines 03

The main thing today was travelling over to the CCM homes in Antipolo. A birthday celebration for one of the church's founding members was going when I was picked up by one of the housemothers to be driven over.
There is info about CCM here but it is way out of date. (This is true for the church website as a whole but will give some idea. What they now have is a big house in a gated community 20 minutes away made up of three separate households of around 10 children each (Emmaus, Galilee and Hebron). It was nice to meet all the girls but how to remember all those mostly unfamiliar names (many beginning with J I notice and often double barrelled)? So I chatted mostly to the house mothers of mission work in the north and the UK, etc but also to the girls a little about Wales and Tagalog, etc.

I then had a lift back via Damascus, the boys' home. The young people were gathering for a meeting so I took a few photos and then headed off. I took a look inside the church being readied for tomorrow. About 7.30 pm Bernie the caretaker kindly brought some food over. His nephew Jose brought me something for breakfast this morning. People are very kind. It will be a privilege to preach tomorrow. Must keep it simple and clear.

Philippines 02

Got through the hot night despite cockerels crowing, etc. You see cockerels everywhere. Cock fighting is a big thing here. Lito, a GMA graduate called for me around 8 am and we headed for Brian's house (where the church originally used to meet). Lovely to meet Nece and Brian in their home and take a quick look at Brian's amazing shell collection. We then drove with others through sometimes heavy traffic (caused by work on the extension of the ELR) to Valenzuela City where there was a meeting of messengers from the newly formed Reformed Baptist Association. It was good to be there and get the flavour of a new and young movement. Part of the flavour is the bilingual situation (something I am fairly familiar with). The pastor in Valenzuela is Aries Liboro. It was good to meet him. His wife put on a lovely spread for around 20 of us present.
We went then to the CCM offices and Alex showed me around the squatter slums. I won't attempt to describe the utterly amazing poverty. Only if you are in it can you grasp it and even then only faintly. My only hope is that such places existed in London in Spurgeon's day and are no more. Several of the children we met are sponsored by CCM. What a work is being done. There are no easy solutions though. Eleri was watching slum dog millionaire before I left. What horrible things there are in this world.
And so back to what now looks like a luxury flat and some time to read. I'm enjoying Selderhuis on Calvin which I bought at EMA and started to read on the plane.

Philippines 01

So bright and early last Wednesday with almost everything (but not quite) done, I set off for Heathrow. Eleri gave me a lift after we dropped the youngest boys off at school. Things went smoothly getting on the Malaysia Airline Airbus but then we ended up sat there for four hours owing to concerns about the engines. Fuel could be seen spilling from the wings, which understandably concerned some passengers until it was explained that it was coming from the surge tanks and was no cause for alarm. Eventually we headed off. It wasn't a problem for me. It just meant four hours in Heathrow in the plane rather than Kuala Lumpur in the airport. My neighbour was a Malay medical student, studying in Galway - slightly concerned at Malaysia's reputation in all this! I've never talked at length to anyone in a hijab so that was good. Much of the long flight was spent trying to sleep, which I didn't find easy. Anyway from KL I flew straight on to Manila in a fairly empty plane. In both KL and Manila they seemed very concerned about the different influenza viruses. I came through baggage and customs very quickly and soon met up with CCM house mother Fay who drove me effortlessly through Metro Manila to the church compound. Caretaker Bernie showed me to my room, basic but with a fridge and an A/C unit - much appreciated. In the evening Brian Ellis called and he kindly took me out for a meal. We were in a Pancake House overlooking the very place where the thriller in Manila took place (boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier) all those years ago. The church is in the midst of a large commercial area, with lots of building going on. There is also a lot of poverty and some seediness, which Brian pointed out. Thursday nights is drop in night and so when we returned one of the men was speaking to a group of around 80 (less than normal). Matt Gamston is away at present, which is a shame. I did run into a young lady from Chelmsley Wood who is here for a month. So I've got myself settled in and hopefully can share more soon. The thing that strikes me at present is the important of context. I've seen much of this on video but it cannot be the same, of course.

Philippines Trip

On July 1 I intend to travel to The Philippines and to be there for the next 10 days or so. How come?

1. Some years ago we became aware of the work of Brian Ellis and Cubao RB Church, Manila.

2. For some years we've supported the work among the street children they do and one or two members have travelled to see the work. We also sometimes have Filipinos in the congregation.

3. We are also aware of the Grace Ministerial Academy and its current need of help.

4. Since my last overseas trip (to Nigeria) we've put regularly put aside half a per cent from the general fund for another (the amount covered my air fare). There's an idea for some of you!

5. Having thought about this for some while and tried to pass on my thought of going I finally got to see Brian a month or two back and broached the idea of lecturing on the wisdom literature. He and Principal Noel Espinosa seemed keen for me to come in July, August or September.

6. Meanwhile my dad's situation has not been good so I've been much in prayer and consultation on what to do. Reminders of the Philippines are never far away in London (see pic). At one point I was in a MacDonalds using the netbook when I heard on the radio - "Don’t matter if I step on the scene Or sneak away to the Philippines". I thought I was so obsessed with the subject I was hearing things but these are genuine words from Britney Spears' "Piece of me". Thankfully I try not to get my guidance from such Providences. What I really wanted was some assurance from God about how long my dad will live. I don't think I'll be getting that and so there could still be problems ahead for this project but I just need to step out in faith.

7. So I decided that sooner rather than later was better from the point of view of my dad's health (who's fine at present and has been told to stay healthy at least until I'm back and then for the wedding at least). It turns out Noel was planning a special day of Calvin seminars on July 10 so I can do that too - although he's given me Calvin's Theology, which will be a tall order for me.

8. Tickets no doubt go up the longer you leave it so I was glad to get a good price last Monday (Malaysia Airlines). I did it on the laptop watching the news about this Air France tragedy. Sobering thought. For some reason it was cheaper to travel July 1 than July 2, which is not a problem. The bigger decision was choosing to be away 2 Sundays, which I didn't want but it's been unavoidable (one factor was the need to be back to see Dylan perform in Westside Story!). Getting preachers didn't prove difficult - further Providences. Also no problem updating my injections at the doctor's - and nothing to pay, which was good.

9. So imagine that, God willing on July 10th, Calvin's birthday, I'll be not in Wales or London, which would be fine, not in Geneva - a great idea I toyed with but couldn't afford - but in Manila and talking about the man himself! Could he possibly have imagined that 500 years on they'd be talking about him in such a far flung place?

10. There's lots of preparation to be done then - going through my notes on Proverbs, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes and working on the Calvin but what a privilege. There are always reasons to pray.

Grace Assembly 09 7

This Wednesday afternoon we had our second news session. Simon Calvert spoke again recapping on various issues that have taken up the interest of the Christian Institute since last year. He spoke about the human embryology bill, which thankfully did not include a further liberalising of abortion laws. Other victories include the one over Google regarding advertising and the case of Pilgrim Homes in Brighton who were under pressure from the local authority over the promotion of 'gay' values. In other cases there was less encouragement including some reversals. Other cases are ongoing - the lady who fosters children and saw a child of a Muslim background converted and so was not allowed to continue, the couple in Cornwall who have policy of no double rooms for the unmarried and the pressure they are under from the homosexual lobby, etc, etc. Equality and diversity is the big thing at the moment. The question of churches needing to prove they give public benefit in order to hold charity status was raised. This should not be a problem for most but something like Jews for Jesus may have problems. More here. Ferris Lindsay spoke about the work of the Tyndale Academy. Ferris is a great enthusiast and it is always fascinating to hear him speak about his changing work among children in Newham, East London. The opportunities among Sikhs, Muslims, etc, are great. Barry King is another fascinating and gifted individual, who spoke with simplicity and power on church planting. You need a sower, some seed and some soil and most importantly God's Spirit. It also takes suffering - not an optional extra. The work spoken of last year has continued in Wood Green, the Angel and North Watford. He was able to speak of conversions (in double figures) and believers joining too. He has also been able to be involved in a replant in Halstead, Essex and another new work in Eton Bray, Bedfordshire. He has also begun to be involved in a replant in Runcorn, which begins in June. Chelmondiston and Albert Street, Oxford, are also in his sights - not to mention the growing work in Gillingham. A nice element here was that another group elsewhere in Gillingham has been started and it is planned that these two groups can be joined together and act as an independent local church. Brian Ellis spoke next on the work in the Philippines. He chose to focus not on CCM or street work but the Grace Ministerial Academy and ancillary work. He must have spoken of a score of churches being pastored by graduates and others. It is amazing what is being done. He also mentioned Carey Outreach Ministries. What opportunities there are. We briefly rounded off with John MacDonald (GBM) on China, Brazil and Kenya and Martin Leech (EMF) on Palma, Mallorca concerns over accreditation for the Bible School and the matter of persecution. Great session. Very stimulating.

Assembly 09 Next Week

I'm hoping to be at the Grace Assembly next week in High Leigh in Hertfordshire. There I'm expecting to meet at least two of these gentlemen with whom I enjoyed the recent outing to Bosworth Field. The irony of the shot of Phil and I in the stocks is that 350 years ago far from being a joke it was a reality for some Baptist ministers.

Banner blogged

Sadly, I had to leave before the final session at Banner, when Mark Johnston preached. I understand he was looking at trembling at God's Word. I'm sure it was fine. I also missed the question session yesterday which was a pity.
It has been a very good conference. Garry Williams two contributions were outstanding. It has all been pretty good, although some wouldn't have liked certain elements. I stayed up rather late each night (with Martin Downes, Jeremy Walker and others), which made getting to the morning prayer meetings rather difficult. It's lovely to chat though at night and through the day. On Wednesday afternoon I forsook the football field and headed off to nearby Bosworth Field in Gary Benfold's car. Brian Ellis from the Philippines, Mark Fisher from the Heath and Phil Arthur were with us. After a little drive into the countryside we came to the site, which is fairly well marked out but not as well as in the past according to Phil, the expert on all this. Anyway when we got back to the Visitor Centre a very helpful guide explained that archaeologists have been at work and major doubts had now been cast on the traditional site of Richard III's death. There are basically three theories and the jury is still out. Things are often more complicated than they appear at first.
On Wednesday night there was a gathering of the Taffia and co. There were so many crammed into Guy Davies' room that some sadly decided the heat was too much. Geoff was interviewing Sinclair Buchanan Ferguson. It was mostly an update on the great man's current very encouraging situation. He has just begun preaching through Romans in the ARP church he pastors in S Carolina (this a man who owns over a hundred Romans commentaries - he's currently on Origen which he's reading along with the letters of Ronald Reagan). Fascinating time.
My early departure was because I wanted to get down to South Wales. A bonus feature was meeting up with John Nicholls heading north to Cumbria for the weekend. He bought me a coffee (have I ever paid for my own?) and we had a nice half hour before parting.