Busy Four days

It's been perhaps more busy than usual and so there' been no blogging for a little while.

Saturday morning was time for our monthly tracting  It was gratifying to have a full team out this time round. People from the Iranian Church in Finchley were also out so there were few places for pagans to hide in Golders Green that day. After a quick lunch I headed for Welwyn where the EMF (European Missionary Fellowship) were saying goodbye to Martin and Penny Leech and hello to Steve Bowers and Ian Parry. There were a large number there and Ian Parry preached well from Acts 16. I was sorry to have to dash off. I'd intended to arrive early and talk to people then but that didn't work out. Anyway, I got back home in time for the second half of the England Wales game. I don't really know what Wales were playing at in that first half but they finally came to life in the second half and almost did it. The 25-21 score line flatters Wales to some extent.

The Lord's Day was a good one. We ploughed on with Revelation in the morning, looking at Revelation 14, a most searching and no holds barred chapter dealing with the realities of heaven and hell. We closed with John Newton's hymn "Day of judgement". At 5 pm we gathered for tea. We weren't many but it was a nice time. I preached in the evening service to a good sized congregation on Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Then after church we heard that the church in Aberystwyth has issued a call to my eldest son. How thrilling.

The family was with us for tea on Monday evening (Rhodri was preaching in Pembrokeshire the day before). It was good to be with them. Before that I had been at the Evangelical Library. We had the Lunchtime Lecture first. Norman Hopkins from Strood, Kent, gave an excellent lecture on Edward Dering, a forgotten Puritan who he dubbed an Elizabethan Spurgeon. It was the best sort of lecture - where the lecturer knows his subject well but is able to get the story across. It was great to have over twenty people present. Next lecture April  18 - yours truly on F B Meyer. After our evening meal, Eleri had me moving a large cupboard form one room to another that had to come apart in the end. Once that was done, I sat down to University Challenge and the News.

Then today I have been out at the John Owen Centre/LTS for some Greek study with the principal Robert Strivens (my fellow elder who I know is between trips to Eastern Europe lecturing on Hebrews in Serbia and Romania). About nine of us gathered to work our way through Matthew 5-7. Robert does it very well with just the right amount of talking head and questions. I hope to be at the next one on Philippians in June but will be missing the Hebrew Day in May. After a brief session with my grandsons and others in the park I headed home. My parents-in-law arrived a little while after. I watched University Challenge again with Geoff (and got most of the questions right!). Eleri and I then watched the last episode of Happy Valley. There are things to criticise about it but as a piece of drama it is an amazing series. The way the ongoing story of the Sarah Lancashire character and her family and the continuing story of crime in a Yorkshire town are blended and played out is quite masterful. Expect this latest series to be gathering awards like the last one.

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.