Ligonier London Conference 2023

Chris L, Mike R, Sinclair F, Steve L, Burk P

Steve Lawson

Back in 2019 Ligonier Ministries organised their first London Conference in Westminster Central Hall. Last Friday and Saturday they were finally able to have a second conference. This time we were in the slightly smaller Westminster Chapel, whih was a wise decision. We really missed Alistair Begg but the other speakers all did well ion the whole.

We started with an extra bit for ministers. In that session Steve Lawson preached a typically robust call to Preach the Word and then Mike Reeves spoke helpfully on prayer. (I thought it very interesting to hear that Spurgeon once said of public prayer, “I am not able to see any reason for depriving me of the holiest, sweetest, and most profitable exercise which my Lord has allotted me; if I have my choice, I will sooner yield up the sermon than the prayer.” [See his lecture on it to his stundents]). We also had an excellent expositon of Jude from Sinclair Ferguson and the final message was from Burk Parsons on ordinary means. There was also a worthwhile Q&A.

We did not reconvene until 3 in the afternoon for the start of the conference proper. Entitled Pilrims and Exiles the conference addresses looked at verses from the opening chapters of 1 Peter. On that first day we had Ken Mbugua on Elect Exiles, Mark Johnston on The Salvation of Exiles Prophesied and Our Living Hope in Exile by Burk Parsons. By this time it was very hot, perhaps more difficult to concentrate. I certainly found it so.

We reconvened the next day to hear four more messages and to listen to two Q&A sessions. We heard Holy Living in Exile by Michael Reeves, Foreknown for the Sake of Exiles by Steve Nichols, The Word of God for Exiles by Steven Lawson and finished on a high note with Honourable Conduct in Exile by Sinclair Ferguson. The chairman throughout was Chris Larson.

About 600 were present I guess from 27 different countries. One could do without the regular applause for preachers that was felt necessary and the little band for some of the hymns is just what people do these days. The main thing was to hear the Word faithfully expounded, to meet friends old and new and to see the wonderful bookstall. If yoou love the Word you can only wish Ligonier well.

Steve Nichols on the Reformation

You can currently get Steve Nichols' Crossway ebook on the Reformation here.

Cash on commentaries

Over on Reformation21 Steve Nichols wrote recently

Maybe you know or don't know that Johnny Cash wrote a biography of Paul, called The Man in White. I came across a great line in the introduction as Cash recalls the research he put into the book, especially his reading of commentaries. He quips:

"I discovered that the Bible can shed a lot of light on the commentaries."

Ancient Word, Changing Worlds

This helpful little Crossway book Ancient word, changing worlds by Steve Nichols and one of his students, Eric Brandt, is a useful work for looking at the vital subjects of inspiration, inerrancy and hermeneutics.

For each subject the writers first summarise the scholarly debate over it bringing us pretty much up to date in each case. These chapters each contain a time line. The first one, for example, takes us from the publication of Charles Hodge's article on inspiration in 1857 by way of Thayer, Orr, Fosdick and Packer through to Berkouwer's book on Scripture in 1966. The book is nicely set out but these tables deserve a page of their own. Then in addition, each of those three chapters is immediately followed by a chapter containing source material with brief comments. Between seven and seventeen short extracts are given each time. So on hermeneutics, we have quotations from Hodge, Kaiser, Poythress, Longman, Ramm, Bultmann, Childs, Frei, Thiselton, Orr and Waltke. The book would make an ideal tool for readers at various levels.It would be especially good for use in a classroom or discussion group. Its usefulness is further enhanced by a glossary and three appendices - Doctrinal statements on Scripture, a list of Scripture references (the Bible is not quoted anywhere else) and a short guide for further reading.

The book is easy to read though being co-written does not help it. On rare occasions it trips up over its desire to be straightforward and descriptive. It does not appear to be a part of a series but other subjects could probably be treated in a similar way.

Akkerman in Haverhill

On Saturday I went with Rhodri to see Jan Akkerman and Gareth Pearson at Haverhill arts centre. They'd been in London on Wednesday but that's prayer meeting night and in a very short tour this was the only reasonable prospect, although I was a little cagey about using a Saturday night like that. Anyway in the end we made something of a trip of it travelling the 66 miles by way of Saffron Walden. We also took pictures of each other at Ugley and had a little look at the impressive Audley End, which is shut up at this time of the year. Saffron Walden is oozing with history and this was a good bit of reconnoitring for a future trip. It has several old buildings (Tudor, Georgian, etc) lots of antique shops and a nice market square. Everything was about to close by the time we got there and so we had a quick look around then had some chips and headed off across country and over the Essex/Suffolk border to Haverhill.

I saw someone describing Haverhill as the ugliest town in Suffolk - which is rather unfair but you can see their point. We looked for somewhere for a coffee and there wasn't really anywhere we could see so we went into a Wimpy. Rhodri had coke which was fine and I had a coffee which was not. He decided he wanted ice cream. They brought this very nice looking ice cream but it was tasteless. Rhodri was sat with his back to the counter but with a mirror in front of him. Through the mirror he could see a tub of Sainsbury's Basics ice cream. That's what they'd given him! I guess such a product is aimed at shutting little kids up but shame on Sainsbury's for producing it and on Wimpy for serving it.

The arts centre is actually a lovely old place inside and out and we had a great concert. Pity there weren't more there. It was good to see Graham, Gareth's dad, who I was in school with, and who goes to my home church. The Akkernutters (Leigh, Lloyd, Jim,etc) were out in force. Gareth did a nice set and talked a bit as he does. It's a shame that great talent and personality are not enough to win you fame and fortune. It was good to see Gareth again and pass on a copy of Steve Nichols' Getting the Blues which seemed appropriate. I also gave one to Jan later (plus a copy of my own book) and had a chat ranging over the happiness of sea lions, Rabindranath Tagore and the Rabbi's tunnel, etc. His own set was superb. He wandered on stage picked up his battered Lowden and said it was cold waiting upstairs so he'd decided to come down (!). He then sat (Gareth had stood) and got going. First we had what he called a medley of old Dutch carpenter songs (ie Focus stuff - beginning with bits from Eruption, unheard until then the Akkernutters told me, Le Clochard, Sylvia, Anonymus, etc). He then played two of the suites from his acoustic album and rather different version of Tranquiliser. I think it was Firenze and something else next (probably not) and then a bit of Django type stuff plus another track. He then got into a storming version of Hocus Pocus that was mesmerising. Sadly (though not surprisingly) a string broke part way in and so we never got to hear the whole thing. Instead he called Gareth up to do another number while he re-strung. They finished off with a fascinating duet playing with Michael Jackson's Billie Jean which Gareth had tackled earlier. Slightly surreal, Jan ended thanking Gareth then Graham (who's been driving Jan around - usually with his head out of the window trying to have a smoke!) then me (!) then Leigh. He would have named the whole audience if he could have - or at least the Welsh ones!

After a quick chat and some photos we headed off into the wet night and got home just outside my personal curfew looking forward to the Lord's Day.

Music and suffering

One of the many good things to come out of the recent Machen week was the chance to swap books with Steve Nichols. During the course of the week Steve mentioned a plan to meet up with the music journalist Steve Turner which opened up a side to him that I'd missed in a previous encounter. It turns out that Steve (N) has done this whole book Getting the blues looking at 'What blues music teaches us about suffering and salvation' and it really is a brilliant book.

Being a big music fan (though not the blues especially) and a lover of good theology I was immediately drawn to it. It takes you through a sort of history of the blues but all the way it gives you theology too. It is what he calls a theomusicology, a term borrowed from another contemporary writer in this area. The theology is good (ruin, redemption, regeneration, etc) and although there may be a little selectivity here and there his argument that a sound theology is woven through the blues stands up.

I liked this book on many levels - the fine introduction to the music (I'm pretty hazy except for the sound track to Brother where art thou and a half dozen Rev Gary Davis tracks in my i-tunes); the good theology (in a minor key); helpful things on Ruth and Ecclesiastes; the whole idea of looking at what is so often considered by secularists on robust Christian lines. Oh yeah - great title too.

I'm hoping to pass copies on to people who will appreciate it even more than me and who may be will get to understand the theology too.

Interesting interview here.

Summer Reading 04

A large chunk of reading time this summer went on J Gresham Machen.

Dr Nichols had us read his own introductory book which I already had and started to re-read but lost somewhere in Wales (had to borrow my father-in-law's copy). From Machen's own works he selected for us to read Christianity and liberalism (online here), some sermons from God Transcendent and some essays from the Selected Shorter Writings edited by Daryl Hart.

The supplementary works were The Modernist Impulse in American Protestantism by William R Hutchison, which I found quite hard going as I was unfamiliar with most of the names in it - and there are lots. It is basically a history of liberalism from the 1880s-1930s and so although a relatively small part deals with Machen it gives important background which I found useful. Much easier to read and more obviously relevant was The Presbyterian Controversy by Bradley J Longfield which looks not only at machen but Bryan, Coffin, McCartney, Erdman and Speer too.

There is quite a lot of Machen online and I have tried to collate what is available here.

Machen Week

This week began with Dewi's birthday, which went off well. It's been back to school week for the boys adn for me the week has been dominated by attendance at four and a half days of lectures in the John Owen Centre. Steve Nichols gave us an excellent introduction to J Machen Gresham the founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, who run the course with the JOC. Six of us attended (Miguel, San Heung, Mark, Gary and Findlay - all from different nations) - two of us just auditing. It was a real privilege to investigate the background to Machen's life and his writings. Steve is the author of a fine introduction to Machen as well as other books. It was good to benefit fom his wisdom both in and out of the classroom. I had attended his previous lectues on Jonathan Edwards and greatly enjoyed them too. I'd met the others attending before and it was good to renew fellowship with them and, as ever, with the Evesons.

Everything else had to be squeezed into the hours outside the lectures, which included keeping up with e-mails, a pastoral visit, completing the newsletter, making a poster, our Wednesday night meeting (I'd prepared the message beforehand), a meeting about our children's work which needed to be minuted and preparation for and involvement in our Friday night work with children and young people which started yesterday with around 25 coming along (we looked at John 14:6). Preparation for Sunday has been difficult but we're making good progress so far.