Professor Stanley Unwin

The exile's recent enquiry about the Small Faces and their concept album set me thinking on Stanley Unwin. I was chuffed to find this site headed

Hi ho and a jolly welcode to all you surfwide'n interwebber lopers. Here beholdy manifold things Stanley Unwinmost - all deep joy and thorkus for great laugh'n tittery. O yes.

 

Check here for some fun.

 

Also see here

Top Concept Albums 15-11

I thought I'd do a countdown of my favourite 15 concept albums. You can find out about concept albums here.

11. Underwater Sunlight/Tangerine Dream 1986
Instrumental. Theme - under the water. Check here for samples.
Tracks: Theme of the Whale Pt 1, Pt 2, Dolphin Dance, Ride On The Ray, Scuba Scuba, Underwater Twilight

12. Sgt Pepper/Beatles 1967
Theme - adventures of a brass band? Needs no comment. But is it a concept album?

13. China/Vangelis 1979
Theme - China! Almost all instrumental. If you look here you can see the 10 page booklet that went with the original LP. Check here for samples.

14. Pet Sounds/Beach Boys 1966
Theme - God and love and peace. I'd heard of this album many times before finally getting to hear it staying in a house in Pontefract one time. Tracks: 1. Wouldn't It Be Nice 2. You Still Believe In Me 3. That's Not Me 4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) 5. I'm Waiting For The Day 6. Let's Go Away For Awhile 7. Sloop John B 8. God Only Knows 9. I Know There's An Answer 10. Here Today 11. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times 12. Pet Sounds 13. Caroline No

15. In Search of the Lost Chord/Moody Blues 1968
Theme - Searching. Someone gave my parents-in-law a pile of old LPs. That's how I got to hear this. Tracks - "Departure" – :48; "Ride My See-Saw" – 3:37; "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" – 2:58; "House of Four Doors" – 4:11; "Legend of a Mind" – 6:40; "House of Four Doors Pt. 2" – 1:43; "Voices in the Sky" – 3:32; "The Best Way to Travel" – 3:12; "Visions of Paradise" – 4:15; "The Actor" – 3:09 "The Word" – 0:49 "Om" – 6:27. Check here for samples.

The Bloggy Man 24

Eclipse Pics

Thanks Tom

Newton on an eclipse

I found this hymn here It is by John Newton.
On the Eclipse of the Moon July 30, 1776

The moon in silver glory shone,
And not a cloud in sight;
When suddenly a shade begun
To intercept her light.

How fast across her orb it spread,
How fast her light withdrew!
A circle, ting'd with languid red,
Was all appear'd in view.

While many with unmeaning eye
Gaze on thy works in vain;
Assist me, LORD, that I may try
Instruction to obtain.

Fain would my thankful heart and lips
Unite in praise to thee;
And meditate on thy eclipse,
In sad Gethsemane.

Thy people's guilt, a heavy load!
(When standing in their room)
Depriv'd thee of the light of GOD,
And fill'd thy soul with gloom.

How punctually eclipses move,
Obedient to thy will!
Thus shall thy faithfulness and love,
Thy promises fulfil.

Dark, like the moon without the sun,
I mourn thine absence, LORD!
For light or comfort have I none,
But what thy beams afford.

But lo! the hour draws near apace,
When changes shall be o'er;
Then shall I see thee face to face,
And be eclips'd no more.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

We saw the lunar eclipse tonight (March 03, 2007) here in London. It was quite impressive as the sky was very clear. I should have taken a picture I guess.

Asgher induction Pics

Robin Asgher sermon

I preached from Acts 6 focusing on verse 4 where the Apostles say We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.
Summary of my three main points
1. Robin
A. Negatively, don't let anything distract you from giving yourself to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Ever gone to get something, got distracted and come back without it? In the ministry it's easy to forget the main thing, to get sidetracked. Don't do it. You must get your priorities right.
B. Positively, give your attention to prayer. The apostles general concern is that they don't neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables ... But when they speak they say they will give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. They put prayer first for several reasons. First, because prayer underlies everything else in the ministry. Without prayer everything else is pretty a much a waste of time. Prayer is also the easiest to forget about because it's done in private. No-one really knows how much you pray. It's a secret thing between you and God. That's why it's easy to neglect. The ministry's a bit like an iceberg. You know that 5/8 of it is under the water, unseen. Something similar can be said about the ministry - a lot of it is hidden – the studying and reading and especially the praying. Don't neglect the secret parts. A concert pianist once said that he needed to practice everyday. If he didn't practice even one day he could tell. If he left it a few days, he said, then other people would start to notice. If he left longer again then soon everyone would know. Something similar could be said about the minister and his prayer life.
Okay, practically, how? In theory a minister needs to pray first as a Christian then as a minister but I don't think you can divide it up like that. They run into each other. Spurgeon once said – I'm never more than 10 minutes in prayer. ... And never more than 10 minutes out of it. I think that's the key. Begin and end the day in prayer, pray when you eat, pray when you read the Bible, when you prepare sermons, etc. Whatever you do, pray. Never resist the urge. That's the best advice I can give.
C. Positively, give yourself to the ministry of the Word. This must be kept to the fore. Ministry of the Word, of course, is not just standing in this pulpit on a Sunday it includes a whole range of things – speaking to the children/young people here or in the schools, speaking in small group meetings, talking to people on their doorsteps, etc. The important thing is that the whole week is geared to this end – getting the Word out. Let the people hear! That's what matters. It involves hard work and a lot of preparation but it must be the thing that you focus on. Cf 2 Tim 4:2.
2. Members or prospective members of the Cranford church and othersNow what I have to say will affect you all to varying degrees but the principle is the same. This is for you Muno, and for church members and to some extent all of us. Again three things
A. Negatively, do everything you can to help Robin not to be distracted from giving himself to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Do you know the word 'facilitator'? A facilitator is someone who does not necessarily do a thing himself but he makes sure it gets done. You need to be facilitators for Robin. Because he's full time it's easy to think, well he can do this or he can do that quite easily and so he ends up dealing with workmen, giving lifts to people or whatever and very soon you will find the work of prayer and preaching neglected. Now I'm not saying he can't do these things or must never do them. However, they mustn't be allowed to so take up his time that prayer and preaching is neglected. If you borrow a DVD from a shop – you want to get your use out of it while you have it, get your money's worth. There's no point having it lying round. Well, God is giving you a pastor. Make good use of him. Do everything you can to help him be a prayerful preacher.
B. Positively, do everything you can to help him to give his attention to prayer. Two things –
1. Obviously, to pray he needs time alone. Whether he prays or not is up to him but you must make sure he gets opportunity. Perhaps there needs to be an arrangement about when you phone.
2. He needs not only time, but he needs to know about how things are with you. Imagine someone complaining their doctor never does anything to help them with their arthritis. You talk to them and it turns out they've never been to speaks to him about the problem! Now sometimes we don't want the pastor to know about how things are with us because they're not good. It is better to try and tell him, though – so he can pray. He doesn't want a blow by blow account of your daily routine but he needs to know something about you to pray for you. So keep him informed.
C. Positively, do everything you can to help him give himself to the ministry of the Word. Remember that is the main thing he is coming to do. So you do everything you can to encourage him in it.

1. When he's speaking to you, listen to what he says. Be enthusiastic about it.

2. Whether to you or to others, pray for the preaching - that it will be clear and powerful. Pray for its success. We can't all preach but we can all pray. Let's all pray for the success of the preaching of the Word.
3. Others here today, especially those of you who are from the local areaA. Negatively, understand what is happening here today, Robin is being set aside today for nothing other than the work of prayer and the ministry of the Word. Robin is not here as a community worker or a youth club organiser or something like that, although he may well be involved in such things. No, he has come here chiefly to pray and to preach – to pray for the people of Cranford and to tell them what God's Word says. That is his main work. Don't oppose him then – he's God's man. It would be dangerous to stand in his way. Respect him and understand his work.

B. Be thankful that there is someone here who is being set aside to pray for you. Now here is wonderful thing. One of the things that Robin is doing for you and for other people of this area is praying for you. There are others praying I'm sure but perhaps he's the only one set apart especially for that. There's no-one else. The police don't do that or the local councillors or the school teachers. No, only Robin is set apart for that. Be thankful it is so. Ask him to pray for you. Tell him what you want him to pray for – tell him to pray for a BMW for me, you say. Well, he may not pray exactly as you want but he will pray for you. He'll pray for something better than a BMW – that you might know Jesus Christ and forgiveness in him.
C. Be thankful that there is someone here who is being set aside to minister God's Word to you. Robin has come to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's his message. If you turn from your sins and trust in Christ all will be well. That's what he wants you to know. Listen to him. Hear the message and be saved.

Robin Asgher induction

I'm just back from a lovely afternoon over at Cranford, West London where Robin Asgher was being inducted to the pastorate of the Baptist Church there. Robin, with his wife Muno, has been working with the tiny (single figure) church for some time now, seeking to reach out especially to Asians in the area. His coming as pastor is really a formalising of an evolving situation in which Robin is still very much dependent on the FIEC to go on working there.

Richard Underwood, who I know from back when we both worked on Grace Magazine, chaired and Mike Stringer from Oadby led the induction. I preached. Also taking part were the solitary Cranford deacon Tony Sansom and Robin's uncle Paul Simpson. I'll give a sermon outline in another post.

At the moment the pattern has been wonderful opportunities rather than solid conversions but we pray that there will be a real break through in due time. The good fellowship between evangelical churches in West London is a great asset. Several were represented.

5.1 Solomon Worship

Previous Chapter
Intro
We begin with a question. How often do you find yourself thinking about Kings and Priests? You may think it a rather strange question and answer ‘No time at all really’. But let me expand a little. By kings and priests I do not necessarily mean men of ancient times with golden crowns and sceptres or men in ceremonial clothing making sacrifices and blessing people. No, I mean do you think about rule, about leadership, authority and control? I mean, what about prayer and worship, what about confessing sins and finding forgiveness, dealing with the deepest issues of life?
The Bible has a lot to say about kings and priests and it has a lot to say about these important related issues. I say this because we are looking at the life of Solomon and so far have thought of him, understandably, chiefly as a king. We have done that by looking at 1 Kings 1 and 2. I suppose the obvious thing would be to go on next to 1 Kings 3. However, as we have said, the Book of Kings is not the only place that talks about the life of Solomon. There is also quite a lot in the Book of Chronicles. Perhaps we ought to say something about Kings and Chronicles at this point.
In English Bibles, Chronicles comes after Samuel and Kings and is with the history books. This is adopted from Greek Bibles, which place Chronicles in that position under the heading Paraleipomenon - ‘Things forgotten’ or ‘Things passed over’. Certainly the chronicler mentions things not found in Samuel and Kings. He also leaves out things that are there but it is rather misleading to think of Chronicles in this way. There is more to it. The real issue is a different approach.
The Chronicler has been accused of many bad things such as being too narrowly focused, rather aloof, eccentric and given to riding his own hobbyhorses. He is also supposed to be too black and white, rather inventive, sometimes inconsistent and given to exaggeration, lacking in theological clarity and an unattractive writer. Understandable as such accusations may be they are wide of the mark. He may not be the writer that the author of Kings is (‘less a stylist more a pastor’ someone has said) but the differences can all be understood if we bear in mind these four things.

1. Chronicles is found at the end of the Hebrew Bible and so acts as a summary of Old Testament history and theology though focusing on the period of the kings.
2. Whereas Samuel and Kings was completed at the time of the exile, Chronicles was completed after the exile. The books have two different aims and address two different situations. Both have the same underlying message, however, of the covenant God at work with his people and both point to Messiah but one describes a drama working towards a crisis, while the other is much more down to earth in ethos.

[Pic Ezra was perhaps the author of Chronicles]

3. Chronicles is really a sermon on the relations between God and his people. The writer uses history to spell out a simple

lesson about the faithfulness of God and the fact that he is a God who answers prayer.
4. The writer of Chronicles has a special interest in matters to do with the temple and the priesthood.

So what we will do is to consider David’s charge to Solomon to build the temple. Building the temple was one of the greatest achievements of Solomon’s life. He is the one who God used to bring this about. He was not only the king but the one who lead the people in setting up the Temple of God in Jerusalem following the preparations made by his father David. I want us to consider first Solomon’s commission to do this work. This covers a sizable portion of Scripture. - really all the final chapters of 1 Chronicles, from Chapter 22 to 29, but especially Chapters 22, 28 and 29.
Just as a study of the establishment of the kingdom pointed us to Christ and the importance of obedience and ruthless discipline in order to establish God’s kingdom so these verses point us to Christ and his work of establishing the true worship of God in every place.
In the Old Testament worship came to centre on the Temple in Jerusalem, which replaced the tabernacle of the desert years. The Temple was very much a physical entity of stone and wood and metal but it symbolises the true spiritual worship of heaven and points forward to the establishment of God’s church here on earth with God himself at its heart. Christians are to be the true temple of God.
In these verses we are thinking of David and Solomon together. Both point us to Messiah.
1. David and his words speak of victory in battle and points us to the work of Christ on the cross.
2. Solomon, whose name means peace, points us by his actions to the benefits of Christ’s work on the cross and the establishment of God’s worship on earth that must follow from the victory on the cross.

Next Chapter

Hiraeth

Just wanted to put up something patriotic for today. I do miss it sometimes. Less than a minute this one.

Amazing Grace

As Ioan Gruffudd is starring I thought this might make a good Gwyl Ddewi post (St David's Day). The film gets its premiere here in the UK on Friday 23 March 2007. this trailer lasts 2':30".

Another mistake

This is getting embarrassing

Claim: Coca-Cola was originally green.

Status: False.

Origins: Though this tidbit of knowledge has been widely distributed as part of an Internet "Did You Know?" list, at no time in Coca-Cola's history has that beverage been green. More ...

The lesson is clearly to check your facts before passing them on.

I used a calculator on the sum and that is right.

Trivia Trouble

The trouble with trivia is that it is often incorrect. I found this today and have inserted a correction to a previous post.

Claim: The four kings in a deck of playing cards represent Charlemagne, David, Caesar, and Alexander.

Status: False.

Origins: The origins of European playing cards are highly speculative, with Chinese, Indian, and Persian parentage all claimed of them. Despite our lack of knowledge concerning exactly how playing cards came to Europe, we can determine when they arrived with a fair degree of certainty. More ...

Gray's Notes 08