Things that remind me of my mother 03

Sam Waldron quoting Dods

Sam Waldron had some good quotes. This he said was his favourite.

A man may accept as the rule of his faith the same inspired books as yourself, while he rejects every important article of the faith you find in these books.

If, therefore, we are to know who believe as we do, and who dissent from our faith, we must state our creed in language explicitly rejecting such interpretations of Scripture as we deem to be false. Papists, Unitarians, Arminians, all profess to find their doctrines in Scripture; but they do not find them in the Westminster Confession.

No one calling himself a Christian will deny that 'Christ died for our sins;' but out of these words of Scripture a Socinian will bring a meaning which is utterly subversive of what we hold as essential to salvation.

The Church, therefore, gathers her symbol, and utters her Confession, in order that the truth contained in Scripture may be recognised and held in opposition to, or in distinction from, the errors which some have maintained, and which, while they claim to be found in Scripture, are really subversive of the truth therein delivered.

Marcus Dods (of all people) quoted by James Bannerman, The Church of Christ Volume 1, p. 298

Sam Waldron at LTS

It was good to be present this afternoon with around 20 others at the LTS to hear Dr Sam Waldron on confessions and creeds. Dr Waldron travelled from Leeds and was delayed by half an hour which was a pity but we all coped. He ably led two sessions, the first dealing with objections to a local church having a cofession and the second dealing with how the confession should be used - that is, not expecting every member to sign up to the confession but teaching it in the church. You can get a flavour of these sessions from similar material Dr Waldron has written up elsewhere. See here for the first session and here for the second. I thought it was most helpful the way that he sought to explain biblical subordination which is different to absolute obedience.

Things that remind me of my mother 02

Bananas in milk (with lots of sugar)

Dr Sam Waldron

Dr Sam Waldron is in town this week. He has been in pastoral ministry since 1977 and currently serves as one of the pastors at Heritage Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky, and is Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic Theology at Midwest Center for Theological Studies. His many publications include The Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession.

On Monday he speaks at London Theological Seminary on Creeds an Confessions. The Monday Seminar begins at 2:30 pm. Dr Waldron will be discussing the use of creeds and confessions in the local church. In his first session, he will address the legitimacy and necessity of confessions. Confessions and creeds are widely despised as infringements on soul liberty or sola scriptura. In fact, he will argue that they are both legitimate and necessary to the nature of the church.

His second session is described on the LTS website as follows. The extensive creeds of the Reformation are widely seen as hindering the ministry of the church by restricting membership in the church to mature believers and excluding even some of them. In fact, this is a misunderstanding and properly utilised extensive creeds like those of the Reformation are a great blessing and have wonderful utility in the local church. More here.

On Tuesday and Wednesday he will be at the Westminster Conference. He is the first speaker on the second day, on repentance and sola fide. More here. He is also preaching for us next Sunday morning.

Schooldays 2

This one is from my final year in Junior School. It is actually less than 5 months after the previous one for some reason. It is similar to the previous one except for the reference to hard work and very good conduct in class. I was a little bit afraid of Mr Rees and it was only later that my true colours showed. I think Mrs Clark in the previous one was probably more perceptive.

Schooldays 1

I came across this junior school report the other day. I was pleased to find it, as they lost my senior school reports at some point. So "very intelligent" (this is Cwmbran) and "easily distracted and does not put enough effort into his work ... has done some pleasing art work". Not too much change there, perhaps. "Keen participant in sporting activities and is very interested in science" looks distinctly off the radar but I assure you that it was true then even if it is not immediately apparent now I'm in my fifties.

Things that remind me of my mother 01

01 Sheepskin mittens.
This may be a very short series. We'll see.

Not seasonal still obscure

This is just a great tune any time of year - thrown up by my ipod this afternoon too.

Whether he or the others were drinking
There would still be plenty on the table.

chorus:
The drink would be in my love's hand
Here's to the health of the chief
The drink would be in my love's hand

A boat was seen on the waves
and the red hand at the helm

I saw it passing through the straits
with a clump of heather on the sail-yard

You who saw her out at sea
Bless the fair ship and her crew

Bless her high masts and her equipment
Her moorings and her sails

Though I am here in Coll
I long to go to Rhum

And from there to Uist
Were I to get my wish.

Seasonal but obscure

I saw Kayak live once many years back. This came up on my i-pod this afternoon. The lyrics (which I've never really noticed before) are:

How a changing scene

Rearranging trees

Signs of things to come right now

A cold wintertime

Days become less day

A returning play

Many creatures sleep right now

A cold wintertime

It's wintertime now

Flakes whirling down down

But I'm alright so I can find

A way to see the bright side

It's wintertime now

Flakes whirling down down

Yes I'm alright so I can find

A way to see the bright side

Silence all around

Quiet is the sound

Of the distant howling hound

A cold wintertime

Everything is free

To a high degree

You will give me peace of mind

A cold wintertime

Perseverance

We're saved by grace, of course, but perseverance is important too - as illustrated here. The girl (Holland Reynolds) came 37th which was enough to give her team the win. They heard before the race that their coach has a serious illness and that apparently inspired her to go on. The footage graphically points to life on earth and (over the finishing line) life in heaven.

Picture this



All I want is a room with a view ...
Picture this a day in December
Picture this freezing cold weather



Famous Brady 07

Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an Emmy Award winning actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show. He was the host of FOX's Don't Forget the Lyrics!, and currently hosts the 2009 revival of Let's Make a Deal.

Raj Kumar

It was good to have at our midweek meeting last night Raj Kumar. Raj is currently studying at the nearby John Owen Centre and I thought it would be good to hear about what is going on in Southern India. Baptist missionaries have been working in that part of the world for 150 years come 2011. Raj focussed on three things - the church in Kilpauk, Chennai, pastored by Sam Devanasam; persecuted Christians in Orissa to the north, where he has visited, and the work of Vuyiroli, a project helping the elderly and destitute in Chennai. It was an encouraging story and a reminder of what a determined man can do under God to help people in great need. The Vuyiroli site seems to be down at present but this is it here.

Baptisms

I think I've mentioned before that with the blog there is a danger that the less significant things get covered and the really significant ones missed. For various reasons I haven't yet spoken of last Sunday, which was a real red letter day. In the evening I baptised two of my sons who professed faith over the summer. It was great to have so many family there and some of the boys many friends from school. It was a large congregation. I spoke from Jesus's baptism. I must put it on my preached sermons blog. Three of the boys are now baptised. The fourth said he supposed it would be him next but I warned him that there is nothing automatic about these things. Faith is vital in every case.