The modern world

In South Wales again. En route I stopped for diesel at a BP garage. "What number?" he says when I go to pay. "18". He looks confused as 18 is already paid. I check again and I am right. it turns out the man at number 19 has paid the wrong bill. The difference is about a pound so they ask me if I have change, which I don't as I'm saving my cash for the bridge. In the end the customer whose mistake it was stuck with my bill and let me pay his, losing a pound or so but getting us all out of a problem.

Then I'm in Cwmbran shopping centre trying to get change for a £10 note. The shops won't open their tills except for a purchase. No problem, I'll try a bank. The banks won't give you change unless you're a customer (my bank is the other side of the centre). They say it's to do with money laundering but they are quick to volunteer that the Post Office will do it (queue too long). So if you are planning to launder money go to the Post Office not a bank, I guess.

Meanwhile I drive my nephew into my old school (Croesy Comp). Can't remember when I was there last. It's now like a prison. Everywhere is fenced off to keep kids out of the woods and fields. It's looking pretty tatty all round but the fencing doesn't help I'm sure.

Bragg about the Trinity

I was beginning to lose faith with Melvyn Bragg and In our time but the latest programme on the Trinity is worth a listen. See here. (I meant to thank Guy Davies for the tip off. 

Justin Welby

I came across this book on the (relatively) new Archbishop recently in the Oxfam in Aber the other day and picked it up. It is very brief and simply gives the bare facts plus some interviews with friends. Welby had a rather dodgy background on his father's side but the rest is pretty predictable - Eton, Cambridge, CICCU and Bash camps, Charismatic Renewal, oil executive, study and ordination, rector, international peace promoter, higher office. Over the years he's managed to dabble in high church as well as low church ways and so I'm sure is an ideal candidate for what is wanted. I learned from the book that the Welbys had a daughter die young and that there are more Anglicans in Nigeria than anywhere else. I was also left as bemused as ever by the whole Anglican scene.

It's a fast paced world

I saw this picture being taken just over two hours ago. My google alert on Childs Hill now tells me it is up with the story too here. Pretty quick I'd say.



Bob Crow dies

I see from the BBC here that Bob Crow the Union leader has died from a heart attack. People had me down as his lookalike, which I can see. He was two years younger than me.

Spring in London

Had a nice afternoon by the Thames last Saturday

Lord's Day March 9 2014

I was not preaching yesterday but enjoying the discipline of sitting and listening. In the morning my assistant, Andrew Lolley, preached on Cain and Abel from Genesis 4. In the evening Paolo Patuelli of LTS preached on the woman who anointed Jesus in Luke 7. I led for Paolo who is Italian and read Proverbs 9 for Andrew. Both did very well. We had the students around for lunch (plus my oldest son and his wife before they headed back to Aber) and a nice tea together in the church parlour in the afternoon. Attendances were okay morning and evening. As few away though.

Zip Trick

I'm not sue if it's because I'm fat or a cheapskate but anyway I have zipper trouble from time to time. Someone passed on this excellent trick, which you can find here.

10 VC winners

The Victoria Cross is the UK's highest military award. A total of 1,357 VCs have been awarded since 1856 to 1,354 men. Among them are these.

1. Andrew Fitzgibbon - youngest recipient (15)
2. William Raynor - oldest recipient (61)
3. Noel Chavasse - twice awarded
4. Arthur Martin-Leake - twice awared
5. Charles Upham - twice awarded (only non-doctor)
6. Charles Davis Lucas - first recipient
7. John Gough - only recipient whose father and uncle were also recipients
8. William Congreve - one of only three recipients whose father was also a recipient
9. Frederick Roberts - the other son whose father was a recipient
10. Lloyd Trigg - the only recipient to be vouched for by the enemy

James Ashworth (2013) is the most recent recipient at the present time.

10 boys names starting with J and ending with N

I was trying to remember someone's name - was it Justin or Julian. Turns out it was Jason. A lot of boy's names begin with J and end with N, it seems. Here are ten

1. John
2. Justin
3. Julian
4. Jason
5. Jordan
6. Jonathan
7. Jaden
8. Jefferson
9. Jackson

10. Jocelyn

Diary of a man in despair

I currently seem to be drawn to books about the world wars. Diary of a man in despair came out in English translation in 1974. I became aware if it reading Richard Evans trilogy on the whole Nazi movement. It's taking me a little while to get round to reading it. Friedrich Malleczewen was a very cultured writer who the Nazis eventually caught up with and killed even though he was a minor character in every sense and no agitator. He kept a secret diary through the year wars and before which is a fascinating and well written read. Not sensationalist in any way it gives a good idea of the horror of those years. Malleczewen's Catholic faith peeks through at certain times. It is difficult to see how anyone can look at those years with any degree of composure without a theistic worldview. Always the remarkable thing for many of us is that it happened here in Europe and not so very long ago. How sobering. 

Free kindle book on Romans 8

Derek Thomas's book How the gospel brings us all the way home is currently available free in kindle form. See here.

Carl Trueman and Courtney Love

So I'm listening to a recording of Carl Trueman on Bernard of Clairvaux and he begins "On Courtney Love ... see the chapter ... on Courtney Love". He's a hip guy, I guess, so I wasn't too phased and I soon cottoned on that he was actually talking about courtly love, of course. Still going deaf.

Erroll Hulse One in a thousand

Most of those who know the name of Erroll Hulse will be aware that he had a stroke while in South Africa last year and although he is now back in England his progress to health continues to be slow. Meanwhile his book One in a thousand has appeared. It is an excellent book on pastoral ministry made up of a series of an introductory chapter followed by eight studies first in the New Testament (The Chief Shepherd and Paul the inspirer of pastors) and then in church history. With each biography he seeks to draw out one aspect of the ministry. We begin with a Martin, Martin Luther, and end with a Martin, the recently deceased Martin Holdt. With them we have William Perkins - application in preaching, Richard Baxter - the pastor as evangelist, Jonathan Edwards - the pastor as theologian and Martyn Lloyd-Jones - the pastor as preacher. We thus learn some church history at the same time as looking at pastoralia. This EP book works as both an entry level book for budding pastors or those still wet behind the ears and for those longer in the tooth.

PS See what I did there with the title to this post?

Lord's Day March 2 2014

Quite behind with this but it was good to be back in Childs Hill last Sunday. We started with communion. We were rather few for that but numbers picked up. Still quite a few away, however. I covered the end of Matthew 4 with what proved to be a relatively long sermon. Briefer in the evening looking at that fundamental text in Hebrews 11.6 on faith. I have an LTS student on placement with me so I asked him to read Proverbs 8 in the morning and to pray in the evening, which he did well. So a good day rather than a great day. Good to be there though.