Two good quotations

1. C S Lewis
I am finally learning how to use Facebook and got this one from Doug McMasters of Tooting
“If you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones - bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties today, are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected.”
2. John Piper
The second I found in Don Carson's companion volume to the M'Cheyne readings.
"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night."
(A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer

Iain Campbell move

Interesting news here from Iain Campbell who is downsizing congregations.

Moody Radio Broadcast

I mentioned the other week recording some interviews with Paul Butler of Prime Time America. Apparently the 8 minute radio broadcast on being born again has now aired and can be heard at Paul's blog here. Paul is clearly very skilled in being able to put together this fairly coherent piece from my ramblings. Thanks to him. The one we did on Proverbs will hopefully be aired later in the year.

52 JC No 20

This is from the introduction to the commentary on Psalms and is the nearest Calvin gets to a testimony

When I was as yet a very little boy, my father had destined me for the study of theology. But afterwards when he considered that the legal profession commonly raised those who followed it to wealth this prospect induced him suddenly to change his purpose. Thus it came to pass, that I was withdrawn from the study of philosophy, and was put to the study of law. To this pursuit I endeavoured faithfully to apply myself in obedience to the will of my father; but God, by the secret guidance of his providence, at length gave a different direction to my course. And first, since I was too obstinately devoted to the superstitions of Popery to be easily extricated from so profound an abyss of mire, God by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame, which was more hardened in such matters than might have been expected from one at my early period of life.
Having thus received some taste and knowledge of true godliness I was immediately inflamed with so intense a desire to make progress therein, that although I did not altogether leave off other studies, I yet pursued them with less ardour. I was quite surprised to find that before a year had elapsed, all who had any desire after purer doctrine were continually coming to me to learn, although I myself was as yet but a mere novice and tyro. Being of a disposition somewhat unpolished and bashful, which led me always to love the shade and retirement, I then began to seek some secluded corner where I might be withdrawn from the public view; but so far from being able to accomplish the object of my be desire, all my retreats were like public schools.
In short, whilst my one great object was to live in seclusion without being known, God so led me about through different turnings and changes, that he never permitted me to rest in any place, until, in spite of my natural disposition, he brought me forth to public notice. Leaving my native country, France, I in fact retired into Germany, expressly for the purpose of being able there to enjoy in some obscure corner the repose which I had always desired, and which had been so long denied me.
But lo! whilst I lay hidden at Basle, and known only to a few people, many faithful and holy persons were burnt alive in France; and the report of these burnings having reached foreign nations, they excited the strongest disapprobation ... certain wicked and lying pamphlets were circulated, stating that none were treated with such cruelty but Anabaptists and seditious persons, who by their perverse ravings and false opinions, were overthrowing not only religion but also all civil order. Observing that the object which these instruments of the court aimed at by their disguises, was not only that the disgrace of shedding so much innocent blood might remain buried under the false charges and calumnies which they brought against the holy martyrs after their death, but also, that afterwards they might be able to proceed to the utmost extremity in murdering the poor saints without exciting compassion towards them in the breasts of any, it appeared to me, that unless I opposed them to the utmost of my ability, my silence could not be vindicated from the charge of cowardice and treachery. This was the consideration which induced me to publish my Institute of the Christian Religion.
... I had resolved to continue in the same privacy and obscurity, until at length William Farel detained me at Geneva, not so much by counsel and exhortation, as by a dreadful imprecation, which I felt to be as if God had from heaven laid his mighty hand upon me to arrest me. As the most direct road to Strasburg, to which I then intended to retire, was as shut up by the wars, I had resolved to pass quickly by Geneva, without staying longer than a single night in that city. ...

Tower Bridge Leap

On the Duck tour we had some nice stories including a reminder of how in 1952, a number 78 double-decker bus was unlucky enough to be on the bridge when it opened. Back then, the lights would change to red, the gateman would ring bells to encourage the pedestrians to move off the bridge quickly and close the gates, and the head watchman would order the bridge to lift when it was clear. On this day in December, there was a relief watchman, and something went wrong. Albert Gunter, the driver, saw that the road ahead appeared to be sinking. In fact, his bus was perched on the end of an opening bascule, which was giving the illusion of a sinking road ahead. He realised that he would not be able to stop in time to prevent going into the water, and making a split second decision, decided he would go for it. He accelerated and jumped the three feet gap, landing on the north bascule, which had not started to rise. None of his dozen passengers were seriously hurt, and he received £10 for his bravery. He also appeared later on the TV programme What's my line?

Duck Tour

My birthday celebrations continued on Saturday with a duck tour around London and into the Thames with the family. These DUKW's are 1942 American amphibious vehicles adapted and painted yellow. More here. Great fun. There were more cakes and another rendition of happy Birthday on Sunday morning after the service.

Luvly Jub'lee

As some of you may know I turned 50 today (like Morrisey and John Sopel). Thanks for all your greetings (cards real and online, phone calls, Facebook messages, etc). I had lovely presents (smellies and cheese and chocs and socks, shirt, money, etc). I especially appreciated The London Encyclopedia from the family - a brilliant buy. My father-in-law wrote me a poem and Rhodri reworked My Brother Jake (My father dad!) to great effect. I think I had four lots of happy birthday sung (from Aber, Cardiff, at home and in church). People are so kind.

Fifty, of course, is pretty old and means most of your life is probably over. So far its been 25 years preparation for the ministry, 25 years of on the job training and now hopefully my best 25 years of service. We'll see. I'm very thankful to God to be alive, to have been converted and to be wanting to serve.

Assembly blogged

So I'm home from the Assembly, which was a good time as reported. I had not particularly been looking forward - too many conferences already this year, the programme did not look that strong and numbers appeared to be down. As it turned out it was a very distinctive conference of a high standard and numbers were not too bad in the end, with plenty of new folk and a good mixture (for me) of familiar and new faces. I suppose the one depressing thing is that we continue to be a fringe (Baptist) of a fringe (Reformed) of a fringe (Evangelical). There was something rather rugged and individual even bloody minded about our main speakers that would read well in a history book but is more difficult in reality. But then Ii think it might be like that with Calvin or Nehemiah or Enoch too. Mp3s of the messages should be on the Caterham website soon.

Grace Assembly 09 9

Our final address was given by Phil Arthur from Lancaster. He began by referring to the case of Dr Lloyd-Jones and his 'crazy' move to Aberafan. Phil can identify having left teaching for a northern backwater. Has he too thrown his life away? It all depends on your view of the local church.

He then took us to 1 Timothy 3:14-16. After putting things in context he spoke appropriately on what the church is and what it is for. No doubt much of it was based on what he has preached in Lancaster in the past. Phil's audio sermons on 1 Timothy can be found here.
The church is, of course, God's household, the church of the living God and the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim 3:15). Phil was eloquent on the importance of the local church. When one is absent from a community the impact is devastating.

As for what the church is for we turn to verse 16. Paul speaks of the mystery of godliness being great. Mystery here is, of course, God's revealed plan of salvation. In Ephesus they spoke of Diana being great but the really great message to hold up is the gospel, summed up here in six short statements. There is some debate about how the statements for together but the main point is clear - proclaim Christ.

He appeared in a body the incarnation
was vindicated by the Spirit at many points but especially in the resurrection
was seen by angels, as he ascended, especially
was preached among the nations, beginning at Jerusalem
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory probably not the ascension but the return of Christ.
It was good to be reminded of these vital truths stressing the importance of the local church and calling us to press on in proclaiming the gospel for the honour of Jesus Christ.

Grace Assembly 09 8

We have now reached the final day of Assembly. We had a short question time last night but there weren't too many questions. The most interesting being former GP and pastor John Hall from Westerleigh who spoke first, on small group work. First, using Luke 16, John outlined the gospel for us, reminding us of the realities of heaven and hell. He spoke also of the great difficulties of winning people to Christ. How do you survive so many failures? We find comfort in the Scriptures and the examples of Paul and others. Small group work is one way of seeking to do biblical evangelism. Paul was energetic in using various methods including discussions in a lecture hall and from house to house. Small group work is useful in preparing people to get more from the regular preaching. It has been used in the history of the church and can be used in all sorts of ways today.

Available courses. The biggest and best known is the Alpha Course. Some 2 million in the UK have attended courses. The problem is not so much the style but the content. The use of manipulation cannot be denied. A better one is Christianity Explored (formerly Christianity Explained). This Anglican course is again Anglican and does not say anything about who God is. It is Arminian and uses a prayer to pray. John has his own course that has gone through various incarnations being simplified on the way. This is now available in booklet form as Christian Basics. It is a systematic presentation (unlike the Biblical theology approach) in 12 lessons. It is available online here. Small group work can be difficult for a small church. There are dangers - psychological pressure, their not coming to church, etc. It is dishonest to use a course you do not agree with. If you are a real Reformed Baptist use that sort of material. The need is obvious. We are living in an age of biblical ignorance. People who don't read especially need help. You may want to do your own course but this is a means. Once again this was a very personal, moving and honest message given with great enthusiasm. One of his best anecdotes was about giving Pink's Sovereignty of God to a woman who went ballistic but was willing to believe what the Bible says. At the close John spoke briefly and warmly of the faith of Christians he knows in Sri Lanka, despite their many troubles.

Grace Assembly 09 7

In his second message (on Wednesday night) Martin Grubb looked at the question: What do we long to see God do through our endeavours and what does God need to do to us in order to make us effective in his hands? His answer (looking at Luke 5): We need to learn to break people's hearts from the experience of being broken hearted ourselves.

The story of evangelism in the early church is dominated by two very different men - Peter and Paul. Luke (expanding on other accounts) tells us that Peter began his career of evangelism by being shattered by Christ. This is exactly how Paul began. If we are to break people's hearts, we need to be broken men ourselves. We are talking about conviction of sin.
Here we see Peter's piety. It is an example to us. Martin made six main points about Peter
1. His experience began with trusting Jesus in the face of death
We need to get a biblical idea of death.
2. His experience showed itself by serving the cause of Christ
It's great when people are eager to do something. Will you serve Christ?
3. His experience involved a crisis in obedience
It often affects the areas where we are most competent. It's not easy but we must obey.
4. His experience involved falling on his knees in shame and utter confusion and astonishment
5. His experience involved a fearful forgetting
6. His experience involved trusting Jesus for the future and following him
Such experiences prepare great evangelists,which is what we need. Once again it was a great message full of wonderful anecdotes that we have only sketched rather generally here. It stirred you to evangelise. One of the best was the fear of the Bible shown by people who have seen an atheist Martin knows reading 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.

Grace Assembly Business

Messengers from around 40 or so churches attended the Assembly with somewhere over 80 people present. Some 90 churches show an interest in the Assembly altogether. Seven London churches were represented, four from Yorkshire, three from Manchester, three from Suffolk and two each from Gloucester, Hants, Lancs and Wilts. Also represented were 18 other areas in England plus Dundalk and Cubao, Philippines.
We had our business meeting after lunch on the Wednesday. It was nice not to be chairing the meeting, my term as chairman now being over. Graham Field chaired. We have become more organised in recent years and so beside reports on numbers and finance, etc, we re-elected Graham, Dennis Gamston and Jack Jenner. We also agreed to have Philip Tait (Hardwick Baptist, Stockton-on-Tees) on the steering committee.
We have agreed to meet again next year in Swanwick on May 25-27, 2010.

Grace Assembly 09 6

The conference here is called 'Good news for a dying world'. The second morning session was led by Mick Lockwood from Haworth in Yorkshire. He had four things to say to us on reaching the unreached.
1. Motivation

He spoke first of Ed converted through Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth who saw four people converted in weeks by badgering people. Why all that happened was that he knew the truth and further he was moved by the love of God and a desire to serve him. It is all about being like Jesus Christ. Love is the key here. Christ's passion for sinners is central. Without love to sinners we cannot be like Christ.
2. Luke 10
1 It is a matter of appointment - God wants you to do this work. How humbling and what an incentive.
2 There are more than we may expect.
3 We are not to work alone but with others - ministers must do this
4 We should think in Parish terms - we are to proclaim the Word where the Lord has placed us. We go with the prayer that where we go the Lord will come.
5 The importance of prayer and dependence on God
6 There are many bleak predictions today and we can feel fearful. That's when we are ready - we are lambs among wolves.
7 We do not need mega resources
8 When we go out we look for the person of peace, the sympathetic person
9 We have a message of peace in the gospel
10 Assimilation is important
11 We cannot do miracles but we can do people what good we can
12 There is also a need to warn those who refuse to accept the gospel
of the judgement
3. The basis for our joy
There is joy in seeing gospel success but rather we should rejoice in our salvation in the world to come. Jesus himself rejoices in the sovereign choice of God. We should join in that rejoicing. To say this is not to go off topic but to see that in evangelism today we need to remember God's mysterious ways. By way of example here he told how someone had complained that they were brainwashing school children in their schools work. The upshot was that the area RE advisor (a Hindu) looked at things and recommended more Christianity leading to greater opportunities.
4. Opportunities
Rather than aping each other we need to look to the Lord and see what he would have us to do. Doors open, doors close.
Great stuff!

Grace Assembly 09 5

After a morning prayer time and breakfast we assembled for our first session of the day 'Bunyan the Baptist'. The speaker was Oliver Allmand-Smith from Ramsbottom.

After a very brief introduction touching on Bunyan's greatness he referred to the 19th Century book by William Urwick containing the essay suggesting Bunyan was not a Baptist. (Bible Truths and Church Errors). Urwick's evidence is fourfold.
1. His baptism was in infancy and not as an adult. There is no evidence of his being baptised as a believer.
2. All his treatises on the subject against Baptists rather than for.
3. The way he and his church were treated by Baptists show he was not one of them.
4. He had his infant children baptised in the C of E.
This seemingly formidable body of evidence was easily answered. There is no record of Bunyan's baptism but there are almost no records of anyone else in the church being baptised. Bunyan considers infant baptism a sin though one to which he showed great toleration. The Baptist historian Thomas Armitage tackles the question of Bunyan having baptised children and points out that where such records are found they are incorrect and spring from confusion. Bunyan was a Baptist. His anti-Anglican writings show how unlikely it might be for him to have his children baptised in the Church of England. Bunyan's church was very strict with people who had dealings with the Church of England.
Having said this it is clear from Erwick that Bunyan was not in line with the Baptist view that links baptism and church membership. He refuse to believe that baptism was required for church membership. It, indeed, has nothing to do with the church, according to Bunyan. At one point Bunyan refused to release a Mrs Tilney from membership who wanted to join a church that required baptism for membership and even threatened excommunication.
Bunyan clearly saw baptism as a minor issue. Why? It was not out of weakness or any idea that the NT is unclear on baptism or some sort of ecumenism. Three reasons were proposed:
1. Because of his own conversion and spiritual pilgrimage.
2. Because of his determination to fight what he believed to be the battle of his day against dead religion.
3. Because of his determination to be united with all who were also seeking to fight the same battle.
It was his fear that baptism could promote dead religion that really drove him.
This was a most interesting paper not from a simply antiquarian point of view but raised vital issues for us to consider.
Oliver himself closed with three points
1. To exalt the individual's Christian experience over the corporate life of the visible local church is wrong. Bunyan's mistake is being repeated today minus the depth of experience and commitment that marked him.
2. We must follow the biblical pattern that is seen in Scripture where baptism and local church membership are taught and insisted upon.
3. To promote opposition to dead religion and broader unity at the expense of following the patterns laid down in Scripture for unity among God's people we are in error.