Philippines 06

The main thing today (Tuesday) was lecturing on Proverbs. I had to endure another lengthy intro from Mon Macapagal. I gave an introduction to Proverbs and then tried to work my way through some example chapters. I was a little too ambitious in my expectations and only did Chapters 2, 7, 8, 14a, 30 and 31 but it gave the flavour and was worthwhile I hope. (I need to speak more slowly and clearly tomorrow when we tackle Ecclesiastes). In the evening I was invited over to the home of Amor Perigon and his family (including children and grandchild) and had a lovely time there. The son of Rudy, who was a Bible Baptist but came to Reformed faith in the USA, they have strong links with Baguio, where the Perigons Senior live. (I should mention at some point how sorry I am not to be meeting Matt Gamston who is down in Ilo Ilo and returns when I leave). Amor is a lovely man with clear opinions and spending time with him gave me another angle on the whole RB work here in The Philippines, especially the language question. A lovely evening.

Hymn of the week 35

It can't be possible but we sang this Charles Wesley hymn today and I feel like I've never sung it. Perhaps the tune threw me. It's great. We didn't sing verse 3 - we were singing from Grace Hymns and yes it comes back to me now. That verse is missing because it is strictly speaking incorrect - Jesus's wounds are not bleeding now. (Couldn't they change it to glorious or something?)

Arise, my soul, arise, shake off your guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice, in my behalf appears;
Before the throne my Surety stands,
Before the throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.

He ever lives above, for me to intercede;
His all redeeming love, His precious blood, to plead;
His blood atoned for every race,
His blood atoned for every race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers; they strongly plead for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

The Father hears Him pray, His dear anointed One;
He cannot turn away the presence of His Son;
The Spirit answers to the blood,
The Spirit answers to the blood
And tells me I am born of God.

My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear;
He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry.

Philippines 05

Yesterday (Monday) was another full day. Around 11 am Scott Dehoran called for me. Scott and Emmeline have been houseparents at the CCM boys house (Damascus) from its inception two years ago. Scott is from Connecticut and Emmeline is a Filipina. They met in the US and got to know of the work and when a boys home was mooted felt they could take it on in the Lord. Since then, despite the odds, little Daniel has been born which has changed equations slightly but the work continues. He took me to a couple of malls (Manila has many) for a nice lasagne and a little shopping. We shared testimonies. It was good to hear his story of conversion from the world in his late twenties, a heap of troubles and then the more recent stuff. As he said he was born with a wrench in his hand, whereas I would have to think about which end to hold, but we got on well. It was nice to meet Emmeline and Daniel back home again and spend some time there. Later we went over to the girls home where boys and girls had already gathered for a party. We were celebrating the birthdays of Monica (13) and Dennis (10). The roof has been roofed over which provides a brilliant area for recreation. First we had devotions where we sang and I spoke (while Anneline translated) on the healing of Naaman. I chose that story because it's my favourite and because it features a young girl who has a significant role to play. The kids are all really lovely and it was a privilege to be there. They had food and cake and games including musical chairs Filipino style which included some bumps but no tears. The birthday kids also had to choose two or three friends to say something about them and that got a bit tearful. When Scott explained the background in one case I was nearly crying too. Anyway it was soon time to head back and Marilyn kindly gave me a lift. I hope that she and Georgie got back at a reasonable time.The traffic was horrendous.

Westside Story etc

I had lunch yesterday in a restaurant with an attractive display of fifties and sixties records. The inclusion of Westside Story made me think of next week when I am looking forward to seeing my son Dylan perform as Riff. Break a leg Dylz!

Jeepney

The Jeepney is a distinctly Philippine phenomenon. You can read about them here. A magazine styled after the Big Issue seen in London has been launched recently called Jeepney. One of the girls in the church sells it. See here.

Book Buys June

In June I made two major purchases on the internet and also bought some smaller volumes at the (slightly unimpressive) EMA bookstall. My big purchases were 2 distinctive STs
The four volume Christian's Reasonable Service by Wilhelmus A Brakel
A new Systematic Theology (Baptist!) by Robert Culver

I also got
Martin Downes' book Risking the Truth
Selderhuis's biography of Calvin which I am very much enjoying
A book on The Westminster Directory of Public Worship by Dever and Ferguson
A book on the Pharisees called Extreme Righteousness by Tom Hovestol

Philippines 04

So after a few days of not too much we really had a full Lord's Day day here in Manila. Jose kindly brought me some breakfast around 8. I'd been up much earlier but had snoozed until then. At 9 am Sunday School started with adult Sunday School in the church led by Pastor Mon Macapagal, looking at the words compassion and kindness from Colossians 3. That ties in well with CCM, which he did mention at the very end. Throughout the day things were quite bilingual so I missed quite a bit but enjoyed singing in Tagalog as best I could and listening to the language and trying to figure things out. By 10 am the church was full and not long after Brian Ellis led the service. I preached on 1 John 1:1, 2. I had 5 points (Mon noted my Calvinistic bent later!) and so Brian summarised each point which seemed to work well, despite being slightly flustered that he was the one expected to lead plus a pastoral problem that cropped up at that moment. Anyway we got the message about not sinning and about looking to Jesus and the need of the whole world hearing over. It was nice to see many familiar and unfamiliar faces there. One characteristic thing here is that most of the children greet you by taking your hand and touching it to their forehead. The front two rows are filled with children from their homes and their housemothers, etc. Because of this the balance is quite young and feminine but there is a good range of ages present. Most are local but some travel quite a way. After the service I was able to join people eating lunch under the roof erected last year at the side of the buildings. I had lovely conversations with various ones. It was raining through much of the day, which was refreshing but perhaps kept some away in the afternoon. The afternoon meeting started at 4 pm and this time was led by Pastor Mon Macapagal. This time I preached from Ezekiel 37 on the dry bones, which went okay although we struggled with some words. Part of the problem is that many English words are often used in place of Tagalog ones and so translation is not easy. Anyway I think that in both services people got the message. I tried to be animated. Mainly members then trooped down from the main auditorium to a smaller room where we observed the Lord's Supper. Brian Ellis led and I spoke briefly (without translation) on Isaiah 1:18. Several people are away and there are one or two concerns. It was lovely to see Brian leading the people in prayer and to see a happy fellowship in action. The thirtieth anniversary is coming up soon and they are thinking of organising a hog roast! After this I was kindly invited back to the Ellises house for a meal and conversation. It was nice to get something of Brian's background who was once a Methodist and an OMF missionary but came to Reformed convictions reading Owen's Death of Death an Ephesians 1 and then joined Wattisham Baptist Chapel before beginning work afresh in Manila, eventually planting the church, which began meeting in his front room. They have a literature ministry as well as everything else, but that is sometimes forgotten. There are issues, of course. Sometimes people leave and we spoke of other estrangements in the Christian world too. There' plenty to encourage though. It's nice to be among so many who are self consciously Reformed in theology - in a good way! While there I was invited to phone home and was glad to break into Sunday dinner back in Childs Hill, where all seems to be well. That was good. What a wonderful privilege to see this great work at such close quarters.

Philippines 03

The main thing today was travelling over to the CCM homes in Antipolo. A birthday celebration for one of the church's founding members was going when I was picked up by one of the housemothers to be driven over.
There is info about CCM here but it is way out of date. (This is true for the church website as a whole but will give some idea. What they now have is a big house in a gated community 20 minutes away made up of three separate households of around 10 children each (Emmaus, Galilee and Hebron). It was nice to meet all the girls but how to remember all those mostly unfamiliar names (many beginning with J I notice and often double barrelled)? So I chatted mostly to the house mothers of mission work in the north and the UK, etc but also to the girls a little about Wales and Tagalog, etc.

I then had a lift back via Damascus, the boys' home. The young people were gathering for a meeting so I took a few photos and then headed off. I took a look inside the church being readied for tomorrow. About 7.30 pm Bernie the caretaker kindly brought some food over. His nephew Jose brought me something for breakfast this morning. People are very kind. It will be a privilege to preach tomorrow. Must keep it simple and clear.

Philippines 02

Got through the hot night despite cockerels crowing, etc. You see cockerels everywhere. Cock fighting is a big thing here. Lito, a GMA graduate called for me around 8 am and we headed for Brian's house (where the church originally used to meet). Lovely to meet Nece and Brian in their home and take a quick look at Brian's amazing shell collection. We then drove with others through sometimes heavy traffic (caused by work on the extension of the ELR) to Valenzuela City where there was a meeting of messengers from the newly formed Reformed Baptist Association. It was good to be there and get the flavour of a new and young movement. Part of the flavour is the bilingual situation (something I am fairly familiar with). The pastor in Valenzuela is Aries Liboro. It was good to meet him. His wife put on a lovely spread for around 20 of us present.
We went then to the CCM offices and Alex showed me around the squatter slums. I won't attempt to describe the utterly amazing poverty. Only if you are in it can you grasp it and even then only faintly. My only hope is that such places existed in London in Spurgeon's day and are no more. Several of the children we met are sponsored by CCM. What a work is being done. There are no easy solutions though. Eleri was watching slum dog millionaire before I left. What horrible things there are in this world.
And so back to what now looks like a luxury flat and some time to read. I'm enjoying Selderhuis on Calvin which I bought at EMA and started to read on the plane.

Philippines 01

So bright and early last Wednesday with almost everything (but not quite) done, I set off for Heathrow. Eleri gave me a lift after we dropped the youngest boys off at school. Things went smoothly getting on the Malaysia Airline Airbus but then we ended up sat there for four hours owing to concerns about the engines. Fuel could be seen spilling from the wings, which understandably concerned some passengers until it was explained that it was coming from the surge tanks and was no cause for alarm. Eventually we headed off. It wasn't a problem for me. It just meant four hours in Heathrow in the plane rather than Kuala Lumpur in the airport. My neighbour was a Malay medical student, studying in Galway - slightly concerned at Malaysia's reputation in all this! I've never talked at length to anyone in a hijab so that was good. Much of the long flight was spent trying to sleep, which I didn't find easy. Anyway from KL I flew straight on to Manila in a fairly empty plane. In both KL and Manila they seemed very concerned about the different influenza viruses. I came through baggage and customs very quickly and soon met up with CCM house mother Fay who drove me effortlessly through Metro Manila to the church compound. Caretaker Bernie showed me to my room, basic but with a fridge and an A/C unit - much appreciated. In the evening Brian Ellis called and he kindly took me out for a meal. We were in a Pancake House overlooking the very place where the thriller in Manila took place (boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier) all those years ago. The church is in the midst of a large commercial area, with lots of building going on. There is also a lot of poverty and some seediness, which Brian pointed out. Thursday nights is drop in night and so when we returned one of the men was speaking to a group of around 80 (less than normal). Matt Gamston is away at present, which is a shame. I did run into a young lady from Chelmsley Wood who is here for a month. So I've got myself settled in and hopefully can share more soon. The thing that strikes me at present is the important of context. I've seen much of this on video but it cannot be the same, of course.

If I fell

I heard this on the radio this morning. Great song.

Spurgeon on Calvin

This is from Commenting and Commentaries

It would not be possible for me too earnestly to press upon you the importance of reading the expositions of that prince among men, John Calvin! I am afraid that scant purses may debar you from their purchase, but if it be possible procure them, and meanwhile, since they are in the College library, use them diligently. I have often felt inclined to cry out with Father Simon, a Roman Catholic, Calvin possessed a sublime genius, and with Scaliger, Oh! how well has Calvin reached the meaning of the prophets--no one better. You will find forty two or more goodly volumes worth their weight in gold. Of all commentators I believe John Calvin to be the most candid. In his expositions he is not always what moderns would call Calvinistic; that is to say, where Scripture maintains the doctrine of predestination and grace he flinches in no degree, but inasmuch as some Scriptures bear the impress of human free action and responsibility, he does not shun to expound their meaning in all fairness and integrity. He was no trimmer and pruner of texts. He gave their meaning as far as he knew it. His honest intention was to translate the Hebrew and the Greek originals as accurately as he possibly could, and then to give the meaning which would naturally be conveyed by such Greek and Hebrew words: he laboured, in fact, to declare, not his own mind upon the Spirit's words, but the mind of the Spirit as couched in those words. Dr. King very truly says of him:

No writer ever dealt more fairly and honestly by the Word of God. He is scrupulously careful to let it speak for itself, and to guard against every tendency of his own mind to put upon it a questionable meaning for the sake of establishing some doctrine which he feels to be important, or some theory which he is anxious to uphold. This is one of his prime excellences. He will not maintain any doctrine, however orthodox and essential, by a text of Scripture which to him appears of doubtful application, or of inadequate force. For instance, firmly as he believed the doctrine of the Trinity, he refuses to derive an argument in its favour from the plural form of the name of God in the first chapter of Genesis. It were easy to multiply examples of this kind, which, whether we agree in his conclusion or not, cannot fail to produce the conviction that he is at least an honest commentator, and will not make any passage of Scripture speak more or less than, according to his view, its divine Author intended it to speak.

The edition of John Calvin's works which was issued by the Calvin Translation Society, is greatly enriched by the remarks of the editors, consisting not merely of notes on the Latin of Calvin, and the French translation, or on the text of the original Scriptures, but also of weighty opinions of eminent critics, illustrative manners and customs, and observations of travellers. By the way, gentlemen, what a pity it is that people do not, as a rule, read the notes in the old Puritan books! If you purchase old copies of such writers as Brooks, you will find that the notes in the margin are almost as rich as the books themselves. They are dust of gold, of the same metal as the ingots in the centre of the page. But to return to Calvin. If you needed any confirmatory evidence as to the value of his writings, I might summon a cloud of witnesses, but it will suffice to quote one or two. Here is the opinion of one who is looked upon as his great enemy, namely, Arminius:

Next to the perusal of the Scriptures, which I earnestly inculcate, I exhort my pupils to peruse Calvin's commentaries, which I extol in loftier terms than Helmich himself; for I affirm that he excels beyond comparison in the interpretation of Scripture, and that his commentaries ought to be more highly valued than all that is handed down to us by the Library of the Fathers; so that I acknowledge him to have possessed above most others, or rather above all other men, what may be called an eminent gift of prophecy.

Quaint Robert Robinson said of him, There is no abridging this sententious commentator, and the more I read him, the more does he become a favourite expositor with me. Holy Baxter wrote, I know no man since the apostles' days, whom I value and honour more than Calvin, and whose judgment in all things, one with another, I more esteem and come nearer to.

Visiting Dad 06

Last week was so busy, I didn't have chance to report on my last visit to Cwmbran. This was quite different again as I went up in the car and we had specific tasks. I arrived around 10.30 am after a straightforward journey in the sunshine. The care support worker was ready to leave when I arrived. The nurse was expected to change a dressing but when she had not arrived by 11 we pushed off.

My dad has this new apparatus he is getting used to. I find from the net that it is called a rollator. It is an excellent help.

We headed off to Newport, found a parking space eventually and did the building society then the quite impressive Natwest bank, where we were treated to a cuppa and a chat about finance. My dad can be a little frustrating with some of his ideas about money.
Before heading home we popped into Marks & Spencer's to spend a voucher my dad had for his eightieth. That didn't take long. He bought a long sleeved one for some reason. Marks is remarkably unchanged though it needs some attention. Its marble steps are among my earliest memories.
Back home we had a bite to eat - a ham sandwich and a Tesco value pork pie which is cheap but has no taste. We actually saw a bird on the bird table.
A bonus on this trip was that my best friend Chris was also in town to visit his mother and so we were able to meet up for a cuppa and cake in the Nine yards.
The journey home was uneventful. We had our church members meeting the same evening. We were a small number as ever.
My dad seems well. He now goes to the hospice every Monday and is being well looked after by home visitors.

52 JC No 24

This from a work against the Libertines

Therefore let this be a means of recognizing them. For when you hear them speak in this way, you will only be hearing high German (I think he means what we'd call Double Dutch). For God created the tongue for the purpose of expressing thought in order that we might be able to communicate with each other. Consequently, it is a perversion of God's order to pommel the air with a confused sound that cannot be understood, or to try by subtle means to go around one's elbow to get to one's thumb in order to awaken one's hearers and then leave them in such a state.
Besides, the Scriptures ought to be our guide with respect to how God's mysteries are handled. Therefore let us adopt the language that it uses without being lightheaded. For the Lord knows quite well that if He were to speak to us in a manner befitting His majesty, our intelligence would be incapable of reaching that high. Thus He accommodates Himself to our smallness. And as a wet nurse coos to her baby, so He uses toward us an unrefined way of speaking in order to be understood.
Whoever, therefore, reverses this order only succeeds in burying God's truth, which can only be known in the manner that He wills to reveal it to us. That is why we must labour to unravel their obscurities in order to drag them if necessary by force into the light, so that their abominations, which they make a point of hiding, might be known to all the world.
Similarly, every Christian must be warned that when he hears them garbling as they do he must cut them off immediately at the spigot and say to them, "Either speak the language that the Lord has taught us and which He uses in His Scriptures, or go speak to the rocks and trees!"

Evangelical Ministry Assembly 2009

It was good yesterday to be at the third and final day of the Evangelical Ministry Assembly at St Helen's, Bishopsgate. I enjoy seeing many familiar faces and many (probably more) unfamiliar ones.
The pattern for each day was similar. Again David Jackman began. He has looked at Psalms 44, 86 and, today, turned to Psalm 108, an interesting composite Psalm that uses Psalms 57 and 60 to form a new work Kidner called a psalm for new initiatives or adventures of faith. Jackman's approach was to give a lot of background then seek to apply it to us. As ever the application seemed weakest.

He is soon to retire from his role with Cornhill after 19 years so Dick Lucas (who seems now to have gone into reverse on the aging front) gave a brief but warm valedictory. Later Adrian Reynolds was introduced. He has a new role too along with Vaughan Roberts (though he will remain at St Ebbe's). Adrian told me he hopes to be involved at East London Tabernacle.
The second session each day has been taken by Don Carson, who I'd not heard for a while. It was refreshing him to hear him again. He spoke on prayer. He made the following basic but important points:
1. We need our prayer to be steeped in the Word of God (illustrated from Nehemiah 9)
2. We need our prayer to be steeped in biblical theology (illustrated obliquely by pointing out the connections between Exodus 32-34, which he said turns on at least five things [the end of divine revelation regarding the tabernacle; the play on glory and goodness; God's covenant love, his grace and truth; the giving of the law; the fact that no-one has ever seen God] and John 1.
3. We need our prayer steeped in the authority of Scripture (ie its examples, its eschatological vision, its ultimate goal
4. We need our prayer to frankly acknowledge its ignorance of God's will
In the afternoon we had the second of two sessions from Richard Coekin looking at Jonah and this time considering God the evangelist. It was good to have Jonathan Edwards quoted, Andrew Fuller referenced and Sandemaianism condemned but one is uneasy when repentance is said to be a matter of will and church growth techniques are commended.
The final session from Vaughan Roberts turned out to be an address (of sorts) on Charles Simeon (born 250 years ago this year).
The new leader of the PT made the following points in the light of Simeon's story.
1. Let the Bible speak
2. Make sure you get your message across (Simeon called for unity in design, perspicuity in diction and simplicity in delivery).
3. Expect opposition
4. Think strategically (He may not have used such a term but he was committed to bringing the gospel to the nation. He was keen to recruit Cambridge men to the ministry. A recent biographer mentions 600 won to the work by Simeon. He set up a trust to get men appointed)
5. Have a global vision
6. Be Bible Christians (Avoid being system Christians we were warned).
7. Stick at it
So basically no change at PT then. We sung two lovely hymns by Chris Idle (who was present) and Timothy Dudley-Smith and two collections of unconnected phrases about God. We were accompanied by the organ and a praise band (sometimes together!) but just now and again we were allowed to sing a capella. Brilliant! These are good people but I despair of their movement ever getting to grips with experiential Calvinism, Puritanism or the idea of preaching to the conscience.