Lord's Day June 7 2026

Over fifty in the morning but a very small number in the evening. We began with a fairly well attended communion where we welcomed in another new member, agaiin a young lady (and with the same name as the last). We then had sermons on Gethsemane and Jesus's arrest from Luke 22.

10 men who changed their names for gain

1. Edward Austen Knight, Jane Austen's brother. Born Edward Austen, he was legally adopted by distant, childless cousins (Thomas and Catherine Knight). Under the strict stipulations of the Knights' will, he legally changed his surname to Knight in 1812 to inherit three expansive country estates.
2. Lord Byron: The famous poet's mother-in-law, Lady Judith Noel, died in 1822. Her will required that he change his surname from Byron to Noel in order to inherit half of her massive estate. He obtained a Royal Warrant to do so, briefly signing himself "Noel Byron".
3. Sir William Harcourt, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Born William Vernon, this prominent 19th-century statesman legally altered his name to Vernon-Harcourt. This allowed him to inherit the vast, historic Nuneham Courtenay estate in Oxfordshire when the male line of the Harcourt family went extinct.
4. Hercules Brabazon Brabazon, renowned English Artist. Born Hercules Brabazon Sharpe, the famous Victorian landscape painter changed his surname to Brabazon in 1847. He did this to satisfy the strict conditions of his uncle's will, instantly inheriting the beautiful Oaklands estate in Sussex and a massive financial fortune that funded his lifetime of art and travel.
5. William Edward Nightingale. Born WIlliam Edward Shore in 1815, upon turning 21 years old, he legally changed his surname to Nightingale. This was a strict requirement to claim a massive industrial fortune and multiple estates left to him by his eccentric, wealthy great-uncle, Peter Nightingale.
6. Davies Gilbert. Born Davies Giddy, he was a prominent mathematician and President of the Royal Society. In order to inherit the substantial estate of Thomas Gilbert of Sussex (whose niece and heiress he had married), Giddy took his wife's family name.
7. James Smithson. The wealthy English chemist and mineralogist was born James Macie, but changed his surname to Smithson in honour of his father, the Duke of Northumberland. When he died in 1829, he left his immense fortune to his nephew on the condition that he change his surname to Hungerford. Because the nephew died without heirs, the money was famously used to establish the Smithsonian Institution in the United States.
8. Richard Chandler Alexander Prior. Born Richard Chandler Alexander, this 19th-century English physician and botanist legally changed his surname to Prior in mid-life to inherit a substantial fortune.
9. George Spencer-Churchill. In 1817, George Spencer, the 5th Duke of Marlborough, was required to legally add the surname "Churchill" to his own, becoming George Spencer-Churchill. He did this by Royal Licence to preserve the immense wealth, estates (including Blenheim Palace), and legacy of his great-grandfather, the legendary military commander John Churchill. This is why his direct descendant was named Sir Winston Churchill.
10. Sir Arthir Conan-Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. Born Arthur Cnan Doyle, his life changed drastically due to his wealthy, childless great-uncle, Michael Conan. Upon his great-uncle's death, Arthur was left a substantial inheritance, but it came with a explicit legal stipulation: he had to officially preserve the family legacy by carrying the double-barrelled surname. Arthur legally adopted the compound surname, becoming Arthur Conan-Doyle and causing great cnfusion all around.

Gimson's Heroes

I've really enjoyed reading this book of fifty well written short biographies. They vary appropriately in length and in the type of person chosen. From politicians like Ernest Bevin to poets like John Betjeman; from the famous, such as Nelson and Churchill to the lesser known, such as Burke and Shaftesbury, to some I was unaware of - such as Stan Hollis and Michael Wharton. There are ten women (Boudica, Bess of Hardwick, Elizabeth I, Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Fry, Grace Daring, Florence Nightingale, Octavia Hill and Noor Inayat Khan) by design or happenstance. They are all British except the last, Nelson Mandela. The approach is fairly amoral and so one or two sneak through who I would not be keen on. When I was a boy my mother expected me to know about people like Alfred, Raleigh, Drake, Nelson, Livingstone and probably Shackleton. That way of thinking is less popular today but people likeGimson are still writing on thos elines and it is interesting to note.

10 women who are named in Scripture

James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1. Adah wife of Lamech
2. Jemimah daughter of Job
3. Keziah daughter of Job
4. Keren Happuch daughter of Job
5. Azenath wife of Joseph
6. Cozbi daughter of Zur
7. Shiphrah (and Puah) the midwives
8. Rhoda the servant girl in Acts
9. Damaris (Acts 17)
10. Claudia (2 Tim 4:2)

Midweek Meeting June 3 2026

Six of us in the room and two online last Wednesday to look at an important point of doctrine. We alos prayed and also had a brief members meeting where we agreed to baptise three people.

In Writing 147

 I should have mentioned that IN Writing 147 is now out.

Art of Shepherding 2026

It was good yesterday to be with about 40 others at the annual Art of Shepherding conference at St Giles in Islington. The conference for ministers is quite laid back with a flexible but predictable format that includes plenty of coffee and an excellent pulled pork lunch.

The fixed points are the first and third sessions - Phil Heaps on the Bible - this year from 2 Corinthians and Brad Franklin on a historical pastoral theme - this year from Bonhoeffer’s Shared life.

With that this year we had one session on politics and one on envy. For the first they invited John McDermott over from Magherafelt in Ulster who drew on his experiences in that divided world to help us think through our situation. Finally, we had Rob Pickering on the subject of ministerial envy a common enough phenomenon but one rarely touched on in conferences.

All four speakers did well and along with the opportunity to chat to fellow Reformed Baptists new and old the conference proved both challenging and encouraging. The very last thing was a meal with several conference attendees. The usual curry was not possible this year so we headed to the holloway Road to a Lebanese grill and very enjoyable it was. Big thanks to all involved in organising this year's conference.

Evangelical Library Annual Lecture 2026 Brian Edwards on Tyndale

It was great to be one of over twenty gathered at the Evangelical Library in London on Monday to hear Brian Edwards speak on William Tyndale and 500 years of Bible translation in this anniversary year of the first appearance of Tyndale's New Testament. It was an excellent lecture taking us all te way from Luther to the AV and delivered in good style. The lecture will be on our YouTUbe site soon. Btina has a book on the subject available here - Day One

Lord's Day May 312026

A large congregation and then a small one as is ouor patern on the last day of the month, as we continued through Luke morning and evening. We looked at the Last Suppr and the disciples' argument over who was the greatest.

Two Books about the Beatles

One of my sons likes to buy me books on the Beatles and the Nazis (two subjects I find pretty compelling). For my recent birthday, he got me John and Paul by Ian Leslie. I read this well written book that focusses on John and Paul and their relationship, especially in song writing, close after completing a previous book on the Beatles so I noticed what was in the previous book and what was missing. Truth is the Beatles are so well documented and there are so many disputes over certain stories that it is difficult to keep up. Very interesting stab this, which I enjoyed reading. Leslie suggests that with his marriage to Linda, Paul switched from being markedly promiscuous to being markedly monogamous, which he puts down to love of extremes, probably correctly. Ian Leslie is a champion of Paul over John but tries to be fair. I still find myself wanting to favour John, even though he was clearly a monster in many respects. I guess they are both very talented people with huge flaws whose relationship with one another is tangled and full of fascination. The book contains an interesting bibliography so I am in danger of spending even more time on this subject if I am not careful.

I was very drawn to the other book because it deals with The Beatles who I love to read about and Bob Dylan, who I know much less about but who draws me for several reasons. I also like the way journalists write books. Like scholars, they make a through search then collate and write. Unlike scholars, of course, they make it interesting. I knew a lot of the stuff in this book, I guess, but by no means all of it and some of it I had forgottenn, including John Lennon's born again phase. I had also not appreciated how conservative Dylan was from the beginning, despite his way of presenting himself. The book is full of fornication and drug taking, inevitably, and also an unsual amount of throwing up, usually missing from such books. Anyway, the book gives a fairly complete history of two incredible phenomena of the sixties and beyond and where their paths crossed. Fascinating.

10 expressions of faith found in the Psalms

Gerard van Honthorst, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

1. 13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
2. 25:1, 2 Of David. In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3. 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
4. 31:6 and 14 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the LORD. 14 But I trust in you, LORD; I say, "You are my God."
5. 33:21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
6. 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.
7. 55:23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.
8. 56:3, 4 and 11 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise - in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 11 in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?
9. 86:4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
10. 91:2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

(Also 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.)

10 more unnamed women from the Bible

1. Enoch's wife (Edna)
2. Moses' Cushite wife (Tharbis)
3. The wise woman of Abel (Serah)
4. The wealthy Shunammite woman
5. Naaman's wife
6. And her servant girl
7. The woman with the issue of blood
8. The woman at the well
9. The widow who put two coins in the treasury
10. The mother of Rufus

Midweek Meeting May 27 2026

Just four of us and one online last night as we looked at the final part of Romans. We also spent time in prayer. One burden was churches looking for pastors. We know of several at the moment (Swansea, Bradford on Avon, Wellington, Finchley and ourselves).

Birthday Books 2026

Once again the family have been very kind. These are from my wife and sons. (One son made sure he didn't buy me a book as he doesn't like to be too predictable, so I had other good things from him.)

Eisteddfod Yr Urdd Anglesey

FYI The Urdd Eisteddof for young people is on atm. It's live on S4C.

That's my oldest grandson in shot singing in the choir.