The similar phrase 'Worldly Christianity' is one used by Bonhoeffer. It's J Gresham Machen that I want to line up most closely with. See his Christianity and culture here. Having done commentaries on Proverbs (Heavenly Wisdom) and Song of Songs (Heavenly Love), a matching title for Ecclesiastes would be Heavenly Worldliness. For my stance on worldliness, see 3 posts here.

Saw Yesterday Today


The film Yesterday has been well trailed. It came out yesterday (appropriately enough) and today one of my sons and I went to see it on the big screen (should have gone yesteray thinking about it). Anyway, strange to say two men have just watched a romantic comedy together. What made it okay was the subject matter - the Beatles. It was not a perfect film but it was funny, fairly well thought through, had a nice little surprise near the end and, of course, features an unmatchable sound track. Recommended to any music fan. BTW for a bit on Something that is missing in the film see here.

Speaking on Proverbs at the Westminster Fellowship


If you belong to the Westminster Fellowship, this is a reminder that I will be speaking on Proverbs
on Monday July 1 from 11 am at Westminster Baptist Church.

Midweek Meeting June 26 2019


There could have been more but we were 11 on Wednesday which was good. We looked at the next bit in James (5:7-12) on patience and the second coming. It was a relatively easy passage to look at once you take it as giving three exampes to follow with three commands and reasons. There were several to pray for. There seem to be great needs at present. more positively we were praying for abeach mission due soon in Italy and for Stefan and the work in Jena.

Day off week 26 2019


My day off this week was fine. Eleri was in work then had the women's meeting at church - not ideal. I'm planning to go to the Benjamin Franklin museum but it is not open on Tuesdays. No dog to look after but I took a little walk and had a coffee. I like to read Private Eye which comes out fortnightly. For once I got hold of it on a Tuesday and read it through - the ideal pattern. I also read a book by Jim Packer I bought last week - Finishing our course with joy. According to Packer, I'm five years too early for a book like this but I found it helpful. His main point is that as you get older people want you to just relax and put your feet up but he says no. I think it is this that has been annoying me as I've reached sixty. Good stuff (and in larger print!). We have our friend from Germany Stefan here again. He has been enjoying the EMA, which is in Westminster Chapel this year. Good to catch up with him in the evening.

Lord's Day June 23 2019


Another good day Sunday last looking at texts. It was Romans 3:19, 20 in the morning and Galatians 5:22-24 - once again from the hundred texts. One I had preached before and one not. We had descent numbers morning and evening. There were a lot of children in the morning - 7 for Sunday School and 4 in creche. I spoke to the older ones on Daniel and Belshazzar before they went out. Wonderful hymns all day. Eg this one by George Croly

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

We were back with the baby grand in the morning and the upright in the evening (both retuned this week).

London Seminary Thanksgiving 2019


It was good to be at the London Seminary end of year thanksgiving once again this year. The above five men were all leaving (after various lengths of time at the seminary) to continue or take up positions in local churches in this country. All five spoke and it was good to put some backstory alongside the excellent work that we know goes on at the seminary. Spencr Cunnah chaired and principal Bill James also summarised the work that has gone on over the last year. Adrian Reynolds (something or other with FIEC) preached helpfully from Matthew 18 emphasising the preciousness of the church. The weather was kind and so it was possible to have the traditional tea on the lawn. Numbers were down a little perhaps but it inevitably fluctuates from year to year. It is always good to catch up with people, although there are alwayss people you see briefly but do not have chance to speak with.

Horslips - Fool the beast Live 1975

Preview Meeting June 23 2019


Midweek Meeting June 19 2019


We were fewer than usual last Wednesday but it was good to meet We are now into the final chapter of James. It has been good to be confronted by the no-nonsense, challenging and practical style that characterises the book. We had plenty to pray about too as various members are facing different troubles at this  time. It is a great privilege to be able to gather like that in the midst of often busy weeks.

IPC Catalyst Conference Days 2 and 3



The rest of the conference went off very well and it was good to be there for the whole of it as it improved day on day, I felt. Andrew Randall on knowing God was perhaps a little nervous on day one but really settled into his subject and gave two excellent messages that were warm and pastoral. Scott Swain continued to look the Westminster Confession Chapter 3. I thought the first two messages were perhaps a little pedestrian but when we came to the third session on the Trinity we went into overdrive. I had missed the Themelios article of last year available here, which he presented again to us. It is mind blowing and rather shocking in its own way. let me quote the digest
B. B. Warfield’s 1915 ISBE article on the Trinity presents the Princeton theologian’s mature thinking on the biblical bases and meaning of the doctrine and offers a revisionist interpretation of the personal names of “Father,” “Son,” and “Spirit.” Instead of interpreting the personal names of the Trinity in terms of relations of origin, Warfield argues that the personal names only signify likeness between the persons. The present article locates Warfield’s revision within its immediate and broader historical contexts, critically engages Warfield’s proposed revision, and discusses the importance of a traditional interpretation of the personal names for Trinitarian theology.
Warfield is such a hero it is hard to believe he could have been so wrong in this area, yet Scott Swain appears to have him bang to rights.  Others, such as Grudem and Reymond (we could mention Carson and Reeves too, perhaps) have apparently followed him. Wow!
Kevin DeYoung has an analytical grasp and a good sense of humour and so his addresses on creation and providence were great. Perhaps the second half of the one on creation, dealing with male and female, was the stand out portion.
All three days ended with Sinclair Ferguson on 2 Timothy. This was very warm, quite challenging at certain points, and a thorough exposition of New Testament ministry. It will be worth checking out the recordings when they appear - probably here.
It was nice to see Scott Swain getting some sort of revenge on Paul Levy, in the form of a medal for Tweeting.

IPC Catalyst Conference 2019 Day 1


Around 200 gathered at the lovely new building of the IPC in Ealing for day 1 of this year's conference. Four men spoke - Andrew Randall, Scott Swain, Kevin DeYoung and Sinclair Ferguson - so two Scotsmen bracketing two Americans. All spoke well and helpfully. If anything, I detected a gradual rise in the quality of presentations through the day so that we ended on a high note with Sinclair Ferguson encouraging us from 2 Timothy at the end. Kevin DeYoung gave a very thorough and useful exposition of Chapter 3 of the WC and Scott Swain of Chapter 2:1. Good day. Mostly strangers to me at the conference but I had a number of nice chats with different people.

Lord's Day June 17 2019


A good day last Lord's Day with good numbers and a good spirit. I enjoyed preaching on Romans 6:1, 2 in the morning on grace and sin. In the evening following communion we looked at 1 Kings 8:38, 39 (another text in the series of one hundred). This wa s abasic look at prayer, something we need from time to time. Everybody was very chatty mornig and evening, which is nice. Some missing as ever but one or two back who we've missed.

Two helpful little books recently published


I have recently read two new little books, one from EMW and one from Evangelical Press. They are quite different in style and content but both to be highly commended.
The first is My sunflower girl by Dyfan Williams. I bumped into  Dyfan a year or two back in the seminary on sabbatical. I guess he was working on this then. In 2003 Dyfan and Caroline's daughter Megan died rather suddenly. She was only 10. This book is a reflection on that fact  I guess it does not contain anything I did not know about the Bible's approach to Christian suffering but coming, as it does, from someone who really has suffered in a  way I never have it has a strength that I could never muster if I put pen to paper. There are also some helpful reflections on grief, such as its individuality. I particularly liked the illustration of the ball and three containers of different sizes and how the grief does not change in size but the ability to contain it does.
The second is Paul Helm's new little book on biblical revelation Just words? This is written in a simple philosphical style rather than than the usual well referenced biblical manner and so it comes over more Johannine than Pauline, if I can put it that way. That gives it a simple but profound  character that probably menas that only a second reading will bring out all the arguments it contains. You can get the favour from these two pargraphs from Dr Helm's blog

In this short book we are to consider one important aspect of the ordinariness with which God visits us. God has done things for us and he says things to us. Some of the things he does are to attract attention. But not like Presidents may command our attention, by their residence or their motorcade or the eloquence of their speech or the might of their army or the size of their entourage. In making himself known, God does not lose anything of his glory, but in what he does his glory shows through in surprising ways. And when all his redemptive work is done his glory will be manifest to all. Christ will come in great glory, and all his angels with him.
We learn that in God’s dealings with the human race, matter and manner are intertwined, vitally connected. In this study we are considering God’s book, what we call The Holy Bible. It is a book made up of other books, spanning hundreds of years. This shelf of books itself has a character that is at one with God’s coming down. For what God says in his book and how he says it are seamlessly woven together. The Bible tracks what has happened in human history when God came down.

Another helpful book reviewed - The Pastor's soul

This is the other

The Pastor's Soul: The Call and Care of an Undershepherd
Brian Croft & Jim Savastio, Evangelical Press, 2018, 100pp, £7.71 (Amazon) / £5.26 (Kindle)
From the Reformed Baptist stable, this book is written by two American pastors, both based in Louisville, Kentucky. Brian is Senior Pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church and Senior Fellow of the Mathena Centre for Church Revitalization at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jim is one of the pastors at the Reformed Baptist Church in Louisville. Both are very much involved in Practical Shepherding, a Gospel-driven resource centre for pastors and church leaders to equip them in the practical matters of pastoral ministry. The book has grown out of this work and is a helpful contribution to thinking about the practical side of Christian ministry in the twenty-first century. It is in four parts, alternating sections being written by the two men.
Jim starts by looking at the biblical commands to a pastor – taking heed to oneself, to doctrine, to the flock – and why these matter. Brian then contributes a section on the need for every minister to be converted and called.
In part three Jim has two chapters on the public and private means of grace. Brian’s last section deals with six important topics with regard to the pastor’s wellbeing – eating, sleeping, exercise, friendship, silence and rest (including his day off, his holidays and having sabbaticals).
I recall hearing Joel Beeke say that a pastor should read at least one of these sorts of books every year. If you are a pastor, we commend this little book for your perusal. Dr Beeke also said at that time (with tongue in cheek) that you cannot follow everything recommended in such books as there are not enough hours in the day! That is probably true of this volume, although it tries hard not to be prescriptive. Few will agree with everything that is said here but it will stimulate thought on these important subjects. It would make a great book for a ministers’ fraternal to discuss.
Gary Brady, Pastor, Childs Hill Baptist Church, London

A helpful book reviewed - Can we trust the Gospels?

I have recently reviewed two books in Foundations 76 now available here.
Here is the first

Can we trust the Gospels?
Peter J Williams, Crossway, 2018, 160pp, £6.35 (Amazon) / £6.03 (Kindle)
Dr Peter Williams is the Principal of Tyndale House, Cambridge, which describes itself as a research institute “housing one of the world’s most advanced libraries for biblical scholarship”. As a leading centre for biblical scholarship, its in-house academic programmes facilitate the research of the history, language and context of the Bible.
This new publication seeks to look at evidence for the trustworthiness of the biblical Gospels. It is deceptively brief and punches well above its weight. In short compass Dr Williams tackles some eight questions of an apologetic nature. He is brief but wide-ranging.
The opening chapter looks at three writers outside the Bible, namely Tacitus, Pliny and Josephus. This chapter not only serves to show that these sources do not necessarily contradict anything in Scripture but sets the tone for the rest of the book – a serious, historical approach that is neverthless accessible to the layman who truly wants to get at the truth about these much-discussed matters.
We then move on to a brief introduction to the four biblical Gospels, followed by a chapter headed “Did the Gospel writers know their stuff?” This fascinating chapter pursues lines of argument that were previously unfamiliar to me and maybe to you. It helpfully highlights the way the geographical references and the nomenclature that we find in the Gospels strongly suggest that these people are reporting real events, events that they knew plenty about rather than some invented world of their own devising, as is sometimes suggested. Similar points are made more briefly with regard to finance, language and customs.
Chapter 4 is on the subject of “undesigned coincidences”, a rather forgotten line of argument pioneered by John James Blunt in the 19th Century and that has been revived in more recent years by Lydia McGrew in her 2018 book Hidden in plain view. Williams takes up the cudgels here, giving just four examples of coincidences in the Gospels that must surely be there because the authors are writing of what is true rather than because of some sort of conspiracy they have devised.
Next comes a useful discussion of why we can be sure that the Gospel writers give accurate – if not verbatim – reports of what Jesus said, and then a brief survey of textual criticism and a reassurance that the text we have in our Bibles is a text that can be trusted.
Chapter 7 is another fascinating chapter that deals with the question of whether there are contradictions in the Gospels. Counter-intuitively, this is approached by pointing out six places where John’s Gospel deliberately contains apparent contradictions. Yes, there are apparent contradictions but none that cannot be reasonably explained.
The final chapter, “Who would make all this up?”, touching on miracles and the resurrection, boldly argues for the reasonable supposition that all of history hangs on Jesus.
This attractively produced paperback from Crossway is enhanced by a general and a scriptural index at the end of the book. Can we trust the Gospels? Yes, we can. We recommend this little stick of dynamite to pastors and church members alike. As the blurb suggests, “Everyone from the sceptic to the scholar will find powerful arguments in favour of trusting the Gospels as trustworthy accounts of Jesus’ earthly life.”
Gary Brady Pastor, Childs Hill Baptist Church, London

Midweek Meeting June 12 2019


So last Wednesday we looked at the final verses of James Chapter 4. It became clear to me that what James does at the end of James 4 was to give two examples of pride - pride in relation to man (slander) and pride in relation to God (planning without prayer). ABout ten of us were present. A good prayer time once again. 

Preview meeting June 16 2019


Day off week 24


This week it was a great day off as my grandsons and their mother were around. We had pancakes for breakfast - not my forte but I managed to please the boys. Later on we went down to the park. It's lovely to have such a good park on our doorstep. The boys particualrly enjoyed the zipwire. I had to go to the bank in the afternoon. In the evening my father-in-law and his wife and some frineds from church were around. Still enjoying the new coffee nachine. Great day.

Westminster Conference Programme 2019


THE PURITAN EXPERIMENT

Tuesday
10.30 AM THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WILLIAM PERKINS
JOSEPH PIPA President of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary William Perkins stands near the fountainhead of Puritanism proper. He was both a principled inheritor and a sober innovator. His ministry of preaching and writing had a seminal influence on a generation of men, several of whom are more prominent names that we still recognise among ‘the Puritans.’ But who was Perkins, and what was it in his ministry that produced the impact that it did, both in his own time and - through his spiritual children and grandchildren - down to the present day?
1.30 PM THE PRINCIPLES OF PURITAN WORSHIP
JEREMY WALKER Pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church, Crawley The question of worship lay at the heart of the Reformation. The issue continued to exercise the sons of the Reformation, not least the English Puritans. They contended earnestly, even fiercely, for the purity of the worship of the church. Today we rarely even ask the same kind of questions as did our forefathers. Casual assumptions and thoughtless conclusions often produce crass and even carnal expressions of worship. We will go back to the Puritans to think about the questions that they asked and the answers that they found concerning worship. T
3.15 PM THE PRACTICE OF PURITAN WORSHIP
ROBERT STRIVENS Pastor of Bradford on Avon Baptist Church The principles of Puritan worship did not necessarily produce a uniform or monolithic mode of worship, but established certain parameters within which most Puritans operated. With evidence from the writings and the gatherings of various men and churches, Robert Strivens will consider how the principles of Puritan worship worked out in practice. This will prompt us to consider ways in which we might still learn from the practical approach of the Puritans, and the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of their approach to God.

Wednesday
10.30 AM THE EMERGENCE OF INDEPENDENCY
MATTHEW BINGHAM Lecturer in Systematic Theology & Church History at Oak Hill College The seventeenth century saw major discussions and massive developments with regard to the doctrine of the church. Among those elements was the emergence of Independency, in which issues of both soteriology and ecclesiology were at the fore. So where and how did Independency arise? What were its leading principles, who were its primary architects, what were its distinctive contributions? Matthew Bingham will help us to understand the origins of Independent churchmanship and to think carefully about our own convictions and practice.
1.30 PM THOMAS MANTON - NEGLECTED PURITAN
DOUGLAS MCCALLUM Minister of Cambridge Presbyterian Church The twenty-two volumes of Manton’s Works glower from many a library or study shelf. He was a prolific author, but perhaps best known now for his sermons on Psalm 119, and also his exposition of James. In his own day, he had a reputation to rival that of a man like John Owen. In ours, he is largely unknown, even to many pastors, despite being a favourite of such men as Spurgeon and Ryle. This paper aims to redress that balance, introducing us to this neglected Puritan, providing insights into his life and times, and pointing us to his example for useful service.
3.45 PM THE PILGRIM FATHERS
PAUL SMITH Full-time elder of Grace Baptist Church, Broadstairs The phrase ‘the Pilgrim Fathers’ is often used quickly and carelessly. Some of what is confidently asserted is more mythical than factual. We do not always know who they were, why they set sail on the Mayflower as they did, and what they were setting out to achieve. Paul Smith will introduce these men (and their families) and their motives, showing us what lay behind their exodus to the New World. While they had the courage of their convictions, we also need to consider the various lessons we can learn for our own attitudes to life and liberty.

Meynell When Darkness Seems


The latest reading group at the Pastor's Academy was on Monday. We tackled Mark Meynell's book on depression in ministry. There were about six of us, including a new recruit from south of the river. I was chairing. We were generally happy with the book although we thought some of it was strange and found it difficult to think who exactly we might pass it on to. Depression is a difficult subject, of course, and the good thing is that someone has bravely tacked the subject in relation to ministry. I liked this quotation on Pages 178, 179

The people who scare me most are the leaders who admit no weakness. They are either living in a super-spiritual fog without self-awareness ... or they wish they could admit it, but are too scared of the repercussions in over-critical and graceless church cultures, and so, perhaps, over-compensate by polishing the facade of ‘sortedness’... or they are plain old hypocrites. As someone once put it, never trust a leader without a limp. How else can any of us be brought to the end of ourselves enough to be forced to throw ourselves on God’s mercy? We’re all too proud ... by nature. But a limp is hard to hide - and, in fact, does not need to be hidden ... leaders who limp are those who are weak and know it, but are not threatened by it. They have no alternative but to trust God. They know they cannot manage on their own; they simply don’t have it in them. And yet still they lead, and even thrive. For that only God can take credit. That is how it was always meant to be for anyone in Christian ministry.

We meet again in the Autumn to look at F V Fesko's Last things first.

Lord's Day June 9 Herne Bay Evangelical


We were in Herne Bay last weekend. My friend Keith Hoare has been pastor of Herne Bay Evangelical Church for the last 11 years. It was the church's anniversary and so we went down on the Saturday and had a nice (though rather wet) day with Keith and Janice (both Aber graduates and contemporaries of mine) and their son David. On the Lord's Day I preached in the morning from Acts 16. We then had lunch together and after that I spoke about John Cennick. For the evening service they made an early start (4.30 pm) and I preached on Daniel 6. It was all a tiny bit heavy on my part but okay and appears to have been appreciated. It is quite an elderly congregation but with some signs of growth. Quite full Sunday morning and 16 in the evening. Lovely day.

10 London Musea focused chiefly on individuals


1. Sigmund Freud (Freud Museum)
2. John Wesley (Wesley's Chapel and House)
3. Thomas Carlyle (Carlyle's House)
4. Charles Dickens (Charles Dickens Museum)
5. Samuel Johnson (Dr Johnson's House)
6. Georg Handel (and Jimi Hendrix) (Handel and Hendrix in London)
7. John Keats (Keats House)
8. William Hogarth (Hogarth's House)
9. Benjamin Franklin (Franklin's House)
10. Florence Nightingale (Florence Nightingale Museum)

Fleetwood Mac - Oh Well (1969 UK TV)

This is just part of th full song by the old FM -But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answers that you want me to.

Great quote - Thomas Carlyle on Charles Darwin


Subsequent to my trip to Carlyle's house I came across this. Fascinating.

Thomas Carlyle made the the following biting remarks to a friend who visited him a short time before his death:
"The so-called literary and scientific classes in England now proudly give themselves to protoplasm, origin of species and the like, to prove that God did not build the universe. I have known three generations of the Darwins - grandfather, father, and son, atheists all. The brother of the present famous naturalist, a quiet man, who lives not far from here, told me that among his grand-father's effects he found a seal engraven with this legend: Omnia ex conchis  (everything from a cockle shell)! I saw the naturalist not many months ago; told him that I had read his Origin of Species and other books; that he had by no means satisfied me that men were descended from monkeys, but had gone far towards persuading me that he and his so-called scientific brethren had brought the present generation of Englishmen very near to monkeys. A good sort of man is this Darwin, and well-meaning, but with very little intellect. Ah! It is a sad and terrible thing to see nigh a whole generation of men and women professing to be cultivated, looking around in a purblind fashion, and finding no God in this universe! I suppose it is a reaction from the reign of cant and hollow pretence, professing to believe what in fact they do not believe. And this is what we have got. All things from frog-spawn; the gospel of dirt the order of the day. The older I grow - and now I stand upon the brink of eternity - the more comes back to me the sentence in the Catechism which I learned when a child, and the fuller and deeper its meaning becomes: ' What is the great end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him for ever.' No gospel of dirt, teaching that men have descended from frogs through monkeys can ever set that aside."

Day off week 23


This last week's day off was a bit different, partly because, having had most of it on my usual Tuesday I also carved out an hour or two to visit Thomas Carlyle's House in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, on another day as it is closed on Tuesdays. On Tuesday I was dog free for once and having this new 60+ oyster card I thought I'd see ho far I could go. I ended up in Stratford (not that far). I think I'd seen the Olympic Stadium but I'd never been to Westfield - nice Foyles' there. In the evening we watched the final two episodes of the BBC mini series Summer of Rockets which has been fresh. Through the day I was reading The Secret Barrister which I bought recently.
I have been meaning to visit Carlyle's house for ages. I don't know much about him but he moved from Ecclefechan to London aged 35 and the house became a hub for the literati of the time. The house has been made to look as it would have in the 19th century and filled with pictures of the great man and his wife and cards briefly recalling some of the great and good who visited. It seemed to me that (apart from Jack the Ripper, Florence Nightingale and R L Stevenson) nearly every famous Victorian was mentioned.
Edward Irving is one. Having read Arnold Dallimore's biography some years ago I was aware that the two had shared origins. Irving's story is a very sad one. I liked the comment from Jane (who sounds a fascinating character) years later ‘If I had married Irving, the tongues would never have been heard.’
There was also a reference to Charles Darwin. Jane (who was connected with Erasmus Darwin at one point) said "But even when Darwin, in a book that all the scientific world is in ecstasy over, proved the other day that we are all come from shell-fish, it didn’t move me to the slightest curiosity whether we are or not. I did not feel that the slightest light would be thrown on my practical life for me, by having it ever so logically made out that my first ancestor, millions of millions of years back, had been, or even had not been, an oyster. It remained a plain fact that I was no oyster, nor had any grandfather an oyster within my knowledge; and for the rest, there was nothing to be gained, for this world or the next, by going into the oyster-question, till all more pressing questions were exhausted."

Feargal Sharkey OBE


The recent OBE for FS is a good excuse to watch this again

Midweek Meeting June 5 2019


Somehow I've forgotten to out this in. I've backdated it to maintain some semblance of order. I was back in Childs Hill after a break and we went back to James.touching on only two verses - James 4:11, 12 on slander, etc. We had a good run out - about 13. We had a former member viisting so that was nice. Penty to ray about as usual. We seemd to hang around talking after for ages, also nice. Our traveller friends have already left.


Evangelical Library Lecture 2019


It was a real privilege to be among the thirty or so present last Monday evening at the Evangelical Library to hear Dr S Blair Waddell, pastor of Huntsville Baptist Church, Alabama, USA, speak on the biblicism of the 19th century Congregationalist pastor William Jay, who was born 150 years ago this year. This was the best format in that in Dr Waddell we had someone who is an expert on Jay (his PhD dissertation was on Jay - see here) but, after a slightly nervous start, who was able to put the material over in a simple and straightforward manner. Dr Wardell began by outlining the extraordinary of Jay's great success as a preacher, pastoring Argyle Chapel, Bath, a full 62 years. He then spoke of his biblicism, describing his personal and family devotions and referring to his publications, designed to help God's people in this area. We hope to publish the lecture in our magazine in due time.

10 Great Acts from the Sixties


1. The Beatles
2. The Kinks
3. Manfred Mann
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. The Byrds
6. Simon and Garfunkel
7. The Monkees
8. The Hollies
9. Donavon
10. Dionne Warwick
(We won't bother with my under impressed by this time)

Lord's Day June 2019


We began last Sunday with communion. We were about 16 altogether so that was encouraging. Others joined us for the main meeting and I preached on 1 Timothy 1:15 very evangelistically. It is one of the hundred texts. I think I have preached on it before but way back. In the evening I took another text, Deuteronomy 4:2, more difficult to handle usefully, but a good text. We were again around twenty. During the morning meeting there was a lot of off stage activity that I was aware of but not most of the congregation. What seems to have happened is that during the meeting a group of travellers turned up in eight caravans and parked themselves on a piece of waste ground next to the church. The kids were a bit wild. Late on in the morning an Irishman also turned up - I'm not sure if he is one of the travellers. We met him tracting in Golders Green the day before. He wanted to give us groceries in exchange for a cold drink. I did go over to speak to the travellers but there were not many around. The police were there. Never a dull moment in Childs Hill.