Christmas Books 2021

Around this time of the year I like to mention the books that I have been given for Christmas. This varied bunch is from my sons, my wife and my father-in-law. The one on the Universe accompanied a beautiful gemstone collection representing the planets of the solar system. I have read that now and started on the Cromwell biography and the book of Paul McCartney. The one on the Heath is about nearby Hampstead Heath by Hunter Davies, while the other two (Christmas Carol and The Great Gatsby) are novels in the beautiful Chiltern series.

Lord's Day December 26 2021

We had two services as usual on the Lord's Day. Attendance was down, however, especially ion the evening. We again sang a capella and were okay in the morning but by the evening a small number and the unfamiliar tunes combined with the appearance of a cat that lives next to the church  in the second hymn finished us. We recovered for the other two hymns. By December 26 Christmas is officially over but I thought the texts I chose were about right for the occasion - Revelation 12:1-5 and Galatians 4:4 where I pointed out eight ways in which the set time had come.

Christmas Day Service 2021

We must have been around thirty on Christmas morning thanks to relatives and so on. I like to take a text on such occasions and newly discovered 2 Corinthians 15:19, which I have never preached. We sang three hymns a capella (there being  no pianist). It was lovely to have some children there.

Midweek Meeting December 22 2021

We were on zoom again on Wednesday and quite a small number. It was good to go on with John 1, however (1:11-13) and to pray - lots to pray about at the moment.

Lord's Day December 19 2021

Last Lord's Day we had our first Christmas sermons of the season. Because we were starting so late I plunged straight in with the shepherds and the wise men. I prepared fresh sermons on the familiar passages. I took particular note of the structure of the passages. We were a decent turn out morning and evening, supplemented by family members. We had communion in the evening. A man who has come more often recently was there morning and evening. Not sure if he has got beyond his need for money yet.

10 Christmas Day Texts

It is my pattern to preach a text on Christmas Day at our special morning service. Since 2007 I have done this ten times. Two of these Christmas Days were Sundays so there was no special service and once I preached in Aberystwyth and someone else was here. I preached Luke 2:19 on two occasions. These are the ten

1. Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
2. John 17:18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
3. Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
4. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
5. 1 John 1:1-3 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - his we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
6. Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
7. Job 42:11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
8. Hebrews 1:1-4 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
9. Philippians 2:6, 7 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
10. John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(Before 2007, I also preached Titus 3:4, Luke 2:30, Hebrews 2:10-18 and Luke 2:14)

Midweek Meeting December 14 2021 (sic)

Things were a little different this week in that we were hearing a report from the work of Noor Ministries in the Indian Subcontinent from Sajida Iqbal. To add to the difference we were meeting on Tuesday night rather than a Wednesday, as usual. We had hoped to have an in person meeting but that proved not to be possible and so although Sajida had come a long way she still ended up several miles away in east London from where she broadcast. This is I think Sajida's third visit and every time she has good news of progress in the education of poor people from a Christian background but the potential is still very great. It is a privilege to hear of this work.

10 Ingredients and more in a Christmas fruitcake as told by Truman Capote

In Truman Capote's short story Buddy makes fruitcakes with his cousin and best friend. He likes the buying part best and lists the ingredients.

1. Cherries
2. and citron
3. ginger
4. and vanilla
5. and canned Hawaiian pine-apple
6. rinds
7. and raisins
8. and walnuts*
9. and whiskey
10. and oh, so much flour, butter, so many eggs, spices, flavourings: why, we'll need a pony to pull the buggy home.

*This looks like a slip as they spend time hunting for pecans earlier on.

Lord's Day December 12 2021

Sunday was a little different in that I was preaching elsewhere, down in Halland Chapel, E Sussex. I've got to know the pastor Abe Thomas a little but it is the first time I have preached in the little independent chapel with its wooden pews. It took less than two hours do get down and another to get back. Satnavs are a mystery. Getting there involved quite a bit of cross country but coming back via M23 and M25 was pretty easy. I preached two recent textual sermons from Proverbs 28:13 and 1 John 2:1,2. If I have any skill at all it is being short and simple. Had a nice time in the afternoon with Abe and his wife and a few others. We must have been around 40 in the chapel in the morning but down to about 12 in the evening. It would have been similar here, I guess, where two seminary students kindly preached.

10 Things Buddy's cousin did according to him (& Truman Capote)

In the Truman Capote short story "A Christmas memory" Buddy says of his older cousin and friend
"Here are a few things she has done, does do:

1. killed with a hoe the biggest rattlesnake ever seen in this county (sixteen rattles),
2. dip snuff (secretly),
3. tame hummingbirds (just try it) till they balance on her finger,
4. tell ghost stories (we both believe in ghosts) so tingling they chill you in July,
5. talk to herself,
6. take walks in the rain,
7. grow the prettiest japonicas in town,
8. know the recipe for every sort of old time Indian cure, including a magical wart remover." We know too
9. she always spends thirteenths in bed and
10. puts whisky in her cakes

10 Things Buddy's cousin did not do according to him (& Truman Capote)

In the Truman Capote short story "A Christmas memory" Buddy says of his cousin and friend

1. In addition to never having seen a movie,
2. she has never: eaten in a restaurant,
3. travelled more than five miles from home,
4. received or sent a telegram,
5. read anything except funny papers and the Bible,
6. worn cosmetics,
7. cursed,
8. wished someone harm,
9. told a lie on purpose,
10. let a hungry dog go hungry.

10 Puritans with Names not in the Bible

1. Christopher Love
2. Cotton Mather
3. George Swinnock
4. Henry Smith
5. Oliver Heywood
6. Ralph Venning
7. Richard Sibbes
8. Robert Traill
9. Lewis Stuckley
10. Walter Marshall

10 Puritans with New Testament Names

 

1. Joseph Caryl
2. Matthew Poole
3. John Eliot
4. Nathaniel Vincent
5. James Janeway
6. Thomas Case
7. Philip Henry
8. Stephen Charnock
9. Paul Baynes
10. Timothy Rogers

10 Puritans with Old Testament Names

1. Isaac Ambrose
2. Benjamin Keach
3. Samuel Bolton
4. David Clarkson
5. Jonathan Edwards
6. Solomon Stoddard
7. Jeremiah Burroughs
8. Ezekiel Hopkins
9. Daniel Dyke
10. Obadiah Sedgwick

Midweek Meeting December 8 2021

I decided to zoom from the chapel this week as I wanted to see if a hybrid meeting is possible. It didn't go very well using basic equipment so that needs to be rethought. We looked at the next bit in John 1 (verses 6-10). Numbers were down for some reason. We had a time of prayer to follow.

The Monkees Listen to the Band

Marking the death of Mike Nesmith who wrote this song. He was 78 and is the second Monkee to die after Davy Jones. (My mistake, the third, Peter Tork died in 2019. Thanks DL).

Westminster Conference 2021

It was good to be in Regent Hall at the Westminster Conference on Monday and Tuesday of this week. We had a few hitches but we came through quite well in the end. Numbers were a little down and we had to resort to a little bit of zoom but it was a live in person conference and a good one at that.

We began with an excellent paper from Andrew Roycroft on Charnock and Regeneration. Andrew has not spoken before but he gave a very good survey and we had a decent discussion to follow. Jeremy Walker chaired. After lunch on that first day we had to use Zoom which was okay, though it cut out at one point both times and first time round interaction between speaker and floor were not easy. The first session was Stephen Clark beaming in from Edinburgh on evangelicalism and the second Phil Haines from Cardiff on the Marrow Controversy. Again a decent discussion was had.

The second day was easier with no zoom needed. Chad van Dixhoorn was unable to be present owing to illness and so Jeremy Walker stepped in to speak helpfully on revival  (the men, the means). We then had an excellent and relevant presentation on the Huguenots by Paul Wells. It was my privilege to give the final paper - on my favourite and yours - Baptist pastor Benjamin Beddome. I also shifted a few copies of the book Glory to the Three Eternal: Tercentennial Essays on the Life and Writings of Benjamin Beddome (1718–1795)

Lord's Day December 05 2021

I often start on Christmas themes at this point but as I am away on the 12th I thought I would not this year. Instead we went to 1 John 2:1, 2 and the next psalm, Psalm 145. We had good attendances morning and evening. In the morning a lady we are praying for was there for the first time in a while, which was good. One of our attendees also brought someone and I had an interesting chat with her. She thinks she does not want a Calvinist church but I assured her we were Calvinist (she may well have doubted it as we sang a Charles Wesley hymn and I did not try to explain away the phrase the sins of the whole world which for the record I believe simply means "for all sorts of others"). I hope she returns. Another of our attendees brought his mother but she has no English. Our new Iranian couple found it hard to keep up too. In the evening we had old friends along - our former elder Robert Strivens and his wife Sarah and our former assistant Andrew Lolley and his wife Jill, both in town to preach elsewhere in the morning and then to attend the Westminster Conference on Monday and Tuesday, of which more anon. We had a lovely tea at home beforehand with those four and others. The services continue to be available on zoom.

Farewell Saywells Saywell Farewells

Myself, Cathy, Geoff Thomas, Reuben, Andrew Saywell

I am rather behind with things here but last Saturday it was a great joy to be in Folkestone for the farewell service for Reuben and Cathy Saywell who hope soon to be in The Philippines. The Saywells are being sent by Grace Baptist, Folkestone and are working with GBM. My father-in-law Geoff Thomas preached and Andrew, myself, Geoff and Andrew prayed for them after a presentation by Reuben. Great to see so many there.

Christmas with Beddome

In his sermon on Luke 23:18 Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss Beddome says

The title which Jesus here assumes in calling him self the Son of man may teach us the following things 1 That he is really and properly man as well as truly divine. In the assumption of our nature he was found in fashion as a man he took on him the seed of Abraham and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. There were some in the early ages of the church who supposed that the body of Christ was only an aerial substance not flesh and blood but having the form and appearance of it imagining that it was incompatible with divinity to become really incarnate. Against this error the apostle John bears his testimony in the following words

The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life for the Life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God And this is that spirit of antichrist whereof you have heard that it and even now already is it in the world  John 1:14; 1 John 1:1,2, 4: 2, 3

The doctrine of Christ's incarnation is of such importance that it is fundamental to the truth of the gospel and to every doctrine contained in it. For if Christ were not really a man he could not have made atonement for every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. Hence when he cometh into the world he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me. If his incarnation were a fiction his death and resurrection and ascension would be a fiction also and the gospel would not be true. Then would our faith be vain and we are yet in our sins. Christ was really God and it was necessary that he should be so in order that he might satisfy divine justice; he was really man and it was equally necessary that he should be so in order that he might suffer. Hence it is that the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

There are no Christmas hymns as such but note these two

1 STUPENDOUS was the love

Of God's eternal Son

Who left the blissful scenes above

And his imperial throne

2 He waded through a sea

Of overwhelming wrath

That wretched sinners such as we

Might be redeemed from death

3 Expiring on the cross

He Satan's empire broke

Surprise and horror seized his foes

And hell's foundation shook

4 From him we grace receive

In him all good possess

And those who on his word believe

Shall reign with him in bliss

5 Hosanna to his name

Let heavenly hosts adore

But saints with pure seraphic flame

Should love and praise him more

FROM that bright world where seraphs join

In songs and services divine

Where streams of purest pleasure flow

Jesus descends and dwells below

2 No glittering gems his robes adorn

He meets with cruelty and scorn

He loads of guilt and sorrow bears

Is bathed in sweat and blood and tears

3 Exposed his people long had been

To sin and wrath and endless pain

But lo he dies to set them free

Oh could I say he died for me.

Round up

December is such an odd month I've decided not to try and have formal days off this time. So there was no formal day off Tuesday though I did read a book about Picasso and dipped into Northanger Abbey, which I am presently reading. On Monday afternoon Eleri and I went for afternoon tea to the Halo bar and restaurant in the Hilton Hotel, Angel, Islington - a birthday present from back in September to Eleri from a couple in the church. (That same couple were involved in chasing after our dog when he got out and having tea with us later in the week.) On Monday evening I had a committee meeting in Ashford, Middlesex - first meet up in an age. Wednesday morning was our fraternal wander over the heath and in the evening it was the midweek meeting. On Thursday night Eleri and I watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles which neither of us had ever seen all the way through. Friday morning, I was visiting a couple who have begun to come to the church and today we are off to Folkestone for a farewell meeting for Reuben and Cathy Saywell. The rest of the time has gone on preparations for midweek and Sunday I guess.

Midweek Meeting December 1 2021

December is here so I thought I'd begin a series on John 1:1-18 as one of the few Christmas stands for the season. (I am preaching away on December 12 and so my only Xmas slot is on December 19 is the only Sunday before Christmas, although I may well do something "Christmassy" on December 26). We looked at the first five verses on Wednesday and it was good to go through it again and look theologically at the incarnation once again. I found my self saying that John's Gospel is a bit like an episode of Columbo as, unlike most detective dramas where you discover the murderer at the end, so in John you get to know that Jesus of Nazareth is God from the very beginning. Good numbers, a long period chatting about the passage and collecting prayer fuel and then a good prayer time.

10 Bob Dylans

The term is thrown about quite loosely but this list will give you an idea. The list was prompted by a documentary I watched on Alan Hull, leader of the seventies folk rock group Lindisfarne. In the documentary fronted by Sam Fender he is referred to as the Geordie Bob Dylan. It reminded me of  a lady I met who described her father to me as the Hungarian Bob Dylan. I also recalled hearing Meic Stevens being called the Welsh Bob Dylan.

1. The English Bob Dylan - Donovan, Richard Thompson, Billy Bragg
2. The Geordie Bob Dylan - Alan Hull
3. The Welsh Bob Dylan - Meic Stevens
4. The Canadian Bob Dylan - Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot
5. The French Bob Dylan - Jean Ferrat
6. The Mexican Bob Dyan - Rodrigo Gonzalez
7. The Dutch Bob Dylan - Armand
8. The Swedish Bob Dylan - Ulf Lundell
9. The Russian Bob Dylan - Boris Grebenshikov, Vladimir Vysotsky
10. The Christian Bob Dylan - Larry Norman

(The Bob Dylan of punk - Reckless Eric)

PS This is a different category to "The new Bob Dylan " which we might run some time.

New Edition of Foundations Out

The latest edition of Foundations the journal of Affinity is out, Number 81. The bulk of it is taken up with the papers given at the theological conference earlier this year on eschatology. Among the reviews I have two - on The History of Christianity in Britain and Ireland: From the First Century to the Twenty-First by Gerald Bray and John Piper on Providence. The journal can be found here.

The Piper review begins

Piper has now produced over fifty books. Like the others, this latest one is careful and exact, fresh in tone, homiletic in style and eager to present biblical truth. It contains some few recycled older pieces but this is primarily fresh material, even where the themes are familiar. It is, may we suggest, his “Hamlet”.

It is in three parts. Part 1 seeks to define the subject. Typically, Piper makes use of traditional material such as the Westminster Confession but seeks a new spin, here including the idea of our enjoying God. He also tackles the push back that such high views of God’s sovereignty can tend to provoke.

Part 2 looks at the ultimate goal of providence. In three sections, it goes back first to creation and even before that, then looks at the history of Israel from Abraham to the return from the exile. A third section introduces the new covenant.

It is not until Part 3 and the nature and extent of providence that we begin to touch on more expected themes such as earthquakes, the 2004 tsunami and the testimony of Nate Saint and Elizabeth Elliot (379). This final part has nine sections and is very practical. The topics are nature, Satan and demons, kings and nations, life and death, conversion and sanctification, ending with the triumph of Christ and his return. This part of the book is full of helpful statements on living the Christian life in the light of God’s sovereign providence. ...

Lord's Day November 28 2021

I wore some new boots Sunday but my heel was rubbing. How distracting. Yet once you're there ready to preach it seems to go out of your mind thankfully. We had a fair number morning and evening. Just a few on zoom. I decided to preach a Proverb in the morning and a Psalm in the evening. So it was a pointed textual sermon from Proverbs 21:2 in the morning and Psalm 144 in the evening and it went okay I thought - interesting, lively. It's getting colder and the news is bleak but God's word continues to go out.

Midweek Meeting November 24 2021

 

So we reached the final chapter of 1 Chronicles on Wednesday night. Not an easy book to tackle and as ever I know better how I would do it than when I started. it is good to know it has been done. Not sure when we'll get to 2 Chronicles. Again a good prayer time as we continue to zoom. We had a members meeting the next eveing so didn't hang about. That was all very interesting. Watch this space.

Latest Edition of In Writing now out (138)

 

Edition 138 of In Writing is now available from the Evangelical Library.

I notice I have credited myself with the article The Nightingale of Wittenberg which is incorrect.

It was the work of Dr Ian Densham. Sorry Dr Densham.

10 Matching Names for Mixed Twins

1. Morris (or Horace) Doris
2. John Joanna
3. Tate Kate
4. Samuel Pamela (Sam Pam)
5. Eli Ella
6. Benjamin Penelope (Benny Penny)
7. William Gillian (Bill Gill)
8. Oliver Holly (Ollie Holly)
9. Warren Lauren
10. Dilwyn Dilys

10 Matching Names for Twin Boys

1. James John
2. Dylan Cynddylan
3. Tyler Taylor
4. Isaiah Jeremiah
5. Aiden, Jaden
6. Daniel Nathaniel
7. Salvador Sydney
8. Joe John
9. Zach Zeke (Zechariah Ezekiel)
10. Wayne Zayne

(Alvin Calvin, Gary Barry, Bryn Gwyn, Burt Kurt, Bryan Ryan, Tim Tom)

10 Matching Names for Twin Girls

1. Noreen Doreen (Nora Dora)
2. Mia Nia
3. Faith Hope
4. Florence Paris
5. Abigail and Gabrielle (Abby Gabby)
6. Chloe Zoe
7. Chloe Claire
8. Sindy Sandy
9. Linda Leila
10. Ella Stella

Day Off Week 47 2021

It was slightly Christmassy this week. I started playing Christmas music and noticed a band I'd not noticed before from Canada called Coig who have two nice Christmas albums. I also read a few pages from a collection of Christmas stories I have on kindle that I downloaded last year or the year before and went out and did some Christmas shopping! I also read some more of Northanger Abbey, which I started to reread the other day in a beautiful Chiltern Publications edition and another in the series of art books from the shelf on the landing that I began on recently. This week, it was Lautrec. Again, I had a vague idea of things but this helped get me clearer on the short lived French artist. In the evening I watched the Bake off final because others were watching it.

Article in December Evangelical Times

 

The December Evangelical Times is just out and I have an article on it on Christmas with Isaiah.

More examples of Pareidolia 3

 

This one is inspired by a mere scratch in our hall at the bottom of the stairs, which

once were green but were then painted white.

Evangelical Library Lecture Christopher Blackwood

We had the last of this Autumn's lunch time lectures yesterday. We are still on zoom and for the first time that became a slight liability in that our speaker remained unseen throughout the lecture. Having said that, Dr Robert Oliver's lecture on the early Baptist Christopher Blackwood was an excellent introduction to a rather forgotten figure and his life in England, America and Ireland.

He lived 1606-1670. A Cambridge graduate, he became curate of Rye, in Sussex and when he embraced Baptist principles, he became pastor of a church which met at Spillshill House, near Staplehurst, Kent. When the civil wars came along he went into the army and accompanied the army to Ireland,. He was for some time pastor of a church in Dublin, ministering quite extensively in Ireland. He appears to have returned to England about the time of the Restoration. In 1661 he went briefly to America. Shortly after his return he resumed his residence in Dublin, where he died. A learned, well read man he was a strong advocate for freedom of conscience. His first publication was The Storming of Antichrist in his two Last and Strongest Garrisons, - Compulsion of Conscience and Infants' Baptism.

The lecture was topped and tailed with a personal reference to Dr Oliver's upbringing and family background in the Weald of Kent and a further reference to the founding of the Evangelical Library which once upon a time was the Beddington Free Grace Library. Geoffrey Williams the founder was from the Strict Baptist church in Galeed, Brighton where J K Popham (1847-1937) ministered for 55 years. That church like others in Sussex finds its roots in the earlier work in Sussex of Christopher Blackwood.

More examples of Pareidolia 2

 This one is on the bottom of the door of our downstairs loo.

Lord's Day November 21 2021

Yesterday, having finished my morning series on the Ten Commandments, I preached first on 1 Timothy 1:8 going through wrong ways to use the Law and the three legitimate uses spoken of by Calvin. In the evening we had communion and I preached on Hebrews 12:18-29 about our having come as believers to Mount Zion not Mount Sinai. Numbers were down rather in the morning but a lady came who we haven't seen for a long while, with her two young children who were very patient before Sunday School (where we potentially have ten at the moment).

More examples of Pareidolia 1

We did mention pareidolia some time ago. Recently I recently snapped three example from home that I have lived with for years. This first is on my wardrobe.

Wales beat Austraiia

I know there's been no comment on the recent Welsh internationals. That's partly because they lost the first two although they did finally win against Fiji but that was on the Lord's Day so I didn't watch. Great game today that Wales finally snuck in the final minute 29-28. Australia were again ill-disciplined and played most of the game one man short. Man of the match was Taine Basham. Nice to see a Gwent boy doing well.

Midweek Meeting November 17 2021

Back to 1 Chronicles tonight and the penultimate chapter, Chapter 28. I felt I was able to do that quite well. We had a good time of prayer. It is difficult to see how we will get out of the zoom zone. Perhaps we need to start a once a month in person meeting. Anyway, a good meeting otherwise.

Two Days Off Week 46 2021

I had another one of my double days off this week. I had to complete the current In Writing magazine before I could do anything else and I spent most of my time in getting my Benjamin Beddome talk ready for the Westminster Conference. I also read another two of those art books - one on Hieronymous Bosch and one on William Turner. In both cases there were quite a few things I hadn't understood or didn't know so it was good to become better informed. I also watched some TV in the evenings including University Challenge on the Monday.

Lord's Day November 14 2021

We had another very full morning meeting and a good number in the evening too. I preached on the last of the commandments in the morning and in the evening from Revelation 22:8, 9. It's been good to look at the commandments again. This latter text is the last of the hundred texts of the Irish Church Missions that  have slowly been working through down the years. It's a slightly odd text to look at in some ways but I'm glad we did. In the evening someone we haven't seen for years joined us as they are back in the area. We began in the morning with the two minutes silence. The services were on zoom too again.

Midweek Meeting November 10 2021

It was a little bit different this week in that we had Gayle Pennant showing a short presentation and speaking to us about the work of Caring for Life. We have endeavoured to support the work in Leeds for many years. Leeds is far away and we struggle a little to keep up but it was good to have someone speaking about the work again on zoom. We were also able to have a short time of prayer afterwards as well. The last year or two has been tough for all of us and it has clearly been a hard time for C4L but they seem to be quite encouraged on the whole.

Day Off Week 45 2021

This week I stuck to my new policy of reading one of these art books I have collected each day off. I chose the one on Dali which was very interesting. Dali was at his most prolific in the thirties but those paintings still seem very modern. I also read two of the three new Day One Books on Welsh heroes. I read  the one on Thomas Coke by John Aaron first as I knew least about him. Then I read Nathan Munday's one on William Morgan which is fine although there is not much to say. I know about Thomas Charles and look forward to reading Jonathan Thomas's take on him. Each book is around 70 pages and I guess has young people in mind. Looking forward to seeing more. I was also reading some books I have agreed to review for Foundations and watched some TV in the evening. I also spent time movinga  desk out ot the bedroom and replacing it with a bookcase.

Lord's Day November 7 2021

A new month so we began with communion. We were very few but things picked up and we were again a good number morning and evening. In the morning I preached on the ninth commandment and in the evening on bread (which didn't go as well as honey and salt had). As ever a quite varied congregation with all sorts of people there (people originally from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ghana, Greece, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, The Philippines, South Korea, The West Indies). A new Iranian family in the morning. One of my sons was passing through in the evening so that was nice.

Midweek Meeting November 3 2021

We went back on Wednesday to 1 Chronicles - to Chapter 27 (only two chapters to go). We had a good turn out, with at least 13 present and a good time of prayer. We are aware of some real needs at present and that gave an edge to our praying.

Fraternal Week

I was going to put a post called Fraternal week last month but there didn't seem to be time. The way things work for me is that the first Monday and the first Wednesday of each month are fraternal days and so the first week of the month tends to be busy. On the Monday I go to a traditional fraternal, the Westminster Fellowship which now meets in Westminster Baptist Church. Then on the Wednesday a number of us go for a walk on Hampstead Heath. We meet at a station, walk to a coffee place then on to another station. So there is no formality, we just talk about what we wish with whom we wish. It works well though. As for the Westminster Fellowship, last month we had Andy Young speaking very helpfully on evangelism and this month Dr Philip Sampson speaking on the very topical subject of creation care. Dr Sampson works at the Animal Ethics Centre in Oxford and is a Schaefferite. He gave a very interesting presentation on caring for creation, backed up by a range of excellent quotations from all the good guys (Calvin, the Puritans, Spurgeon, etc).

Day Off Week 44 2021

The week before it was half term and three grand children were here so there was no formal day off (though I got to play crazy golf and watched the film Ron's gone wrong). Last Tuesday we were back to a more regular day off. I spent most of it studying Benjamin Beddome, one of my passions (see here). I also read a fascinating little book on the artist M C Escher.

10 Musicals With One Word Titles

I'm not really a fan of musicals but I like the idea of this list.

1. Oklahoma! 1943
2. Grease 1972
3. Chicago 1975
4. Annie 1977
5. Evita 1978
6. Cats 1981
7. Wicked 2003
8. Matilda 2011
9. Hamilton 2015
10. Frozen 2017

(Many others come to mind such as Oliver!, Hair, Rent, Dames, etc) 

Lord's Day October 31 2021

It was very encouraging yesterday, especially with regard to numbers. In the morning we were around 40 and in the evening, though we were only 12, it was twice what it was last week. (Others joined us on zoom am and pm). The morning congregation was swollen by five brand new comers, one of whom also came in the evening; a returning family of three and a couple visiting members. We also had people back from half term. Having said that there were still ten others who might have been there but weren't for some reason. I preached on the eighth commandment in the morning on Matthew 5:13 in the evening. I hope our newcomers return soon. Enjoyed singing Wesley's O Jesus, full of truth and grace. What a wonderful hymn!

GBM Annual Meetings 2021

It was a great joy to be at the Grace Baptist Mission meetings today to hear the various missionaries and the preaching of James Muldoon at All Nations Christian College, Ware. I always enjoy the GBM meetings as it gets you looking outward. I think I particularly enjoyed it this time for several reasons - the fact there was not an in person one last year; the presence of Reuben and Cathy Saywell, new missionaries to The Philippines, the remoter setting; the smaller numbers (about 260); the fact one needed to make less choices on who to listen to; the excellent sermon on Revelation 7 from James Muldoon. Lovely day.

Midweek Meeting October 27 2021

We had a special last night on zoom. We got to know Reuben and Cathey Saywell when Reuben was a student in London Seminary and we have been pleased to know of their intention to work for the Lord in The Philippines under the umbrella of GBM. It was an opportunity last night for a Bible study and a report from Reuben. We started a little late due to a technical hitch but we had a good number present and it was a good evening.