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. ...