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.

Lord's Day May 28 2023


In many ways last Lord's Day was fairly typical with a decent number present in the morning and far fewer in the evening. I was rather discouraged, however, which has at least driven me to prayer. Eleri is away, which didn't help nor did the fact our notice sheets (bearing hymn numbes, sermon outline, etc) have disappeared into thin air. A Colombian lady was visiting. She spoke no English and there wasn't a Spanish speaker to be seen.

Birthday Books

 

Nice birthday books this year and a Waterstones card
and lots of other nice gifts
PS I used the Waterstones card for this



Midweek Meeting May 24 2023


Good attendance for the midweek meeting on zoom last night. Sadly, I wasn't in the best frame of mind despite a good day preparing from Galatians 3. The devil will get in where he can.

Day Off Week 21 20223


I had to ophne the doctor first thing. I failed to get an appointment but was then able to get a ring back and that happened fairly soon so all tothe good Started on one of my birthday books - the one from my sister on camoflage. Very interesting. Had lunch in West Hampstead (and a coffee). In the evening we watched the final episode of Steeltown murders a fac based drama about murders in Port Talbot in the seventies on the BBC.

Two Books on the Lord's Supper


Up at the Pastors Academy recently for the reading group. The main book this time was a beautifully presented volume of reflections on Baptist sacramental church history by Michael Haykin Amidst us our beloved stands. This was supplemented by a brief work on similar subjects from Robert Letham covering the same ground and other matters. Both books take the Calvinist view so popular at present and oppose the so-called  Zwinglian memorialist view. The books strengthened me in my Zwinglian convictions (if that's what they are) despite themselves. About a dozen of us met to discuss the subjects raised in the books and athough most appeared to be Calvinist many of Letham's statements, such as those on John 6, were questioned. A good time.

Lord's Day May 21 2023


A good day again last Lord's Day, athough one quickly loses the memory. Some 30-40 am and about 12 pm preceded by communion for a handful of us. In the morning over coffee they kindly sang happy biorthday to me and another member. A member who no longer attends church came for lunch. I despair as to what best to do for him.

More faithful men with the Lord


Most readers of this blog will have heard of the deaths of the founder of OM, George Verwer (b 1938) back in April and more recently of pastor and writer Tim Keller (b 1950) and now we hear that two Scots ministers have also died. Gordon Keddie has died in America and Donald Macleod (b 1940) in Scotland. I never heard Gordon Keddie (b 1944) but I read some of his very helpful exegetical work. He published several books. I know of his death through his brother John. I can see no online obituary at the moment. The other three I heard on different occasions, Verwer just once and the other two several times and always with profit. What blessings we have received from such men but now they are with the Lord which is far better.
You can find obituaries for these men as follows:
Of course, early in March Ted Donnelly died in Ireland - another man from whose ministry I have benefitted.

10 people who died at the age of 64


Around this time of the year I like to do this sort of thing for my own iinterest and to make me thankful for another year of grace.
  1. C S Lewis
  2. Dorothy L Sayers
  3. Pelagius
  4. Charles T Russell
  5. Karl Marx
  6. Bram Stoker
  7. Edvard Grieg
  8. Bela Bartok
  9. Christina Rosetti
  10. Gene Krupa

Midweek Meeting May 17 2023


Last Wednesday we were a good number, about twelve I guess. We are now into the heart of Galatians and it is wonderful to realise how much the doctrine of justification is appreciated. Good prayer time too.

Day Off Week 20 2023


Formal days off have been swallowed up with bank hoildays and so on recently but this last Tuesday was a more regular job. I did have to go to the hospital for a brief eye test in the morning and did actually fill the car with stuff for the dump. In the afternoon I got fown to Oxford Street and the Wallace Collection, where they had an interesting special exhibition featuring paintings of dogs, mostly Landseers but with several others including some nice David Hockney stuff. Enjoyed a coffee after that in Joe and the Juice on Baker Street. Through the day I was reading Affinity's new book Challenging Leaders and another on Who can take the Lord's Supper?

10 divisions in church history


1. Burghers and antiburghers. In the Scottish church of the 18th and 19th centuries, a burgher was a member of the party among the seceders or secession which asserted the lawfulness of the burgess oath. The burgess oath was the oath a town burgess had to swear on taking office. The secession church in Scotland split in 1747 into Burghers and Anti-Burghers over the lawfulness of the forms of the oath then current, the contentious clause being that in which the burgess professed the true religion professed within the realm. John Brown of Haddington and Ebenezer Erskine were notable burghers.
2. Old Side and New Side. This controversy occurred within the Presbyterian Church in Colonial America and was part of the wider theological controversy surrounding the First Great Awakening. The Old and New Side Presbyterians existed as separate churches 1741-1758. The names Old Side and New Side usually refer specifically to Presbyterian churches.
3. Old Lights and New Lights. The terms were also first used during the First Great Awakening but been have used in other contexts to distinguish between groups initially the same but who have disagreed. The terms originated in the early 18th century from the split in theological approach among Calvinist denominations concerning the nature of conversion and salvation. Typically, if a denomination is changing, and some refuse to change, and the denomination splits, those who did not change are the "Old Lights" and the ones who changed are the "New Lights".
4. Jurors and non-jurors. The Nonjuring schism was a split in the established churches of England, Scotland and Ireland, following the deposition and exile of James II (and VII) in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. As a condition of office, clergy were required to swear allegiance to the ruling monarch; for various reasons, some refused to take the oath to his successors William and Mary. These individuals were referred to as Non-juring, from the Latin verb iūrō/jūrō, "to swear an oath".
5. Particular and General Baptists. Particular Baptists adhere to the doctrine of a particular atonement—that Christ died only for the elect. They are strongly Calvinist; the General Baptists hold to the doctrine of a general atonement - that Christ died for all people and not only for the elect. They represent what has been called the more moderate Calvinism of Arminianism. Also, the two currents differ in origin. The General Baptists emerged from the English Separatists, whereas the Particular Baptists had their roots in non-Separatist independency.
6. Strict and open Baptists. The term 'strict' refers to the strict or closed position held with regard to membership and communion. Some Particular Baptists take the view that only those baptised by immersion should be welcome to communion Open Baptists accept that in some circumsances communion should be open to those not so baptised.
7. Methodists and Primitive Methodists Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English and Welsh Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union of 1932. It emerged from a revival at Mow Cop, Staffordshire. Primitive meant "simple" or "relating to an original stage". The movement remained Wesleyan in theology but aimed for a simple worship and attracted mostly the lower classes.
8. Free Church of Scotland (Constitutional) and Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). Since 1900 the Free Church of Scotland remained outside the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and was a distinct Presbyterian denomination in Scotland. In January 2000 about 20% left to become what claims to be the true continuation of the Free Church of Scotland. The split came over the Donald Macleod affair.
9. Open Brethren and Excclusive Brethren. Open Brethren are a group of Evangelical Churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spreading throughout the British Isles. Open Brethren form independent, autonomous assemblies, the name "Open" distinguishing them from "Exclusives", with whom they share historical roots. The division into Open and Exclusive took place in 1848. The Exclusive Brethren are now divided into a number of groups, most of which differ on minor points of doctrine or practice.
10. Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology and are composed of six autocephalous churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the head of the Catholic Church - the pope - but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by them as primus inter pares. It is the primary religious denomination in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Greece, Belarus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Georgia, North Macedonia, Cyprus and Montenegro.

In Writing 141 is out


The latest issue of the Library magazine is out shortly.
Sadly, it doesn't look quite like this as I made the cardinal error of getting Pierre Viret's dates wrong.
Hopefully the rest of it (on Viret and Fuller, etc) is okay.

Caption Competition

 

I saw this recently on my travels and wondered if anyone could come up with a good caption.

Discouragement in the ministry


I spent much of yesterday in Westminster Baptist Church at the Westminster Fellowship, the ministers' fraternal I attend once a month or so. We had Paul Williams from Swindon speaking. We were the usually twenty or so in attendance. Paul preached helpfully from 2 Corinthians in the morning and we had an hour or so to discuss in the afternoon after prayer and one or two business items. A orivilege to be there.

Lord's Day May 14 2023


We had quite a large number in the morning and our usual ten or so come the evening. I preached in the morning on the next part of Luke - on the parable of the great banquet - and then in the evening from a text, from John 6:28, 29. A good day. What a orivilege to be with God's people.

10 not very European countries in the Eurovision Song Contest


  1. Australia, quite European in some ways but nowhere near the continent
  2. Israel (since 1973)
  3. Cyprus (since 1981) debatably
  4. Armenai (since 2006)
  5. Georgia (since 2007)
  6. Azerbaijan (since 2008)
  7. Morocco (only in 1980)
  8. Turkey, mostly in Asia
  9. Russai, largely in Asia
  10. Almost - Lebanon (2005) and Tunisia (1977). Considered entering but did not.

10 Fictional Diaries

 


  1. Diary of a Nobody George and Weedon Grossmith
  2. A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
  3. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 Sue Townsend
  4. Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding
  5. Diary of a madman Nicolai Gogol
  6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney
  7. Dracula Bram Stoker
  8. I capture the castle Dodie Smith
  9. Notes on a scandal Zoe Heller
  10. The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Midweek Meeting May 10 2023


Good session on Wednesday as we looked at the final verses of Galtians 2 and prayed. Numbers a little down perhaps but one member joined us from far away, which was good. All bit one led in prayer.

10 Diarists



  1. Samuel Pepys
  2. John Evelyn
  3. Anne Frank
  4. Robert Falcon Scott
  5. Virginia Woolf
  6. James Boswell
  7. Lewis Caroll
  8. Noel Coward
  9. Alan Bennett
  10. Alan Clark

Five More Books Recently Read


I liked that idea of reviewing five books recently read, which I did last month. Here are another randoom five. I so enjoyed Alexander McCall Smith's collection of stories last time that I read another recently. Ths time the gifted story teller takes a series of old photographs and crafts his stories from these. It's a bit like Vivaldi perhaps - every piece well told but may be it's too easy. I also read for the first time Douglas Adams'  The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy., I bought a little box set years ago and have never looked at it so now I've made a start. A well written novel that is still quite funny. Secret Societies by Nick Harding simply goes through different ones informatvely and encyclopediacally. Filled a few gaps in my knowledge. I know Mack Tomlinson through my father-in-law and he recently gifted me a copy of his new hardback on the Brainerd brothers. It's a brilliant book - very informative. By looking at David alongside his brother John, a more realistic and nuanced picture emerges. This is really worth getting hold of. And then finally, Rev Samuel Davies Abroad is a book I've long known about for years. My recent studies on Samson Occom prompted me to look for it again and having found an old library copy online I have devoured it. Samuel Davies came to Britain in around 1754. His diary for the period os fascinating.

10 One Anothers from the New Testament


  1. Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:2, 32; Colossians 3:13)
  2. Be patient with one another (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13)
  3. Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32)
  4. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19)
  5. Submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21, 1 Peter 5:5)
  6. Look to the interests of one another (Philippians 2:4)
  7. Bear with one another (Colossians 3:13)
  8. Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
  9. Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
  10. Exhort one another (Hebrews 3:13)
(Also, Stir up [provoke, stimulate] one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24); show hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9) employ the gifts that God has given us for the benefit of one another (1 Peter 4:10) clothe yourselves with humility towards one another (1 Peter 5:5) pray for one another (James 5:16)
confess your faults to one another (James 5:16))

Lord's Day May 7 2023


At the end of the last Lord's Day I felt quite discouraged. In the end I think it is my own lack of holiness and desire for God that did that but at the time it was our low numbers that did it, especially in the evening, when we were very low. At one point there was a dog and a cat in the room, a bad combination, but we got through that. There were twelve at communion which we started with so not all bad news numbers wise. In light of the coronation, I decided to look at 1 Timothy 2:1-4 and 2 Peter 2:17 and that all went well. It is the people who could have been there who were missing that concerns me most, perhaps.

Midweek Meeting May 3 2023


Once again we were about 9 on Zoom last night. We looked at the next part of Galatians and then spent time in prayer. Most people prayed. One lady sang her prayer as she likes to from time to time. It was good to be together once again.

Lord's Day at Hilperton April 30 2023


It was good once again to be back at Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Hilperton in Wiltshire once again. I preached on Psalm 23 and 1 Kings 12. Eleri's sister Catrin is in the church and so we had a lovely time with them, rriving on the Saturday. In the evening we went on to Cardiff and spent the next day with a large number of family members mostly in St Ffagan's, Cardiff. Eddie Webster preached here and they had a good day I understand.