10 Things you don't have to know

These are really illustrations dealing with the fact that sometimes genune Christians will not know when exactly they became Christians. Such a lack should never mean a person has no assurance.

1. You don't have to know when you were born to be alive
2. You don't have to know which door you came in by to know you are in the building
3. You don't have to be able to describe how you got there to be sure you are in London
4. You don't have to remember getting dressed to know you have clothes on
5. You don't have to remember what you ate to know you have eaten dinner
6. You don't have to have seen the apple fall from the tree to enjoy eating it
7. You don't have to know when the bread was baked to enjoy eating it
8. You don't have to know when your pet dog was born in order to enjoy playing with him
9. You don't have to have seen the sunrise to enjoy its rays
10. You don't have to know the source of the Nile to swim in its waters

10 Ways God's Word is Pictured in Psalm 119

1. Something hidden in a secret place 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12 Praise be to you, LORD; teach me your decrees.
2. Something containing wonderful things 18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
3. A life saver 25 I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word. (See also 37 40, 50, 93)
4. A path or way 27-35 27 Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds. … 29 Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law. 30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. 32 I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding. 33 Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. ... 35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
5. A strength provider 28 My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.
6. A shepherd 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.
7. A star 89 Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
8. Silver and gold 72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. (See also 127)
9. Honey 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
10. Light 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (See also 130)

10 Interesting Time References in Psalm 119

 

20 My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.

44 I will always obey your law, for ever and ever.

55 In the night, LORD, I remember your name, that I may keep your law.

62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.

93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.

97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.

147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.

148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.

(Also 117 Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees.)

Repackaging Christianity by Andrew Atherstone

This is a very thorough write up of the whole Alpha story and its various twists and turns. It is good to have it all written down in black and white. Atherstone tries to be balanced, reporting various criticisms at times and seeking to be candid. It is very useful therefore although it does tend to toe the party line rather insted of being more critical.

A number of things struck me. John Wimber, who died in 1997, had quite an influence on the whole HTB/Alpha world. Atherstone describes a meeting at HTB where Wimber claimed a word of knowledge that revealed that ten people in the room had athletes foot! Nine stood but Nicky Gumbel resisted at first, rather embarrassed. It is an amusing story in some ways yet for HTB's John Collins it was as though for an hour or two they were back in New Testament days seeing the disciples at work. This is utter nonsense. How the devils must be laughing to know this story.

More seriously still, there are claims of miraculous healing in the book. Most of it is the relief of aches and pains and unverifiable. But then there is a claim that someone was healed from blindness! A woman called Jean Smith from Cwmbran (where I am from) was the person supposedly healed in 1997. So I looked this up and saw that Dr Peter May mentions the case in a paper on the subject. He points out that this claimed healing was never validated by an ophthalmologist. And so it is mere hearsay. For Andrew Atherstone to repeat it in this unqualified way is irresponsible.

Another sad thing that is part of the story is the way that although Alpha originally had a good statement on the priesthood of all believers and the fact that sacrificing priests are not needed today. French RC bishops objected, however, when Catholic version so Alpha were made and so Gumbel deleted such statement from his Questions of Life.

It is not difficult to see good in the Alpha story but again and again there are things that are very unhelpful and so it still has to be avoided by right thinking Christians.

Anchored

On Tuesday I headed down to Guildford for a new day conference called Anchored. About fifty gathered, mainly ministers. Part of the idea is to promote the work of the magazine Reformation Today, now very much tied to the Carey Conference that comes each January. Between 9.30 and 3.30 we crammed in four sessions, two from Jeremy Walker on Scripture in the 1689 Confession, one from Robert Strivens on making better use of church history resources and one from Alex Arrell, one of the pastors in Guildford, who ended the day with a nice piece on Bunyan and his Bibline qualities. On reflection, perhaps Scripture was not the subject we needed to hear most about and some other part of the Confession could have been tackled. It would have been worth putting the chapter on a screen or handout because we are a lazy lot and few had read the chapter recently. More time for discussion too. This was a first try, however, and things rarely fall straight into place. It would be worth trying it again in Spring or next September. Good to meet people.

Lord's Day September 22 2024

 

We were our usual numbers more or less last Sunday when Eddie preached in the morning on Christian freedom in the morning and I carried on with 2 Chronicles in the evening. W ehad communion before the evening meeting, as usual. In the morning, there were two new Iranian ladies and an Iranian man who had first come the week before last. With two new Kurdish Iranians who have come a little while now (and with whom I had a Bible study the next day) and our established Iranian friends, there are still lots of Persians. At the end of the morning service two young men turned up, one a Bengali Indian, the other a Cretan Filipino. I hope we see them again. They live nearby. There were also visitors in the vening, a realtive of one of our members and a friend of hers, a retured pastor's wife. Good day.

The Thirty Nine Steps

I was in a charity shop the other day when I saw a nice copy of John Buchan's novella, The Thirty Nine Steps.(Published by Polygon). I started reading it and half way through remembered that some years before I had bought a very nice illustrated hardback edition and so started reading that edition. (That one is pubkished by Chatto & Windus). It's a great little thriller with plenty of good background material on London and Scotland. The plot is a little unlikely, of course, but still a good yarn. I wonder of the other books in the Richard Hanney series are any good.

Midweek Meeting September 18 2024

Nine of us gathered last Wednesday. Eddie led us ina study of Lamentations 2, which follows on from stuff he did previously. We spent time in prayer later. Perhaspwe could have given more time to that.

Questionable Pareidolia

 

Regular readers fo this blog will be aware of its author's fascination with pareidolia.

It's often in the eye of the beholder.

Funeral for Gary Benfold

I made my way down to Bournemouth yesterday for the funeral of Gary Benfold. The actual burial was a family affair beforehand but a large number gathered in Lansdowne Evangelical Church for the memorial service. Refreshments were served afterwards. Gary's good friend Chris Kelly led the service and did so very well. Gary had planned most of the service - the hymns (mostly traditional) and the text Chris was to preach on (Job 19:25). Tributes were given (and done very well) by his two children. I did not know most of the people there but it was good to chat with my old friends from London Seminary days Bernard and Linda Lewis and Chris and Serena Durrant. Chris is a pastor in Bournemouth and was contemporary with my oldest son at the seminary. Also Peter Baker, pastor at Lansdowne, Chris and Jim Sayers who first knew Gary when both were in Aylesbury. I also spoke to Gary's son-in-law. Others I would like to have spoken to but did not get to do so.

I first met Gary when he was beginning his second year in London Seminary and I my first. He had already taken up the pastorate and had a young family. Much of the time he spent in Aylesbury but sometimes he was back to the single life in seminary and one fond memory is being driven in his car with others to MacDonalds in Golders Green (no longer there). That was my first experience of such delights. Although I did not keep up a proper friendsip with Gary (he was always ahead of me in everything at first - marriage, driving, pastorate, theological thinking, etc) I always appreciated speaking with him in person or by other means and admired his solidity, down to earth approach and friendliness. People would sometimes confuse us I understand merely because we're both Gary B.

Gary was not 70 and it is amazing to think that he has been taken from us so soon. Great for him but hard for Elaine and the family.

His son shared with us that the last sermon that he heard on the Sunday before he went to hospital the last time was Geoff Thomas on YouTube asking "Are you satisfied with what Jesus has done for you?" Apparently every time my father-in-law asked the question, Gary was enthusiastically saying 'Yes!'. It was apparently powerful stuff and it deeply moved Gary. Andy said "On that morning, let me tell you, dad was satisfied with what Jesus had done for him."

(There seem to be two versions of that sermon on YouTube. Not sure which one Gary heard but this is one of them.)

Ian Parry on William Carey for the Evangelical Library

 

We had an excellent lunch time zoom lecture on Monday from Ian Parry, speaking on William Carey. Normally we have all the ostroy and then a few applications but this was shaped in an applicatory way and so was mor epointed and led to a decent discussion time too. Ian's point about Carey was that unlike us he was surrounded by prevailing corporate prayer due to an initiative from Jonathan Edwards and others before him; there was also a lot of theological confidence in the air and not ust because of the millennial positon many took; thirdly, there was a deep resilience and persistence that comes out in Carey's familiar story (See here for the lecture). We are very thankful to Ian for this very helpful and stimulating lecture.

Next month we travel from Cardiff, Wales to Inverness, Scotland, from where Dr Nick Needham will give us a lecture on Robert  Dabney. Again on zoom, it is on October 21. Details from The Library.

Lord's Day September 15 2024

We had a good turn out last Sunday morning and about 15 in the evening to hear Eddie on Psalm 73, which is not so bad. In the morning I preached the penultimate sermon on The Sermon on the Mount. I hope it was searching. We had lunch together at the end of the morning sermon. Always good. These are tough times for some but we press on.

10 Orders of Monks or Such like

I forget why I was thinking about this but here they are
1 Augustinians
2 Benedictines
3 Cistercians
4 Carthusians
5 Dominicans
6 Franciscans
7 Gilbertines

8 Capuchins
9 Cluniacs
10 Trappists

10 Puritans who studied at Emmanuel, Cambridge

J C Ryle notes that Sir Walter Mildmay of Chelmsford in Essex was the founder of Emmanuel College and even from its very foundation in 1585 it seems to have been notorious for its attachment to Puritan principles. Fuller in his History of Cambridge relates that on Sir Walter Mildmay coming to court soon after he had founded his college Queen Elizabeth said to him 'Sir Walter I hear you have erected a puritan foundation'. 'No madam' saith he 'far be it from me to countenance anything contrary to your established laws but I have set an acorn which when it becomes an oak God alone knows what will be the fruit thereof'. 'Sure I am' adds Fuller writing about 1650 'at this day it hath overshadowed all the university more than a moiety of the present masters of colleges being bred therein.' The number of leading divines of the seventeenth century who were educated at Emmanuel is certainly extraordinary.

1. William Gurnall
2. Matthew Poole
3. John Preston
4. Ralph Venning
5. Thomas Watson
6. Stephen Charnock
7. William Bridge
8. Jeremiah Burroughs
9. John Cotton
10. Anthony Burgess

(Also Bishop Hall, Bishop Bedell, Stephen Marshall, Thomas Sheppard, Thomas Hooker, Ezekiel Culverwell, Ralph Cudworth, Laurence Chaderton,  Anthony Tuckney, Lazarus Seaman, etc)

Westminster Conference 2024

The Westminster Conference for 2024 is now out. Programme:

Day 1 3 December

10.30am

The Council of Nicaea

Stephane Simonnin

1.30pm

Salter’s Hall Debates

Gary Brady

3.45pm

Greatheart: A Portrait of a Pilgrim-Pastor

Brad Franklin

Day 2 4 December

10.30am

Luther and the Peasants’ War

Phil Arthur

1.30pm

Bullinger and the Decades

Florian Weicken

3.45pm

John Elias

Alun Ebenezer

This time we have anew venue in Islington.

The Lonely Londoners

I found this book in the house the other day. It was given a way with The Times a few years ago. It is well written but in a convincing West Indian style, sometimes with little punctuation. The scope is too thin for it to be a great novel and the unsavoury nature of certain parts was unhelpful. It captures the WIndrush generation's experience to some extent and is very interesting. Sam Selvon died in 1994.

Midweek Meeting September 11 2024

A small number gathered last Wednesday to look at the final part of Romans and then to pray. We all prayed in turn. A good spirit.

Day Off Week 37 2024

A fairly typical day off last Tuesday with lots of reading, a coffee, some blogging and TV in the evening. I also continue to work on cataloguing books in Librarything and getting rid of as many as I can.

New Westminster Conference website up and running

You will be interested to know that a new website for The Westminster Conference is now up and running. See here.

10 Writers Called Thomas

 



1 Dylan Thomas (1914–1953, E), poet
2 Gwyn Thomas (1936–2016, W), poet and academic
3 Gwyn Thomas (1913–1981, E), novelist
4 Ned Thomas (b 1936, EW), critic and editor
5 (Philip) Edward Thomas (1878-1917)
6 Leslie Thomas (1931–2014, E), novelist
7 R S Thomas (1913–2000, EW), poet
8 William Thomas (Gwilym Marles, 1834–1879, W), poet and minister
9 David Thomas (Dewi Hefin, 1828–1909, W), poet and schoolteacher
10 Ebenezer Thomas (Eben Fardd, 1802–1863, W), poet


(The above writers wrote in E(nglish) or W(elsh) or both)

10 Heresies Edward Wightman was accused of

I read recently of a man called Edward Wightman (1566-1612). He was the last person in this country to be burned at the stake for heresy. According to Wightman, Bishop Neile, the last to examine him, told him "that unless I did recant my opinions he would burn me at a stake in Burton before Allholland day next". Interestingly the final verdict and list of charges included as many as ten heretical groups.

The wicked heresies of

and other arch heretics, and moreover, of other cursed opinions belched by the instinct of Satan".

1. Ebion (Ebionites taught that Jesus and the Christ are two different beings, and, therefore, the Christ is an angel of God)

2. Cerinthus (his followers believed that Jesus, the offspring of Joseph and Mary, received Christ at his baptism as a divine power revealing the unknown Father. This Christ left Jesus before the Passion and the Resurrection.)

3. Valentinian (who held to Gnostic and dualistic heresies)

4. Arius (Arianism denied the true divinity of Jesus Christ taking various specific forms, but all agreeing that Jesus Christ was created by the Father, that he had a beginning in time, and that the title "Son of God" was a courtesy one)

5. Macedonius (Macedonians accepted the divinity of Jesus Christ as affirmed at Nicaea in 325, but denied that of the Holy Spirit which they saw as a creation of the Son, and a servant of the Father and the Son.)

6. Simon Magus (mentioned in the Bible as one who wanted to buy apostolic gifts with money. Simony came to be used for anyone wanting to buy or sell ecclesiastical privilege)

7. Manes (or Mani, who founded Manicheeism)

8. Manichees (a major dualistic religion stating that good and evil are equally powerful, and that material things are evil)

9. Photinus (who taught that the Logos was simply a mode of manifestation of the Father, hence denying the pre-existence of Christ)

10. Anabaptists (who not only opposed infant baptism but often taught other unbiblical ideas)

Lord's Day September 8 2024

Numbers were down a bit last Lord's Day for various reasons but we were nearly 40 in the morning and ten in the evening. I had to remind myself to be thankful for those who were there. I preached in the morning on false teachers (from the Sermon on the Mount) and on 2 Chronicles 2 in the evening. In the morning there was a new Iranian sat with two others who have begun to come in recent weeks. This third one has his asylum, unlike the other two, and was most recently living in Halifax. (Oddly someone had contacted me last week about an Iranian woman he knows who has just moved to the area. She hopes to come next week.)

Door to door in diverse Childs Hill

My assistant Eddie and I try and do door to door work on a Friday. Last Friday we tackled one of the three high rise blocks of flats in the area. Most of the residents of the sixty flats were out but we caught some in and chatted to one or two. It struck me again the diversity of the area. We met people whose roots are Somali, Kenyan, Indian, Bangladeshi, Portuguese, Iranian, etc (my Ghanaian friends were out). Religiously, there were those of Muslim, Hindu, Quaker, Anglican and Pentecostal persuasion (I know that some JWs also live in this block).

Midweek Meeting September 4 2024

We carried on with Romans 6 last night. There were nine of us there. We looked at verses 6-14. We then prayed about everything from Ukraine to Grenfell to beach missions to accommodation to next Sunday. Nearly everyone took part praying aloud. This is the place to be.

Day Off Week 37 2024

Last Tuesday was a day of reading and various other things, including further work on a project I have in hand. I am also working on getting rid of my large collection of sermon manuscripts. I threw another large pile away - the last of the print outs hanging around in my study. All these should be on my computer in electronic form so it is not hard to throw them but next the pre-98 handwritten sermons will have to go. There was time for a coffee and some TV in the evening too.

Lord's Day September 1 2024

We began as we do on the first Sunday of the month with communion. Good to be there. I then preached to about 40 on the next two verses in the Sermon on the Mount. A lady we met on the doors on Friday who was eager to come did not show. Otherwise, we had a few visitors and some missing. Still settling in, I suppose. In the evening our Tamil friends from last week did not return and we were quite a small number. A bit depressing in some ways. I launched out into 2 Chronicles.  

Midweek Meeting August 28 2024

Just the eight of us looking at Romans 6:1-5 and praying agian last week. So good to be there.

Day Off Week 35 2024

We're beginning to get back into routine after the holidays and so last week I had a marked day off. Unusually, beside the usual coffee and reading and a little work ona writing project I have in hand I actually spent time with my wife. It was our anniversary and so we arranged to go in to town. First we ate at Zizzi's on Wigmore Street (with some help from Tesco's vouchers) and then we went to see Hello Dolly with Imelda Staunton at the Palladium. My wife is the musical fan. I couldn't get beyond admiring it. Musicals just don't do it for me. Excellent production I could see, though, and enjoyed the theme song in the second half.

10 Contrasts in Matthew 7

1. Two gates, one narrow and one wide

2. Two roads, one narrow and one broad

3. Two destinations, life or destruction

4. Two groups, one with a few and one with many

5. Two sorts of tree, one good and one bad

6. Two sorts of fruit, good fruit and bad fruit

7. Two sorts of profession, one true and one false

8. Two sorts of hearer, one who hears and puts into practice what Jesus says and one who hears but does not put these things into practice

9. Two sorts of housebuilder, one wise who builds on rock and one foolish who builds on sand

10. Two houses, one that did not fall and one that falls with a great crash