Lord's Day December 4 2017

It was good to be back in Childs Hill again on the Lord's Day. It being the first Sunday of the month we began with communion. A good number were there. I decided to preach on some texts from 1 Peter 4 and 5. In the morning I preached from Chapter 4 on suffering. I am very much aware fo the troubles several are going through at the moment and that we as a church are facing to some extent and so  I outlined seven things we need to do when we suffer. The evening message was about being humble, not anxious and being alert adn sober minded, standing firm as we resist the devil.

There were decent congregations morning and evening, thiugh with some missing as ever. There wa s new Romanian lady in the morning who I hoep we will see again adn then strangely both in the morning and evening there was someone form Botswana present. One, a woman, lives in the area and the other, a man, is visiting the area. I don't think they know each other. Not sire what to make of providences like that. At the very least it should prompt me to pray for that country.
(PS the top pic is a still from Solzhenitsyn's A day in the life of Ivan D wheere Alyosha reads that passage).

Ted Donnelly on Peter

On Monday I was with the twelve who met at the John Owen Centre for the Theological Study Group discussion on Ted Donnelly's book Peter Eye Witness of his Majesty.. Our chairman was Austin Walker from Crawley. Numbers were slightly up on the norm due mainly to the presence of three LTS students, all on their first day of a three week placement. it was good to have them there. The book, which began as a series of messages to ministers and was published by Banner about 12 years ago is a little more popular in style than our usual fare but none the worse for that. ted looks at Peter as Disciple, Preacher and Pastor and makes a number of important and useful points. We all agreed that it was a fine book that could be commended to someone preparing for ministry as a brief guide or someone in the ministry as a brief refresher. Also, it would be useful for someone not in the ministry to read in order to help them understand better the work of the pastor.

The following quotations may help give something of the flavour of the book:

On discipleship and the close connection between strength and weakness: "There is scarcely a gift that the devil cannot pervert" (31)

On preaching Christ doctrinally and the underestimate often made of Peter in this respect: "We expect him to be vigorous and earnest, but not particularly deep. If this has been our view, we are mistaken." (69) "We must preach Christ theologically" (71)

On bold preaching: "It is so very hard to be direct and, at the same time, gentle and loving." (77) "He must hammer home the nails of conviction" (78)

On faithfulness in the ministry: "all Christian service carries an inevitable price-tag" (106)

On the specialised nature of pastoral work: "it is a mistake to hand over a significant part of the work of the training of pastors to men who have never done the work for which they are preparing others" (114)

We prayed for Ted Donnelly at the end, thankful for his book and conscious of how unwell he is at present. We would love to hear him declare such truths once again.

(The current notice on the church website here reads: Pastor Donnelly became ill in November 2010 and had to spend a number of weeks in hospital. He is now able to attend morning worship services but it is anticipated that his recovery will be a slow process. Please continue to remember our pastor, his wife Lorna and their family in your prayers.)

Reading in pyjamas

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died this week aged 89. The Times obituary is here. Solzhenitsyn was a complex and enigmatic man. He encouraged us Christians by criticising both east and west and having a place in his thinking for God. I like that bit in his Ivan Denisovich

The Baptist was reading his Bible, not altogether silently, but sort of sighing out the words. This was meant perhaps for Shukhov. (A bit like political agitators, these Baptists. Loved spreading the word.)
"But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-maker; yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God."
Alyoshka was a champion at one thing: wiggling that little book of his into a crack in the wall so neatly that it had never been found by searching warders.

It brings out the power of the Word in all ages. In another bit from the Times by D M Thomas here we read that

In 1961, the liberal-minded communist editor, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, lay in bed reading a manuscript that an assistant had foisted on him (Ivan Denisovic). After one page, Tvardovsky got out of bed, dressed and went to his study. He said later he knew at once that it was a great work, and would not dishonour the author by reading it in his pyjamas.

That reminded me of how Bunyan had a conscience once over finding himself eating an apple while reading the Word. The point can be overstated but the importance of reverence when we read the Word is worth pondering.

More on Ivan Denisovic here. It has twice been made into a film. They'll show them on TV soon I'm sure.