Justification by Faith

It was good to be over in Cranford, West London, on Saturday night for a meeting where John Benton spoke very helpfully on the subject of justification by faith (the meaningm the grounds and the instrument - faith). The meeting was organised by my good friend and former assistant, Robin Asgher and pastor friends among the Teugu speakers of London. The bonus was some very nice Siouth Indian food to follow. It is hoped that further such meetings will be possible.

The last two Mondays

I suppose it has been a busy time to some extent recently. We had our son and his family here for a few days at one point and we visited the natural history museum with them. I had a zoom committee meeting about the work in Cranford on January 26. On February 1 we had our first fraternal walk of the year on the Heath. Only four of us. I have also started some baptism classes for our Iranian friends. Then I have also been busy on the last two Mondays in different ways.

Firstly, on Monday Jan 23, I spoke on zoom for the Evangelical Library on Samson Occom and his time in Britain which I am also serialising as articles in In writing, It is a very interesting story and I hope I was able to get it over. A recording is available from the Library. We also had a Library committee on zoom in the afternoon.

Secondly, on Monday Jan 30, I was up at the Pastors Academy for the latst reading grop. We looked at Mez McConnell's book The leat, the last and the lost. We had a bumper turn out. No-one was entirely satisfied with it but most were more willing to give it consideration than I was. I was put off by the amouont of pagan sociology the book contains. I suppose I should see past that and benefit from the content. Hard to do sometimes. Next time we will be looking, God willing, at Michael Haykin's Amidst us our beloved stands.

Cranford Meeting 2015

It was good to be inn Cranford once again with Robin and Muno Asgher for the annual meeting. The situation continue s to be one of vast opportunity among Asian people of Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu background. About 40 of us gathered. The preacher was Gerard Hemmings from nearby Amyand Park. He preached very helpfully from 2 Corinthians 11 and 12. I chaired. It is a privilege to be involved in this work. Do pray for the work.

Cranford Baptist Annual Thanksgiving

It was good to be there on Saturday in Cranford with perhaps 50 others for the annual thanksgiving service for Robin and Muno Asgher and family. I chaired, representing the support group. Other members taking part were Andrew Heron who prayed and Richard Underwood who preached a fine sermon from Ezekiel 37 reminding us of preaching, prayer and the powerful grace of God. David McGowan gave a brief report on our behalf too and Robin himself spoke about the work, which continues to be tough going but not without its encouragements. Do pray for this work, which is a genuine outreach to Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, etc.

Wales, The Evangelical Library, Cranford

https://www.rpc.ox.ac.uk/about-regents/portraits/helwys/andrew-fuller/

Last week was very busy chiefly because I was busy ferrying my sons to their respective universities in Wales.

Firstly, on Monday I spent much of the day at the Evangelical Library, first to hear Jeremy Walker give and excellent lunch time paper on Andrew Fuller. We struggled up to double figures once again and so it was a worthwhile affair. There was a committee in the afternoon and then in the evening Jeremy led six of us in the first of our Between the Lines discussion groups (on culture and whether it exists). This is a difficult thing to pull off but at least we've made a start.

On Tuesday I took Dylan (along with Rosie from the church, also a student in the same institution) back to Cardiff. He has new digs further up the same street. The rain was pelting down but we managed to unload quickly enough. I couldn't hang about as there was a church officers meeting that night. Then on Friday Eleri and I took Dewi to Swansea for the first time. That's 50 miles further on and less explored territory for us though Dewi is living in the student village which borders on Gower Road, where Eleri spent the first six weeks of her life. He seems to be settling in. Having been relieved from our normal Friday night duties with children and young people we were able to pop in and see my sister and he children in Cwmbran. We were able to give Charlie and boy friend Dave a lift back here.

On Saturday I chaired the annual meeting over at Cranford where Basil Howlett was the preacher. I was able to join Robin, Muno and the children for lunch beforehand in the manse. That was really good. We were a decent number at the meeting. The Nairobi bombing was dominating thoughts when I first arrived as Muno's parents nearly always go to that mall - but not this time! It was the next day that we heard of the atrocity in Pakistan. What a wicked world this is but one where the Word continues to go out.

10 Years in Cranford

It was good to be present with many others this afternoon at Cranford Baptist marking the tenth anniversary of Robin Asgher coming to lead the work there. It was good to see Robin and Muno and other old friends. Chris Bennett preached well on the living, conquering, empowering and commanding Christ. The service was led by Paul Williams from Swindon and Basil Howlett from Reading spoke on behalf of the support group and trust.

Recent preaching and listening etc

Yesterday we were in North Wales and went to church in the morning to Capelfron, Penrhyndeudraeth, where the minister, Peter Campbell, was preaching on the resurrection. We were among several holiday makers who doubled the congregation to over a hundred. Valiant efforts were made to serve us all with a cuppa after, which was appreciated. We met a number of people we knew including old friends who were based in London back in the nineties who now attend regularly. We have been to the chapel several times before and I have preached there more than once. It is a difficult time for the fellowship at the moment as some will know. We are praying.

In the evening, however, we went somewhere new - to the family church in Criccieth. The church has grown out of SU beach missions work. Again we knew some there including the minister Ben Thomas and his wife, Bethan, who also spent some years in London, this time as part of the LIP team in Covent Garden. It was one of their monthly gospel presentations so it wasn't a worship service as such but Ben preached well from Romans 5. We were about 40. They had had a large number for the morning service (150+).

Back home my new fellow elder Robert Strivens was preaching. I was in Childs Hill the week before (April 1) but had been away preaching the Sunday before that down in the little chapel at Pains Hill, where I have friends. They are good people there. There were some new faces but they are a little discouraged as they are about to lose a key couple who are moving to another needy situation.

I was also preaching last Thursday on the crown of thorns in West London, in Cranford, where a good number gathered from Cranford, Hounslow West, Hayes, etc. My good friend Robin Asgher led the service and it was nice to see so many familiar faces. I also met a lovely Panjabi man called Sanjeev and his family, who are new to these circles and loving it.

The other thing that has been taking up my time recently is the Holiday Bible Club we had at the church April 3-5. We only had about twenty along which is good but we wish there had been a lot more. Like Eleri's sister in Bradford on Avon the same week we used Run the race available from Go Teach, which was a great help, though I was sorry to see pictures of Jesus (though very subtle).

I Quite Like Mondays

The last three Mondays have been pretty busy ones and I've not really reported the good things I've been enjoying. So time for a quick round up.

This last Monday (13th) I was giving a historical lecture at Bulkington Congregational Church. My good friend Mike Iliff had kindly recommended me and it was good to be in the lovely little chapel there near Nuneaton for the first time and to meet their minister Peter Mackenzie. A good crowd gathered and it was good to see a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces and to meet several when tea was served after the lecture (available here).

The Monday before was the first Monday in the month so I was down at the Westminster Fellowship. They have put us in a new room. It's a bit poky and has the humbling words Welcome to the creche on the wall but I'm sure it will do us fine. About twenty of us were there to hear Chris Jenkins of Christchurch, Baldock speak on his experiences with Evangelical Anglicans and then to discuss the matter. It seemed to me to confirm my suspicion that the Anglican approach is almost entirely pragmatic and that they really don't think at all as people like members of the Westminster Fellowship generally do. Chris's point was that may be we can learn something from them and may be we can or at least we can not bemoan the way things go with us partly because we have made the choices we have.

The Monday before that (if that's not considered ancient history) I was at the John Owen Centre leading a discussion group on the Paul Copan book Is God a moral monster? which we liked a bit because he was at least trying to defend the Bible against the atheists. Some of his exegesis got us nervous, however, and so we were reluctant to commend it too highly. It's one of those books that are worth reading even though you are bound to disagree with certain things. In the evening I was chairing the Cranford Support Trust followed by the support group meeting. Robin Asgher was then fresh back from Pakistan where, among other things, he was preaching in a church in the place where Osama Bin Laden lived and died, Abbottabad. (St Luke's Church, is as old as the town [see pic]. "A melancholy Christian cemetery can be found 500m up Circular Rd" according to Lonely Planet). Fascinating!

A good few days

It's been pretty busy the last few days.

Elisha and Hazael

1. Sunday morning I preached here in Childs Hill on 2 Kings 8:7-15 on God holds the future. This was the eighteenth in a series on Elisha. My two main points were that God holds the future and reveals some things about it and that he holds the future, which is not always rosy. We had a good number present including visitors around for Mothers Day and a new couple from the Philippines.



Durands



2. In the afternoon I popped out to nearby Muswell Hill to collect Emmanuel Durand who had been preaching for Chris Bennett so that after tea with us he could preach and speak about the UFM work he is involved in, in Britanny. He enjoyed speaking Welsh with us at tea and a bit of French with members who speak it in church. Thankfully he preached the sermon and gave his report in English. It was great to hear. (Also see here and here)

3. On Monday they had workshops on creation at one of the schools in Childs Hill. I had the opportunity to present the Christian view from Genesis. I began by reading Genesis 1 from the NIrV, getting them to count off Day 1, 2, 3, etc. I then gave a simple powerpoint presentation of the material, touching on Genesis 2, before taking questions. The first group were a little slow getting off the blocks but got going eventually. They wanted to talk about the end of the word as well as the beginning but, while making the point that you can't understand the one without the other, I tried to keep on track. Someone asked me in the afternoon if Adam was a Muslim. Each workshop finished with the kids making posters showing the six days of creation. (I also showed the first group this). There was also a final whole school report back. Most of the workshops had done the Christian view and one the Jewish (pretty much the same). Islam I gather accepts six day creation to some extent but not the biblical account. There were also workshops on some of the more exotic creation stories among Native Americans, etc. (See here). So it was good opportunity and I certainly enjoyed it.

Asghers



4. In the evening I was over in Hounslow for a series of meetings about the church planting work in Cranford. That went well. We are now moving into a new phase of the work with support coming through a trust rather than FIEC. Robin Asgher again had news to report of contacts with Asian people and opportunities to speak to Buddhists, Muslims and others. Always encouraging.



PfS Reading

5. Then this morning I was standing in at the FIEC's PfS course in Reading giving a seminar on Proverbs 9. Around 30 men and women of different ages were present, most of whom I'd not met before, and I think we had a good time. Chris Bennett followed me on the doctrine of Christ. As a WelshmanI've been through Reading a hundred times or more but I don't recall ever being there before so that was good. The Cooks are a lovely couple and made me feel very welcome.

Update

I've been rather busy this week taking a large wardrobe down the stairs and back up again, preparing sermons and writing an article amongst other things but I do want to report on last week.

Last Sunday I drove down to Pains Hill Chapel once again and had a nice day with the Averys (I was in college with Jonathan so it is always good to catch up). I preached from Titus 3 and Romans 8:28. They are  a small group of Reformed Baptists seeking to bear witness in the stockbroker belt. They are pretty conservative but make big efforts to reach out and are slowly making a little impact. A lady wandered in on Sunday Morning. She was of the Baha'i faith. It was gratifying to talk to someone who has really been appreciating my book on Song of Solomon, Heavenly Love.

Saturday morning I was over at the chapel putting gaffer tape on the floor at a clean up morning. Time after that was typically taken up with preparing for Sunday, including photocopying the notices in Swiss Cottage (my current supplier) where I usually have a quick coffee in Apostrophe in the O2 Centre and  a wander round Waterstones. I also bought some shoe laces in Sainsbury's. Eleri took the younger ones to see Harry Potter in the afternoon. The other two made their own way there. Also watched an hour of Harry Hill on TV.

Rhodri was around briefly Saturday having made a flying trip down to see a play (Blasted) at the Lyric, Hammersmith. We collected him from Euston late Friday night. Always good to see my eldest son. It was clubs before that (lost sheep and coin) and we had had a decent turn out at both though some were missing. We got the younger group back on track where we were having some behaviour problems.

Thursday was a church members meeting and a red letter one in that we agreed to welcome five new members including my sons Dylan and Dewi who are to be baptised this Sunday evening. Earlier in the day I spent some time taking our oldest member to the audiologist for a new hearing aid fit - all very interesting.

Wednesday had been a full day with my visits to Spring Court and Heathgrove Lodge both falling on the same day this time. There was also the midweek meeting looking at Titus on avoiding arguments and divisive people.

Tuesday it was my great joy to be at the John Owen Centre for Hebrew with David Green. We were looking at Psalm 104 and two other psalms. Very stimulating.

Monday we had the lunch time lecture from Barry King on Sutcliff and the call to prayer at the Evangelical Library. I'd hoped there'd be more but we were in double figures at least. It was good to be reminded of revival and the importance of prayer. In the evening I made my way over to Hounslow where we had the first official meeting of the new Cranford Support Trust in connection with Robin Asgher's work in Cranford. That went well but we are in great need of God's help.

Church Planting

It's been pretty busy, as ever. Last week I was chairing a new committee to oversee the church planting work in Cranford, West London, led by Robin Asgher. Until recently the FIEC has dealt with paying Robin and similar details but that has to change and soon the work will be under a new trust. Meanwhile the opportunities abound for work among Asians in that part of London.

At the end of last week I was chairing a public meeting in connection with the London Inreach Project, led by Andrew Murray and Derek Sewell in Soho and Covent Garden. I had to be at the trustees committee first and was then present at the early afternoon meeting where Andrew spoke along with Barry King, our evening preacher. Barry, always a compelling speaker, spoke about the Grace Baptist Partnership in the first afternoon meeting and then preached on small things from Proverbs 30 in the later meeting. Around 50 must have gathered through the day. Church planting is far from easy work but it is inching along and in some cases doing something more than that.

The LIP meeting was in Orange Street behind Trafalgar Square. I was also at a meeting yesterday in connection with the outreach in Trafalgar Square. I am trying to stand back from this a little at present due to too many other commitments, there is to be preaching in the square on October 2, however, so do come along if you can.

What's happening

Sunday was a good day. I preached from Mark 9 on cutting off hands and feet in the morning and from Hebrews 12 on the Lord's discipline in the evening. They were both very practical passages - one very challenging and one full of comfort. I think they were appreciated by the two congregations - the morning one around 50, the evening one more like 20. Easier to preach than to live I guess. We had tea together before the evening service and reviewed the year gone by (see previous post).

On Monday it was the meeting of the trustees of Grace Magazine. For various reasons we were rather thin on the ground but it was good to meet and seek to encourage the editor Stan Evers and those who assist him. it is an excellent magazine. I raised the issue of providing an online edition, which would be a great help, I believe. I hope something can be doe about that.

In the evening I was over at Cranford where the support group for the church planting work led by Robin Asgher were meeting. It was a good time. Some real progress is being made but there are still important decisions to be made in the near future.

Bloggage

My, it's been busy this week. I haven't even had chance to write it up yet. Monday night we had a meeting at Cranford Baptist Church, West London, a support group for Robin and Muno Asgher, church planting there among Asians.

Then Tuesday night I was in the Evangelical Free Church in Stony Stratford Milton Keynes where I had agreed (in a moment of madness) to speak on Being a better parent. I'll let you know what I said in some subsequent posts. Some four churches were represented I think with over 30 people present. We had a nice question time at the end. I knew some of the folk but not most of them. I'd not met the pastor Robert Lightowler before.

Anyway, I headed back to London and got here around 11.30 pm. I'd agreed to take Rhodri down to Gatwick where he was due to catch a plane to Vietnam with Qatar Airways the next day at 9.15 am. Because it was so late I went through the centre of London and got back home by round 4 am and went to bed. Before six Rhodri was on the phone to say that there'd been a problem over his ticket and he needed me to come and redo it - by 8.15 am! So off I went again and after a prayerful but nerve wrenching trip I arrived at the south terminal again - only to find I needed to be at the north terminal! Just when Rhodri had given up I got to him and he was able to board the plane with only short while to spare. (We later heard, 26 hours later, that he'd made it to Sibyl in Hanoi via Doha and Singapore - but hadn't slept).

I came home via the M25 as I'd have to pay the congestion charge otherwise - same length of journey but around 30 miles longer. I was pretty tired by then but had agreed to be in a meeting at the Evangelical Library so I headed down to Baker Street and fortified by coffee made it through. I had some afternoon kip and finished preparation for the evening. We weren't many but we had a good time of prayer after looking at the end of Deuteronomy 15.

The next day we had someone here doing a survey. He's been booked to look at the house and the church over these few days. Niall is brother-in-law to one of my deacons' wives. He remembered sleeping here when he was still single years ago and courting Ali's sister. I'd quite forgotten.

My parents-in-law have also been around as Geoff was speaking at the Pilgrim Homes conference on dementia. Eleri went for the morning and thought it was useful. They treated us to a meal in Pizza Hut, Brent Cross, on the Thursday. Geoff is also preaching at the Evangelical Reformed Church in South Hackney on Sunday.

Only by today have I felt over my tiredness and a cold and have concentrated on more preparation for the Lord's Day with meetings for children and young people tonight. Good attendances.

Robin Asgher sermon

I preached from Acts 6 focusing on verse 4 where the Apostles say We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.
Summary of my three main points
1. Robin
A. Negatively, don't let anything distract you from giving yourself to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Ever gone to get something, got distracted and come back without it? In the ministry it's easy to forget the main thing, to get sidetracked. Don't do it. You must get your priorities right.
B. Positively, give your attention to prayer. The apostles general concern is that they don't neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables ... But when they speak they say they will give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. They put prayer first for several reasons. First, because prayer underlies everything else in the ministry. Without prayer everything else is pretty a much a waste of time. Prayer is also the easiest to forget about because it's done in private. No-one really knows how much you pray. It's a secret thing between you and God. That's why it's easy to neglect. The ministry's a bit like an iceberg. You know that 5/8 of it is under the water, unseen. Something similar can be said about the ministry - a lot of it is hidden – the studying and reading and especially the praying. Don't neglect the secret parts. A concert pianist once said that he needed to practice everyday. If he didn't practice even one day he could tell. If he left it a few days, he said, then other people would start to notice. If he left longer again then soon everyone would know. Something similar could be said about the minister and his prayer life.
Okay, practically, how? In theory a minister needs to pray first as a Christian then as a minister but I don't think you can divide it up like that. They run into each other. Spurgeon once said – I'm never more than 10 minutes in prayer. ... And never more than 10 minutes out of it. I think that's the key. Begin and end the day in prayer, pray when you eat, pray when you read the Bible, when you prepare sermons, etc. Whatever you do, pray. Never resist the urge. That's the best advice I can give.
C. Positively, give yourself to the ministry of the Word. This must be kept to the fore. Ministry of the Word, of course, is not just standing in this pulpit on a Sunday it includes a whole range of things – speaking to the children/young people here or in the schools, speaking in small group meetings, talking to people on their doorsteps, etc. The important thing is that the whole week is geared to this end – getting the Word out. Let the people hear! That's what matters. It involves hard work and a lot of preparation but it must be the thing that you focus on. Cf 2 Tim 4:2.
2. Members or prospective members of the Cranford church and othersNow what I have to say will affect you all to varying degrees but the principle is the same. This is for you Muno, and for church members and to some extent all of us. Again three things
A. Negatively, do everything you can to help Robin not to be distracted from giving himself to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Do you know the word 'facilitator'? A facilitator is someone who does not necessarily do a thing himself but he makes sure it gets done. You need to be facilitators for Robin. Because he's full time it's easy to think, well he can do this or he can do that quite easily and so he ends up dealing with workmen, giving lifts to people or whatever and very soon you will find the work of prayer and preaching neglected. Now I'm not saying he can't do these things or must never do them. However, they mustn't be allowed to so take up his time that prayer and preaching is neglected. If you borrow a DVD from a shop – you want to get your use out of it while you have it, get your money's worth. There's no point having it lying round. Well, God is giving you a pastor. Make good use of him. Do everything you can to help him be a prayerful preacher.
B. Positively, do everything you can to help him to give his attention to prayer. Two things –
1. Obviously, to pray he needs time alone. Whether he prays or not is up to him but you must make sure he gets opportunity. Perhaps there needs to be an arrangement about when you phone.
2. He needs not only time, but he needs to know about how things are with you. Imagine someone complaining their doctor never does anything to help them with their arthritis. You talk to them and it turns out they've never been to speaks to him about the problem! Now sometimes we don't want the pastor to know about how things are with us because they're not good. It is better to try and tell him, though – so he can pray. He doesn't want a blow by blow account of your daily routine but he needs to know something about you to pray for you. So keep him informed.
C. Positively, do everything you can to help him give himself to the ministry of the Word. Remember that is the main thing he is coming to do. So you do everything you can to encourage him in it.

1. When he's speaking to you, listen to what he says. Be enthusiastic about it.

2. Whether to you or to others, pray for the preaching - that it will be clear and powerful. Pray for its success. We can't all preach but we can all pray. Let's all pray for the success of the preaching of the Word.
3. Others here today, especially those of you who are from the local areaA. Negatively, understand what is happening here today, Robin is being set aside today for nothing other than the work of prayer and the ministry of the Word. Robin is not here as a community worker or a youth club organiser or something like that, although he may well be involved in such things. No, he has come here chiefly to pray and to preach – to pray for the people of Cranford and to tell them what God's Word says. That is his main work. Don't oppose him then – he's God's man. It would be dangerous to stand in his way. Respect him and understand his work.

B. Be thankful that there is someone here who is being set aside to pray for you. Now here is wonderful thing. One of the things that Robin is doing for you and for other people of this area is praying for you. There are others praying I'm sure but perhaps he's the only one set apart especially for that. There's no-one else. The police don't do that or the local councillors or the school teachers. No, only Robin is set apart for that. Be thankful it is so. Ask him to pray for you. Tell him what you want him to pray for – tell him to pray for a BMW for me, you say. Well, he may not pray exactly as you want but he will pray for you. He'll pray for something better than a BMW – that you might know Jesus Christ and forgiveness in him.
C. Be thankful that there is someone here who is being set aside to minister God's Word to you. Robin has come to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's his message. If you turn from your sins and trust in Christ all will be well. That's what he wants you to know. Listen to him. Hear the message and be saved.

Robin Asgher induction

I'm just back from a lovely afternoon over at Cranford, West London where Robin Asgher was being inducted to the pastorate of the Baptist Church there. Robin, with his wife Muno, has been working with the tiny (single figure) church for some time now, seeking to reach out especially to Asians in the area. His coming as pastor is really a formalising of an evolving situation in which Robin is still very much dependent on the FIEC to go on working there.

Richard Underwood, who I know from back when we both worked on Grace Magazine, chaired and Mike Stringer from Oadby led the induction. I preached. Also taking part were the solitary Cranford deacon Tony Sansom and Robin's uncle Paul Simpson. I'll give a sermon outline in another post.

At the moment the pattern has been wonderful opportunities rather than solid conversions but we pray that there will be a real break through in due time. The good fellowship between evangelical churches in West London is a great asset. Several were represented.