GBA 2013 Tuesday Afternoon and Evening

Ellis

Hughes

Mills

I'm afraid I arrived here in Swanwick for the 2013 Grace Assembly late and missed the first session at which David Ellis spoke. He and Barbara are our hosts this year.

At 5 pm Bill Hughes spoke. Having ministered for 35 years in Scotland, he has been ministering in Florida these last 12 years but has now moved back to the UK and so he was invited to give some reflections of the American scene. As he himself said, he was not able to say very much that was original but it was good to have this informed assessment of the situation, which is mixed and confused.

Then after supper Tim Mills spoke of justification by faith from Habakkuk 2:4, which he called Habakkuk's greatest statement. He urged us to go back to that initial moment when we first believed and to recognise the layers involved. He listed these as

1. Belief in the big facts about the Bible and God

2. Dependence on God

3. Confidence and certainty about God and his promises

4. Emergency and desperation to escape sin and judgement
At the close he simply raised the question of whether this initial faith is the same as the faith we are to go on with.

Carey 01

The first session was chaired by Hugh Collier. The speaker was David Ellis (currently in Stowmarket but due to move soon to Hinckley and at one time a missionary in France). Readers of this blog will not need reminding that 2009 sees the 500^th year of Calvin's birth so it was appropriate that we began with a paper on Calvin the pastor and theologian.
Beginning with an amusing reference to the response of a Swiss chocolatier to the Calvin anniversary, David went on to remind us of important aspects of Calvin's character and history. His burden was that Calvin was a real human being not the austere and lifeless plaster saint or tyrant sometimes presented. A man of action, he felt his heart was in God's hand. Fearless and determined, he sought to base all that he taught on Scripture, leaving a monumental legacy in his writings, especially the Institutes. Under his hand Geneva became a centre that had an incalculable impact in many countries – not just in Christian terms but as far as politics and democracy are concerned too. He was every inch a Frenchman, full of tenderness and affection towards his fellow countrymen. Calvin's greatest skill was putting things in their right place. How important that is. Often that is the problem in churches. Things are misplaced and given the wrong emphasis.
Calvin was a man with a sense of humour and a man with a great capacity for life long friendship. His brilliance and his capacity for hard work was evident at a young age. At the same time he was a very modest and by nature a very private man. (The nearest he comes to personal reference is in his preface to his work on the Psalms). His appetite for hard study affected his health and no doubt this was made worse by his temperament. He suffered from many diseases but his strong constitution no doubt helped him to live as long and to be as productive as he did.
Tracing his various movements David referred to a short stay in Italy where he and Mareau worked on a psalter. The two young men were often attractive to the ladies of the court. Calvin was always chiefly concerned to bear witness to them. It was en route from Noyon to Basle that he was eventually confronted in Geneva by Farel in a historic meeting. The rest, as they say, is history. How one explains this except as an act of God is difficult to see.
Reformation was the aim in Geneva. It was an uphill struggle and Calvin did not always get his way. Calvin's influence was very great. Apart from anything he trained many men for the ministry, including 88 men who went to France, 10 of them dying as martyrs He was from Picardy. They are known as 'the southerners of the north'. They have a Latin temperament and are great lovers of freedom. Calvin's obstinacy and quick temper were no doubt partly due to this. He confesses at one time about his temper 'I have not been able to tame this ferocious beast'.
David also spoke about his way of writing. He used popular proverbs (eg sickness comes on a horse and leaves on foot), sometimes earthy language and always plain and straightforward language. He was always fearful of not being clear enough.
Calvin was married for 8 years to the widow Idelette de Bure. She brought two sons to the marriage. They themselves had two children but they died as infants. This clearly affected him though he never let go of the fact of God's sovereignty.
Since the Apostle Paul there probably has not been a greater minister.
(David referred to a 1964 Puritan Paper on Calvin by O R Johnston worth checking out on these matters).

Carey Conference 09

The Carey Conference Brochure is now out. (Double click to enlarge).

Carey Conference 2008

It was my privilege once again to be at the Carey Conference in Swanwick, Derbyshire, for three days last week. Sadly, one of our main overseas speakers, Michael Haykin, was unable to be present. The other such speaker, Dr Russ Moore from Southern Baptist Seminary, had a number of difficulties getting to us but when he finally reached us he was well worth hearing. He gave two addresses from Colossians on Jesus is Lord, looking first at Christ's wisdom and then at his power. These punchy and dense addresses covered a wide range and basically argued a very high Christology. I have found it difficult to retain the detail of what he said and so have ordered recordings. The impact was certainly very positive and stirring. (See pic).
Other highlights were biographical papers on Oliver Cromwell (by Phil Arthur) and William Grimshaw (by Faith Cook who also spoke to the women alone for one session) plus an unscheduled paper on the Complexity of Scripture by Bob Letham, who is busy preparing a book on the Westminster Assembly's theology building on the work of Chad Van Dixhoorn, who we have mentioned on this blog previously. Dr Letham also introduced the subject of Christ and culture in another session. (This is the first time I have listened to a man speak who was wearing a kilt!). Bill James spoke helpfully on the Lord's Supper urging the Calvinian view. In the absence of Steven Curry who was unwell David Ellis from Stowmarket gave the closing sermon from Colossians 1.

At our prayer and share session we heard from the EMF students and from several others including the self-effacing open air worker Alec Moulton, busy working on the Greek island of Cos. The opportunity for more informal fellowship is always appreciated too. I travelled up with Henry Dixon and Ken Brownell from East London and three LTS students - from Cameroon, The Philippines and China. Great times.

On Dr Moore see here.