Tu ôl i bob dyn gwych ...

No-one knows quite the origin of the phrase that behind every great man there is a great woman. In 1985 the Eurythmics urged us to ditch the phrase and Maryon Pearson subverted it to "Behind every great man is a surprised woman". The truth is, however, that still today there are great men whose strength lies partly in their excellent wives. That is certainly true of many a man of God.

When I was growing up Derek Swann (1927-2007) and Eryl Davies were among the men of God in Wales and beyond who were serving the Lord with distinction. What I didn't know about them was that, as in the case of my own father-in-law, the two were married to godly Welsh speaking women, both of whom had been students in Aberystwyth University, my own alma mater. Both women died today and will be greatly missed by their families and fellow believers. There is an interview with Ceinwen Swann who married Derek in 1959 on YouTube. Magwen Davies had been very unwell in recent year I understand. Ceinwen's son Phil Swann is the main speaker at next week's EMW Conference in Aberystwyth.

(I should have mentioned that Helen Gibbard, the widow of Rev Noel Gibbard, also died recently. She would have been similar in age.)

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Magwen/Eryl Seventies, Ceinwen 2019

Eryl Davies Autobiography

I have been aware of the retired Welsh pastor and academic Eryl Davies all my Christian life, although I have rarely heard him preach and only met him once (when I was a student in Aber and wanted to subscribe to Foundations which he edited from its inception and for the next 19 years - it ws produced in those days using a plastic binder adn no staples). The story is of growing up a nominal Christian and being non-academic but siuddenly feeling called to the ministry and starting to train.

During the nine years it took he was converted through Vernon Higham and others and went on to pastor a denominational church in Maesteg. Eventually he led the church out of the Welsh Presbyterian denominatio because of its compromised position. They lost the manse and the church building but God provided. After Maesteg he went on to pastor the newly formed and student dominated bilingual church in Bangor, in his native North Wales.

After around 15 years there he became the lead tutor and then principal of a new EMW college that merged wih Barry Bible College (he had completed a PhD in philosophy while a pastor - partly possible because he and his wife Magwen went 13 years without children until a son and daughter were born to them). He served a good long stint there developing the work and supervising some 27 PhDs. He also writes about several trips to Korea and the many books on various topics he has written. Dr Davies is clearly a very spiritual man of great integrity. He is quite mystical but no charismatic.

He now looks after his wife Magwen who is quite unwell. As he reflects on his life, he is very thankful to God and his providence but find the periods of poverty he has known a little hard to accept (though he does). He tells us that Dr Lloyd-Jones was disappointed when he decided to leave the pastorate but came to accept the move. For some reason he wants us to know how, although he did not agree with him on several things, he reached out to Dr R T Kendall when he was in London and the fact that he has seldom consulted Spurgeon's sermons. I suppose the point is that he has been his own man throughout.

And another five books

 

I like the idea of noting my reading five books at a time. So here goes again. I think I've mentioned Breeze from heaven by Eryl Davies, which is really worth reading if you are Welsh. It tries to give some idea of the blessing there has been on several churches since the forties. Inevitably it is selective and some of the omissions seem glaring to me but in its effort to inform, to invite biblical thinking and to inspire prayer, it is excellent. I also mentioned the two books on the Lord's Supper before, so need to say no more there. (They are by Robert Letham and Michael Haykin). The one on fake history (which I read on kindle) by Otto English is a debunking exercise, attacking some of the ways history is related in quite a romantic and inaccurate way. Most of it I was familiar with (ancient people didn't think the earth was flat, Abraham Lincoln was not all he is cracked up to be by some, Hitler's artistic skills, the story of curry - although I had some of that worng, etc). Great story telling. I have now started on his second similar volume. I also bought and read Misconceptions a similar but shorter book by Tim Rayborn unveiling misconceptions such as some found in English's book and lots of others. I will do some ten lists from it soon. (I bought that last book from a shop in Golders Green. I had complained to the owner about a prominently displayed item with a swear word on it and he had reacted positively and so I wanted to buy something.)

Day Off Week 25 2022

With all those books recently acquired, I thought that it was right that I spend the bulk of my day off on reading. I love the eighteenth century and I really enjoyed the new biography of Thomas Charles by Eryl Davies and Michael Haykin's excellent new book Iron sharpens Iron looking at the matter of friendship with a special emphasis on eighteenth century Baptists. I found it a very stimulating read. I enjoyed Eryl Davies's book too (a little more substantial then Jonathan Thomas's little book) and it has whetted my appetite for the yet more substantial John Aaron biography. (Three biographies in one year!). What good books these days.

Domestic Abuse

There have been other Christian books on domestic abuse. This well written one from Christian Focus was prompted by Christians who have suffered abuse. The book begins with the global picture but soon narrows down to individual testimonies, which are quite shocking, although I think I recognised one or two of the cases documented. The final section of the book gives guidelines and suggestions for dealing pastorally with such situations and adds helpful practical chapters on marriage and divorce. It is an obvious book to turn to if anyone is dealing with anything of this sort but I thought it was a good book for all Christians to read especially pastors as it raises awareness of what is clearly a problem, perhaps a growing problem, and is an example of how to think the problem through biblically. One little phrase I appreciated especially, talking about wives submitting was this about when a basic disagreement exists between a man and his wife "Ephesians 5 verse 21 applies either in the husband deciding not to go ahead without mutual consent or the wife submitting to the husband's leadership, though she may be unhappy with the decision." I think that's how we live but it was nice to see in print.

Day Off Week 41 2020

I did the jeans and T-shirt trick again and made a good start to the day. I didn't bother with a to do list as I was clear in my mind that I wanted to get some reading done. One of many character flaws is that I prefer short books and so I read Mostyn Roberts' little book on Coping with criticism in the ministry and John Fesko's The Christian and Technology which I will endeavour to review at some point. I also read a chunk of Hedden Evil by Eryl Davies, a much bigger book (though not very big) which I started last week. I also watched a bit more Scandinavian Tv from Channel 4 and went out for a coffee. I also got one or two other things done.

Evangelicals In Wales

Some time in the early 1990s I attended for the one and only time the Bala Ministers Conference. I did not like it. In fact it is hard to think of any aspect I liked (the ministry was fine and the food okay). I didn't like the way we were all squashed into the lounge at Bryn-Y-Groes. I didn't like the noisy prayer meetings or the noisy singing. I didn't find the discussions at all helpful. The emphasis on revival seemed counter-productive to me. To cap it all, sharing a dorm with five snoring men is no joke when you're the last to sleep. So I never went again. I am aware that some of my dislikes have been addressed and I found this new book by Eryl Davies charting the long history of the conference and its distinctives mollifying as it sought to explain and sometimes apologise for some of the failures. Even if you know nothing about the Bala Conference it is worth a read as its apologia for Lloyd-Jones and the things he stood for is winsome, persuasive and well argued and even concessive at some points. I liked the quote from Sulwyn Jones explaining how difficult it is for some men not to refer to Lloyd-Jones when speaking of certain things. It was also good to consider the whole word and Spirit matter again. The reminder about revival was timely for me. It is an odd book in some ways, a hybrid as Dr Davies explains. It would be nice to see a similar book on the Banner of Truth Conference perhaps. Do check it out.