Banner Article Part 2

The second part of the Banner article on Proverbs can be found in the May issue.

Banner Article

You may be interested to know that I have an article in this month's Banner Magazine called Christ the Bride: A Brief Introduction to the Book of Proverbs. See here.

A busy week

I've struggled a little this week partly possibly due to a busy week. (Eleri was the busy one rather than me to be truthful. She works two days a week and spent one day in Macclesfield at the new Go Teach offices). I gave the paper on Proverbs on Monday to about 17 of us, all eager to hear and to ask questions. Good time. In the evening we went to see Toy Story 4 which was good (nice to see a reference to conscience in there, even if only as the pretext for a joke). It is great that there are still one or two films we can all see together.

I've reported on Tuesday, my day off. Wednesday I was out with the other ministers walking across Hampstead Heath. About six of us were present. Good times. Rest of the day went on preparing and then leading the Midweek meeting.

We should have had an officers meeting on Thursday evening but that God postponed. Otherwise the main thing has been preparing for the Lord's Day. I've also started reading Penelope Fitzgerald's The gate of angels (a kind birthday gift from friends). (I had intended writing a post called a month of celebration marking the way my May 22 birthday tumbled into June with a lovely barbecue organised by friends for me and another church member. I was given books, ties and other gifts)

This morning (Saturday) we were out giving tracts in Golders Green. There were five of us. That was good to do again. Otherwise the busyness has just been with visitors - two sons and their wives at different times going to different weddings and two friends with each couple. In the first case the friend is relation from America. She, her friend and Gwion (our son) have travelled to France for the world cup. We are hoping for three extra at church tomorrow then.

Speaking on Proverbs at the Westminster Fellowship

If you belong to the Westminster Fellowship, this is a reminder that I will be speaking on Proverbs

on Monday July 1 from 11 am at Westminster Baptist Church.

A nice postcard

A friend in Germany sent me the above postcard at the end of last year. He had been in Switzerland and had found my commentayr on Proverbs among some other purchases. The book has a new cover these days and is in its second edition. I believe EP are committed to keeping the Welwyn seriees in print. it's good to be found in the company of Ryle, Spring, etc. Thanks Stefan.

Speaking in Bala to Pastors' Wives

I am due to speak along with my wife to pastors wives in Bala, North Wales, on April 21. Do check it out here. I speak only at the end on the famous woman of Proverbs 31. I hope numbers will pick up soon.

The first Lord's Day of 2016

We started the year with communion. We read Isaiah 53 and I spoke about penal substitutionary atonement, which is at the heart and centre of our faith. I then preached to a good sized congregation from James 1:19-21. I had worked up a good little mnemonic - quick, slow, slow; out with the old and in with the new - which should enable any good listener to recapture the whole sermon or at least the text. Some students were still around plus other visitors and one or two newbies who we hope we see again. Everyone was happy to come through for a cuppa after the meeting, which is not always the case, so that was good. We were a smaller congregation in the evening as ever but round the twenty mark. I took three Proverbs that I have looked at before but with some fresh supporting material. Proverbs 27:1, 19:21 and 16:3 are just made for a new year gathering.

Opportunities for intake last week

Gavin Peacock, Highgate Rd Chapel

The opportunities to hear others ministering last week were so many that it has taken me until now to write things up.

We started off last Monday (4th) in Westminster Baptist Church listening to Paul Yeulett from Grove Chapel speaking to the fellowship on Stress in the ministry. He began with some more general remarks on the subject of stress before narrowing down to stress in the ministry going to the Psalm and 2 Corinthians before finishing with some practical suggestions such as the importance of things such as rest, variety and delegation. It was a helpful paper and although our chairman was rather disappointed by the number present (about 16) it seemed none to bad given the subject and the day. I must say that although the folk at Westminster Baptist Church are extremely welcoming and kind, the building is not a great draw aesthetically. Such relatively superficial considerations do weigh with some.

The Westminster Fellowship was originally the brainchild of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and on Tuesday evening it was the Dr Lloyd-Jones Memorial Lecture that I went off to at the LTS. This normally takes place during the annual John Owen Centre Conference but as the lecture is intended not to be only for ministers a shift of timing was felt desirable. A good number attended this year's lecture which was from Old Testament specialist Dr Iain Duguid. He spoke on The Song of Songs, on what love is and on marriage and singleness. He helpfully argued that marriage involves  a threefold bond - legal, affectionate and sexual. He spoke of marriage as friendship on fire. He closed with an appropriate focus on Christ and the cross. See here for a similar paper given at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Besides this public lecture Dr Duguid lectured to the seminary students on the Song. On the Wednesday afternoon  there was an opportunity for others to be present when we turned to another of the wisdom books Proverbs and how to preach it. Dr D made some helpful remarks on the subject and gave an example or two of how to go about it. It was good to be present for that too.

As if all that was not enough, there were three further opportunities for intake on the Saturday. The LTS was having an elders day with Garry Williams, Robert Strivens and Ian Fry (a minister and Director of Youth and Children’s Ministry Training at Oak Hill Theological College) [LTS here] and next door the Kensit church had a morning conference on reaching Muslims with Amjad Mahand. We opted for Gavin Peacock with is wife Amanda at Highgate Road Chapel, following up the Song of Songs work with a well attended day conference on biblical manhood and womanhood. There are difficulties when a group focusses only on one matter but it was good to look at the subject again with some very clear messages and an opportunity for questions at the end. More from cbmw here.

Duguid/Yeulett

 

Speaking in Essex

I spent this morning in Rayleigh, Essex, speaking on Proverbs to a gathering of people from UEC churches at one of their Faith Matters days. Around 30 people gathered and hopefully I managed to stir them to want to read Proverbs and forearmed them against some of the pitfalls. The UEC is a group of 15 churches (formerly the Peculiar People), nearly all in Essex. See here for more. What a great way to spend a morning!

Selling Christian Books in Belarus

I write from Minsk in Belarus, where I have been for the the last couple of days helping out with an Evangelical Press book promotion conference. A small conference was arranged at a very nice centre for about 40 pastors and others from Belarus and beyond. Myself and Roger Fay spoke as well as some of the Russian pastors. Roger spoke on David Brainerd whose biography by John Thornbury is now out in Russian and I spoke on the Solomonic books of Song of Songs, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. I have commentaries on two of these books. It would be nice to add a third and it would be good too to see the ones that exist translated.

It was a great privilege to be in a country I had never visited before and to get to meet some of the Russian brothers (as well as our EP friends). Speaking through a translator is not easy but Aleksander who helped both Roger and I was very good.  I also took part in the discussion session they had on ministerial training one night.

I tried to brush up on the Cyrillic alphabet before I came but I am rather poor at it. Singing the hymns was not really possible for this reason and the hymn sining was so good. At least it gave me a little insight into how it must be for dyslexics.

They have a fair number of books in Russian and sales were pretty good apparently. There are plans for more. They can be powerful tools. It's been a great trip.

SBM2 Proverbs 10

At one point in Parminder Summon's Bible Miscellany, he simply quotes the many verses from Proverbs 10 where the wicked (fool) and the righteous (wise men) are contrasted. He has 13 verses but I think he has missed one or two.

3 The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

6 Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

7 The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

8 The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

9 The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

14 Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.

16 The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.

20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.

21 The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

23 A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.

24 What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.

25 When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm for ever.

27 The fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

28 The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.

29 The way of the LORD is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil.

30 The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the land.

31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

32 The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

That is to say

The righteous (who are wise in heart, men of integrity, wise men and men of understanding)

1. Are not allowed to go hungry by the LORD
2. The heads of are crowned with blessing
3. The memory of will be a blessing
4. Accept commands
5. Walk securely
6. The mouth of is a fountain of life
7. Store up knowledge
8. Wages of bring them life
9. Tongue of is choice silver
10. Lips of nourish many
11. Delight in wisdom
12. What they desire will be granted
13. After the storm, they stand firm for ever
14. Fear of LORD adds length to his life
15. Prospect of is joy
16. The way of the LORD is a refuge for
17. Will never be uprooted
18. Mouth of brings forth wisdom
19. Lips know what is fitting

While, the wicked (chattering fools, who take crooked paths, fools, evil doers and perverse tongued)

1. Have their cravings thwarted by the LORD
2. The mouths of are overwhelmed by violence
3. The name of will rot
4. Come to ruin
5. Will be found out
6. The mouth of overwhelmed by violence
7. Mouth of invites ruin
8. Income of bring them punishment
9. Heart of is of little value
10. Die for lack of judgement
11. Find pleasure in evil conduct
12. What they dread will overtake them
13. When the storm has swept by, they are gone
14. Years are cut short
15. Hopes of come to nothing
16. The way of the LORD the ruin of
17. Will not remain in the land
18. Tongue will be cut out
19. Mouth knows only what is perverse

Southport Proverbs

I have agreed to give three talks on Proverbs for men this Saturday in Southport Grace Batist Church.

Proverbs 20:21

An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.
This is from the Christian Institute site. 

A father-of-two who won millions on the National Lottery became so bored after giving up his job that he turned to booze and eventually drank himself to death.
Keith and Louise Gough won £9 million in 2005, and like many others Mr Gough saw the win as the “answer to his dreams”.
But the couple, who were married for 27 years, separated just two years later after Mr Gough gave up his job and began drinking out of boredom.

Devastating

Speaking last year Mr Gough lamented the devastating effect of the win on his life.
He said: “Without routine in my life I started to spend, spend, spend. In the end I was just bored.
“Before the win all I would drink was some wine with a meal. I used to be popular but I’ve driven away all my friends. I don’t trust anyone any more.
“When I see someone going in to a newsagent, I advise them not to buy a lottery ticket.”

Fatal

The 58-year-old suffered a fatal heart attack in March this year, brought on by drinking and stress.
At the time it was believed that Mr Gough had died penniless, but last week it emerged that he had left an estate worth almost £800,000.
At the time of his death a friend said: “They were an ordinary couple with a decent but simple lifestyle.
“The money ruined that and killed Keith. It went to his head and he couldn’t handle it. The whole thing is a tragedy.”

Misery

Since the start of the National Lottery a number of jackpot winners have admitted misery because of their windfall.
Earlier this year one of Britain’s youngest lottery millionaires was found dead in his home.
Stuart Donnelly, who was 17 when he won £2 million in 1997, had become a virtual recluse as he struggled to cope with his new found wealth – and the sudden death of his father in 2000.

Struggled

Mr Donnelly spent his winnings on many things including houses, one of which was for his mother, charitable donations to a hospital his brother was being treated at and an executive seat at Celtic Football Club.
But he reportedly struggled to deal with the pressure of winning the lottery, particularly at such a young age.
Michael Carroll, a former dustman, won £9.7million in 2002 but claimed it had made him miserable.

Jailed

After he won the jackpot, his wife Sandra left him and took their baby daughter with her.
Mr Carroll turned to cocaine, was jailed and was later served with two anti-social behaviour orders.
In 1999 Stephanie Powell won £7.2million, but her family life began to break down as a result.
Her partner Wayne Lawrence walked out on her, claiming the stress of her riches as his reason.
In 1999 Phil Kitchen, a jobless carpenter, won £1.8 million but two years later was found dead in his £500,000 home after drinking himself to death.

Moody Radio Broadcast 2

This is the second of the two interviews I did in London with Paul Butler and that recently aired on Moody Radio. It concerns the Book of Proverbs, the very subject I was lecturing on earlier today. The interview is fairly brief and can be heard here. The previous interview about regeneration or being born again can be found here. On the same site is this topical item (rather American focussed - no mention even of the Geneva gathering).

Philippines 06

The main thing today (Tuesday) was lecturing on Proverbs. I had to endure another lengthy intro from Mon Macapagal. I gave an introduction to Proverbs and then tried to work my way through some example chapters. I was a little too ambitious in my expectations and only did Chapters 2, 7, 8, 14a, 30 and 31 but it gave the flavour and was worthwhile I hope. (I need to speak more slowly and clearly tomorrow when we tackle Ecclesiastes). In the evening I was invited over to the home of Amor Perigon and his family (including children and grandchild) and had a lovely time there. The son of Rudy, who was a Bible Baptist but came to Reformed faith in the USA, they have strong links with Baguio, where the Perigons Senior live. (I should mention at some point how sorry I am not to be meeting Matt Gamston who is down in Ilo Ilo and returns when I leave). Amor is a lovely man with clear opinions and spending time with him gave me another angle on the whole RB work here in The Philippines, especially the language question. A lovely evening.

Philippines Trip

On July 1 I intend to travel to The Philippines and to be there for the next 10 days or so. How come?

1. Some years ago we became aware of the work of Brian Ellis and Cubao RB Church, Manila.

2. For some years we've supported the work among the street children they do and one or two members have travelled to see the work. We also sometimes have Filipinos in the congregation.

3. We are also aware of the Grace Ministerial Academy and its current need of help.

4. Since my last overseas trip (to Nigeria) we've put regularly put aside half a per cent from the general fund for another (the amount covered my air fare). There's an idea for some of you!

5. Having thought about this for some while and tried to pass on my thought of going I finally got to see Brian a month or two back and broached the idea of lecturing on the wisdom literature. He and Principal Noel Espinosa seemed keen for me to come in July, August or September.

6. Meanwhile my dad's situation has not been good so I've been much in prayer and consultation on what to do. Reminders of the Philippines are never far away in London (see pic). At one point I was in a MacDonalds using the netbook when I heard on the radio - "Don’t matter if I step on the scene Or sneak away to the Philippines". I thought I was so obsessed with the subject I was hearing things but these are genuine words from Britney Spears' "Piece of me". Thankfully I try not to get my guidance from such Providences. What I really wanted was some assurance from God about how long my dad will live. I don't think I'll be getting that and so there could still be problems ahead for this project but I just need to step out in faith.

7. So I decided that sooner rather than later was better from the point of view of my dad's health (who's fine at present and has been told to stay healthy at least until I'm back and then for the wedding at least). It turns out Noel was planning a special day of Calvin seminars on July 10 so I can do that too - although he's given me Calvin's Theology, which will be a tall order for me.

8. Tickets no doubt go up the longer you leave it so I was glad to get a good price last Monday (Malaysia Airlines). I did it on the laptop watching the news about this Air France tragedy. Sobering thought. For some reason it was cheaper to travel July 1 than July 2, which is not a problem. The bigger decision was choosing to be away 2 Sundays, which I didn't want but it's been unavoidable (one factor was the need to be back to see Dylan perform in Westside Story!). Getting preachers didn't prove difficult - further Providences. Also no problem updating my injections at the doctor's - and nothing to pay, which was good.

9. So imagine that, God willing on July 10th, Calvin's birthday, I'll be not in Wales or London, which would be fine, not in Geneva - a great idea I toyed with but couldn't afford - but in Manila and talking about the man himself! Could he possibly have imagined that 500 years on they'd be talking about him in such a far flung place?

10. There's lots of preparation to be done then - going through my notes on Proverbs, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes and working on the Calvin but what a privilege. There are always reasons to pray.

A real blog

We are still committed to the idea of real blogging, which some of you certainly like. So, Wednesday, of course, was midweek meeting. I prepared during the day then slipped out in the afternoon to a nearby BUPA home where I speak from time to time. It is very difficult to make any impact as most of the residents are in quite a poor way. Anyway we try. The evening meeting was well attended (for us - that is in double figures). We have an Iranian in the congregation who is coming on Wednesdays now. He likes to pray in Farsi, which is difficult. I believe we should be able to say 'amen' so I ask him to summarise for us afterwards in English. We are learning the key words - Father, we thank you, etc. I don't want to stop him praying in Farsi as Islam will only allow Arabic and so if I say only English I seem similar. He had a friend with him this time and we hope to begin some Bible studies soon. We are going through Deuteronomy and this week we came to some of the most difficult couple of verses in the Bible (the law about a woman's hand being cut off - see Deuteronomy 25). I knew the visitor was likely to be there and so I could have left this out perhaps but I feel that we simply need to be honest. As it turned out going through Deuteronomy 24, 25 with people from the Middle East present gave things an interesting edge that would have been missing otherwise.

Thursday I was in the study for the morning then headed off, with Rhodri my son, to South Wales. En route we stopped off at a hotel near Heathrow where I'd arranged (through EP my publisher) to meet a man called Paul Butler, who is a producer for Moody Radio's magazine programme Prime Time America, which is syndicated across the USA. (His blog looks very interesting indeed). He was on his way to Uganda and wanted to interview me about two of my books, which I was glad to do. (He'd seen my video here). We found a corner in this nice hotel (it proved to be rather busy in the end) and he interviewed me on 'being born again' and on 'Proverbs'. I didn't enjoy the experience as I'm much happier in print where you can fiddle to your heart's content. When I speak. I tend to ramble a little. I'm also, on one hand, quite imprecise and, on the other, compensate sometimes by drowning my sentences in a heap of qualifications. Anyway hopefully he has enough material from the half hour to come up with two decent 8 minute pieces. We'll see. Rhodri and I then carried on our journey to Cwmbran where we were with the family for a few hours (more on that in a separate post). We were home around midnight.

Friday was set apart for more preparation for Sunday but I was quite tired and couldn't get much done. in the evening we had the regular clubs for children and young people. Numbers are up to around 15 (from 10) for the younger ones but down to under 20 (from 25) for the older ones. One of our deacons spoke (on the Pharisee and the tax collector). In the younger club they carried on with the mural they are doing and we played hockey in the hall. Gwion (just old enough for the older club) and Owain (only 8 but joined in fine) stayed with me as Eleri and Rhodri had gone to a meeting at the London Welsh School. The poet Ifor Ap Glyn was doing an evening for them. Ifor grew up in London and speaks English like a North Londoner. He has lived in North Wales for the last 20 years, however, and speaks Welsh like a gog. Eleri said it was an excellent evening with a good number present. She was in quite late so I put the boys to bed (for a change). Gwion was reading a Garfield book and so I read a book about sharks with Owain, learning that the whale shark is the biggest fish in the world and that (most) sharks must keep swimming or they'll die.

Debriefing

As ever the last few days have been hectic and I feel in need of a debriefing. Do excuse me.

Wednesday - Meetings

Yesterday I was at my regular meetings for older folk - one am and one pm. The morning one was fine and I enjoyed walking the Kilburn High Road after it. Got my hair cut and bought a man bag and one or two other things en route. Evidence of the recession abounds with several shops closed down. In the afternoon one at the BUPA home we were low in numbers and the organiser was rather stressed busy putting up a display for St David's and St Patrick's Day (I've never seen green dragons for Wales before). Eleri's cousin's eldest, Ifan was with us overnight - up to check out London's art galleries. He joined us at our midweek meeting - and prayed in English! We were looking at the next bit in Deuteronomy 19 especially about two or three witnesses, which has a surprisingly large number of applications (just check the NT references).

Tuesday - EMF and LTS

The day before that I was lecturing in Welwyn at the EMF School on Seventh Day Adventists, Freemasons and Spiritualists. Rather a disastrous morning in some respects as I arrived late and had to leave early. In the afternoon we were interviewing at LTS.

Monday - LTS

On Monday I was at the LTS for the John Owen Centre Theological Study Group. We were discussing Tim Keller's book The Reason for God under the leadership of Mostyn Roberts. There was general agreement that while we have a lot of admiration for Keller and his book and like his zeal for souls some of the exegesis and theology leaves something to be desired. There are one or two surprisingly uncalvinistic statements in it. We agreed to do Catch the Vision by John J Murray next time.

Monday night was rather frustrating as Eleri was out then there was a problem with the internet on the laptop. Phoning BT is always a nightmare and though we eventually got the problem sorted it was frustrating and time consuming and by the time I was sorted I'd missed the University Challenge final, which I had to watch on iplayer later knowing the Trimble girl had won it for Corpus Christi. Ah well.

Weekend - Preaching, quiz night and party

On Sunday I preached on the final three chapters of Ezekiel and was not only glad to have completed the task but felt it came to something of a climax. We were in Hebrews 10 in the evening, a very searching passage.

The night before Rhodri had organised a quiz night for kids 15+ and around 15 showed up - half of them "outsiders". One old friend, Edmund, came and stayed with us for the weekend. I spoke (rather convolutedly I thought in the end, sadly) on learning from Agur (Proverbs). One fellow took a Bible and one a copy of my book on Regeneration (he's read most of Keller - he thought the negative first part better than the second positive part) and another person was very interested.

Saturday was Owain's birthday. He had a pirate themed party and enjoyed it a lot. Thankfully the weather was fine and they could spill out into the garden. They loved the trampoline and the rabbits (BTW did I mention there's been another litter recently? It's like a farm out there. I suggested that we put a rabbit in each of the party bags but we didn't in the end ;-).

Welwyn Series Software

I read on the Exile's blog here that

The Welwyn Bible Commentaries, published by Evangelical Press are now available for pre-order from Logos Bible Software. The set includes distinguished commentaries by Philip Eveson on Genesis and Leviticus, Gary Brady on Proverbs and the Song of Songs and Derek Thomas on Isaiah and Ezekiel.

I also hear that my Proverbs commentary is to be reprinted (with some minor corrections that I've been working on) next month.

(PS There are apparently 49 such volumes and close inspection of the above graphic suggests that they are not all there. One of the missing volumes is my fat Proverbs. Shame.)

PPS The pre-publication price is around £210 - around £4 a volume, which is not bad but a lot to fork out in one go.

Romania 02

The conference took place in the impressive college chapel of the Baptist University in Oradea. Some 140-150 students and pastors were present. The senior pastor at Emanuel and the President of the University, Paul Negrut, kicked things off with some warm words of welcome. Phil spoke first and I second, after a break. We both spoke twice on the first day then once on the Saturday morning. Phil spoke on verses in Colossians 2. His Welwyn commentary on the book has just appeared (see here). He had the excellent help of professor Dr Corneliu Simut (see here) as translator. Corneliu is a church history specialist who has studied under Carl Trueman and did his PhD on Richard Hooker. I tackled three wisdom books with the help of Dr Dan Boutica (see here page 6). (For the second and longest Dinu stood in as translator as Dan was unable to be present). Things went quite well considering the difficulties involved. Using a translator is not the best way to communicate but it beats not having one at all!

The Romanians love their singing and there was plenty of that as well some prayers and reading of Scripture - both always conducted with the people standing up. The University Dean Dorin Hnatiuc, led the singing with gusto. He also preached the closing sermon - a striking one on the demands of the ministry from Ecclesiastes 10:8, 9.There were two bookstalls but sales were not high. Interaction with attendees present was possible to some extent, although not all (especially the older ones) spoke English. (Romanian is perhaps most like Italian but with dashes of slav. It is phonetic but relies on a vast number of diacritical marks. I at least learned to say Pac(h)-e (Peace) - the accepted greeting among Christians).
On the Saturday we had a question session (a new departure it seems) when four questions were asked, mostly to do with the texts, although one was about baptism and whether entrance to heaven is possible without it. Phil answered very well not downplaying baptism but stressing that it is an act of obedience and we are saved in the end by faith not works. [See Pic 1. Pic 2 shows the chapel and Pic 3 shows Dorin Hnatiuc, Phil, me, Dinu, Corneliu Simut]