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

 

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.

DMLJ 09 Burrowes on Canticles

George Burrowes “Commentary on the Song Of Solomon”

Foreword

There is probably no book in the Bible which is so neglected as The Song of Solomon. There are many reasons for this.The “higher” critics regard it as but the love song or poem of a king, written to one of his loves when he was probably under the influence of wine. They feel that it should not be in the Bible at all, that it has no spiritual value whatsoever, and that it is scarcely a fit book for good and moral people to read. It is not surprising therefore that they should neglect it. But there are many who, while totally rejecting such a view, nevertheless neglect this book because they find it difficult to understand. They cannot see the meaning of the imagery and often find themselves in difficulties as to the exact speaker. They feel that is has a message but they cannot find it.Contrasted with these there are those who regard this book as a mine of spiritual treasure and as one of the most exquisite expositions of the relationship between the believer and his Lord to be found anywhere in the Bible. Such, for instance, was the view taken of it by J. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, and his little book expounding it called “Union and Communion” is of great value.Clearly, therefore, the average Christian needs help in order to be able to enter into this rich enjoyment.It is because I know of nothing which in any way approaches this commentary in that respect that I am glad that it is being re-printed and made available.It has everything that should characterize a good commentary – learning and scholarship, accuracy and carefulness, but, above all, and more important than all else, true spiritual insight and understanding. It provides a key to the understanding of the whole and every verse which the humblest Christian can easily follow.I predict that all who read it and study it will agree with me in saying that they have never read anything more uplifting and heart-warming. It will lead them to their Lord and enable them to know and to realize His love as they have never done before.

D M Lloyd-Jones
Westminster Chapel, London

Philippines 08

I felt a little unwell this morning but I seem to have got better as the day has gone on thanks to some rest and some medication. Most of the day was taken up with lecturing on Song of Songs. Feeling under the weather it was hard work but we got there. I have placed a copy of the book in the Library as I did with the one on Proverbs.

Plenty of rain again later. For tea I was with Pastor Ishmael, one of the three pastors here with Mon and Brian, and his family. They live on site. We had bangus, which is the national fish - very tasty too. I told someone it tasted like chicken and they were surprised as they thought I was talking about batus (aborted chick I think)! The language barrier is a constant theme here. Tonight is the drop-in again and so they are feeding over a hundred and giving them the gospel. This church is a hive of activity. It's lovely to see a working church.

Talking about loving wives and such things all day made me really miss Eleri. Ah well, not so very long now.

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.

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]

Romania

Organizatori:
EDITURA FĂCLIA şi UNIVERSITATEA EMANUEL, ORADEA
împreună cu
EVANGELICAL PRESS, ANGLIA
CONFERINŢĂ
a celor ce slujesc prin puterea
Cuvântului lui Dumnezeu
19-20 Octombrie, 2007
GREUTĂŢILE SLUJBEI ŞI REZOLVAREA BIBLICĂ A ACESTORA
CONFERENŢIARI:
Phil Arthur , Anglia
Gary Brady , Anglia
SE DESFĂŞOARĂ ÎN CAPELA UNIVERSITĂŢII „EMANUEL” DIN ORADEA
Str. Nufărului nr. 78
Pentru confirmarea participării dumneavoastră vă rugăm să sunaţi la : Editura Făclia,
Tel: 0259 – 419318 sau 0722-609746

This is the heading for a conference that I'm going to be speaking at this week in Romania. I've little experience of this sort of thing so I'm slightly apprehensive. The programme begins tomorrow and is thus:

Thursday
Travel to Oradea (Romania) on a KLM flight to Budapest (Hungary) via Amsterdam then on to Oradea, 160 miles east, just over the Romanian border. I fly from Heathrow alone and join up with John Rubens and Phil Arthur in Holland.
Friday
After Phil Arthur has spoken and after coffee I speak at noon on preaching from Proverbs. Then in the afternoon we follow the same pattern and at 5 pm I speak on Expounding Ecclesiastes. There is also a question and answer session later that day.
Saturday
There is another half day of conference and I speak at 11 am on Sermons from The Song of Solomon.
Lords Day
In the morning I preach (10 am) in Golgotha Baptist Church, Oradea (Pastor Daniel Tanc). I will be translated by Dr. Corneliu Simut.
At 5 pm I preach in the evening service at Sion Baptist Church, Oradea (Pastors George Padure & Viorel Ile). I will be translated by Viorel Ile (with whom I will be having my evening meal - before or after)
Monday
Back to Blighty by the same route in reverse.

Do pray.