Day off Week 37

At the start of the day I saw a pair of canvas boots I've not worn much over the summer. I then walked over 12000 steps with the dog which was good. had a coffee in Highgate adn did the puzzles.

I managed to read another good book this week, another nice hardback, beautifully produced by Ligonier. This was Sinclair Ferguson's By grace alone. He works his way through the hymn How the grace of God amazes me by E T Sibomona a verse at a time. Some familiar themes arise, like the Prodigal son and Romans 6 and so on, but also Ephesians 6 and Job. I was really refreshed by the book and was once again amazed by grace, the purpose of the book. It's not a new book. It came out in 2007. Worth checking out though.

I also read a chunk of a novel (Penelope Fitzgerald's first The golden child). Very well observed and quite funny.

Listened to music this week. Lots of Bob Dylan. Watched TV in the evening with Eleri. Dipped into her Strictly adn Bake off and then watched the first in a new drama series Strangers.

10 Men of God called John

Having decided that we would look at three men called John at the Evangelical Library this Autumn I have been trying to recall an anecdote I came across at some time. I now have it. It is from a Spurgeon sermon. He says

I do not think Rowland Hill was at all foolish when he rode over from Cambridge, a distance of thirteen miles, to see an old woman who was on her deathbed. He said, “You are older than I am, but I am getting older, and, even now, I sometimes think they have forgotten me; but in the meantime, since you are going first, take my love to the four great Johns - John who leaned on Jesus’ bosom, and John Bunyan, and John Calvin, and John Knox; take my love to them, and tell them poor old Rowly will be coming by and by.” I have no doubt that the message would have been delivered. I think there is such a connection between earth and heaven that we shall see those who have gone before. How comforting it must be to some aged ones, when they think that though they are taken from that part of the family which remains on earth, they have a larger family circle probably in heaven than here!

So

1. John the Apostle
2. John the Baptist
3. John Chrysostom
4. John Calvin
5. John Knox
6. John Bunyan
7. John Owen
8. John Berridge
9. John Cennick
10. John Murray

(Obvious omissions: John Elias, John Fawcett, John Gill, John Newton, John Ryland, John Sutcliff, John Wesley, John Wycliffe)

John The Under-rated Pastor

We had the first of our Autumn lectures on Monday. This term we are looking at three men named John and the first of these was John Owen. Aaron Prelock, who is on the pastoral team at St Giles Mission and is currently doing a PhD on Owen, spoke very helpfully on "John the under-rated pastor". Emphasising Owen's largely pastoral role throughout his life, he shared with us his research into the scholastic context behind Owen and spoke of his understanding of habitus or disposition or bent, specifically what that should be in a pastor according to Owen

For Owen it is chiefly that of shepherd which he says, ina defence of congregationalism, 

is metaphorical. It is a denomination suited unto his work, denoting the same office and person with a bishop or elder, spoken of absolutely without limitation unto either teaching or ruling. And it seems to be used or applied unto this office, because it is more comprehensive of, and instructive in, all the duties that belong unto it, than any other name whatever; nay, than all of them put together.

He says

Unto the call of any person unto this office of a pastor in the church there are certain qualifications previously required in him, disposing and making him fit for that office. The outward call is an act of the church, as we shall show immediately ; but therein is required an obediential acting of him also who is called.

In more than one place he elucidates the sort of qualifications needed. So for example in one place he says

1. The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word.
2. The second duty of a pastor towards his flock is continual fervent prayer for them

This should be accompanied by 

(1.) Spiritual wisdom and understanding in the mysteries of the gospel, that they may declare unto the church "all the counsel of God" and "the unsearchable riches of Christ:''
(2.) Experience of the power of the truth which they preach in and upon their own souls
(3.) Skill to divide the word aright
(4.) A prudent and diligent consideration of the state of the floch over which any man is set
And, (5.) All these, in the whole discharge of their duty, are to be constantly accompanied with the evidence of zeal for the glory of God and compassion for the souls of men.

We had a good paper and a good discussion. Do join us next time (October 15) when Stan evers will speak on John Berridge - John the eccentric vicar. 

Lord's Day September 9 2018

I

 sometimes think the preaching is improving and may be it is but then you think of other things that need improving too. We were about 30 on Sunday morning and two thirds stayed for lunch. I wish it had been more. We were smaller again in the evening but not too bad. One encouraging thing was that there were about six people present in the 17-24 age group but some came am and some pm. I'm trying to get some people together this week for a home Bible study. I preached on the lost coin and the triumphal entry. The parable was easier than the narrative.

The Children Act

I'd meant to say we were at the cinema  last week, watching The Children Act with Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci. People have not been too kind to it but I thought it was very good. It deals with big themes - death, marriage, childlessness, career. friendship, religion, etc - and does it,a s far as I could see, without coming down too heavily handedly in a didactic manner. Rather, it presents the dilemmas strikingly and realistically and I found it very stimulating. I don't like to read up about a film before going so I had not realised it is based on an Ian McEwan novel. May be I wouldn't like the novel. I liked the film. Great acting from Thompson, Tucci and the young man.

10 Books with flowers in their titles

1. Daisy Miller by Henry James
2. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
3. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

4. Black Tulip by Alexander Dumas
5. Clover by Susan Coolidge
6. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
8. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
9. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
10. Iris and Lily by Angela Scipioni

(The first three apear in the film The age of Adaline)

Midweek Meeting September 5 2018

A little different this week as we focused only on prayer. It is part of a week of prayer that I thought would be a suitable beginning to the new year. We weren't many but after singing and reading from Ehphesians 6 we did pray. We also met last night adn at other times.

Day off Week 36

It's been the holiday period and so there were few real days off in August except holiday ones. We are getting back into routine, however, and so yesterday was my official day off. In the morning there was a prayer meeting and three of us gathered to pray (I have organised a series of prayer meetings this week). I tried to fill the rest of the day with day off sorts of stuff. In the summer I picked up a copy of Derek Thomas's new book Strength for the weary. It is a beautifully produced hardback from Ligonier. I had assumed it was based on Psalms but it is a set of eight or nine reworked sermons on verses in the latter half of Isaiah (ie 40-66). It is a real gem being very pastoral but with a wonderful grasp of Isaiah, strong theology and good use of supporting materials. A real gem. I also carried on with a book I'm reading at present called The secret life of cows and another on words by Farrukh Dhondy (more on those another time). I didn't do that much walking but I made sure I went out for a coffee and a go at the puzzles in the newspaper. I also did some blogging here and watched the second part of  ITV's Vanity Fair which is going well I thought. I also got round to fixing our hall light which has been out of action for too long. As I suspected it was not just a bulb problem. The fitting wires had come loose and needed to be re-stripped and fitted. Balancing on the bottom of the stairs with a pair of scissors is not the best way to do it but we got there.

10 Bearers

1. Pallbearer
2. Cupbearer
3. Water bearer
4. Tale bearer or news or message bearer
5. Torch bearer
6. Standard bearer or flag bearer
7. Litter bearer or stretcher bearer
8. Ticket bearer
9. Ring bearer
10. Fur bearer
(cross bearer, armour bearer or sword bearer)

Praguematic Humour

Lord's Day September 2 2018

We had a very good day last Lord's Day. We were only 8 at communion but slowly numbers grew in the morning meeting an even in the evening we were into double figures. One feature of the day was lots of visitors. There was a Nigerian lady, two unconnected Iranians (a man who we had been expecting and a woman who we had not), a Syrian man who has come before with his visiting Greek mother and in the evening a Vietnamese young man new to us. As ever lots of others missing. We looked at the next bit in Luke 15 in the morning and returned to Matthew (the end of Chapter 20) in the evening.

10 theologians known by their double initial

1. F F Bruce (Frederick Fyvie)
2. D A Carson (Donald Arthur)
3. N T Wright (Nicholas Thomas)
4. B B Warfield (Benjamin Breckinridge)
5. D M Lloyd-Jones (David Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
6. A W Pink (Arthus Walkington)
7. J P Moreland (James Porter)
8. J I Packer (James Innell) 
9. D M Macleod (Donald M?)
10. A A Hodge (Archibald Alexander)

10 preachers known by their double initial

1. C H Spurgeon (Charles Haddon)

2. D L Moody (Dwight Lyman)

3. A W Tozer (Aiden Wilson)

4. W A Criswell (Wallie Amos)

5. R A Torrey (Reuben Archer)

6. F B Meyer (Frederick Brotherton)

7. W E Sangster (William Edwin)

8. F W Boreham (Frank William)

9. T D Jakes (Thomas Dexter)

10. R C Sproul (Robert Charles)

[Not all recommended]

Trdelnik

According to Wikipedia Trdelník is found in several Central European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, etc).

The word trdelník is of either Czech or Slovak origin. Nowadays, it is very popular among tourists as a sweet pastry in the Czech Republic. A modern version, with fillings such as ice cream, has been spreading in popularity from its origin in Prague. We had one filled with fresh fruit and ice cream with a chocolate spread topping.

The version made in the Slovak town of Skalica - Skalický trdelník was registered in December 2007 as PGI (protected geographical indication) in the European Union. The registration application with the detailed description of the product was published in April 2007 in the Official Journal of the European Union. The original recipe was brought to Skalica at the end of the 18th century by the Transylvanian cook József Gvadányi, a retired Hungarian general. The original recipe was later improved by the inhabitants of Skalica to its final form now known as Skalický trdelník.

The civil association Skalický trdelník was founded at the end of 2004 with the goal of keeping the tradition of the original open fire Trdelník production. The name trdelník comes from trdlo (originally a wooden tool for pounding or stamping materials in a stoupa, a hollowed-out log), the wooden stake the cake is wrapped around for cooking which gives it its traditional hollow shape.

Trip to Prague

It's been a bit quiet here recently as my wife and I have been away together to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversarry. We decided to go to Prague for a couple of days, an unknown for us but we had an excellent time walking around sightseeing and taking a trip on the river. We had a nice enough hotel not too far from the centre and managed to see quite a bit on a fairly low budget. We also enjoyed a tram ride and the metro. We learned about trdelnik and enjoyed one each. More on that next time.