EMA Day 3

At this time of the year I usually pop down to the Evangelical Ministry Assembly at St Helen's organised by the Proclamation Trust. I mostly enjoy being there because I don't know 90% of the people there even by sight (I guess they are Anglicans and others in the mixed denominations). If they are willing to listen to the sort of things you get there then there's more of us than I tend to think there are. Some things wind me up, of course, like the fact the bookstall never stocks my books; the saxophone and the poor drum fills; the parochialness of some of it; the accents now and again; the in jokes I don't get.

I was only able to be present for the final less well attended day this year. There were four sessions of varying quality. One surprising but encouraging thing was that Dr Lloyd-Jones got a (may be unprecedented) positive mention in the first two. It was wonderful to hear people at last saying that preaching is more than simply explaining the text. I have noticed this trend and trust this is a sign of growing maturity.

Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York, is always worth listening to - warm, practical, original, well thought through. (More here). Others spoke highly of his two previous messages although his failure to understand the British scene was noted. His subject on the Friday was 'What is an evangelical ministry?'. He spoke (counter-intuitively) first about the practice then the principles.

Practically, preaching is central in the overall ministry, doxological in its end and Christocentric in its content. More generally, one needs to keep working on evangelism, discipleship, social justice and the integration of your members' faith and work.

His three principles were that the ministry must reflect the balance of God's wrath and love as seen in the cross; it should reflect that contextual balance seen in the incarnation and, thirdly, it should be based more on grace than gifts. This last point was the best and much appreciated by everyone I spoke to. We all know that godliness is more important than gifts in the ministry, however, Keller actually argued the case, which I've never heard done before. His main point was that no-one is going to be brilliant at every aspect of ministry, the only hope then is that you are at least godly. Without that you are sunk. You are an accident waiting to happen. I'm afraid I could identify very much with that and knew exactly what he was talking about. It was a timely reminder of the need for re-ordered priorities.

After such a blistering start it was difficult to sustain that but Vaughan Roberts didn't do too badly with his second survey of Daniel (covering the much more difficult Chapter 7ff). He chimed in well with what Keller had been saying. It's difficult to say anything useful in such brief compass but I'm sure younger men will have been helped.

Over lunch I bought some books, chatted, ate and listened to men from Delhi, Accra and Havana being interviewed.

The patriarch Dick Lucas did the last session (on Philippians again). Every movement needs its older men and Dick always says something useful. At the beginning he remarked in passing that men sometimes try to put too much in their sermons - that's worth chewing on. I'm afraid I was rather distracted after that. He was still banging on about the horrors of the Keswick movement as I began to drift. At least he kept to time.

In between these two was a sort of question time when Keller, Roberts and Richard Cunningham who had spoken the day before were asked about various things not very much related to their subjects but more on what they were doing. Cunningham was asked about the fall out between Spring Harvest and Word Alive ( a rapprochement originally broached many years before by Roy Clements) over Steve Chalke leading to a separate Word Alive this year, which was eagerly being plugged. (They have Don Carson, John Piper and Terry Virgo (!) speaking).

It is at this point that I get completely lost. Cunningham goes to an Anglican church and so, like Chalke and many more there is up to his neck in the mixed denominations. Last April I believe there was a conference that took place in April in Cambridge. An advert says -

A number of ministers from Great Britain and Australia will be on the program, including Wright and McGrath; David Jackman of Proclamation Trust; Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Trust and senior pastor of Christ Church, London; and Gordon Moyes of Wesley Mission, the largest evangelical congregation in Australia. See here.

I know it's difficult but at least you can see what some men are aiming at. Anyway I don't want to end negatively the conference did me good and I plan to go again as the more you listen the better you understand. More info here.

How not to use powerpoint

The Somme

This week is the 91st anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. I believe that my grandfather, William Brady, fought in that momentous battle, which few survived. He was from Newport. He was conscripted not a volunteer. He was in the lifeguards.

Words from my childhood

Today I chiefly speak standard English but as a child growing up in South Wales I spoke a variant of what is sometimes known as Wenglish (ie English but with some influence from the Welsh language). We were not valleys Welsh so we spoke little real Wenglish but we heard it and spoke a little too. Most of the words below are in Wenglish dictionaries but not all. See here and here for more on that. Here is a list of words I was familiar with as a child but now rarely hear or use. In two cases I have used a Welsh 'w' which has a sort of 'ou' sound.

1. Cwpi down - to squat (cwpi down by 'ere a bit while we wait)
[We had a teacher in Secondary School called 'twti' presumably because, coming from elsewhere in Wales, he asked boys to twti down rather than cwpi down]
2. Scram - scratch (I'll scram yer eyes out you come near me)
3. Wisp - a stye (I think I've gorra wisp coming in me eye)
4. Daps - plimsolls (Miss said we've gorra bring daps today for PE)
5. Scag - snag (I just scagged my jumper)
6. Obstropolous - Obstrepereous (She was an obstropolous type, always causing trouble)
7. Ashcart - Refuse lorry (You'll end up working on the ashcarts if you don't buck up yer ideas)
8. Cwtch -To be fondled and snuggled up in an especially loving way (Come and have a cwtch with yer mam/dad)
9. Caibosh - messed up (That's put the caibosh on that then)
10. Dobber - ballbearing used as a marble ('E lost 'is 10-er dobber to a kid in Standard 4)
11. Conflab - long discussion or meeting (Come up about 11 and we'll have a good old conflab)
12. Ructions - big trouble (There'll be ructions if your father sees it like that)
13. Skewiff - Awry not straight (You've stuck it in the album all skewiff)
14. Tampin' - Angry ('E 'ad it on 'im, aye, when 'e realised. 'E was tampin')
15. Parched - Gasping for a cup of tea (Get that kettle on love, I'm parched)
16. Jibbons - spring onions (My dad used to like jibbons with his salad)

10 words beginning with 'Z'

A random list of words beginning with Z

1. Zabaglione - A dessert or sauce consisting of egg yolks, sugar and wine or liqueur beaten until thick and served hot or cold. Also called sabayon.

2. Zenana (or Zanana) - The part of a house in Asian countries such as India and Pakistan reserved for the women of the household.

3. Zebu - A domesticated ox (Bos indicus) of Asia and eastern Africa, having a prominent hump on the back and a large dewlap.

4. Zillion - An indeterminately huge number.

5. Zinger - A. A witty, often caustic remark. B. A sudden shock, revelation, or turn of events.

6. Zit - Slang A pimple (origin unknown).

7. Zori - A flat sandal with thongs, usually made of straw or leather (Japanese from Chinese).

8. Zounds - Interjection used to express anger, surprise or indignation (From God's wounds).

9. Zwinglian - Of or relating to Ulrich Zwingli or to his theological system, especially his doctrine that the physical body of Jesus is not present in the Eucharist and that the ceremony is merely a symbolic commemoration of Jesus's death.

10. Zygote - A. The cell formed by the union of two gametes, especially a fertilized ovum before cleavage. B. The organism that develops from a zygote.

Haiku

This is a haiku

To say 'I don't like you' -

Please, rain, go away!

Weekly Proverb 17

25:11 A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver
Picture: golden jewels offset by a silver surround. They look very attractive.
This verse exemplifies its own desideratum. Kings often have to give speeches. We all have to speak to an audience at times. Eloquence and rhetoric are often despised today but we ought not to underestimate the power of attractively spoken and fitting words. Sometimes even a very few words are fondly remembered long after the event. Think of some of the sermons you have heard or words of counsel you have received. I remember someone once saying that it is important in a depression not to do too much thinking. What a help that little gem has been. We trust that similar gems will be found in the settings of silver we have sought to create for them on this blog. Recognise the beauty of Scripture. Endeavour yourself both to be winning in the way you speak and to speak the right word at the right time.

John Kitto wants us to understand citrons rather than apples here and like others sees them as golden fruits in a silver basket. He draws attention to the apples of gold found in the writings of the Puritan Thomas Brooks. He refers to a volume of Brooks’ sayings produced under that title. He urges us to place them in the silver baskets of our minds. Here are two for you ‘Now is an atom that will puzzle the wisdom of a philosopher, the skill of an angel, to divide.’ ‘Two things make good Christians: good actions and good aims; and though a good aim does not make a bad action good (as in Uzzah), yet a bad aim makes a good action bad (as in Jehu).’
This proverb acts as an introduction to the six that follow, also on speech.

Barefoot in Mullyneeny

I caught a brilliant short story on the radio a little while ago called 'The white horse' (or was it 'Coping the lea'?). It was read in a beautiful Irish accent and was a magical bit of nostalgic and evocative reminiscing. More recently I came across this collection of 48 short stories and realised straight away that it was the source of the story I'd heard. Actually it says on the cover 'As heard on Radio 4's Home truths'. I have a soft spot for things Irish (must be in the genes somewhere) but whatever your background this is simply a well written collection of sometimes slight and sometimes more substantive material by amaster story teller who has worked hard on his material and who has a gift for observation and what makes people tick. The back story of Catholic Ulster in the forties and fifties is desperately tragic and wone is bound to be moved. I'm loathe to pick out one but if you read 'Noreen Bawn' about a girl he once saw who lost her innocence in England and are not moved you're made of stone. You can hear 'Coping the lea' here and four others.

10 words beginning with 'X'

With the youngsters on Fridays we do 'Alphabets' at the beginning (ie Boys names, etc). When we come to 'Y' I always say 'Why do we do this?' and when we come to 'X' we usually try and get X-ray or Xylophone in somehow. According to Johnson there are no English words beginning with 'X' although even in his time there were some he could have included. Alphabet books for children frequently feature the word xylophone because it is one of the few words beginning with x that a child (or most adults, for that matter) would know. The majority of English words beginning with x, including many obscure scientific terms, are of Greek origin, the x, pronounced (z), representing the Greek letter xi. In the case of xylophone, xylo- is a form meaning "wood," derived from Greek xulon, "wood," and -phone represents Greek phone, "voice, sound," the same element found in words such as telephone, microphone and megaphone. Xylophone is first recorded in the April 7, 1866, edition of the Athenaeum: "A prodigy ... who does wonderful things with little drumsticks on a machine of wooden keys, called the 'xylophone.'"

Here is a random list of 10 'X' words.

1. Xanthum gum - A natural gum of high molecular weight produced by culture fermentation of glucose and used as a stabilizer in commercial food preparation. Named for its yellow colour.

2. Xenogam - Cross pollination (not marrying a foreigner)

3. Xerography - A dry photographic or photocopying process in which a negative image formed by a resinous powder on an electrically charged plate is electrically transferred to and thermally fixed as positive on a paper or other copying surface.

4. Xiphoid - A. Shaped like a sword. B. Of or relating to the xiphisternum (part of the sternum).

5. X-ray star - A celestial object, especially a star, that emits a major portion of its radiation in x-rays.

6. Xylene - A. Any of three flammable isomeric hydrocarbons, C6H4(CH3)2, obtained from wood and coal tar. B. A mixture of xylene isomers used as a solvent in making lacquers and rubber cement and as an aviation fuel.

7. Xylitol - A sweet white crystalline alcohol, C5H12O5, derived from xylose and used especially as a sugar substitute in oral health products.

8. Xylophagous - A. Feeding on wood, as certain insects or insect larvae. B. Destructive to wood, as certain crustaceans or fungi.

9. Xylophone - See above.

10. XYZ - Informal Used to indicate to someone that the zipper of his or her trousers/pants is open. (eXamine Your Zipper). The joke here is also that the XYZ company make zippers.

Dr Johnson's Dictionary

I've just finished Henry Hitchings' excellent 2005 book on Samuel Johnson and his dictionary. Hitchings has PD on Johnson so knows his stuff. He manages to present the material in an interesting and informative way and I would recommend the book to anyone with an interest in English language, literature or history. He sets out his chapters in a clever A-Z fashion that does not intrude but enhances the experience. W should all know at least something about Dr Johnson and his dictionary.

Short Poem 24

I believe I first came across this poem in a Banner of Truth workbook on the Shorter Catechism. E A Robinson (1869-1935) was an American poet who won three Pulitzer prizes. Many of his poems, it seems, have a dark pessimism. It is speculated that the Cory poem is about his brother. More here. Apparently the poem was made famous by Simon & Garfunkel, although their version seems quite different.

Richard Cory by Edward Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favoured, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Archive 7d Assistant Pastor

What can be expected?
· Assistants must expect temptations. Three obvious examples come to mind.
Pride. We quoted Jeremiah 45:5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. It is unclear exactly why Jeremiah spoke to Baruch as he did and what the great things are. No doubt having been so closely associated with the great prophet and reading his words to kings and princes it was tempting for Baruch to be proud. There is a temptation for an assistant to imagine that anything his teacher achieves is his achievement. I remember once hearing that a certain man had been Dr Lloyd-Jones assistant - suddenly he shot up in my estimation. However, it does not automatically follow that because a man has served as a great preacher's assistant he is a great preacher himself. Nothing will be gained by osmosis. Being appointed assistant pastor does not mean a man has 'arrived'. None of us has arrived - pastors, assistant pastors, people. We all need to humble ourselves daily.
Discouragement and fear. No doubt the reason Mark abandoned Paul and Barnabas was because he was discouraged and fearful. Such emotions can come in very easily. We must all pray against them.
Coveting. Think of Gehazi for a moment who out of greed tried to get something by deceiving others. It is worth saying that although few assistants are paid much it may be more than they have had before. Such things must not steal their hearts. Again, we all need to take warning.
· Assistants either prove themselves or fail. What happened with Mark was a tragedy and it stands as a warning that there's no guarantee that everything's bound to work out fine. It may not. A work can suffer a real set back. On the other hand, think of those wonderful words in Php 2:22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself …. The best end is for a man to prove himself to be a preacher and pastor who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).
· People may disagree on their success. Of course, at the end of an assistantship there may be disagreement over how successful the exercise has been. If godly men like Paul and Barnabas could disagree so sharply on their opinion of a man it should not surprise us when such things happen to us. We pray against division but to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
· Failure here though undesirable is not the story's end. Perhaps we should make the point finally that failure in an assistantship is not necessarily an unmitigated disaster. John Mark's story convinces us that failure to live up to early promise does not mean an end to all future usefulness. John Mark went on, do not forget, not only to write his Gospel but also to be Paul's fellow-worker and comfort and one who was helpful to him.
· What follows an assistantship cannot be determined for certain. Lastly, note that though men like John Mark and Timothy certainly did go on to great things, as did Joshua and Elijah, with Erastus and Baruch we know almost nothing about what happened subsequently. In everything, we are in God's hands. He does as he pleases. We must not forget that.

"Drummers too"

"Guitarists on their way out"

Glastonbury

Listening to the news this morning I heard that the Arctic Monkeys went down well at Glastonbury (clearly important national news) and included a version of Diamonds Are Forever in their set - a tribute to Shirley Bassey, who, it said, is also due to appear. I've checked this out and indeed 'the spangle-clad septuagenarian will perform her most unlikely gig yet: sandwiched between James Morrison and the Manic Street Preachers on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury'. She is in "the living legend slot". I think we can safely put this under the heading post-modern. It is typical of the way the wackiest institutions slowly get tamed and end up repeating all the showbiz cliches. I mean Shirley Bassey is what my parents generation listened to. What goes round comes round, I suppose.