Hard times and heat for Hodgson at Liverpool FC

The once mighty and magnificent Liverpool FC were beaten by (bottom of the table before kick off) Wolves at Anfield on Wednesday.  Roy Hodgson is feeling the heat as Liverpool slip down the Premier League table to 12th and one place below Everton.  That is a painful place for the loyal red scouser. The current Liverpool team has been performing poorly.  There have been some dismal defending, mediocre midfield moves and  sub-standard strikers. Roy clearly needs to bring better players into his squad, which is the weakest for years.

England rejoice in retaining the Ashes after the 4th Test Match in Melbourne

The Poms beat the Aussies by an innings and 157 runs to retain the Ashes.  England are now 2-1 up with the fifth and final test match of the Ashes series to be played in Sydney.  According to Shane Warne, England thoroughly deserved to retain the Ashes and played by far the better cricket in the series. Very few would disagree.  Two England batsmen (Cook and Trott) averaged over 100. On three occasions they scored over 500 in an innings. England scored 620 for 5 declared in the second test match.

It has been hard for the Aussies after so many years of strength and quality.  Four years ago a swathe of top class players retired and now it is time to rebuild.

Location for "Whistle and I'll come to you" beach scenes, BBC 2010

For those who wish to know the exact location of the beach scenes in the BBC 2010 version of MR James' ghost story, I can reveal that they were filmed around Botany Bay and Kingsgate Bay in the Thanet area of Kent.

Please see the Kent Film Office website for further details:



http://www.kent.gov.uk/filmoffice/film-focus/whistle-and-i2019ll-come-to-youwhistle-and-i2019ll-come-to-youwwhistle-and-i2019ll-come-to-youwwhistle-and-ill-come-to-you/

Mysterious, Majestic and Marvellous - The Incarnation

Yes, beyond all question, great is the mystery of godliness as He appeared in a body.  1 Timothy 3:16.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

Yes, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrews 1:3. How majestic is the Lord Jesus Christ. We worship His majesty. Let all the angels worship Him. Hebrews 1:6.

Yes, great and marvellous are Thy works...Thou King of saints.  Remember His marvellous works that He has done.  We Christians have been brought out of darkness into His most marvellous light.  1 Peter 2:9.

Poms pummelled in Perth

The Aussies have levelled the Test series 1-1 in Perth by beating England by 267 runs.  The Aussies managed to bowl England out twice for less than 200 in both innings and have regained their confidence. Mitchell Johnson was the man of the match. He took 6 wickets for 38 runs in the first innings and 3 for 44 in the second innings. Ryan Harris also bowled well taking 3 for 59 runs in the first innings and 6 for 47 in the second innings.

Over £12 billion has been spent on the Afghan War.

The cost of the war in Afghanistan is well over £12 billion and we have little to show for it.  Propagandists try to tell us otherwise but show us precious little evidence of progress and gains. Troops are dying on a regular basis. Over 340 military personnel have died in this conflict. The enemy continues to plant bombs and maim soldiers.  Then there is the cost of lost lives, many innocent civilian deaths, destruction, casualties, corruption, profiteering and war crimes.  There have been many failures that we are not told about.  Can we calculate these costs? We are told that there is not enough money for student fees and university courses, yet we can find the money to continue this wicked war.  John Pilger's recent documentary The War You Don't See (broadcast on ITV, Tuesday 14/12/10 at 10.35 p.m.) reveals of litany of lies by politicians, world leaders and the media.

The military war in Afghanistan is a disgraceful waste of money, lives and effort.  It was badly conceived, being without a clear exit strategy and long term planning.  It looks like an act of aggression and therefore an unjustified intervention. It will create more hostility, greater danger and acts of terrorism. What a mess! What a quagmire! The Afghan problem will not be solved by military action.

The Nobel Peace Prize puts pressure on China to release the worthy winner Liu Xiaobo

Lui Xiaobo was sadly not able to receive his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.  He is not a criminal but a peace loving intellectual who stands up for human democratic rights and against a repressive regime.  Shame on the Chinese authorities for imprisoning an honourable man of peace and integrity.  They are persecuting  intellectuals, Christian leaders and political opponents.  Dissidents really suffer.  China is not a free country, despite its economic power, influence and strength.

Agony in Adelaide for the Australian Cricket Team

The Australians admitted that they were comprehensively beaten in Adelaide by a superior performance by the Poms in the Second Test Match for the Ashes.  Swann and Anderson bowled magnificently, Cook and Pietersen batted supremely, and the Aussies could not get their opponents all out once.  England in their first innings scored 620 for five wickets (declared). The Poms managed to bowl out the Aussies twice and won by an innings and 71 runs.  That doesn't often happen in Australia!   It was a brilliant victory for England, who had looked strong in the First Test in Brisbane, especially in the second innings, when they scored 517 for one wicket (declared). In the last Ashes series in Australia the Poms were defeated in every Test match.  There are calls for Shane Warne to make a comeback.

The Russian World Cup bid win makes sense, but Qatar stinks!

I can understand that there are good reasons for Russia hosting the World Cup in 2018, but I agree completely with Mark Lawrenson and Jonathan Pearce that the 2022 choice of Qatar is an absolute joke.  Qatar does not have the infrastructure, the tradition or the suitable weather conditions.  Please tell me the name of one quality side or player from Qatar. Can you name one?  Australia makes far more sense.  But it is not the best bid from a footballing point of view that wins; it is the one that suits the corrupt and untrustworthy FIFA officials.  The money and the wealth are doing the talking.  And you can bet that certain geriatric FIFA officials will do very nicely out of the Qatar deal. FIFA has still not yet full embraced 21st century technology for goal line decisions and that is a disgrace.

The Priesthood of All Believers

The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is precious to many Bapists and those who hold to certain Reformed doctrines against the tyranny of priests, pontiffs and prelates.  It is not an assertion of ecclesiastical anarchy but the recognition of an every member ministry. It does not mean that all are called to preach or lead, but it encourages every believer to exercise the ministry, the realm of service to which God has called them, be it administration, evangelism, pastoral care, teaching, prophesy, or hospitality.  We all have a role to play in Christ and by the Holy Spirity we can discover what God has given us to use in His service.

The key passage concerning the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers in 1 Peter 2: 1-12, particularly verses 5 and 9.

As priests of God all believers are to exercise their ministry and service for God with responsibility and with an understanding of accountability.  We are accountable to God and His people.

Ministry then brings responsibility and accountability.


We bring to God our worship, our sacrifices of praise and gifts.  We are all called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives to God. for we are not our own we have been bought with a price, and for some that means laying down our lives as martyrs.  A martyr is a witness in death. 


We are here on earth to serve as good and faithful servants.

Bring the troops home from Afghanistan

This war effort in Afghanistan has gone on for far too long and the British troops should no longer be dying in Afghanistan. What a waste of life, money and effort! So little has been achieved.  There is no clear exit strategy and it has cost us far, far too much. Let's save money and British lives by withdrawing from this stupid conflict, which cannot be won by military options. We are foolish to think that we can bring about a political solution by fighting this stupid war.  When we will see sense and get out of this quagmire?  How many more will have to die in Afghanistan with precious little to show for such an unsound investment of time, money, effort, training, ammunition and lives? To fight on in Afghanistan is sheer folly. How can success be measured?  Failure can be measured, to some extent, by the body bags and the strength of the Taliban opposition.

Let's spend the money on health care and not on warfare. Health care not warfare!

Solva, Pembrokeshire

Earlier this month I was in Solva, Pembrokeshire.  It is very relaxing to sit by the harbour to watch the boats come and go.  There are such splendid walks along the Pembrokeshire coastal path.  I have attached some photographs taken in and around the Solva area.

Solva is a delighful place to spend a holiday by the coast.

Caldey Island

I have visited Caldey Island many times and I have been inside the Cistercian Monastery on a guided tour.  (I have expressed my views in my post of 2008.)  I took the boat to Caldey, which cost me £11.  The weather was fine, ideal for photography.  I have attached some photographs and I'm pleased with them. It was a most enjoyable experience, but I still think that the monastic way of life is unnatural, flawed and wasteful. It is such a large building for a very small monastic community.

The ancient Caldey Priory

Caldey Abbey chapel 

The view from Caldey Island across to Tenby

Charismatic and Reformed

John MacArthur has equated Charismatic theology (CT) with emotional religion and has even stated that CT, "it's all emotion."  From his perspective Charismatic theology is unsound and unbiblical.  He wrote Charismatic Chaos.  The problem is that his understanding of areas and aspects of CT is unsound and unhelpful.  Some CT is unbiblical and unsound.  There's no denying it, but to state that it's all emotion is quite wrong.  There is some CT that is biblical, sound and even reformed, i.e. it upholds the doctrines and theology of the Reformers (such as Luther and Calvin).  This Charismatic theology is very comfortable with the teaching of  John Owen (the Puritan scholar), CH Spurgeon (the 19th century Reformed Baptist preacher), D Martyn Lloyd-Jones (once Minister of Westminster Chapel in London during the middle and latter part of the 20th century) and John Piper (the Reformer theologian and preacher currently active in the USA).

I would fit into this manifestation of Charismatic theology, as I have come out of a very reformed theological Baptist tradition that was outside of the Baptist Union (which Spurgeon rejected and resigned from) and was influenced by Dr Lloyd-Jones' Westminster Fellowship of Preachers.  This theological tradition held the Puritans in very high regard and esteemed the theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  His sermons and books were recommended reading.  My pastor gave me a copy of Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion to read, as required reading for a theological student. (The Anglican parish priest and vicar had lent me a copy of Honest to God).

I love the Puritans, their fellow travellers and successors. I really enjoy reading and re-reading the works of Thomas Brooks, John Flavel, John Owen and John Bunyan.  I am grateful to the Banner of Truth Trust,who published Puritan paperbacks, for making these works available and at very reasonable prices.  I benefited from their discounts and offers when I was an undergraduate theological student in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I treasure these books. I am fascinated by the ministry of John "Roaring" Rogers.  It is sad that the Puritan movement produced killjoys, fanatical bigots and some really unpleasant individuals like Matthew Hopkins, self styled Witchfinder General and his close collaborator  John "Bully Boy" Stearne, both from Manningtree, who were responsible for the torture of well over 200 people, mainly women, and the hanging of about 100 folk said to be guilty of witchcraft.  Then there was the iconoclast and vandal William "Smasher" Dowsing, from nearby Stratford St Mary, who destroyed beautiful stained glass windows and what he perceived was idolatry. Dowsing was a bibliophile who acquired a fine library of Puritan literature. (John F. White puts in a good word for him in an essay in Theology Today, 1961.)

It was during the 1960s that I came to see that the spiritual gifts and charismata mentioned in the New Testament, particularly in the Acts of Apostles and 1 Corinthians, were available and being used in the church.
I believe that the Holy Spirit was guiding the Church, the body of Christ and the fellowship of believing Christians into charismatic experience. The Spirit of God was touching lives profoundly and enabling Christians to know God on a more intimate level and to see His love and power at work in the operation of these spiritual gifts.  People were healed.  Demons were cast out. Christians spoke in tongues and prophesied. Miracles happened.  In certain places The Spirit of God manifested Himself in remarkable ways. Wonders were performed by Him to the edification of the saints and to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some doubted, especially after some reflection.  It did not fit into their theological framework and religious tradition. There were people who felt it would bring spiritual anarchy.  There was a fear of unknown and uncharted territory.  They allowed that fear and uncertainty to inhibit and limit their spiritual progress.

In some fellowships of a Calvinistic and Reformed tradition, there is an unhealthy lethargy with regard to evangelism and community service.  The church members seem to have very little concern for the lost and the needs of the community. They wish to remain at ease in Zion and guardians of a very dated way of worshipping God.  They take pride in their antique and old fashioned ways of communication, thinking that the Authorized Version still sounds right to the 21st century ear.  Sermons can have a 19th century flavour and Spurgeonic resonance complete with pomposity, verbosity and Victorian world view.

There are theologians and Christian church leaders who consider that the charismatic Christians have produced nothing significant in theology and Christian literature, and that charismatic theology has not really contributed to our understanding of the doctrine of God.  I would argue against this view and would contend strongly that charismatic theology has given the Christian church and faith community a much more dynamic and personal understanding of the Holy Spirit.  He was forgotten and neglected in much Christian living, devotion, evangelism and theology.  He was almost relegated to the third level and lower level of the Godhead.  This may not have been expressed explicitly but it was the reality in some areas of the Christian church; they had little or no experience of His work, ministry, power, gifts, conviction, counsel and guidance in their everyday lives.  It seemed to me that those effective in evangelism, worship, prayer and in seeing mighty works were blessed by an encounter with the Holy Spirit of God.



Some would argue that when the Holy Spirit breaks into a new area or in new territory then there are signs, wonders, mighty acts and evidence from reliable witnesses that the same New Testament Holy Spirit ministry occurs. It is anecdotal evidence but there is a clear testimony to the wonder working ministry of the Holy Spirit of God.  There is further evidence in changed lives and conversions.  Miracles and mighty acts of God have been proclaimed, but some will always doubt in the face of the facts.

The key question is: does God the Holy Spirit still work powerfully and wonderfully in the Church today, among God's people, in mission and in the world in the 21st century?   I believe He does, and Jesus is glorified, praised and worshipped. People are convicted of their sin, converted to Christ and counselled in the way of truth in Christ Jesus.  Praise God.

Thomas Brooks' "Heaven on Earth" is now available by pdf on the link below:

http://www.preachtheword.com/bookstore/heaven-on-earth.pdf

The gifts and call of God are without repentance

Romans 11:29

²⁹αμεταμελητα γαρ τα χαρισματα και η κλησις του θεου
  

This text has been used as pretext to justify the restoration and return to ministry of someone who considers that their anointing and gifts should allow them to resume a ministry that was discredited and exposed as hypocritical, deceitful, abusive and really nasty.

Think about the serious implications of this false interpretation.

Does this mean that a gifted preacher who has committed sinful acts against children and vulnerable people should be allowed to return to his former ministry?  Surely our justice system, the sex offenders register, the church authorities and social pressures would not allow it.

The Scriptures testify to occasions when people and churches were removed from positions of authority, respect and influence. Saul was rejected by God for his disobedience and he did not manage to restore his reputation and position before God.  Ananias and Sapphira were punished and taken from the early church for their sins.   In Revelation we read of the churches who were warned and lost their testimony.  Their candlesticks were removed and the witness of churches in Asia Minor faded away.  We know this from the sad events in church history in the Middle East.  Once thriving Christian communities in Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus and Berea disappeared. 

If a minister has lost the respect of outsiders and is not without reproach, then how can he have the right and the gall to function as an overseer and shepherd of the flock?  Out of love for his flock and concern for the testimony and integrity of the church in his community and the wider witness to the world, that God wishes to reach, surely he should step aside and do no further harm.

Again the England football team have been let down by wrong goal line decisions!

Sack that linesman! He does not deserve his match fee for such a woeful decision.  The ball was not completely over the goal line. Fact. The television technology empirically proves that the linesman was wrong.  There is no doubt about it. None at all.  Surely there must have been some reasonable doubt in his mind, or does he need an eye test?  Should he have gone to Specsavers? The linesman nearly robbed England of a well deserved victory, but Stevie Gerrard saved the day and scored two magnificent goals.  Capello was not celebrating at the time and looked rather indifferent to the skill and flair of his captain when he drove the ball into the net.  There was no Latin warmth or Italian passion in his body language when Gerrard showed his class in scoring both goals.  So cool? There's a chill in the air. Rather icy? Where's the Latin passion?  Gerrard was certainly passionate when he celebrated his successful strikes.  He was calling on the crowd to raise the temperature and to get behind England.  Well done Stevie and thanks.  You were the man of the match. Without you it would have been a big disappointment.

Off to Orford

Today I went from Orford to the Ness, where the MOD once kept us away.  It was a highly restricted area.

Some of the land is below sea level

and it is site of considerable scientific, geographical, historical, industrial and political interest/significance.

Fascinating.

Joyful journeys in Suffolk and North Essex

Yesterday I had a truly joyful day out in Suffolk and North Essex.  I visited the Constable Country, the Gainsborough countryside near Sudbury, the quaint historic village of Castle Hedingham and went home through the Rodings. The weather was perfect. Dedham was too crowded so we went to Stoke by Nayland, Nayland and on to Castle Hedingham.  I love the road from Sible Hedingham to Wethersfield; such sweet countryside and pleasant pastures can be seen along this quiet B road.

I love to spend time in the churches of Stoke by Nayland and Castle Hedingham.  I experience such peace and contentment there. I have so many happy memories of the times when I have been in these special historic and beautiful buildings. The architecture is magnificent and these sanctuaries have a great deal of historical significance.

Castle Hedingham, Church of St Nicholas

Stoke by Nayland Church

Misericords, Castle Hedingham

Looking to the west windows, Castle Hedingham

North window, Castle Hedingham

South Porch, Stoke by Nayland

Castle Hedingham Lady Chapel with the Good Shepherd mural

Yes, I am fascinated by these misericords at Castle Hedingham.  They are wonderfully carved in English oak and help us to connect with a bygone age.