D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) - A Personal Appreciation

40 years ago today, on March 1st 1981 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones passed into eternity. It is somehow fitting that the great Welsh preached entered into glory on "St David's Day", the National Day of Wales. I never knew "the Doctor". Not once did I hear him preach. He died some years before I was converted. But Lloyd-Jones, through his books and example has had a formative influence on my life.

The Church in which I was converted during the mid 1980's had a growing Pentecostal and Charismatic element. Our young people were encouraged to meet with a neighbouring Pentecostal Young People's Fellowship. I was in my late teens at the time and had a growing interest in the work of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. My home Church hosted a book evening. I spotted a book by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the baptism and gifts of the Spirit entitled Prove All Things. I had not heard of the author, but the subject matter grabbed me. Before I became a Christian, I was not at all interested in books, leaving school at 16 with few qualifications. But as a new believer I found I had an insatiable desire to know more about the Christian faith. 

Little did I know that this book was to transform my outlook. Most of the Christian literature I had read up to that point was testimony type books, light on doctrine but full of wonderful experiences. But in Prove All Things, I encountered another world. Here was a man who took the text of Scripture seriously and thought deeply about the things of God. The writer was steeped in the works of the great Reformers and Puritans. Lloyd-Jones urged his readers to test all spiritual experiences by the Scriptures. I became disenchanted with the Charismatic Movement and longed for something with more Biblical depth. The writings of "the Doctor" were able to point me in the right direction.

In my early 20's I began to read through Lloyd-Jones' magnificent sermons on the Epistle to the Romans. This was the beginning of my theological education. "The Doctor's" preaching was intellectually demanding, doctrinally profound, thoroughly practical and wonderfully experimental.

When I felt called to the Ministry of the Word, my lay-pastor lent me his copy of Lloyd-Jones' Preaching and Preachers. This book has shaped my view of the pastoral ministry and preaching more than any other. I do not even try to emulate "the Doctor's" preaching style. But I practice the systematic exposition of whole books of the Bible and long that my preaching may be Holy Spirit anointed "logic on fire". When it came to choosing a theological seminary to prepare for the Ministry, I applied to the London Seminary . The seminary was founded by Lloyd-Jones in 1977 and seeks to train men for the Ministry with a strong emphasis on the preaching of the Word of God.

.Let me try to sum up some of the ways that "the Doctor" has influenced my Christian life and ministry:

Reformed Doctrine Lloyd-Jones preached the sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. He proclaimed this deeply Biblical theology of grace that was rediscovered at the Reformation and exemplified by the Puritans and Calvinistic Methodists.

Revival "the Doctor" had a great burden for an outpouring of the Spirit upon the Church. He agreed with Jonathan Edwards, that the Church has grown and developed throughout history as a result of mighty God-given revivals. The need of the hour is not to find "new ways of doing church", important as that may be, but a heaven-sent, Christ glorifying revival.

Unity and Separation I believe that Lloyd-Jones was spot-on in 1966 when he called upon Evangelicals to withdraw from their ecumenically compromised denominations and come together as Bible-believing Christians.

Preaching Mrs Lloyd-Jones said that her husband was "first of all a man of prayer and then an evangelist". Lloyd-Jones is well known for his lengthy sermon series on Romans and Ephesians. What is less well known is that he preached evangelistically every Sunday evening at Westminster Chapel. I believe that sinners and saints alike need to hear the "old old story of Jesus and his love" in all its magnificent depth and richness.

The Value of History "the Doctor" loved Church history. That is one of the things that struck me when I read Prove All Things. The study of Church History and Christian biography is inspirational. We are reminded of what the Lord did in the past with ordinary men and women. Our understanding of the Bible is enriched in communion with the Theological reflection of the past. Familiarity with historical Theology also helps to keep the Church from doctrinal eccentricities and oddities.

The Life of the Mind Lloyd-Jones emphasised the importance of reading, study and scholarship. He helped deliver British Evangelicalism from the shallows of anti-intellectualism. "The Doctor" read widely and deeply. He was abreast of the latest trends in secular and Theological thinking. He was profoundly shaped by the Reformers, Puritans and Jonathan Edwards, but Lloyd-Jones was not their prisoner. He knew that no generation of Christians ever has a monopoly on the Truth. Everything must be tested by Scripture. The life and ministry of this great preacher gave UK Evangelicalism a new Theological depth. How can preaching be "theology on fire", if preachers fail to engage in theological reflection and study?

I commend to you the life and ministry of Martyn-Lloyd Jones. Read Iain Murray's Two Volume Biography, The First Forty Years & The Fight of Faith (Banner of Truth Trust). The second volume will give you a bibliography of Lloyd-Jones' publications. Murray has also published a single volume Life of D. M. Lloyd-Jones. 

* An earlier version of this article was posted on the blog in 2006. 

Herman Bavinck, a prophet of the secular age

I'm enjoying reading Bavinck: A Critical Biography by James Eglinton. It is a very fine piece of work. A far superior account of the theologian's life than Ron Gleason's effort. A key theme in the biography is Bavinck's attempt to remain faithful to his Seceder roots, while accommodating himself to the challenges of the modern world. 

In the early phase of his career Bavinck had championed Calvinism over and against other forms of Christian expression. He assumed that Calvinism would prevail, for it was an essential aspect of the Dutch national character. Things had changed by the the early 1900s. Bavinck now shifted his attention to defending Christianity more broadly against the onslaughts of outright unbelief. The age of Nietzsche in which 'God is dead' called for a different kind of apologetic. 

During Bavinck's lifetime Dutch society had become less distinctively Calvinistic and then less Christian altogether. A new God-free era beckoned. In an address to the Free University, Amsterdam, where Bavinck taught theology entitled Learnedness and Science, he foresaw the dawning of the secular age in which we live. 

If God falls, everything  falls - truth, science, art, nature and history, the state, society, and the family. if there is no God. there is also no idea, no more thought in which things can rest and by which they are knowable.... Everything that we receive from the past is old and outmoded, not only in religion and Christianity, but also morality and art, all the wisdom and civilisation of antiquity. Everything must be reformulated on the basis of modern culture: school and science, marriage and the family, state and society, religion and morality. There is no shortage of reformers [in our day]. (Bavinck, Eglinton, p. 236) 

Is not that a prescient description of our own times? When Christians in the UK campaigned against the redefinition of marriage, arguments based on the Bible or 1000's of years of tradition were swept aside as 'old hat'. Modern society was moving in only one direction and opponents of same-sex marriage were on the 'wrong side of history'. In Bavinck's day, whether women should get the vote was a matter of discussion. Now the very idea of what constitutes a woman is at the centre of the controversy raging around 'trans rights'. Mothers and Fathers are being relabelled, 'gestational parent' and 'non-birthing parent'. Bavinck was right. If God falls, even the basic facts of human biology have no secure place to rest. There is no shortage of 'reformers' in our day too. 

Better than back to normal

‘Will this never end?’ we may have asked ourselves as Covid infection rates have spiked, followed by yet another lockdown. Our political masters are beginning to hint that there may be an easing of restrictions by spring time. Millions of those who are most vulnerable to the ravages of Coronavirus have already received their first Covid-19 jab. It is hoped that the over 50s will have had their initial injection by the end of March, all adults by September. At last we now have some light at the end of what’s been a long dark tunnel of a pandemic.

The rapid vaccine roll out is tribute to the scientists who developed the jabs and the health workers who are administering the injections. Our political leaders also deserve credit for buying up large quantities of the vaccines and ensuring they get into people’s arms in double quick time. You can sense the relief and joy of those who have already received their jab. We can begin to look forward to returning to what passed for normal life before the pandemic.

I don’t know about you, but seeing that old life depicted on TV or in films makes me feel rather nostalgic. Relatives and friends meeting up, giving each other a friendly hug. People happily standing close together, rather than avoiding one another like the plague. Crowds enjoying a music concert or sporting event. ‘We used to be able to do that’, you think. Well, hopefully we’ll be able to do that kind of thing again in the not too distant future.

But there is a prospect of something better than ‘back to normal’. Jesus came not simply to wind the clock back to the time before sin and death entered God’s world. He came to bring a new creation. Sin and death will be no more. The glory of God will shine brightly. That’s why the Son of God came into our world to die for our sins on the cross and be raised from the dead. One day he will return to make all things new. Those who believe in Jesus already belong to that new and better world, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

* For the February editions of Trinity Parish Magazine, Dilton Marsh and News & Views, West Lavington 

None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God, by Matthew Barrett

Baker Books, 2019, 296 pages, Kindle edition

'Behold your God!' That is the message given to the herald of good news in Isaiah 40:9. But what kind of God should we expect to 'behold'? Is he just like us, but bigger and better? After all, the Bible tells us that we are made in his image (Genesis 1:26). According to classic theism God is a perfect being, 'without body, parts or passions'. But 'perfect being theology' has had a bad press of late. We want a God who can enter into the suffering of wretched humanity, not a remote Being who is sublimely undisturbed by the woe of the world. 

But if  the God we behold is a domesticated deity, cut down to size and shorn of his divine majesty, can we trust him, does he command our highest worship? Of course, the key thing is what God has revealed of himself in the pages of Holy Scripture. Very true. It is the case, however, that our reading of the Bible can be skewed by our 21st century perspective. Our psychological age demands a therapeutic deity who can feel our pain and soothe our troubled minds. That's why it's helpful to listen to the voices of those who have read God's Word in previous centuries. They also were people of their times, but the their insights can at least make us aware of our own biases. 

Matthew Barrett wheels on the 'A Team'. No, not Mr T and the gang, but Augustine of Hippo, Anselm and Thomas Aquinas. Those three theological greats were attentive readers of the Bible and it was from its pages that they understood that God is the perfect being than which none greater can be thought. If he were anything less, he would not be God at all. While the focus here is on the being of God, the theologian does not lose sight of the three persons who share the one divine essence; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

The book's subtitle speaks of the Undomesticated Attributes of God. We domesticate God when we dissolve the fundamental biblical distinction between God our Creator and the creature. As finite creatures we cannot know God as he knows himself. Our knowledge of him is true, yet analogical. The Bible may speak of God in creaturely terms, but that is on account of it being divine revelation accommodated to our capacity. God is pure Spirit. He therefore has no 'hands', 'eyes', or 'nose'. Neither does the sovereign Lord have regrets, or change his mind. If the Scripture's anthropomorphic language is not to be taken literally, neither is its anthropopathic descriptions of God's 'emotions'. All that is in God is God. He is therefore eternal, infinite and immutable in his being and attributes. 

As Barrett explains God's attributes are not the various components that comprise his being, some of which could in theory be detached from him. God is simple and unconflicted. His righteousness does not pull him one way and his mercy another. He is always righteous and merciful. His love is holy love. And that love is not a 'flash in a pan' that can be switched off in response to the sinful rebellion of human beings. That is where God's aseity and impassibility come in. His life and love are self-generated, totally independent of the creature. God does not need us to complete him. He is complete in the fulness of his own being and in the fellowship of the persons of the Trinity. It is precisely because God is not needy or vulnerable that we can trust him to be faithful to his promises and never let us down.

The author describes the way in which his own life was enriched as he was helped to 'behold his God' afresh as  'A Team' enabled him to see divine self-revelation with fresh eyes. While the work is technical in parts and demands attentive reading, Barrett's style is lively and interesting. You'll find references to holidays in beautiful Pembrokeshire, delicious caramel apple pies and baseball games. No Rugby Union illustrations, though, which struck me as a bit odd. I think Barrett is American. More importantly, his treatment of God's being and attributes is thoroughly biblical and full of practical application. You will be filled with wonder and worship.  You will be stirred to renewed faith in God and obedience to his commands. As Daniel says, 'the people who know their God will stand firm and take action'. (Daniel 11:32). 

Reading list 2021

 

I have several titles in my Kindle library snapped up at knock down prices which I intend to read this year. I've already made a start on Nothing Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God by Matthew Barret. Very good it is too at £0.49. Sticking with the doctrine of God, I've read the free sample bit of The Son Who Learned Obedience by Glenn Butner, on the eternal submission controversy. A really good taster, which invites purchase of the full download. 

But there's also Trinity Without Hierarchy: Recovering Nicene Orthodoxy in Evangelical Theology edited by Michael F. Bird and Scott Harrower to consider (£2.21). And not forgetting The Triune God (New Studies in Dogmatics) by Fred Saunders (£2.99). Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortrund comes highly recommended and was going cheap on Kindle (£2.96). 

I had Bavinck: A Critical Biography by James Eglinton as a Christmas gift in glorious shiny hardback. I was disappointed by Ron Gleason's biog of the great Dutch Dogmatician, but Eglington's effort looks to be in a different league. The intro and first chapter alone are rich with insight into the subject's life and times. (I also get an endnote all to myself and a mention in the bibliography. Just saying). 

A family member kindly gave me an Amazon voucher for Christmas. I shall probably use it to invest in The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl R. Trueman. I also have my eye on Deity and Decree by Samuel D, Renihan, having enjoyed his From Shadow to Substance and The Mystery of Christ. 

That little lot will hopefully keep me busy on the reading front for a bit. 

You Could Have It All, by Geoffrey Thomas

Reformation Heritage Books, 2020, 96pp

This little book by the veteran preacher sets out to commend the Christian faith to thoughtful non-believers. The secular world offers much, but delivers little when it comes to living a life full of meaning and purpose. All that this world has to give isn't enough to satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. Indeed, according to Yuval Noah Harari who is cited here, "any meaning that people ascribe to their lives is just a delusion." How could it be otherwise if the universe is the product of impersonal evolutionary processes?

Things look rather different when God is brought into the picture. In saying You Can Have It All, however, the author isn't promising his readers a trouble-free life of untold riches where no sacrifices will be necessary. Far from it. Believe and bad stuff will still happen. That isn't tough luck, but part of God's purpose for his children in which he works all things together for the good of those who love him. 

We can know this God because he has revealed himself to us in his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. In knowing God we also come to know ourselves, for human beings are made in his image. Although we have strayed from him in our sin, God offers us forgiveness and a fresh start through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. More than that, we can become children of God, living under his fatherly care and provision all our days until he takes us home to be with him for ever.

Knowing that is an essential element in learning to be contented in every circumstance in which we find ourselves. The believer has a joy that is independent of their situation, however dire, because it is rooted in the unchanging faithfulness of God. In his goodness the Lord places his children in church families where they will find the spiritual support and encouragement they need 'among the best and happiest people on earth'. 

Our Covid-stricken age is one in which we 'sit in darkness and the shadow of death'. But the 'last enemy' has been defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus. The believer has the assurance that God will welcome them into his presence when they die. And beyond that, they will be raised to everlasting glory when the Lord comes. 

Thomas's writing reflects the rhythms and cadences of the preacher that he is. You can imagine him in full flow, delivering this material to a rapt congregation. His handling of the grand themes dealt with here is full of interest and urgency. Kermit the Frog gets a look in as well as the gloomy intellectual Yuval Noah Harari. An occasional 'big word' is thrown in here and there, but the writer's overall approach is straightforward and down to earth. 

An ideal book to place in the hands of  someone who does not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

I recently discussed the book with Geoff in an online interview which you can catch on Facebook or YouTube. 

An interview with Geoff Thomas: 'You Could Have It All'

 I enjoyed interviewing Geoff Thomas on his new evangelistic book, You Could Have It All on Sunday evening. 

The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor's Heart, by Harold L. Senkbeil

 

 Kindle edition, 2019

Some serious cases of pastoral abuse came to light in 2020. In February it was reported that Steve Timmis was removed from his role as Acts29 CEO following allegations of abusive leadership from members of staff. Acts29 President Matt Chandler announced, “For where we’re headed next, we needed to transition Steve out of this role.” 29 members of staff at Acts29 made written complaints about Timmis’ leadership style. They were dismissed from their jobs and forced to sigh NDAs to obtain severance packages.

Timmis also faced accusations of pastoral abuse in relation to his leadership role in The Crowded House Church, Sheffield. Reportedly Timmis sought to mentor and disciple his flock into a church that operated “24/7” and spanned all areas of life. A family was confronted by Timmins for not attending an impromptu church barbecue. Melvyn Tinker stopped working with Timmins over concerns about his controlling leadership style,  “If Steve is challenged in any way, which he always takes as a threat, then the tables are turned and the challenger is made out to be the one at fault,” said Tinker, who saw the same pushback emerge during the decade his son, Michael, was a member of Timmis’ church. “This is classic manipulation.” (Christian Today).

Following these allegations Timmis stepped back from leadership of The Crowded House Church. In April 2020 it was announced that The Crowded House has commissioned Thirtyone:eight to undertake an Independent Learning Review concerning the leadership of Church. They invited anyone who had been harmed by the leadership of the church to express this and for their experiences to be heard and considered. The review has now been published so lessons can be learned by the wider church community, see here. The Crowded House accepted the findings of the review, which found "evidence of a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour in the name of our Christian vision and ministry" here.

Why bring all this up in a book review? I certainly don't have an axe to grind when it comes to Steve Timmis and The Crowded House. He is but one example of pastoral malpractice in the Evangelical world, Yet men like Timmis and Mark Driscoll are often lionised within Evangelicalism as just the kind of leaders the church needs in the 21st Century. They embody a dynamic entrepreneurial leadership model that gets things done and quickly. 'Move fast and break things' is the motto of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but pastors are in the business of people, not things. Leaving a trail of broken people in our wake is not a price worth paying to make our church leadership vision a reality.

This emphasis just outlined has led to a subtle change in the the the way people describe Christian ministry. Talk of pastors, elders and deacons has been supplanted by ‘church leaders’, or the ‘church leadership team’. Business models of leadership have been appropriated. But we are not to model ourselves on highly driven bully-bosses like Steve Jobs. Our model is the Chief Shepherd of the sheep, who is meek and lowly in heart. Someone can be  a great communicator and well-regarded preacher. They are certainly ‘able to teach’. But the biblical qualities required for overseers focus more on character than communicative gifts, 1 Timothy 3:1-3, Titus 1:7. 

We need to get back to classic model of pastoral ministry; the cure of sin-broken souls through prayer, ministry of the word and the sacraments. Which is where The Cure of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor's Heart comes in. Senkbiel is a veteran Lutheran pastor with many decades of ministry experience. Brought up on a farm  the writer observes that a farmer will become so attuned to the rhythms of sowing and reaping and the needs of his livestock that they shape his habit of mind, his very character. The farmer knows that nature won't be rushed, Cultivating crops and  rearing animals takes time and attentive care. 

It's the same with pastoral work. Patience and watchfulness are essential elements of what the writer calls a 'pastoral habitus'. A man does not enter pastoral ministry with a fully formed habitus. We become pastors by being pastors. A pastor is a servant of Jesus, a steward of mysteries of the gospel. The Lord is pleased to work through tools he places in our hands by his Spirit; word and sacrament. It is through the ministry of word and sacrament that we give hope to the dying, comfort to the bereaved, and counsel to people in their struggles with temptation and sin. 

The work requires prayer, patience, attentive diagnosis of spiritual ailments and the wise application of scripturally prescribed cures. We are to approach the task with a sense of insufficiency. Our personal stores of drive, charisma, charm can't make people into fruitful disciples of Christ. We must minister in power of Jesus. He can change people, we cannot. 

Acting as if that is not the case is practical Pelagianism. We can't make our people into more faithful Christians by forcing them to conform to our rules and expectations. We will end up leading by guilt trip, not pastoring by grace.  It is sadly possible for us to be be Calvinists in our studies, but Pelagians in pastoral practice. As the author points out, “To make pastors you need the person and power of the Holy Spirit who forms and shapes men inwardly to be fit vessels for the treasures of God’s transcendent and transforming gifts in his gospel and sacraments.” 

The emphasis on gentleness and patience in ministry is biblical enough, 2 Timothy 2:24-26. But this does not mean that for Senkbeil it's a matter of 'there, there, never mind' sentimentality. There is a an uncompromising toughness to his approach. The writer knows that gospel ministry is a conflict zone for which pastors need to don the whole armour of God. People in our care who are consumed with guilt and shame do not need a pat on the head, but the truth of justification by faith alone applied to their souls. Believers whose lives have been ruined by toxic relationships and addictive tendencies need to be brought to see the good news that God is transforming them into the holy people he wants them to be. 

If pastors are to minister to others, we first need to learn how to meditate upon and apply the word of God to ourselves. Senkbeil gives some practical advice on how to do that, as well as on how to sustain a life of God-dependent prayer. Given the unique privileges and burdens of pastoral ministry the writer recommends that pastors seek out a brother minister who can hold them to account and to whom they can unburden the souls. 

I said the author is a Lutheran minister. Some aspects of his approach were not to the liking of this Grace Baptist pastor. I wouldn't go along with his use of crucifixes, images of Christ, and so on. That kind of thing tends to freak me out a bit, but there are many good things here that will help us cultivate a stronger pastoral habitus. The classical model of gospel ministry commended in these pages by Senkbiel serves as a necessary corrective to dynamic entrepreneurial styles of church leadership that have sometimes had a toxic effect on Christ's flock. He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Pastors are but sheepdogs. 

Consider this picture of the relationship between a sheepdog and shepherd as a vivid illustration of the bond between a pastor and the Good Shepherd who has enlisted him in service to his sheep. The sheepdog is iconic of a faithful pastor’s work: one ear tuned to the voice of the Great Shepherd, the other tuned attentively to the sheep. 

Anselm on the suffering of the impassible God

Reading through Anselm's Why God Became Man I came across a remarkable passage on how the impassible God is said to suffer in Christ. This is important, because many Evangelicals seem to have abandoned divine impassibility in recent years. Jürgen Moltmann has been highly influential in precipitating  the turn from impassibility. He argued that the theological task must be reconfigured in the light of the Holocaust. A God who cannot suffer is of no use to a suffering world, "Only a suffering God can help' was his famous dictum. 

We may instinctively recoil from the idea of impassibility, as if by that world it is being suggested that God is cold, remote and apathetic. Such a God would be indifferent to the miseries of life in the veil of tears. However, when our forefathers confessed that God is 'without body, parts or passions' (here), they did not mean that he is without emotions, but that he is devoid of emotional spasms. A 'passion' is a temporary feeling of elation or irritation, a flash in a pan. There is nothing 'flash in a pan' about God. He is eternal and unchanging in his being and attributes. 

Impassibility is not a defect in God. He is not emotionally stunted or remote. God is love. He is totally satisfied in the perichoretic union and communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit within the fullness of his perfect being. It is out of his self-sufficient aseity that God relates to us as his creatures. He is not dependent upon us for love or emotional completion, but he generously stoops to bring us into the rich blessing of loving fellowship of the Trinity. That is why he made us in his image. That is why he acted in Christ to reconcile us to himself after the fall.

The impassible God loves without sentiment and burns with wrath against sin without the least irritation. He is free to reach out to us in our suffering without being overcome by it. Divine impassibility is the grounds of God's covenant faithfulness. His self-generated and eternal love cannot be stretched to breaking point by the failings of his chosen people. In his impassibility God is never discouraged or disappointed. Nothing can quench his determination to save hopeless sinners. His is an impassioned impassibility. 

The impassible Father spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all at Calvary. That does not mean the Father was coldly indifferent to the suffering of his Son. He loved him infinitely as he hung and suffered there (John 10:17). But he loved us too and it was only through the willing sacrifice of his Son that the wrath of God could be averted from sinners, 1 John 4:10. For that happen the impassible Son had to be made flesh to suffer and die for us. And so to Anselm, reflecting on the passion of the impassible God in Christ, 

For we affirm that the divine nature is undoubtedly incapable of suffering, and cannot in any sense be brought low from its exalted standing, and cannot labour with difficulty over what it wishes to do. But we say that the Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man, one person in two natures and two natures in one person. In view of this, when we say that God is suffering some humiliation or weakness, we do not understand this in terms of the exaltedness of the non-suffering nature, but in terms of the weakness of the human substance which he was taking upon himself.... For we are not, in this way implying lowliness on the part of the divine substance, but are making plain the existence of a person comprising God and man, (Anselm of Canterbury: The Collected Works, Oxford, 2008, p. 274-275.

Note that Anselm does not merely say that the human nature of Jesus suffered for us, but that the person of the Son, impassible in his deity, suffered for us in his human nature. What we need from God is not the sympathy of a cosmic fellow-sufferer, but one who has acted to save us from sin and suffering. Only a suffering God in Christ can help us. Calvary reveals the true the depths of God's limitless, unchanging love for sinners, Romans 5:6-8. Impassible love is not needy and vulnerable, but free and outgoing; flowing from the Father, through the Son and by the Spirit to the world. 

As the Puritan Poet Edward Taylor (c1642-1729) meditated,

Meditation 1
What Love is this of thine, that Cannot bee
In thine Infinity, O Lord, Confinde,
Unless it in thy very Person see,
Infinity, and Finity Conjoyn'd?
What hath thy Godhead, as not satisfide
Marri'de our Manhood, making it its Bride?

Oh, Matchless Love! filling Heaven to the brim!
O're running it: all running o're beside
This World! Nay Overflowing Hell; wherein
For thine Elect, there rose a mighty Tide!
That there our Veans might through thy Person bleed,
To quench those flames, that else would on us feed.

Oh! that thy Love might overflow my Heart!
To fire the same with Love: for Love I would.
But oh! my streight'ned Breast! my Lifeless Sparke!
My Fireless Flame! What Chilly Love, and Cold?
In measure small! In Manner Chilly! See.
Lord blow the Coal: Thy Love Enflame in mee.

Confessional Christianity, an antidote to evangelical biblicism

In his review of Canon, Covenant and Christology: Rethinking Jesus and the Scriptures of Israel by Matthew Barrett, Robert Strivens stated, "as evangelicals, we must cease to be mere biblicists and become faithful exponents of Scripture deeply rooted in a well-rounded dogmatic theology." I very much agree and think this is one of the pressing issues of our time. 

I'm sure that a naive biblicism that is uniformed by the theological heritage of the church is one of the reasons why evangelicals have got themselves into such a mess with the doctrine of God. Some advocates of the eternal submission of the Son make will a property of the persons of the Trinity, rather than the divine being. But hang on a minute. If will is a property of persons, rather than being, and the incarnate Son has two wills, is he therefore two persons, divine and human? According to classic Christology, the incarnate Son is one person with two natures, with a will appropriate to each nature, divine and human.

One of the reasons to subscribe to an elaborate confession of faith such as the Second London Baptist Confession is that our forebears were self-consciously Reformed Catholics. Their confessions bear the imprint of the great creedal heritage of the church. Subscribe to them and you subscribe to Nicaea and Chalcedon and identify with an Augustinian account of salvation by sovereign grace. 

But they didn't stop there. They were Reformed Catholics, who sought to reform church doctrine and life in the light of our supreme authority, which is the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures. Hence the Particular Baptists set out their own distinctive views on the covenants, the church and baptism, while holding to the Catholic creeds and the solas of the Reformation. 

Many contemporary evangelical doctrinal statements adopt a minimalist approach that fails sufficiently to root the church in the Great Tradition of theological orthodoxy. Neither do they set out why Independent Evangelical or Baptist churches operate as they do in the light of clear biblical principles. 

The older confessions provide us with a dogmatic framework in which the key teachings of Scripture are set out in a coherent and systematic way. They are an aid to interpreting the Bible in the light of theological reflection of the church over many centuries. Familiarity with the historic creeds and confessions of faith  can help save us from many a doctrinal blunder. 

That is not to say that the confessions are to be regarded as infallible, or unimprovable. The Westminster Confession was revised by the Independents in their Savoy Declaration and again by Particular Baptists in the Second London Baptist Confession. But we should think long and hard before adopting an interpretation of Scripture that is out of synch with the confession of faith we have pledged to uphold. 

That is especially the case when it comes to what they have to say on doctrines of first importance, like the doctrine of God and of Christ the Mediator. According to the 1689 God's will is a property of his being (Chapter 2:1), not the three persons (Chapter 2:3), see here. With that in mind, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not distinguished in terms of one person submitting their will to that of another, but "by several peculiar, relative properties, and personal relations". 

In other words that "the Father is of none neither begotten nor proceeding, the Son is Eternally begotten of the Father, the holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son". There is an order in the Trinity, but no hierarchy of will. How could that be when will is a property of the divine being, which is wholly shared by the three persons? 

Making will a property of persons plays havoc with the doctrine of Christ. As pointed out earlier, we confess that the Lord Jesus has two wills. The incarnate Son is not two persons, however. That would be Nestorianism. The confession rightly affirms that the incarnate Son is a divine person with a human nature, Chapter 8:2. 

Prominent Evangelicals in the US and UK have strayed from this historic teaching, holding that the Son eternally submitted his will to that of the Father. They have often done so using naively biblicist arguments in which the relationship of the incarnate Son to the Father in the economy of redemption is read back univocally into the ontological Trinity. It is enough to say that the missions of the Trinity reflect the eternal relations, without positing a plurality of wills in God. 

A more rigorous confessionalism would have helped prevent the theological confusion that is apparent in evangelical circles. Elders (pastors among them) and deacons should be expected to subscribe to a confession like the 1689. A more basic doctrinal statement such as the FIEC Doctrinal Basis may be required of church members, but the officers should ensure that church teaching and life is in line with a more wide-ranging and detailed confession of faith.

The biggest divide in evangelicalism is not between those who adopt traditional or progressive worship styles, or lockdown defiers and lockdown compliers; it is between confessional Reformed Catholics and doctrinal minimalists. We see further when we stand on the shoulders of giants. Time-honoured terms such as 'person', 'relations', 'being' and 'will' have meanings that were carefully defined in response to doctrinal error. Heretics could also quote the Bible. A simplistic biblicism was not sufficient to combat heresy. The teaching of Scripture needed to be explained and defended using non-biblical terminology. Hence the precise and exact language found in the creeds and confessions of old. 

When we step off the shoulders of the theological giants we become short sighted. Those who ignore or redefine key theological terms cannot always see the consequences of their doctrinal missteps. Making will a property of the persons rather than the divine being makes for a subordinationist Trinity and an incoherent Christology. This is just one example of why we should strive to become "faithful exponents of Scripture who are rooted in a well-rounded dogmatic theology." Let us 'hold fast our confession, faithful to the end'. 

The Mystery of Christ: His Covenant and His Kingdom by Samuel Renihan

The big problem with The Mystery of Christ: His Covenant and His Kingdom by Samuel Renihan is that it wasn't readily available in the UK. I managed to blag a review copy, but otherwise British readers would have needed to shell out a tidy sum in p&p to obtain a copy. You can see Part 1 of my review here. It is an excellent a treatment of covenant theology from a Reformed Baptist standpoint. The title traces the the broad sweep of redemptive history in terms of covenant and kingdom. It's rich in biblical insight and theological depth. The Particular Baptist perspective does justice to the lines of continuity and discontinuity between the old and new covenants. The 'mystery of Christ' shines through brightly, both in the 'covenants of promise' of the Old Testament and, of course in the new covenant in which the covenant of grace comes into its own. The good news is that Founders Press have now sorted out UK distribution, so you can buy it here. Just in time for Christmas.  

Anselm On The Incarnation of the Word

My idea of getting all Christmassy was to read On The Incarnation of the Word by Anselm of Canterbury. Better that than waste time putting up a tacky tree. It's a remarkable little work in which the great Medieval theologian sets out to refute the idea that the Father and the Spirit became incarnate as well as the Son. He set down his thoughts in a letter addressed to Pope Urban II. 

The work is a marvel of tightly compressed theological reasoning. Its occasion was a controversy between Anselm and 'a certain cleric' he encountered when he was abbot of a monastery in Bec, France. This cleric held that, 'if the three persons are only one thing and not three things... then the Father and the Holy Spirit as well as the Son became flesh', p. 233. 

Anselm initially wrote to refute this error while still ministering in Bec. The cleric in question seemed to have recanted his heterodox views. It transpired later that he only recanted because he feared the population might kill him. Meanwhile, once the danger had passed, he continued to teach the incarnation of the whole Trinity. Partial copies of Anselm's refutation were doing the rounds and now as Archbishop of Canterbury Anselm felt the need to respond in a more thorough and complete way to the French cleric's 'novelty'. 

Despite his high ecclesiastical rank and theological ability. the Archbishop felt ill equipped to defend the faith. He likens the task to a man endeavouring to stabilise Mount Olympus. He wrote not so much to confirm the faith, as to satisfy Christian brothers who urged him to put pen to paper in response to the error under discussion. And this was no mere intellectual exercise for Anselm. He saw his task as one of faith seeking understanding the things of God. Our minds need to be illuminated by the Spirit if we are to receive and experience  God's truth. 

Anselm did not believe that doctrinal disputes can be resolved simply by appealing to the text of Scripture. Some heretics don't believe in the authority of the Bible. Others interpret it in a perverse sense. It is necessary therefore to use theological arguments derived from the Bible to expose error and defend the faith. That does not mean, however, that everything is up for grabs. The Catholic faith that is based on Scripture and confessed by the Church should be received and lived out by faithful believers. We must believe in order to understand the mysteries of God's Word. 

In terms of the Trinity, Anselm assumes the orthodox teaching that there is but one will and power in the being of God, which all three persons share, as each is fully divine. Yet there are not three gods, but one. Plurality in God is a property of the persons, not the divine nature. Were plurality a property of  nature, God would be composed of parts, which he cannot be. God is the perfect being. In all composite entities are some things superior and some things inferior. God cannot be anything less that perfect in his simple and undivided essence. He is a being than which none greater can be conceived (Anselm's Proslogion). 

The persons may be distinguished not in terms of their shared nature, but on account of their personal relations. The three are not interchangeable and there is an order of persons in the Trinity.  The Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. These distinctions may not be misattributed. The Son is Son because he is begotten of the Father, the Father is Father because he begets the Son. 

The personal distinctions are real, not modes in a unipersonal god. The same man may be a father in relation to his son and a son in relation to his father, yet he is one person, not two. The situation is quite different in the Trinity, where there are three distinct persons in the one God. 

It was fitting that the Son should become incarnate rather than the Father or the Holy Spirit. Had the Holy Spirit taken human flesh, reasons Anselm, there would have been two sons in God, the eternal Son of the Father and the human son of Mary to which the Holy Spirit had become personally united. Had the Father been born of Mary, according to Anselm, 'two persons of the Trinity would take the name of grandson, since both the Father would be grandson of the Virgin's parents, and the Father's Son would be the Virgin's grandson, although the Son himself would have no part from the Virgin'. (p. 251). 

The economic missions of the Trinity reflect the eternal processions. It was signally appropriate that the only begotten Son of the Father should have become the son of Mary. 'Therefore' continues Anselm, 'no divine person other than the Son ought to become flesh, since there cannot be any least inappropriate thing in God. For although we declare that the Son in his humanity is less than the Father or the Holy Spirit, yet the latter two persons do not on that account surpass the Son, since the Son also has the same majesty whereby he himself is also superior to his humanity.' (p. 251). 

It is not right to say that because there are three persons in the one God that all three persons therefore became incarnate. The incarnation was not an act of the divine nature, but an act of a divine person, namely the Son.  Neither do we say that the Son as the second person of the Trinity became a human person at the incarnation. Rather, the Son took a human nature in addition to his divine nature into the unity of his person. Having said that, the external acts of the Trinity are undivided so the Son did not become man apart from the Father who sent him and the Spirit by whom his human nature was conceived in the womb of Mary. 

Anselm's On the Incarnation of the Word might seem to address a rather abstruse point; that the whole Trinity became incarnate, rather than simply the Son. Who would ever say such a thing these days? His letter is worth reading, however. Anselm's grasp of Catholic trinitarian dogma is is remarkably clear and profound. The arguments he deploys to refute his opponent's theological novelty are in full accord with the Nicene Creed and Definition of Chalcedon. 

The simplistic biblicism of some sectors of Evangelicalism has left its pastors and theologians incapable of doing much more than trading proof texts. Our ability to engage in theology as a work of 'holy reason', or 'faith seeking understanding' is often weak and underdeveloped compared with Medieval theologians such as Anselm, the Church Fathers, the Reformers and their Orthodox Reformed successors.  

The Reformers did not jettison the creedal heritage of the church. The Westminster Confession of Faith and its Congregational and Baptist derivatives (the Savoy Declaration and  the Second London Baptist Confession) bear all the hallmarks of historic doctrinal orthodoxy. See this Tabular Comparison for Chapters II (The Trinity) & VIII (Christ the Mediator). We are Reformed Catholics, recognising that while Scripture alone has magisterial authority for the church, the ancient creeds have ministerial authority, as they accurately summarise key Bible teachings and help to guard against erroneous ideas. 

In recent years Evangelicals have denied the eternal generation of the Son, which is a key component of trinitarian theology, here and here. Others have posited that will is a property of persons rather than the being of God, which leads to them saying that the Son eternally submitted his will to that of the Father, here. Anselm is a better guide to understanding the relations between the three persons in the being of God and what that means for the incarnation. 

The Trinity and the incarnation are the two great mysteries of the Christian faith. The role of creeds, confessions and classic treatments of these doctrines is not to fully explain the fundamental truths of Holy Scripture. Rather, such texts serve to erect a fence around the high mysteries of divine self-revelation. In doing so they act as a safeguard against error and provide us with sound parameters for faith seeking understanding. 

As to 'Why God Became Man', that's next on my 'Christmas with Anselm' reading list. But I guess that tree tinsel decked-tree will have to go up sometime. 

Christmas Services at Providence & Ebenezer

Things are quite different for our two churches this year. At Providence we would normally have Christmas parties for our Bright Sparks playgroup and One Way Club for primary school aged children. Bright Sparks hasn't been operating since the March lockdown and One Way Club has moved online for now. Providence usually has an All Age Carol Service on the Sunday before Christmas, which is often well supported by families from our playgroup and children's work. None of that will be happening, I'm afraid. 

But we still want to share the good news of Jesus with people in our local communities. The poster above has info on the Providence Online Christmas Activities. The Online Carol Service on Sunday 13 December at 4.00pm will include carols to sing along to at home, readings from the Bible, a nativity video featuring a dragon, and a message from me. I'm also looking forward to interviewing Phil Heaps on his book, Who Stole Christmas? at 6.00pm on Sunday.

At Ebenezer Baptist Church we'd usually have a 'Time for Tea+' Christmas Special, a Carol Service followed by a festive spread. In place of that will be livestreaming a Carol Service on Sunday 20th December at 4.30pm. 

You'll find all these services and activities livestreamed to our Facebook page, or you'll be able catch up later if you prefer. 

Plague Journal 2: Week 4

22-28 November 

Prior to the national lockdown for England, which expires on 2 December, Wiltshire was in 'Medium Risk' Tier 1. That seemed fair, as infection rates were among the lowest in the country. From 3 December we will be in Tier 2 'High Alert'. Some good lockdown did us. Could be worse, nearby Bristol will be in Tier 3, but Coronavirus cases have skyrocketed there, so tighter restrictions may be justified. According to BBC figures, Wiltshire currently has 98 cases per 100,000, compared with a national average of 152. And cases are falling week-on-week. We will be in the same tier as Liverpool, which has 138 cases per 100,00. 

The only parliamentary opposition to ever tighter restrictions is from backbench Conservative MPs. Labour seems to have a policy of backing the government's measures, yet accusing ministers of doing too little too late and too ineffectively. According to news reports the PM has been spooked by the threat of a backbench revolt against his more draconian tiering system under which the vast majority of England will be placed in Tiers 2 & 3.  The government has promised to look again at imposing blanket restrictions on whole counties. Sunset clauses will be added to the legislation to allow MPs to keep things under review.

Glad to hear it, but this is another example of a failure of party management by the Johnson government. Didn't the Tory whips warn the PM that the crew were feeling mutinous before the new tiering system was announced? In an article in Saturday's Times, Michael Gove issued alarmist threats that the NHS will be overwhelmed unless the government's plans are supported. Backing down now makes those dire warnings smack of crying wolf, or, if the treat is genuinely believed, gross irresponsibility. Either way, not a good look.

Church-wise, it is great that places of worship will be allowed to reopen in all tiers once lockdown ends. We are looking forward to gathering for worship on Sunday 6 December. Being in Tier 2 will mean no 'routine' pastoral visits to lonely and isolated church members. Given the time of year outdoor meetings won't be any good for the elderly. We'll have to keep in touch by phone. In Tier 2 no interaction is allowed between members of the congregation when meeting indoors. In Tier 1 interaction was permitted within in groups of 6. With that in mind, Zoom meetings will need to continue alongside in person gatherings so people can hang out and chat after the 'service' element has finished.

On Wednesday afternoon I went for a walk and chat with a pastor friend, It was good to catch up and enjoy fellowship together. Pastors are under pressure these days. We need to support each other in the work of the ministry. 

On Sunday 22 November I spoke on Jeremiah 11:1-17 in the morning Zoomer and on Acts 2:37-41 for Bradford on Avon Baptist Church's Livestream Service, which our people also watched. For our Zoom Prayer Time I gave a Bible Study on Psalm 66. We had a Providence officers' meeting on Thursday evening via Zoom in preparation for a Members' Meeting on 1 December.

Everything seems to be happening on 1 December. The Westminster Conference from 2.00-5.00pm, school governor meetings from 5.30pm, and then the Members' Meeting at 7.30pm. All online.

In the week I finished, The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor's Heart by Harold L. Senkbeil. Must post a review soon. I used an Audible credit to download, The Journey to the Mayflower: God's Outlaws and the Invention of Freedom, by Stephen Tomkins. Made a good start, four chapters in. With chapter headings seemingly borrowed from songs by The Jam, 2, Going Underground, where can you go wrong?

On Saturday we went for a morning walk along the towpath of the Kennet & Avon canal. Lockdown in Wiltshire, it could be worse. It did get worse. Wales lost to England in the rugby, 24-13. Scant are the consolations of this sad world. There will be no tiers in glory. 

Kennet & Avon Canal

Jars of Clay: Peace for the Anxious Soul, by Catherine Haddow

 10ofthose, 2020, 200pp

The other Sunday evening I had the privilege of conducting an online interview with Catherine Haddow, where we discussed her Bible-based approach to helping people who are suffering with anxiety. Our conversation ranged around the material set out in this book and her earlier work, Emotions: Mirrors of the Heart. People with anxiety problems have spoken of how they were helped by what the author had to say, which is great. Jars of Clay deals more thoroughly with some of the issues we were only able to touch on in the interview. 

Haddow doesn't decry secular approaches to treating people with anxiety, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, but she goes further, arguing that the things that make us feel anxious reveal what we really treasure. CBT can help straighten out people's thought processes, but it cannot touch the heart, or change what we value as most precious to us. Had it been available to him, Gollum* may have found CBT of some use, but his heart would still have craved 'The Precious' Ring of Power above all else. What's your 'Precious'? That's what you'll be most anxious about losing. 

Emotions are part and parcel of our being made in the image of God. We are fallen creatures, however, living in a fallen world. Our emotions are therefore distorted. What Haddow calls a 'constructive concern' about our own welfare or that of loved ones can become a crippling anxiety. Fear is the right response to danger, anxiety lingers on after the reason for fear has dissipated.

As 'embodied souls', human beings are a psychosomatic whole. Anxiety therefore affects our bodies as well as our spirits. High blood pressure and harmful chemical reactions may result from anxiety. Anxiety attacks have debilitating physical effects. On the other hand, some physical disorders such as thyroid problems can cause sufferers to feel anxious. Drug treatments for anxiety can be helpful when prescribed by a GP, but, like CBT, they can't get to the heart of the matter; what we truly treasure. 

Anxiety can have a disruptive effect on a person's Christian life. All-consuming worry can make God seem remote and his promises unreal. The bright light of the gospel may be eclipsed by overwhelming anxiety. The anxious can become withdrawn as they seek to insulate themselves from anything that might trigger their negative feelings. They stop attending church meetings, so they stop hearing the word of God preached and miss out on supportive Christian fellowship as they move in ever decreasing circles. Feeling secure has become their 'treasure'. 

The author's focus is not on techniques for dealing with anxiety, or phycological processes, but a person, Jesus Christ. We may bring all our anxious cares to God through him, Philippians 4:6-7. The psalmists poured out all their troubles to the Lord, Psalms 42-43. The apostles set their many sufferings in the light of our eternal hope, 2 Corinthians 4. As we learn to trust the Lord with our cares, he strengthens our faith and enables us to grow in grace. 

Anxiety may have a number of different causes, relational, material or health. Each of these factors reveals what the soul truly values and is scared of losing; a cherished relationship, financial security or physical wellbeing. While it is right to make proper provision for ourselves in these areas, the believer's greatest treasure is the gospel of salvation in Christ. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. Nothing we could lose in this life is comparable to our Saviour, the one who us 'chosen by God and precious'.  

The book's title is taken from 2 Corinthians 4:7-9. God places the treasure of the gospel in the clay jars of our fragile humanity. We don't have to pretend to be stronger, or more resilient that we really are. The Lord knows our sins and weaknesses, yet loves us all the same. Although outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly the Lord is renewing us by his grace, a grace that is made perfect in weakness. 

Catherine Haddow's approach to helping people with anxiety is deeply biblical and gospel-centred. She helps us to apply the good news of Jesus to our anxious souls. We are not to listen to ourselves as our overactive minds clog up with worry. We must preach to ourselves, remembering what Jesus has done for us in his death and resurrection, what he is doing in us by his Spirit and what he will do for us when he returns. As we are captivated by the hope of the gospel, our present distresses will seem light and momentary when compared with the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 2 Corinthians 4:17-19. This is not a quick fix, but a call to renewed devotion to the Lord Jesus. Like Paul we need to count whatever gain we have as loss for Christ, Philippians 3:7-8.  

Jars of Clay keeps it real. The author is open about her own struggles with anxiety and gives anonymised case studies of  people whose lives have been blighted by worry, yet who have found peace through faith in Jesus. Practical tips are provided for mitigating some of the physical effects of anxiety. Quiet meditation on the Word of God is commended as an alternative to Mindfulness. The book is well written and helpfully structured, making it easy to follow the basic argument. Anxiety is a 'smoke alarm' that alerts us to what we really value as 'The Precious' thing in our lives. The more we treasure Jesus, the less we will be consumed with this world's 'uncertain riches', Matthew 6:19-21. 

Anxiety isn't just a 'woman thing'. Men may also become consumed with worry, Male mental health is an issue of big concern in our society. Men as well as women will benefit from reading this title and taking its message to heart, Pastors should read it too. It will help you minister more effectively to care-worn members of your flock. More than that, read Jars of Clay as  part of your pastoral self-care. 

Sadly men have dropped out of ministry, overwhelmed with the burden of the work. Paul knew 'the care of all the churches', yet his sufficiency as a minister of the gospel was not in himself, but God. If we are not careful we can treasure ministry success above the Master, which is a sure recipe for anxious insecurity. We who preach the word and apply it to others, also need to partake of its rich treasures for ourselves. 

Thank God that in Jesus we have One why says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28). 

* Please note, Catherine Haddow doesn't put J. R. R. Tolkien's character Gollum in the psychologist's chair. Any gratuitous  LoTR refs are the reviewer's. 

Plague Journal 2: Week 3

 15-21 November 

On Sunday morning I spoke on Jeremiah 10:17-25 in our Zoom service, on 'Facing Affliction with Faith.' In the evening I conducted an interview with Catherine Haddow 'Anxiety: A Mirror of the Heart'. We discussed her Bible-based approach to helping people with anxiety issues.  

We had our Zoom Prayer Time on Wednesday evening, where I gave a Bible Study on Psalm 65. On Friday evening I livestreamed the latest One Way Club video on the Story of Moses. Last week  I also made a video on 'Daniel in the Lions' Den' for a primary school assembly. 

It was deadline time for the two parish magazines for which I write a monthly article. I usually use the same piece, but with different services info for the Providence & Ebeneezer Churches.

Our Bradford on Avon Ministers' Fraternal, of which I am chairman, resorted to Zoom for our meeting on Wednesday morning, Michael Payton of Chippenham gave an inspiring talk on the Huguenots. What those faithful French believers had to suffer put the inconveniences of lockdown into perspective. 

The lockdown rules don't allow for 'routine' pastoral visiting, so my wife and I keep in touch with people by phone, especially those who live on their own, or are unwell. The rules do allow two people to meet up outdoors, also I arranged to for a walk in Longleat Forest with a church member who lives near there. 

News is percolating through of a small number of churches defying lockdown rules and meeting regardless. Some are claiming to meet under the guise of a support group, others are simply ignoring government guidance and gathering anyway. Sadly, and perhaps predictably this has been the cause of some division between and within Evangelical churches.  

As I've indicated, we have moved all our services online for the lockdown period. That doesn't mean I am convinced the government was right to close church meetings. I have written to my MP and signed a letter of protest. But I don't believe that Christians are being signalled out for hostile treatment by the government. All faith groups are being treated the same and other sectors such as cinemas and pubs have had to close their doors. Sometimes we may best commend the gospel not through bold defiance, but gracious submission, 1 Peter 2:13-17.

Although we are locked down, the word of God is not bound. Livestreams of our services are reaching more people than would have been the case before the pandemic. The online interviews have garnered a good number of  views. The Catherine Haddow one has attracted almost 800 views. 

We used to run 'Bake Through the Bible' outreach events aimed at engaging whole families with the gospel. Our Hall would often be buzzing on a Sunday afternoon. The family who were the driving force behind BTTB this week produced the first episode in an online version, which was really well done. Take a look at Bake Through the Bible: Episode 1, which has had nearly 600 views so far. 

Still, I'll be glad when the current lockdown ends on 2 December and we can start gathering for worship once more.

Biss Wood