April 1, 2007
I Am Moving!
I am moving! Not moving house, moving church, or moving theologically...
After just short of 50,000 hits at Iconoblog, from the 1st April 2007 I am moving all of my websites to a brand new home. This site will continue to exist, but will no longer be updated, and I can now be found at my new web address:
Both the content of this website and our family website will now be found under the same roof, with separate sections dedicated to each.
Please update your bookmarks if you wish to continue to stay in touch. For those of you who use an RSS feed, both blogs will have their own individual feed.
Please come and say hello!
March 23, 2007
Archive Upload
This afternoon, whilst listening to several very helpful messages by Paul Howell from Pontefract Evangelical Church, I have uploaded my 2004 Mission Trip to India archive files.
It is a very honest set of entries from the days when this was a less focused blogsite. If I were rewriting the entries, I would probably upload them to our family site due to the more informal style of writing. Apologies in advance.
They can be accessed from the search function either by date or by category 'Mission'.
March 22, 2007
John Piper Hears God's Voice Speaking!
Does God still speak today?
I believe him. What do you think?
March 15, 2007
Blogroll... soft, strong and VERY long
I have updated my blogroll (list of linked websites) today to reflect some of the recent changes in my reading and recommendations.
I particularly recommend that you visit Green Baggins.
This outstanding blog is maintained by Lane Keister who is a Presbyterian Church of America pastor currently serving a Christian Reformed Church and a Reformed Church of America church in North Dakota.
Stimulating reading!
March 4, 2007
Wem Baptist Church - Induction of Rob Whiteway
What a tremendous privilege it is to be involved in the setting aside of a faithful man to the Christian ministry!
For the last two years or so, Rob Whiteway has been Student Pastor at Wem Baptist Church. Having been converted in 1985 and involved in several bible preaching churches as a member and worker, including this one as a valued Youth Leader and diligent servant, in 2003 Rob felt a call to full time Christian ministry after a period of real heart searching and agonising. Studying with the Evangelical Theological College of Wales, he had opportunity as part of his course to spend a short period working alongside Phil Wright, the Pastor of the aformentioned church.
I don't think any of us at that point could have quite foreseen just how the providence of God would work out. Suffice it to say that a bond was formed, foundations were laid, and very soon afterwards Rob was called by the congregation at WBC to join the work at Wem.
Two years later, the church have now called Rob to a permanent role not just as an elder, but as their Assistant Pastor. Standing amongst God's people today was a great experience of seeing the next exciting step of God's unfolding plan for the church at Wem, for Rob, and for the entire Whiteway family.
It was a delight to be involved in the prayerful laying on of hands as Rob made his vows and the folk at Wem affirmed their loving support of him, their willingness to submit to his teaching, and their anticipation of what God might do in the future through their connection. In particular, it was wonderful to hear Phil, the pastor, declare that he couldn't think of another man with whom he would rather work.
Steve Barlow, Pastor at Grace Bible Church in Saltford, not only led a group of his own church members in two inspirational musical items plainly parading Christ, but warmly preached "Five Markers from the Ministry of Paul" as a benchmark for Rob's future ministry.
As closely as I remember, Steve exhorted Rob to imitate Paul in his:
1. Courage
to stand for absolute truth in a postmodern world
to walk as the Master walked
to stand up for the weak and weary
to speak out and not be silent
to imitate Christ in his suffering
to be meek
2. Conscience
have a conscience free from offence to God
live and minister in the light of the judgement of God
3. Compassion
see people as the Lord of Glory sees them
lay down your life for them and love them
look forward to privilege of sinners being made whole
4. Cross
Be a preacher of the cross!
5. Crown
Fix your eyes on glory
Make "Maranatha!" your cry
Take many people home with you
Here are some pictures of the day taken by a certain photographically gifted deacon from Wheelock Heath.
February 26, 2007
Blogging: Time Well Spent?
Occasionally, I am sure that you must wonder what value there is in keeping and maintaining a pastor's blog. At times I ask the same question, so you are not alone. We have limited hours each day, and I wish to use mine well. I am certain, however, that it is worthwhile.
As I was checking my stat counter this evening, I was interested to see just how many people drop in to read this particular part of our site. It may (or may not!) be of interest to you to see some figures. These numbers reflect actual visits by people sitting in front of a computer rather than traffic generated by robots, worms, or replies with special HTTP status codes.
February 2007 (so far): 1304 visits, with 2695 page views
January 2007: 1515 visits, with 3081 page views
December 2006: 1713 visits, with 2977 page views
November 2006: 1641 visits, with 2752 page views
October 2006: 1518 visits, with 2708 page views
I am aware that the more that I post, the more visits this site receives. Thank you to each visitor that has stopped by, and to those of you who remember the previous incarnation of this blog when it was a personal site, and have returned. Please keep reading!
Reflections of a more personal nature, and posts with a more general outlook may now be found on our Family Blogspot accessible through the sidebar links. For those that have requested it, I may seek in the near future to rebuild and repost some of the entries that once existed before this became a more focused pastor's blog. I hope in future to post sufficient stimulating material that will reward the time that you give to reading these pages.
Before you leave, why not go on to explore some of the other links listed in the sidebar?
February 17, 2007
Time, Blogging, and Choices
This week has been half-term holidays here in Cheshire, and as we have long needed to decorate, I have taken a couple of hours from each day to help. It has given me the opportunity to reflect on the Christian's use of time.
I don't think that anybody seriously doubts that we live in a busy society. Employers demand more and more of their workers, we are surrounded by the 'instant' culture (instant soup, 'Drive Through' fast food, internet shopping, push button films from your satellite remote control, et al), and if you have children then numerous hours are swallowed up in running your own chauffeur service.
Time! Cliff Richard starred in a musical about it, you can buy a subscription to a weekly magazine named after it, and watchmakers and clockmakers the world over live by it.
Undoubtedly the tyrant Time controls more people, than there are people who control time. The world is full of overstretched, overtired people, yet at the same time, there are many underused, underactive souls who live and die almost in the same armchair. Millions of pounds are made every single year from time management seminars, conferences, and books such as the One Minute Manager and the 60 Minute Father.
I have often been greatly challenged regarding my use of this amazing gift. Time is God's invention, and is the briefest of parentheses in an ocean of eternity. It is not cyclical, it may not be travelled through - at least in the sense that H. G. Wells or Dr Who understand it - and once passed, can never be reclaimed. It is a garment that clothes the cosmos, that once threadbare, will be discarded for ever. The moment those words - 'Let there be light!', proceeded from the mouth of God, then that clock, fully wound, began to unwind.
We each of us have 168 hrs in 1 week. Let's say that 56 of those hrs are spent sleeping, 8 hrs per night, 21 hrs are spent eating and grooming, 3 hrs daily, approx 56 hrs are spent at work or travelling to work - that adds up to 133 hrs. By my calculation, that leaves 35 hrs which are not accounted for by necessary activity. It is those hours, more than any others, that will determine the character of your Christian life. It is the use of those 'spare hours' that will make the difference between mediocrity and meaning. If I want to live an extraordinary Christian life, then I must master my time.
I often hear the phrase - and use it also - 'I haven't got time'. I am certain that many occasions when that is said, it is an accurate reflection of where we are at; I am equally certain that we could each be further challenged in this area.
Richard Baxter was a busy Pastor and preacher - did you know that he was the author of 128 books? His total literary output would be equivalent to 60 octavo volumes or some 30-40 thousand closely printed pages! Extraordinary diligence, especially bearing in mind that he was a man subject to constant pain, sickness and disability, and even greater, considering he wrote many of his works in odd moments - while travelling, in the vestry before the service, between visits. With discipline, he gathered up all his 'spare' moments, and wove them together into something useful. He was disciplined.
Both John Wesley & FB Meyer divided up their day into 5 minutes segments, pledging never to allow one section to pass wastefully. Again, no small feat.
In 1805, John Angell James took up full time ministry in Carrs Lane, Birmingham.
His first sermon was preached to a few ageing saints. For the next 8 years, they died one by one. The church dwindled, and almost closed. In 1813, a great change came upon his ministry - he had a new freshness, a new vitality. By 1859, his regular morning congregation was 1800. Asked how this transformation took place, he responded that one day in 1813, after years of battling, he finally mastered his getting up time!
How disciplined are you? May I ask, do you spend hours by the television - even into the small hours? Do you have a computer or a favourite hobby? Each may be valid and useful, but their use is to be moderated. When you have a spare 5 minutes, how do you use them? Could you clean a pair of shoes, iron a shirt, read a chapter, learn a verse, pray a prayer, write a letter, phone a brother, read a story... ?
Has God's Word become pushed out and sidelined? When was the last time you really read the Scriptures or set time deliberately aside to pray?
Are your rest hours disciplined?
It was Richard Baxter who said:
"Spend your time in nothing that must be repented of. Spend it on nothing on which you might not pray for the blessing of God, on nothing that you cannot review with a quiet conscience on your dying bed, on nothing that you may not safely & profitably be doing if death should surprise you in the act".
Jonathan Edwards:
"I am resolved to live with all my might while I do live. I am resolved never to lose one moment of time - to improve it - never to waste it. I am resolved never to do anything which I should despise in another, never to do anything out of revenge, that I should be afraid of if this were my last hour upon earth".
Ephesians 5: 16 and Colossians 4: 5 command us to redeem the time that we have, to make wise and sacred use of it as a valued and precious possession.
My pledge today is that I will make time to think creatively and biblically so that I may meaningfully and regularly update my Pastor's Blog for the good of the souls who visit it. It is time consuming, because I have to consider material, frame it and write it. Thirty minutes each day at least. I have no time to do it, but I choose to make it a priority.
I think Richard Baxter might be pleased.
October 12, 2006
Pastor's Blog
Welcome to the official Pastor's Blog for WHBC!
Perhaps your first question is 'What is a blog?'
In simple terms, it is an abbreviation familiar to Internet users for what is more accurately termed a 'weblog'.
Weblog: "A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people".
This blog will be geared mainly toward material of spiritual, practical, and theological interest to visitors to our site, including appropriate reflections of a personal and pastoral nature. My hope is that there will be sufficiently regular and interesting updates to keep you coming back.
Some of the blogsites I read, and which you may find useful, are linked at the right hand sidebar of this page. In the main, these are sites with helpful spiritual content, although I obviously cannot endorse all that is included there.
May the Lord bless you as you visit the various sections of our website!