Notes from a Well Worn Bible Pt.1

Perhaps it's because I'm in pastoral work, but very often when a relative dies I am bequeathed their old Bible. It's a privilege to own so many of these family heirlooms, and a joy to read through the notes and quotes which are often recorded in them. Recently I've been looking through some old Bibles and thought it might make a nice occasional series here on the blog to share some of the things which my forebears have thought worthy of writing down in their walk with God. In an age where more and more people are defaulting to electronic Bibles, it is refreshing to encounter the physical form of Bibles long loved and much used by generations which have gone before: and perhaps there is a warning there for those of us of the Kindle/iPad generation about how much we can leave behind of our online existence.

There's an old adage that says 'a Bible that's falling apart is normally owned by someone who isn't'. I trust that the notes and quotes contained in this series might be proof of that, and a means of encouragement to anyone who calls by this blog.

The first note from a well worn Bible which I want to record comes from my Great Uncle Jack's daily reading Bible. Uncle Jack went to be with Christ some years ago, and his widow, Aunt Molly, just passed away last summer (I had the privilege of conducting her funeral service). Theirs was a life of quiet but heroic faith. They lost their daughter Mary just moments after she was born (in the days when parents did not get to spend time with the child they had lost) and their son, Cecil, died in his late teens. In the wake of such tragedy Uncle Jack and Aunt Molly held on to God, and set an example of what it is to trust Him, even when we don't understand His ways.

Below are the words of a hymn (it is written by Joseph Parker) which Uncle Jack had hand-written and kept inside his Bible: it contains rich and helpful truth in the midst of adversity:

God holds the key to all unknown,
And I am glad.
If other hands should hold the key,
Or if he trusted it to me
I might be sad.

What if tomorrow's cares were here without its rest?
I'd rather He unlocked the day
And as the hours swing open, say:
"My will is best".

The very dimness of my sight
makes me secure;
For groping in my misty way
I feel His hand, I hear Him say
"My help is sure"

I cannot read His future plans;
But this I know:
I have the smiling of His face,
And all the refuge of His grace
While here below.

Enough: this covers all my wants;
And so I rest!
For what I cannot, He can see
And in His care I saved shall be,
Forever blest.

The good is oft interred with their bones: some thoughts on the Jimmy Savile Scandal

Jim'll Fix It was staple viewing when I was growing up, and how could it not be? The idea of people, often children, being able to write in to the BBC and have their wishes granted was spellbinding. I can't remember if I ever wrote in to the show, but I know that I had a wishlist of things I would like granted. Jimmy Savile was like a tracksuit and jewellery bedecked Santa Claus figure, with seemingly limitless powers in granting wishes. I had no knowledge of his previous life and work as a Top of the Pops presenter or disc jockey, to many in my generation he was simply a kind of fairy godfather, albeit with a highly annoying voice (was an adult really allowed to sport a cigar while presenting children's TV during my childhood?).

Now the reputation of Jimmy Savile lies in ruins and nothing, it appears, will be able to fix that. Numerous allegations are emerging of serious sexual crimes against children and young people, spanning a sickeningly long period of time. While nothing has as a yet been 'proven', it appears from statements from Metropolitan police spokespeople that there is substance to the charges now being levelled at the late TV personality. What lies behind this story may be yet more interesting, with allusions to institutional cover-ups and complicit onlookers who knew exactly what was going on.

It appears that Shakespeare's Mark Antony was correct in stating that 'The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones'. And it is precisely this issue which seems to most befuddle and perplex the pundits and commentators who are relaying this story to us. Savile is dead, and will now never have to face the inevitable arrest and investigation which would have befallen him had he lived longer. The frustration that this element of the story engenders is palpable, and has found some bizarre expressions, both in media and the real world. Prominent charities which bore his name have now severed any links with Savile, his iniquitously huge headstone has been removed and will now be consigned to landfill, and there have even been rumours of his body being exhumed (it is buried at a 45 degree angle so that Savile could 'see the view', and is encased in concrete).

It appears that people want consequences, and that the idea of a man seeing out his days in good repute without facing the ire and fire of the penal system is unbearable. The United Kingdom may have largely succeeded in persuading itself that 'there's probably no God' and that people can stop worrying and enjoy themselves, but it seems that it is sadly lamented when someone like Savile has managed to apply this principle to the full in life. People want retribution, even if on the bare bones of a long dead old man.

Such a story is salutary to the Christian and non-Christian alike. For the non-Christian there is the unbearable reality that life and death are lived without real consequences, and that injustices are just part and parcel of living in a random world. But for the Christian there is a challenge too. We might think that we are kind in downplaying God's judgement, of highlighting it seldom if ever in our public ministry, and that we are in some way charitable to whisper God's wrath while shouting God's grace. Such a position is not merely unfaithful to Scripture, but misses an important apologetic point for the Christian faith: we believe that God will right every wrong, and that while people might slip the net of judgement in life, His wrath will fall with all the certainty of the Godhead on those who do not repent. We are programmed for consequence, we are hungry for justice, and the Bible speaks powerfully to precisely these issues - just read Psalms 1-12 for a sample of precisely this truth.

Jimmy Savile has slipped out of life without a moment of time served for his alleged sins, but he, and all of us must face God - either to receive the punishment richly deserved, or to be ultimately rescued from it on the merits of Christ's finished work for us at Calvary; in which he bore the fullness of that wrath for us. As much as it might run contrary to the spirit of the age, and the calibrations our hearts, we ought to praise God for His justice, as well as for the fact that he is the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus.

Confession of Ministry Sins Pt.1

I was recently listening to Joel Beeke preach at the 2011 Desiring God Pastors' Conference, and was arrested by a reference he made to a 1651 gathering of Scottish ministers in which they confessed their sins as ministers of Christ's gospel. Dr Beeke quoted their twelfth confession regarding prayerlessness which was convicting indeed, and in chasing up his quotation I discovered the rest of this amazing document (as recorded by Horatius Bonar). Over the next while I hope to post their confession here, praying that they might be effective in my own life (and perhaps those of other ministry colleagues) in stirring me to walking closer to, and working more effectively for Christ Jesus.

Confession 1.
We have been unfaithful. The fear of man and the love of his applause have often made us afraid. We have been unfaithful to our own souls, to our flocks, and to our brethren; unfaithful in the pulpit, in visiting, in discipline, in the church. In the discharge of every one of the duties of our stewardship there has been grievous unfaithfulness. Instead of the special particularisation of the sin reproved, there has been the vague allusion. Instead of the bold reproof, there has been the timid hint. Instead of the uncompromising condemnation, there has been the feeble disapproval. Instead of the unswerving consistency of a holy life whose uniform tenor should be a protest against the world and a rebuke of sin, there has been such an amount of unfaithfulness in our walk and conversation, in our daily deportment and intercourses with others, that any degree of faithfulness we have been enabled to manifest on the Lord's Day is almost neutralised by the want of circumspection which our weekday life exhibits.

Book Review: 1662 - The Great Ejection by Gary Brady

2012 has been a year of achievement and celebration in the United Kingdom. Highlights of the year have undoubtedly been the centenary of the sinking of RMS Titanic in April, Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June, and the landmark London 2012 Olympic games. 2012 will be well remembered as an historic year in itself, and one which looked back on historic events.

With all of this celebration, the 24th August passed without mention in secular media, and with barely a whisper in the Christian press. And yet this date marked the 350th anniversary of a remarkable day in the history of Christianity within and beyond England. The Great Ejection, the expulsion of over 2000 Puritan ministers from the Church of England following Charles II's restoration (and the passing of the Act of Uniformity) represented a seismic shift in the nature of Christian testimony at the time, and has left its mark ever since.

One is to be grateful, then, that Gary Brady (see his blog here) has undertaken a popular study of 'The Great Ejection', in this title recently published by Evangelical Press. Although a reader of the Puritans for a number of years, and having had some exposure to the Great Ejection, this book revealed to me just how little I really knew about the events of 1662 and following.

The book wisely begins with stories from the Great Ejection, which give a flavour of the tremendous shift that it represented for individuals and families. The description of Joseph Alleine's ejection, penned by his wife Theodosia, is incredibly moving, not least for the contrasting details of his taking supper before facing 'many scorns and scoffs from the justices and their associates' along with threats of hanging. Alleine's calmness in the face of such hostility is echoed throughout the book as being typical (although not universally so) of how the Purtians faced such hot persecution. Other examples follow, each painted with touching humans details, lending flesh and blood to the many homes and families rent asunder by the consequences of godly men following biblical principle.

The book, however, is not merely anecdotal. The wider historical background to the Great Ejection is provided, tracing its roots from Henry Tudor to the restoration of Charles II. This is a period of history which I've had cause to study, both personally and academically, and it is pleasing to find that Brady's synopsis touches on the main points of what happened during this incredible era in a way which is accessible to those who have no prior knowledge of it.

The historical notes become more pronounced as the ejection is handled in chapter 3, laying out for the reader the various religious parties extant in England at the time, as well as the acts of government which would ultimately lead to the events of 24th August. This material is very valuable as it untangles the complicated religious picture prior to 1662 and helps the reader to understand just how the Great Ejection happened.

Chapters 4 and 5 draw the reader into the event of the ejection itself, and judicious use is made of the diary of Samuel Pepys to give an objective sense of just how important this moment really was. These, for me, were among the finest chapters in the book, balancing anecdote with hard history in a way which makes the Great Ejection live in the mind. The historical notes are well struck, and the sympathetic handling of Charles II's position is indicative of the measured tone which characterises all of the history recorded here.

Chapter 6 traces the steps which would eventually lead to greater toleration, continuing the balanced approach outlined above. Brady shows that a spectrum of suffering was experienced by individuals during this period, and that persecution could be patchy and sporadic, rather than universal or concerted. The chapter which follows offers samples of the sermons preached by those who were to be ejected on the eve of their being relieved of their pastoral charges. Reading these tasters has inspired me to follow up on these sermons by reading The Banner of Truth's Puritan Paperback edition of these sermons.

Chapters 8 and 9 provide a who's who of those ejected, and these for me were the slowest-reading chapters of the book. One wonders if this material might more helpfully have been placed at the end of the volume as an appendix, but there is undoubted merit in surveying the names and stories of a wider body of those who were ejected (for those reading the text, a key to the abbreviations used in the biographical entries is found at the end of chapter 8, and it is helpful to locate this before reading the chapter itself).

The book concludes by highlighting some of the enduring lessons from the Great Ejection, practically applying the quiet heroism of those who suffered to our own lives today.

1662: The Great Ejection sets out in clear prose and small compass the background to the Great Ejection, and its profound effect on those who endured it. It is a book which brings home the full weight of this historical event in its original context, and in its application to our lives today. Highly recommended.