Archives for August 2014

Aber Conference

(Written by Mary Beeke)

North Wales is very scenic. It has the same pastoral scenes that we saw in the Yorkshire Moors, plus steep and rocky passages through the mountains, many trees, and fast-moving streams tumbling over boulders next to the road. The Aberystwyth Conference had already begun when we arrived Monday evening. We met with friends Gareth and Ceri Edwards, then settled into our dorm room. This is Joel’s fifth time speaking at this conference, and my first. He treasures this conference because the people pray for God’s blessing during the entire preceding year. In a country that has small churches, and not many of them, it is amazing to gather with 1,200 people of all ages. The singing is hearty and inspiring. The whole group meets in the Great Hall for the morning “Bible Reading,” a sermon on the theme—this year it was D.A. Carson on Ephesians. The evening services are evangelistic. Joel took two of the four, “The Only Way to Live and Die” and “Gethsemane’s King-Lamb.” The crowd is a mix of believers and unbelievers. Throughout the day and late into the evening, different age groups meet together as well. Joel spoke at a seminar on the Puritan view of marriage and child-rearing, then to young people about praying like Jesus, and also to a group of people age 45 and older about contemporary issues on which the Puritans can serve as examples. I spoke to a group of ministers’ wives on “Little Things and Little Ones.”

Aberystwyth is a city of 14,000, and the university adds 10,000. It rates high in student satisfaction and safety. It overlooks the Irish Sea and is encircled by cliffs and hills. Our dear friend Geoff Thomas has ministered at Alfred Place Baptist Church for nearly forty-nine years. He is nearly finished preaching through the whole Bible. Joel has been invited for November, 2015 to preach his fiftieth-year commemoration sermon, D.V. Geoff and Iola also recently celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. We were delighted to be invited to join them and their family and some friends for a luncheon to celebrate the occasion.

You might remember past pastoral letters describing the Hackney Evangelical Reformed Church in London. My dear husband was used by God for the conversion of several young people there. They came out of the Pentecostal church and never looked back, except to bring more of their friends with them. The church is now nearly twice the size it was, and eighty of these beautiful friends were at the conference. It was a joy to be with them, to answer their questions, and to sense their energy and witness their zeal. They have not had an ordained minister for years, but a gifted young man, originally from Nigeria, has been preaching there. He is engaged to a young lady with roots in Zimbabwe.

Lake District of North England

On Friday we drove to the Lake District in England and stayed in Ambleside, along Lake Windermere, the biggest lake in England. We hiked up the Langdale Valley, climbing along a rocky stream to Stickle Tarn (a small lake nestled in the mountains). It was like climbing uneven stones for about an hour. We came down part of the way through grassy areas that were a little less steep, though soggy and slippery in places, then back to the stone-step areas. The weather was constantly changing, but we always had a breathtaking view. We paused to watch a shepherd and his dog moving a flock of sheep up the mountain. It was fascinating to hear the shepherd whistle and shout to direct the dog to keep circling and corralling the sheep to stay on the path. We couldn’t help but think about the Great Shepherd, his servants (sheepdogs), and us wandering, straying sheep. What an amazing Creator and Savior we have!

On Saturday we toured the Yorkshire Dales National Park. There were many signs of Tour de France recently coming through in its initial stage: banners, spray-painted yellow bikes, and bikers following their route. We stopped in Hawes for a lunch of fish ’n chips; then in Reeth to check in at the Old Temperance Bookshop, run by Pastor David Levell and his wife Elizabeth. There were a number of RHB titles there, including some of my husband’s books. It was a small store but every inch of space was used. Also in Reeth is the Grinton Lodge Youth Hostel in which I stayed with Arlene Southway and Ruthann VanDalen about thirty-three years ago when we biked through the Dales while touring the UK by train and bike. We also stopped to see Aysgarth Falls.

Fish and Chips with David Woollin

David Woollin was an awesome tour guide. He knows the geography, the culture, and the history, especially church history, including the facts of all the churches in the area. We stayed in Haworth at David’s in-laws, Mick and Gill Lockwood, for the last two nights.

Mick Lockwood is pastor of Hall Green Baptist Church. His calling is to nurture small, dying churches to health. He came here fourteen years ago when there were four people in the congregation. There are now sixty members, with nearly one hundred attending Sunday mornings, a wonderful variety of folks of different ages, nationalities, and backgrounds. He said it is uncommon to have a traditional family walk in. Most often people come from dysfunctional families or have damaged themselves with sin or substance abuse. Joel preached in the morning and David in the evening. Joel was delighted to greet a fellow Puritan-lover, Alex, from California, who was in London for business and is touring the UK for a week.

The church that William Grimshaw served is only a few blocks from the Lockwood home, so we walked there. Grimshaw was one of the greatest preachers during the Great Awakening; God used him for thousands of people. Because his church could not hold the people, the church knocked out some windows, and put up scaffolding, so that he could simultaneously preach to a full church and a thousand or more people standing in the adjacent cemetery. When Whitefield preached there, four thousand people were in the cemetery.

From there, we walked to the Grimshaw homestead. There is a plaque on the side of the home stating that Whitefield, John Wesley, John Newton, and Henry Venn had all stayed in this home when they preached in this village. My husband found it all very moving and nostalgic.

The grand finale of our trip was visiting long-time friend Erroll Hulse. He lost his wife about nine months ago, then had a severe stroke while in South Africa. His left side is paralyzed, but his mind and speech are good. It was beautiful to see Joel and him conversing. Erroll is one of the most optimistic persons we know, though he is missing the felt presence of the Lord right now. He longs for the joy of it and relief from pain. He told Joel that he had to write one thousand pages on what the Puritans said about the subject! Even with a stroke, he directed the conversation and had a number of things he wanted to discuss. I am jealous of his zeal. Joel preached in Leeds Reformed Baptist church in the evening (Erroll Hulse’s former congregation).

Our homecoming trip was happily uneventful—God is good!

(Written by Mary Beeke)

It’s a good thing our marriage is smoother than the beginning of our trip to celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary! After thirty-one hours in Chicago, two canceled overseas flights (mechanical problems), numerous attempts to re-book via different routes, and much frustration, we were finally on our way. We missed Oslo, Norway, and the scenic train ride from Oslo to Bergen. We flew to Copenhagen, then to Bergen and arrived with twenty minutes to spare to catch our boat. In all, it took us fifty hours to get from our home to our boat in Norway.

The Hurtigruten boats deliver goods to towns along the west coast of Norway. They are also outfitted for passengers to tour the beautiful fjords—inlets from the sea with high mountain walls. The Geiranger Fjord was the highlight of our trip. We took an excursion overland and were treated to a panoramic view from the top of the fjord, and later to a rushing stream that had carved its way through a narrow canyon. We saw mountain-top views with waterfalls and hairpin turns. After two nights on the boat, we disembarked at Trondheim, and spent the day in the city. Norway is booming economically due to offshore drilling for gas and oil. Its citizens earn high wages and can afford the high prices of goods there. Lutheranism is the predominant religion.

On Saturday, we flew to Copenhagen. We had a six-hour layover, so we ventured into the city on the Metro, and toured the city by canal boat. Sun turned to clouds, then rain. As we bought tickets, the girl said, “We don’t have any glass-covered boats today.” After one minute on the water, a glass-covered boat floated by—it was a different company! We bought plastic rain ponchos and weathered the wind and the rain. From Copenhagen, we flew to Manchester, England, where David Woollin (PRTS student and RHB employee—marketing and development) picked us up and drove us to the home of his parents, John and Ann Woollin, in Whitby. David was an immense help in arranging this trip around the Aberystwyth Conference as well as in driving us around the United Kingdom (UK).

At Whitby Evangelical Church, Joel preached in the morning, and David in the evening. On this trip to the UK we have sensed a shift in some of the churches. Instead of mostly gray heads, we saw families with young children, as well as middle-aged folks. Because of the non-religious nature of society, the church is very creative in evangelism. They do Vacation Bible School, youth camps, beach outreach (activities with town children on the beach for a week), food pantry, and “street angels” (retired couples wait outside bars Friday and Saturday nights until at least 2 a.m. and help drunk people by calming them down or driving them home). They are also on the lookout in their community for opportunities to do everyday evangelism. A couple years ago, an older lady fell in the store. A church member helped her and visited her later. The elderly lady was very lonely; she started coming to church, was saved, and is now drinking in the Word of God.

Ruins Where Synod Met

We walked around Whitby Monday morning. It was very busy because of a Regatta taking place. The Synod of Whitby met in the abbey in 663 AD—the ruins stand on a wind-swept cliff over the town. In the cemetery, a tomb memorializes a couple who were both born on September 19, 1600, married on September 19, 1620, and after having twelve children, died within five hours of each other on September 19, 1680. Many shipwrecks have taken place on this coast. Whitby Jet is petrified (tropical) Monkey Puzzle tree which washes up on the shore just outside Whitby. It is made into jewelry, and my sweet husband bought me a pendant for our anniversary.

John and Ann Woollin are very friendly, and John has quite a sense of humor. He said if we ever have trouble sleeping, we should lay on the edge of the bed and we’d soon drop off. He probably inherited his humor from his father. David says once when they lived in the country some hikers asked for directions and his dad told them to go left and then around the corner. He then cut through the woods to that spot, only to meet the hikers again, who asked for directions. He said they had perhaps met his twin brother who gave them directions. He uses his outgoing personality to talk to anyone, and to help whomever he can and bring the gospel whenever possible, including as a “street angel.” His prayers are serious and earnest.

By mid-afternoon, we set out for the Aber conference in Aberystwyth, Wales (a five-hour trek), driving through several quaint villages in the North Yorkshire Moors. Along winding, narrow roads we saw numerous sheep dotting the hills, green pastures framed by stone walls, and stone houses with bright flowers. All things bright and beautiful, the Lord God made them all.

This week I was privileged to teach a 30-hour class on Puritan Theology to ten D.Min. students at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. These were long days of lecturing, but also encouraging and joyful days as the students—nearly all of whom are ministers—were very responsive. Several of them told me that the class convicted them of their need for deeper spiritual maturity; one brother told me that the course transformed his life. He said, “I will never forget how God used you this week in teaching this course for my own soul. I don’t think I will ever be the same again.” Once again I experienced this week that sometimes it is good to minister to only a few handfuls of ministers at once, but to do so in depth.

Throughout the week, nearly all my mealtimes and evenings were committed to visiting. One evening was spent with Dr. George and Virginia Knight over dinner and afterwards going through his library. Another evening was spent with Dr. Scott and Susie Roberts for dinner and fellowship, with their boys, Nathan and Noah. Scott is a great friend for many years—also of our seminary. And yet another evening was devoted to having dinner and fellowship with the seminary’s president, Dr. Michael Kruger (NT professor), and three professors, Dr. Robert Cara (NT), Dr. Richard Belcher, Jr. (OT), and Dr. John Currid (OT). Other memorable mealtimes were shared with Dr. Don Fortson, professor of church history and practical theology; Mark Jones—a former student of PRTS who is now a student at RTS; and several meals with other RTS students. I enjoyed all of these times of fellowship, but it did make for an intensely busy week.

With Dr. William Young

On Friday evening I flew up to Providence, Rhode Island. Bryant White, a single, 25-year-old brother, graciously chauffeured me around for the first day. I spent the morning in a local library catching up on scores of emails, then visited Dr. William Young—a friend of many years and now 96 years old!—in the afternoon, and to see his remarkable library. When I asked him what one piece of advice he would give our seminary students after so many decades of experience, he paused, and then said quite movingly just three words, “Look to Jesus!” I think he said it all.

On Saturday evening I overnighted with John and Phyllis Humphreys. John entertained me with a number of stories about how he has tamed a variety of animals, including a fox, screech owls, rabbits, etc. He truly sees God’s handiwork in nature.

On Sunday, I preached in the morning for Rev. Michael Ives at the Presbyterian Reformed Church of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, then fellowshipped with the flock, after which I gave a presentation on God’s work in the world by means of our seminary. From there Pastor Ives drove me to Grace Community Baptist Church, North Providence, Rhode Island where I preached on “Christ’s Tears and Ours” for pastors Rob Ventura and Jack Buckley. This church has grown considerably in recent years, and now contains a number of remarkable converts from a wide variety of backgrounds. We fellowshipped afterward for a few hours, then overnighted at the Ventura home after enjoying more fellowship. We were up at 5:00 a.m. to catch the early flight home where I faced the tyranny of catch-up even as I tasted again the joy of homecoming.