‘21st Century’ Category

One of the most poignant historical reflections that I have ever heard came from a dear friend named Bob Shaker, literary enthusiast extraordinaire and a one-time deacon of Jarvis Street Baptist Church. Bob happened to visit his pastor, T.T. Shields—who, though married twice, never had any physical children—in 1949, when many of those whom Shields had mentored and taught—great future Canadian Baptist leaders like Jack Scott, Hal MacBain, Arnold Dallimore, and Tom Carson (D.A. Carson’s father)—took a different ecclesiological position than Shields and a cleavage occurred between Shields and them. Without a doubt Shields contributed to the resulting division between these brothers in Christ, but he told Shaker sadly, “All of my children are leaving me.” How utterly sad!

On the flip side, though, there are those words of the aged Apostle John in 3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” It was with these Johannine words ringing in my ears that I read the following post by Baptist pastor John Bell, whom I have had the incredible privilege of teaching at Toronto Baptist Seminary (though I would never presume to think of Pastor Bell as a son in Christ–but I was so encouraged to read this): “Sharing the Gospel in the Gay Village” on Tim Challies’ blog.

I have returned from a long week (nine days in total) away from home with ministry and teaching as far afield as Florida, Southern in Kentucky (classes ended this past week), and Sherbrooke in Québec. Not surprisingly, I was tired when I flew into Montréal last Friday. But oh what refreshment time among the French Baptist brethren proved. I never spend time with my French brothers (this time, especially with Stéphane Gagné and François Deschamps—two very dear brothers and good friends) without coming away refreshed, humbled, challenged, and thankful for the wonder-working grace of God among these brothers and sisters.

The Lord is doing a great work in la belle province—unnoticed by much of the Anglophone Evangelical world (this should not surprise, for that world has largely forgotten—Calvin excepted—the great French Evangelical heritage). And this English-speaking Christian wants to go on record that I am deeply in the debt of these French-speaking Christian heirs of Calvin. Some of the happiest hours as a Christian I have spent among these believers. One of them, Jacques Alexanian, a key figure among the pioneers of the present work in Québec, I consider and honour as a father in Christ. Others of them are among my closest friends. Yet others have touched me deeply by their zeal, their worship and love for Christ and his kingdom. May God continue to bless these churches for the glory of his Son, the Lord Jesus.

During the French Reformation, around 10% of the population embraced Evangelical Protestantism—this entailed close to 50% of the upper and middle classes. These two million flooded into the church during a time of a great outpouring of the Spirit between the 1520s and the 1560s. Those stirring days will be remembered frequently this year when many celebrate the qunicentennial of the birth of John Calvin (born 1509).

As an historian I am thrilled to read of those days and very thankful for the life and ministry of Calvin (though not without some reservations about certain aspects of his ministry).

But as a Christian, living in the early twenty-first century, what stares me in the face is the enormous spiritual need of France. I just got this statement sent to me today in an e-mail from a dear brother and sister, both of whom I taught in the 1980s at Central Baptist Seminary, Toronto, and who have served in France for nearly twenty years. They wrote:

“We have seen very few French people turn to the Lord and remain attached to Him over the past 19 years.”

Should this not be a matter for great prayer? Especially by those who honour Calvinistic theology? Calvin gave much of his life to see the gospel planted in France. If we honour his memory, should we not share something of his concern and desire?

Brothers and sisters, those of you love the doctrines of grace—yea, all who love the Lord Jesus and long for his appearing, pray for France and her people!

I just received word that a very dear brother, Pastor Randy Singbeil, of Alliston, Ontario, died last night quite suddenly from a previously undiagnosed brain tumor. Randy was a lover of the doctrines of grace, and a graduate from Knox Theological Seminary (D.Min.). I counted Randy among my good friends and esteemed him as a colleague in ministry.

I first met Randy about twelve years ago when he was pastoring at Walsh, here in Ontario. What drew us together was a shared love for the same historical figures—men like the Puritans and Jonathan Edwards, Calvinistic Baptists like Andrew Fuller and Charles H. Spurgeon, and that remarkable Welsh preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones—and a great desire to see revival and reformation here in our Baptist churches of Ontario.

It was a privilege to get to know Randy even more as he studied at a seminary with which I am very familiar, Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale, where he graduated with a D.Min. I remember reading over portions of his well-executed thesis “Can These Dry Bones Live? Church Revitalization in the Cultural Mosaic of Canada (2004)”. And when I came to Toronto Baptist Seminary as Principal in 2003, and was seeking for pastoral leaders who would support the work at Toronto Baptist Seminary, I turned to Randy, among a few others. By that time, he and his dear wife Crystal had moved to Toronto to pastor Long Branch Baptist Church. Randy, and Crystal as time allowed, was always present and supportive at our seminary functions and showed a great interest in what we were doing.

I last saw him, I believe, at the Sola Scriptura conference in London, Ontario, last November, though we had ongoing contact through e-mail since then. He and Crystal were there, and we talked about a possible trip to Geneva this summer to celebrate the quincentennial of John Calvin’s birth. Randy was his usual outgoing, warm self, that I always deeply appreciated.

One of our mutual heroes, the Baptist pastor Andrew Fuller often resorted to poetry and hymnody when overwhelmed with emotion. Shortly after getting the news about Randy I was led to think of this hymn by D.A. MacGregor, the nineteenth-century Canadian Baptist, who also died quite young. These are stanzas 5-6:

Life is death if severed
From Thy throbbing heart.
Death with life abundant
At Thy touch would start. …

Jesus! all perfections
Rise and end in Thee;
Brightness of God’s glory
Thou, eternally.
Favour’d beyond measure
They Thy face who see;
May we, gracious Saviour,
Share this ecstasy.

We trust and confidently believe that Randy is now seeing the face of his and our Saviour, and rejoicing perfectly in God’s mercy in Christ.

Please remember his wife Crystal and his and her families in prayer. The funeral will be Saturday in Alliston, Ontario.

PS See the tribute to Randy by my dear friend Heinz Dschankilic on the Sola Scriptura website: “Today We Grieve at the Loss of a Dear Friend.”

A few days ago I read a fairly negative review of U2’s new album, No Line on the Horizon. Not sure why I ever heed such without first checking the item in question.

My assistant, the “Invaluable Mr. Weaver,” played me a couple of songs from the album on Friday last as he drove me to the Louisville airport. I was hooked. I have really liked some of U2 in the past, but this album is tremendous, with some hard-hitting, haunting tunes and memorable lyrics.

“Magnificent,” for example, is stellar and a powerful witness to the electing love of God.

To read a post by Steve Weaver about the new album click here.

Here is a fascinating audio slideshow on the BBC site of the studies of writers and poets by Eamonn McCabe entitled Writers’ Rooms. There is an idea here for someone to do Pastors’ Rooms!

HT: Justin Taylor

I just read in the Vic Report (Winter 2009), 18 that Grace Irwin (1907-2008) has gone to be with the Lord. She died September 16, 2008.

After graduating from Victoria College in 1929, she served for 38 years as “a charismatic teacher of classics at Toronto’s Humberside Collegiate Institute.” In addition to her teaching, she was also an amateur actress into her nineties and an authoress, penning excellent lives of John Newton and Lord Shaftesbury. I distinctly remember reading her fascinating autobiography a few years ago when my family and I vacationed at Port Elgin on Lake Huron.

She also pastored Emmanuel Evangelical Church in Toronto for many years, after retiring from teaching. The church had been founded by H.H. Kent, a student of T.T. Shields (did all the men in those days have the same letters for their Christian names?)–and while I would disagree with her taking on such a role–she leaves behind a tremendous legacy in the city of Toronto.

Her memorial service was taken in part by one of her nephews, the well-known Christian publisher John Irwin, who referred to an occasion when Grace addressed an audience in the University of Toronto’s magnificent Convocation Hall.

“Grace stood at the podium and announced that Erasmus had written long ago what she wished to say to those who now packed Convocation Hall. For several minutes she read, or rather recited from memory, with great expression, Erasmus’s Latin preface to the New Testament.”

(HT: SUZANNE’S BOOKSHELF )

For a great picture of Grace Irwin, see http://www.mirror-guardian.com/article/56790.

Also recently deceased is the great hymnwriter, Margaret Clarkson (d. March 17, 2008), aged 93. I still remember hearing her lecture on hymnody at Central Baptist Seminary, where I taught first, in the 1980s.

Some friends of my wife and I have started a reading circle in which we intend to read together, over the course of four-month blocks, a book for edification and fellowship. We have begun with C.J. Mahaney’s Humility: True Greatness.

I hope to put under the Books & Papers link the study guide we are creating for this book. The first set of questions will be there shortly. I do this in the hope that these questions will encourage others to study about, and long for, this vital virtue.

UPDATE:  The study guide for chapters 1-2 of Humility:  True Greatness has been posted online on the Books & Papers page, under Study Guides.  SW

What a shock to read of Richard John Neuhaus’ death. Like Dr. Russell Moore, I too will miss his lucid and pungent prose. And I too plead guilty to always turning to the back first when I read my monthly copy of First Things. There are four or five journals/magazines I have a subscription for—a couple of professional history journals—and then there is First Things. How often the journal has been an oasis for me. I thank God for Richard Neuhaus.

And do read the quote from Neuhaus that Dr. Moore includes in his appreciation.

Another literary figure for whom I have a great admiration and who recently died was Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008). His literary masterpieces from my perspective were parts of The Red Wheel–August 1914, November 1916, Lenin in Zurich–and then One Day in the Life of Ivan Denosovich (a difficult read emotionally). I read many of his essays when a much younger Christian and deeply appreciated his critique of the godlessness and soul-lessness of Communism, especially when I had once professed myself a Marxist.

For a recent obituary, see Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Dissident writer who exposed the moral infamy of Soviet Communism by Mark Le Fanu (The Independent, August 5, 2008). See also John Piper, “Thank You, Lord, for Solzhenitsyn.”