Sir, we would see Jesus.

"Sir, we would see Jesus." These words are from John's Gospel, chapter 12, verse 21, in the King James version of the Bible. They were spoken by some Greek men to the Apostle Philip expressing a desire to meet with Jesus for themselves. John does not tell us whether their request was granted to them. But what a request: to see Jesus for themselves!
Apparantly in earlier times, many pulpits in Britain were engraved or marked with the words, "Sir, we would see Jesus." Some still display these words today. And what a wonderful request to make to our Father before we sit under the preached word, the Bible, this Sunday. Pray it before you leave for church; pray it in the pew before the service; pray it during the sermon itself. "Sir, we would see Jesus."

Hawkstone Follies

Saturday 23 June saw the Joneses trekking among the follies at Hawkstone. We had a great day there: the rain managed to hold off, we walked a good 4 miles, explored the caverns and climbed a huge column giving us views of Shropshire, Staffordshire and mid and north Wales. Despite the somewhat off-putting entrance fee of £6 for an adult, I would thoroughly recommend it to all. For those of you from further afield, it is where the 1980s BBC adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was filmed.

Unfortunately, the camera was left behind and so the rather small images are off my mobile. Above are Naomi being a mermaid, the three Joneses and north Shropshire and, finally, Yoda (or Ben Jones).

Only two weeks now until we are go to France. For those of you who don't know, we are going to do 2 weeks of mission work in Brittany with a UFM team there. Tomorrow, I am off to the Grange church, Shrewsbury, to help with an evangelistic BBQ. Finally, being a temporary primary school secretary is going well: one sugar or two?

Tickets, s'il vous plait.

Having spent the last two weekends away from home, it is nice to be spending this weekend in Shropshire. Last weekend I went with Lou to Clarberston Road, Pembrokehire, to preach in a small church there. We spent a lovely Saturday exploring Saundersfoot and Tenby and had a good day on Sunday with the people at Bethany Free Church. On Thursday of last week I started a ‘summer job’ for four weeks or so, working as the stand-in school secretary at a small local primary school. I am currently the only male member of staff but am being looked after very well by all the ladies there!

It is only four weeks now until the four of us go to Brittany for a fortnight to help with a missionary team there, organised through UFM, where we will be helping an evangelical church in Guingamp with mission activities, leaflet distribution, etc. Please continue to pray for us that the Lord would use us then and encourage us now as we attempt to improve our French before going.

We spent a lovely morning today at the Cambrian Railway, Llynclys, Shropshire. The journey is only a mile or so, but we had a good time on the old diesel unit which carried us on a short ride. The day out is pictured above. How old do Naomi and Ben look?! I must be truly over-the-hill now!

Finally, for a trial period, I have removed the stipulation that those adding comments to my blog are gmail account holders only, so please add some comments even if you do not have a gmail account. It would be good to hear from you all!

Bank-holiday insanity

Two clans were merged temporarily over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend as the Joneses and Lords spent three days at Black Rock Sands, North Wales. Copious amounts of take-away and ice-cream were consumed. Saturday was spent exploring Borth-y-Gest and Portmadoc, Sunday was spent at Capel Fron Church and on the beach (in temperatures of around 9C!) and Monday was spent around the beautiful Aberglaslyn and Beddgelert - I defy anyone to find lovelier scenery anywhere in the UK. Pictured are the two clans less Lou the photographer and a percentage of our gathered masses sampling the delights of Beddgelert banana choc-chip, raspberry pavlova, creme-caramel, pecan and butterscotch, etc, ice-creams. And, for the record, there were no major fallings-out!

The 'A' Team.

Thursday was characterised by a mixture of sadness and happiness as my exams at college were finally completed, but also it was time to say goodbye for a while to some of my brothers and sisters. My exams went 'fair-to-middling' I think; thank you to those who prayed for me at this time. Pictured are the majority of students with whom I shared 'A-block' this year. I love them all in Christ, except for Tom and Laszlo between 10pm and 1am at night. From left to right: Me (England), Steve (England), Sergiy (Ukraine), Shwekey (Burma), Miriam (Wales), Nathan (Pakistan/Yorkshire), Lambert (Cameroon), Tim (Ulster), and at the front, Laszlo (Romania) on the left, and Tom (England).

I now have a chance to put my feet up for a while and spend some time with the family. Any summer job offers would be gratefully received...Lou is needing something to do!

Liars, Evil Brutes, Lazy Gluttons...

This week has been spent at home attempting to revise for next week's exams. Please pray for me during next week. I have exams on the book of Romans, Islam, Bible Inspiration and Authority, and Church History (1700-1850) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Today, though, presented a chance to relax and listen to some good ministry. A group of us from Wem Baptist Church (with around 600 others) went to the Northern Men's Convention to hear teaching on Biblical manhood from the book of Titus. We certainly came away convicted that we need to be 'self-controlled' and 'devoted to doing good' and no longer liars, evil brutes or lazy gluttons! Pictured above (from the left) are Edward and Mark Towers, Noel Cardus, Pete Turnbull, David Rowe, Paul Towers, Phil Wright, yours truly, and Andy Everett. Also pictured is our illustrious pastor following the WBC minibus to Manc-land by motorbike.

Happy Birthday, Dear Benjy

Our little man reached the grand old age of two on Sunday 15 April. A small(-ish) gathering was convened and the momentous occasion was celebrated by the consuming of copious amounts of ceck (that’s Ben-ish for cake, by the way).