Look Kids Big Ben....Parliament

So today we had the privilege of starting our day seeing more of beautiful London including Big Ben and Parliament. In fact, not only did we get to see Parliament, we got to go inside Westminster Hall and the Hall of Commons on a short tour as well as have a meeting with a couple of guys that work at Parliament discussing the church, the world, and politics. It was very interesting and beneficial conversation.

I had no idea that William Wallace was put on trial in Westminster Hall as well as many others. The ceiling in Westminster Hall is 1000 years old, it is wood and is still beautiful. I was wishing my brother could have been inside there with me to see it, it was quite remarkable.

After Parliament we hopped on the tube and headed for Wimbledon. I don't follow tennis at all and didn't grow up playing tennis but it was quite an amazing experience. Today was the women's semifinals and various other doubles matches. Sadly, the group I was with decided they wanted to leave early and not worry about trying to get on Center Court or Court 1 where the professional matches were being played. However, some others that I got separated from did eventually get tickets both to Center Court and Court 1.

I came back to my room, changed and went for my first London Run in beautiful Regent's Park. Then it was back to the run to change and get a bite to eat. Not a lot to report from today but it was really amazing to get to go inside Westminster Hall today.

Blessings

Another Day of Firsts

Today did not hold quite the unusual excitement of yesterday but it did bring about a day packed with lots of activities. This morning we walked the British Museum which is arguably the best museum of world history in the world. The Brits were and have been for centuries purest when it comes to preserving history. Many of the collections in the British Museum come from countries all over the world, some dating back to at least 6000 B.C. (that's old). Many of these countries are trying to get their artifacts back from the Brits but the Brits do not want to give up easily what they have worked so very hard to preserve even when these other countries would not. One of the main items of interest to evangelicals in the Museum is the Rosetta Stone (not the DVD series on languages) but the original Rosetta Stone. The significance can be found at the link provided: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/t/the_rosetta_stone.aspx Basically, the Rosetta Stone shows the preservation and complexity of language all the way back to at least the 4th Century A.D. The Museum itself if magnificent and enormous and one could spend literally hours in there, but we only spent about 2 and 1/2 which was plenty for me.

Then on we went to the British Library which is also home of 2 highly important pieces of history for evangelicals. There are no known surviving original manuscripts of the Scriptures. However what we do have is Codex Sinaiticus which is the earliest complete copy of the Bible. http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/codex/default.aspx It was fascinating knowing what precision the scribes aspired to in copying the very Word of God...the Logos. Also the Codex is crying out the glory of God for all to see that come into the room that speak or read Greek. The Codex is opened to John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God (communion with God), and the Word was God (deity, Trinitarianism)." Also in the Library is Codex Alexandrinus one of the three earliest copies of the Bible, it like Sinaiticus receives it name from the location it was recovered. The third Codecies is Codex Vaticanus. If you care to read more on Codex Alexandrinus you can do so here: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/codexalex.html Praise God for the preservation of His Word!

Next on the whirlwind day was a quick bite to eat at a Pizza place, then some of us in the group moved on to Hyde Park to play lawn bowls...it was awesome...very British feeling. It is basically like boccie ball...it was a lot of fun though I did fall to the soon to be pro Dr. Magnuson 15-10. We ended our night with a trip to London's historic district where we took in some great people watching and the group that went with saw Jersey Boys about the band the Four Seasons and the chronicles of their story. It was a good show and an even better Theater, The Prince Edward Theater. We had dinner at a Wagamamma (a recommendation from Kym) in the Theater Distinct and it was fun and different. http://www.wagamama.com/ After the show we caught the Tube back to our stop and walked the rest of the way back to our home sweet home for the week.

Many Blessings! Stephen

Speaker's Corner

Today was a most unusual day, both in London and for me personally. This day was unusual in London from the stand point that Speaker's Corner only happens once a week on Sundays in Hyde Park in Central London. It was most unusual for me because what Speaker's Corner is...let me explain. For a number of years, there have been radical Muslims engaging in debate over who is the One true God with what I will call a group of "radical" Christians. This debate has been started by these "radical" Christians and their street preaching against the beliefs of the Koran. For most the term radical Christians will elicit a picture in your mind...some accurate and some not so accurate. Those "radical" Christians at Speaker's Corner today very much love the Lord and want very desperately for the Sunni Muslims in Central London to love this same Lord and God through the worship of adoration of the Son, Jesus Christ. The "radical" Christians at Speaker's Corner today use a polemic method of sharing Christ, that is to say where an apologetic is a defense of the faith; a polemic is an offense of the faith. These "radical" Christians were quick to point out that Speaker's Corner is unique and this method is most likely not transferable in every Muslim environment. Literally in Hyde Park today as thousands fled to the grounds to hear Dave Matthews opening for Bruce Springsteen, there were Muslims clerics and "radical" Christians alike proclaiming their beliefs from step ladders, hence the name Speaker's Corner. There was shouting, debating, points, counterpoints, and even a few fists thrown by angry Muslims (though none of those punches were thrown at our group), all over the issue of who is the One true God. There are groups that go to Hyde Park every Sunday to engage in this open air preaching debate and part of the design is to draw a crowd and engage willing listeners in evangelism opportunities. You need not look far because if you did not engage a willing participant in one of the opportunities, one of the willing Muslims would engage you in conversation. One of the most helpful things I heard in going to Hyde Park today was the conversation you enter into when it is heated is not as much for the person you are debating rather for the those who are casual observers of the conversation. It is about what you say, but is also about how you say it. I am posting a link to an article about Speaker's Corner from Christianity Today, 2008 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/june/21.34.html Whether you agree with the method or not is not the point of this post. Learn what you can learn from this post and the article and ask yourself what are you willing to do for the name of Jesus Christ to be anthemed on this earth?

Before I tell you what I learned I want to take you on a little journey through my mind as we sat in a pre-meeting about this excursion/adventure that we had no prior knowledge of before it was announced. Before we left to walk to Hyde Park I ran the gamete of emotions; fear and excitement, hope and inadequacy, spiritual warfare and spiritual victory, etc. We had been told that though unlikely, violence was a possibility and, we were told that some Muslims would be very nasty to us personally. It was kind of a prepare for anything type of let's go get'em pep talk! The skies were overcast and even spitting some rain and I found myself in my flesh thinking, "maybe I will pray for rain so this thing might get canceled." I have never in my life thought about doing anything of this nature in this manner. I have shared my faith before and I have witnessed to friends and others, but never gone out looking for confrontation of sorts. Then, as I was thinking about the reality that the victory is the Lord's forever and ever and I as a child of the King can claim this victory I was reminded of at least three things: First, this was not and never would be about me, this was about the Lord and what He wanted. Second, instead of praying for rain in the flesh, I was reminded that I was to pray for fruit walking in the Spirit. Third, I was reminded of one of the verses that I have been memorizing this summer: Matthew 10:28, "And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul, rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell." So literally in a worst case scenario, the worst that could happen to me is I could be killed for my faith. While that would be and was a little difficult to think about I was reminded of the words of Paul, "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain!"

Today was a most unique experience indeed! I am glad that I had the opportunity and I am glad that I engaged in conversation today with a Muslim man named, or as they say in London a man called, Hussein. Pray for him, that the Lord would open his heart and his mind and he will come to know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I am posting 2 pictures from today so you can see Hussein to be reminded to pray for him and one of the crowd gathered at Speaker's Corner. May God receive all the glory and honor forever and may the seeds planted today in the hearts and minds of those who engaged in conversation and those who only observed bring about fruit that glorifies our God and King! Been outside YOUR comfort zone lately???












Blessings

Stephen

Who will pray for them?

I was listening to a lecture for one of my seminary classes recently and was reminded again of the power of prayer, and yet was left to wonder as well. The story was being told of a young man in his 30's that came to faith in Christ and when the pastor had visited with this man about being faithful to follow through in obedience to Christ in baptism; the pastor asked if there was anyone the young man wanted to call to come witness his public profession and obedience in baptism. This man without hesitation said, I would like to invite my aunt. The pastor probed, why your aunt, our of curiosity. The man told his pastor that he knew that from his birth this particular aunt had prayed that this young man would come to faith in Christ and that she had faithfully prayed for him and shared Christ with him over the course of his life.

As I listened to this story I immediately thought of those people in my life that might have prayed for me; prayed that I would come to faith in Christ and live for his glory. However, I thought more immediately about my family members and wondered who is and has been praying for the salvation of my children. I count it my responsiblity and my privilege to both pray for my children and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them as often as possible. In fact, my children can recite the gospel when prompted by questions with remarkable clarity. However, I believe that while they profess a love for Jesus and desire to live forever with Him in Eternity knowing that He died on the cross for their sins and rose again to pay the penatly of death forever; their salvation will prove itself over time as they come to know more about Him. I do not in any way want to discount their ability to profess Jesus as Lord now, but I also believe I will continue to share and reshare the story of the finality of Jesus paying the penalty and satisfying the wrath of God in the face of sin as often as I get the chance.

I pray that I do have family members that are reguarly praying for the salvation of my children just as by writing this I consider it my privilege to pray for the contiual saving work of Christ in the lives of my family members. I am remeinded today of my need to pray for Carter, Kendyll, Ella, Ryder, Lexi, and new babies yet to be born as well as those God has placed in the lives of those children to lead them closer to the truth or by omission of that truth no closer to it.

I believe that while diffcult beyond measure to think about, it would be a great honor to have a child preceed me in death if I knew he/she was secure in their salvation because of the fruit of their lives or the bearing out of it over time; than it would be to have a child out live his parents with no assurance of salvation from that child. I don't think this is my age talking as I am not a child anymore; I think this is the call of a parent to lead his children to Christ if the Lord allows. In my house I pray that it will not be from a lack of effort, and I pray the Lord would allow me the privilege of pouring the truth of His Word over my children as often as I can. I pray too that God would allow me to baptize my children when their lives have shown sustained fruit bearing over time for His glory!

John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 6:44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him."

My prayer is that the Lord would draw my children, and all of my family to saving faith in Him that is not content to say yes I believe but a faith that is active and pursuing the face of the glory of God in Christ Jesus daily.

Draw them Father....draw them!