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JUNE 2001

Dear friends,

There is a school of thinking which is very popular at the present time. It goes something like this. "It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere". Of course, the advocates of this philosophy have never really thought it through. If they had, they would realise how absolutely ludicrous it is. Think, for example, of the nurse in hospital who gives some medicine to a patient who becomes violently ill. The nurse is sincere, but the medicine is wrong, and the patient almost dies.

It takes more than "sincerity" to make something true. Faith in a lie will always have serious consequences. It does matter that you believe. If you want to drive from London to Glasgow, no amount of sincerity will get you there, if the road you take leads to Cardiff! Truth is vitally important. This is a principle which the Christian church neglects at its peril. So seriously did our Lord regard this matter that He denounced false teachers in the strongest possible terms – "You serpents, you hood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?" (Matthew ch22v33). Imagine the reaction, if anyone used that kind of language in the General Synod of the Church of England! There would be an absolute outcry, with accusations of lack of "courtesy" and "charity". "Such-and-such a minister cannot accept the virgin birth or the bodily resurrection, but he is a fine man for all that. He is a bit of a liberal in his view of the Bible, but we can learn a lot from his scholarly insights". What a contrast to the outlook of Jesus and the apostles and their bold exposure of falsehood.

The Bible does not call on us to use strong language for its own sake. Still less does it encourage us to be rude and arrogant. But it does oblige us to condemn error whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head. We have a duty to be "negative" as well as "positive". Falsehood in doctrine or practice is damnable and devilish. The Puritan John F Cavell put it well when he said this: "By tolerating false doctrines, many have entertained devils unawares".

With warmest Christian greetings,

John Cheeseman

Please note that John’s last Sunday will be 17^th June, and there will be a Farewell Barbecue in the Church grounds on Wednesday 20^th June, at 7pm. All are welcome. John will be writing a farewell letter in the July magazine.

FROM THE CHURCH REGISTER

We extend our prayers and sympathy to the relatives and friends of those committed to God’s care:

Funerals: 30^th April Winifred Doris Bryce Aged 81

9^th May Louise Truscott Aged 77

MAY SERMON TAPES

May 6^th AM "Christian witness in a godless world" (Phil 2v15,16)

PM "True godly wisdom" (Ephesians 5v15)

May 13^th AM "Rejoice in the Lord" (Phil 3v1)

PM "Make the most of the time" (Ephesians 5v16)

May 20^th AM Family Service, Peter Reed

PM "Give thanks for all things" (Ephesians 5v19,20)

May 27^th AM "True and false spirituality" (Phil 3v2,3)

PM "Three Priorities" (Isaiah 6), Bill Turner

All tapes of the sermons preached on Sunday mornings and evenings in April are available on request from Nigel Hadley (Tel: 831067) as usual.

THANET BIBLE WEEK

We are very close now to this great event, which our church is privileged to host from Wednesday 13^th to Saturday 16^th June. There will be four evenings at 8pm in St James Church, at which the speakers will be John Blanchard, an internationally renowned author and Bible teacher, and Mark Ashton – Vicar of the largest church in Cambridge, with an outstanding ministry to the University. Refreshments will be served after each meeting.

There will also be two lunch time meetings, to be held in our Church Centre – Thursday 14^th June, 12 noon – "Does God believe in atheists?" – John Blanchard; and Saturday 16^th June at 12 noon – "Christian Youth work today" – Mark Ashton. Please bring a packed lunch. Tapes of all meetings can be ordered through Margaret Maxwell.

Please note there will be a special prayer meeting for the Bible Week on Monday 14^th June at 8pm in our Church Centre.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible supporting this exceptional opportunity for teaching and fellowship with Christians from all over Thanet. Don’t miss out!

John Cheeseman

TRIP TO TANZANIA – Peter Cheeseman (cont’d)

The climatic conditions affected this largely rural country to such an extent that the slightest shift in weather could mean the difference between life and death, therefore every working moment was a blessing from God – which leads me nicely on to the next part of my ‘Encounter’.

Out in the villages of normal, rural Tanzania, mud huts are the abode of choice, often housing an entire family and their cattle under the same roof, a common Masai trait.

Small 5mx3m Churches frequently doubled up as schools in these villages to provide young children with the only education they were ever likely to see, before moving into a life of subsistence farming just to survive.

Malnutrition, starvation and AIDS were common place in these rural communities, death affecting every family with an all too frequent regularity. Yet all of the people I saw were warm and friendly, kind, generous, charming and overwhelmed with an overriding sense of how lucky they were, and how good God was to them.

At one nameless village near Munguishi Farm (home to an English missionary – Dave Fisher who I incidentally stayed with for a week), half our CMS group were treated to an all singing, all dancing performance lasting 3 hours thanking us for coming to see them. They gave us lunch of eggs and sugary bread – a couple of cold boiled eggs and some bread to us is very basic and insubstantial, but to these people it was a feast fit only for "Musunga" – white people.

After seeing small children with bloated stomachs and matchsticks as legs, so pleased to see you, I can tell you, it is seriously difficult to sit and eat their food. It would be considered highly rude not to accept their kind offer, but would break the heart of the most hardened character.

Whilst eating lunch in the Church/school hut, Dave Fisher mentioned that this particular village was stereo-typical of most around northern Tanzania and that they had suffered from a famine for the past four years. I later discovered that had it not been for Dave these people would probably all be dead. He kept them alive by donating a year’s supply of maize crop (his farm’s harvest) to the villagers. They were not alone, but were lucky enough to have a charitable neighbour unlike most rural communities in Tanzania.

My time spent in the sticks coincided with a stomach bug that had been threatening to knock me off my feet whilst I was back in Arusha. As you would expect, I was overjoyed to discover a hole in the ground instead of a toilet seat. I found myself becoming strangely attached to that hole, living closely with it for around a week. I didn’t really feel that I was truly roughing it like the locals until I humbled myself by squatting over a hole. I suppose this was what CMS was getting at when they spoke about being taken out of your comfort zone – food consisted of charcoal-flavoured rice and plenty of fruit.

On a slightly different note, I cannot write an article on my trip to East Africa without mentioning ‘nature’. Tanzania is undoubtedly the most beautiful country I have ever seen. It has incredible white sandy beaches and coral reefs meeting the Pacific Ocean. I spent an afternoon lying on one such beach with a little monkey that decided that he liked me, instead of waiting at Dar es Saleem airport for my flight home. Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro were nothing short of spectacular, towering above the land below. Words cannot describe the beauty of the Ngarangaro Crater with its vast collection of wildlife – then there is the Serengeti – both of which you must have seen some footage of on the TV screen – the great lakes and the Masai Steppe – incredible!

Oh! I almost forgot! The bugs have been genetically modified out in East Africa so that they are four times the size of anything back in Britain - not for the faint-hearted, I can tell you!

Peter Cheeseman

STRAWBERRY TEA

This year’s Strawberry Tea will be held on Saturday 23^rd June in the Church Centre. Please note that it will start at 3.30pm and finish at 5.30pm. This event is open to all so please include your friends and neighbours. Tickets will cost £2.50 each, any queries contact Barbara Line on 834354.

THANK YOU

My grateful thanks to everyone for their kindness to me. The visits, cards, help, concern and prayer during these last four weeks have been such a comfort to me.

Thank you all. Phyl Johnson

SATURDAY SHOP

The Saturday Shop in May raised £275 of which £122 came from the sale of plants and vegetables. We are very grateful to those in particular who grew and donated the plants which sold out very quickly – a testament to their quality and price! Our thanks as well to all others involved on the regular stalls and, of course, to God for his goodness to us.

Jesus Said: ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7vv7&8.

Seen recently in the church porch at Chevening:

"Seven days without prayer make one weak".

ROMANS 8:28

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose".

How many times have we heard John’s favourite verse espoused and expounded from the pulpit? We must remember these words and see how they fit into our church life with the imminent departure of John and Joy to Eastbourne.

June is generally considered one of the better months of the year. Gone is winter, spring has brought new growth and the future is full of the promise of summer days ahead, but for us, at St James, this particular month will be tinged with sadness as we say, not goodbye, but au revoir to John and Joy.

First we should remember and thank God for bringing John and Joy to us. We have been privileged to have them both as our pastor and lay worker and those who particularly were at St James from the beginning of John’s ministry will have witnessed the many works which have transformed St James, not only in buildings and finance, but in church growth and individual spirituality. It would have been easy for John and Joy to stay in the comfort zone of St James, especially as they have just bought a house in the area and are in the process of turning it into a home.

But John has always reminded us that the Christians life is full of challenges and difficult decisions and, as Jonah discovered, God will have His way with us.

Therefore we must understand that it is for John and Joy’s good that their journey continues to Eastbourne so that the people there can benefit from the ministry which is to be brought to them.

Equally, it must be for the good of St James that we are being left with all that John and Joy have taught and shown us over the years. It is a chance to put into practice those words from James reminding us not to be just hearers of the word but, more importantly, doers also.

The good of St James will also be served by the new minister to be appointed to us. We must submit to God’s authority and trust in His promise that He will never leave us.

What to do in the meantime? Again, we are reminded of what has been achieved at St James by prayer and it is through prayer that we entrust the future to God.

Pray, therefore, for John and Joy’s future ministry and for our churchwardens who have the responsibility of leading our church through the interregnum. Pray also for all the other church leaders to grant them wisdom and understanding in all decision making and in all they say and do.

Remember again that we are one body and if a small part of that body is not enlisted under the banner of true faith then the body as a whole will suffer. Let St James in the future be a reflection of all that it has been in the past. To this end, therefore, be of good cheer and pray, pray and pray again. "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of". Ed.

A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER CALLED BY THE LYDIA FELLOWSHIP – 24^th MARCH 2001

A day of fasting, prayer and praise to our Almighty God was held at St Mary Bredin Church, Canterbury. A day of prayer for our nation going through extreme difficulties and to seek God’s grace.

His word says: "If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chron 7v14)

Three members from St James Church attended this meeting. St Mary Bredin Church can accommodate 600 people and it was full to overflowing. The meeting commenced with a trumpet call. Very loud, clear and beautiful. We were the solemn assembly called to repentance. There followed a time of praise to God for His holiness, majesty and His sovereignty over all.

We were then told of many unrighteous laws that have been passed in this country by previous and present governments, some of which were enumerated as:-

1957 – Abolition of the law prohibiting witchcraft.

1959 – The Obscene Publications Act

1965 – Abolition of the death penalty for murder (leading to abortion and euthanasia)

1967 – The Sexual Offences Act. (Then the first outbreak of foot & mouth took place)

1990 – Amendment to the Abortion Act.

1994 – The Sunday Trading Act

2000 – The Sex Offence Act (Clause 28 lowering the age to 16 for homosexual practices)

2000 – "Morning After" pill (freely available)

2000 – Research into cloning human embryos.

2001 – (Second outbreak of foot & mouth) throughout the country)

Campbell McAlpine says: "God now calls all men everywhere to repent, to forsake sin and unrighteous living and return to the Lord to ask for forgiveness of sins.

Christians need to repent because Christians sin and need to be forgiven to enjoy fellowship with God and because of the consequences of not repenting.

The Lord Jesus said to the Church at Ephesus: "Repent or else, I will remove your candlestick".

To Pergamos, He said: "Repent or else I will fight against you".

To Thyatria, He said: "Repent or else I will send tribulation".

To Sardis, He said: "Repent or else I will come as a thief in the night".

To Laodicea, He said: "Be zealous and repent, or else I will spew you out of my mouth".

God warns and keeps His word. Many churches need to repent and get right with God. Repent of pride, of undealt with sin, of prayerlessness, of disunity, worldliness, lack of love, as well as a personal need for repentance". We read from the book of Habakkuk ch 3. Could it be prophetic for our nation?

To the Lord, Habakkuk says "In wrath remember mercy." In this chapter there is pestilence in the nation, burning coals, floods, "The fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, and yet" Habakkuk says, "I will joy in the God of my salvation."

Lesley Mayes

For Lydia Fellowship

SUMMER FETE

Please note that this year’s Summer Fete will be held on Saturday 7^th July at 1pm, St James Church Hall, Garlinge (still referred to by many as the Old School Hall) and NOT the Church Centre and grounds as in the past.

The thinking behind the move is to give more of a presence of St James Church to the people of Garlinge and, hopefully, draw more people to the Fete and to church as well as being a refuge in case of bad weather.

We plan to use the inner garden of the Church Hall (how many know of its existence?) as well as the hall itself and the outer garden, so it will be much the same as before only different.

Posters will be available and it would be encouraging to see then all taken and on display. Posters left in the Church are a waste of money and serve no purpose.

Another innovation for the fete will be free admission – but entrance will be via a donation tin – an experiment that proved successful when tried at our Christmas Fayre.

As ever, the fete resolves round the goodwill and nature of the church members and so once again the call goes out for volunteers and a list will go up in the Church porch for those willing to sign up and take the Queen’s shilling. As usual the various stalls will need stocking with goods such as handicrafts, books, cakes and bread, toiletries, toys, bric-a-brac, garden produce, groceries, jewellery and of course full bottles for Barbara’s Bottle Bank (contact Barbara on 834354)

For the youth section of the church there will be competition and a prize for the best

"Happy Type Face" in picture or papier-mache form.

There will be a site meeting at the Old School Hall following the Saturday Shop on 9^th June for all those who are helping. Any suggestions, help or enquiries are welcome, so please contact me on 833128.

WAM

WAIT AWHILE

If after Church, you wait awhile,

Someone may greet you with a smile.

But, if you quickly rise and flee,

We’ll all seem cold and stiff, maybe

The one beside you in the pew

Is, perhaps a stranger too.

All here, like you, have fears and cares,

All of us need each other’s prayers.

In fellowship we bid you meet,

With us round God’s Mercy Seat.

DAILY READINGS BY BISHOP J.C. RYLE – MARK 4:26-29

Suggested further reading: Philippians 3:12-21

As in the growth of corn, so in the work of grace, life manifests itself gradually. The ripe ear of wheat does not appear at once, as soon as the seed bursts forth into life. The plant goes through many stages before it arrives at perfection (v28). But in all these stages one great thing is true about it: even at its weakest it is a living plant.

In like manner, the work of grace goes on in the heart by degrees. The children of God are not born perfect in faith, hope, knowledge or experience. Their beginning is a day of small things. They see in part their own sinfulness and Christ’s fullness and the beauty of holiness. But for all that, the weakest child in God’s family is a true child of God. With all his weakness and infirmity he is alive. The seed of grace has really come up in his heart though at present it be only in the blade. He is alive from the dead – and any life is better than death (Eccles. 9:4).

Let us not despise grace because it is weak, or think that people are not converted because they are not yet as strong in the faith as St Paul. Let us remember that grace, like everything else, must have a beginning. The mightiest oak was once an acorn. The strongest man was once a babe. Better a thousand times have grace in the blade than no grace at all.

As in the growth of corn, so in the work of grace, there is no harvest till the seed is ripe. No farmer thinks of cutting his wheat when it is green. He waits till the sun, rain, heat and cold have done their appointed work and the golden ears hang down. Then, and not till then, he puts in the sickle and gathers the wheat into his barn.

God deals with His work of grace in exactly the same way. He never removes His people from this world till they are ripe and ready. He never takes them away till their work is done. They never die at the wrong time. We do not understand why some die in the midst of their usefulness, but all was done well by God in their deaths as well as in their lives. There is no chance, accident or mistake about the decease of any believer.

For meditation: God used six days to create a formless world into an inhabitable earth. He works by process. So He does in making us like Christ (Roms.8:29).

Printed by kind permission of the Evangelical Press.

JUNE DIARY

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