Hi peeps,

Just thought I'd give a quick update. It is my turn to cook tonight and it is heading towards dinner time so I won't have time to write very much.

In my last post I mentioned (I think!) about the two job opportunities at the British School in Bucharest; well, after much thought and prayer I have opted to take the job that involves overseeing and training the 25 Teaching Assistants. Many factors came into play when making the decision, including my health, amount of time that I will have to be involved at the Church, financial stability and long-term value and overall I believe that this position is the one that will be best for me. The role is largely pastoral, which I'm sure will be of great help if I ever enter into full-time church based ministry.

I will make my way out to Bucharest on Aug 29th and will begin the job on Aug 30th! Until that time I still have a lot of study to complete. I am currently taking a class with Dr Packer on the Puritans. While I have to admit that I am somewhat running out of steam in the concentration and motivation departments, it has nonetheless been really challenging to see the fidelity to Christ shown by these great men of God, and the discipline that they had in their lifestyle. As Packer has frequently said, we evangelicals today are dwarfs in comparison.

The highlight of recent weeks was definitely the trip with the Abbotsford Romanians to a camp in Chilliwack. The location was stunning, and we stayed in a cabin right on the water; there was no-one else for miles. We all enjoyed hanging out, having lots of fun, eating lots of food, playing lots of games, and worshipping God in the beauty of his creation. Here are a few pics of the week:

Last Sunday I went with the same group to Seattle to visit a Romanian church. It was a great time of fellowship, food and football! This Sunday I will be preaching at the church in Abbotsford, and would appreciate your prayers.

Sorry that the post is somewhat rushed.

I hope you are all well.

Blessings,

Jonny

I think it's about 7 weeks since I last wrote anything on this blog!

I entitled my last post "It's Been Ages" as I had not updated my blog for about three weeks; well this time it has been 6 or 7 weeks, and that is just inexcusable! Apologies to those of you who check it regularly!

A lot has happened in these last few weeks and I will try and give you a brief update of some of the key things.

First, the semester came to an end. The final weeks weren't as busy as some of my end of semester times have been as I took fewer classes. The busiest course was an advanced exegetical study of the Gospel of Mark. For those of you who like to know the subject of my papers, I will give a brief synopsis....for those of you who aren't remotely interested by that (and I'm not offended honest!) just skip the next paragraph.

For the final paper we were given the freedom to study the pericope (section of text) of our choice. I opted to look at the prologue (first 8 verses) as it had always been something that I had merely glossed over and given little attention to. The text contains quotes from Isaiah and Malachi and speaks of the "Messenger" who would "prepare the way." While I had a vague idea of how these texts spoke of the ministry of John the Baptist, I had never really considered what they say about Christ. Through looking at Malachi and Isaiah, I began to see the extent to which they make very definite claims about the person of Jesus as the only One who has a messenger go before him is the Lord himself. Thus from the outset Mark wants his readers to know that the man Jesus of Nazareth, whose life he will narrate, is none other than the embodiment of Yahweh himself. Furthermore, through citing Malachi, a book that is concerned with why God's chosen were still in exile, Mark is showing his readers that the time of exile was over; through the coming of Jesus Christ, the New Exodus that Isaiah prophesied was about to occur. Thus, from these few verses that may initially seem to be speaking of John the Baptist we learn that Yahweh has come amongst his people and is ushering in his kingdom. Pretty exciting stuff!

After the semester ended I enjoyed a few days relaxing in both Vancouver and Abbotsford before attending a Pastor's conference at Willingdon Church. The main speaker was John Piper and it was the first time that I had heard him live. The whole conference was God-centred, passionate and thoroughly submitted to the Word of God. I was deeply blessed by it and was particularly encouraged by the ministry of Paul Negrut. Dr Negrut is the head of the Baptist Union in Romania and the rector of Immanuel University, Oradea. It was really moving to hear the testimony of his fidelity to Christ during the atheistic regime of Ceaucescu's communism.

After the conference I flew back to England and spent a couple of days with my dear family; It was wonderful to see them. I then headed to Bucharest, Romania with my good buddy Tim "the nutter" Gedai and we stayed at the Baptist Dormitory where I lived last year. The purpose of the trip was essentially threefold: i) to hang out with friends, ii) to spend time with Pastor Bill Tully discussing my future involvement at the International Church (www.ibchurch.us), iii) to meet the principal of the British School of Bucharest to discuss the possibility of getting a job there. God again showed his incredible goodness and the trip surpassed my expectations in every way. It was really good to spend time with my friends there - they bless and encourage me so greatly. It was alo really good to spend time discussing my future role at the church with Bill. Bill is a gifted, humble pastor witha great desire to see the Spirit of God work powerfully in the city of Bucharest and throughout Romania. Bill shared that he would like me to assist him in the leadership of the church, which will involve leading the music, leading services and regular preaching. I am really excited about the opportunity to be involved with what God is doing there. Finally, on the morning of my departure I went to meet the head of the school. I had previously contacted her asking if there is any way that I could work at the school as a teaching assistant. This job would provide me enough money to support myself, and enough time to be involved in the church. The meeting went really well; she offered me the job that I asked for, but also offered me a position of training and equipping all of the TAs and being a point of contact between the TAs (who are all Romanian) and the teachers (who are all British). I am prayerfully considering which position to take. The latter involves more responsibility, and I need to weigh up whether I would still have as much time to be involved in the church as I would like - your prayers for guidance would be appreciated. I will, God-willing, be starting one of these posts in the next academic year and intend to be there for at least two years.

It was really good to have a few days to relax in England after the Romania trip. It was a chance to spend time with friends and family, and enjoy being an Uncle! I then returned to Vancouver (I sometimes feel like I spend my life in airports) about a month ago and was straight into spring-school lectures - 6 hours of lectures every day while still struggling with jetlag is not a good idea, but I survived! I have already taken a class on the life of Paul, the theology of John Calvin and the theology of weakness. The weakness class was a definite highlight and was taught by Marva Dawn. Marva is a lady who has suffered physically in many ways and has managed to be attentive to the goodness of God in the midst of horrendous pain. She has written a number of books and I would commend her writings to you.

I am now in an unusal (but nice!) position of not having lectures for three weeks. During these weeks, I have a lot of work to do (more than ever) and would appreciate your prayers for concentration and discipline. After these three weeks, I have three further courses: the Puritans with J I Packer, 1 Corinthians with Gordon Fee and Ephesians with Bruce Milne - it doesn't get much better than that! I am excited about these classes and it is a great way to end my time here.

I will then return to England at the beginning of August, finish off some coursework and help at our summer kids club before moving out to Romania at the end of August - a busy time.

In the midst of all the busyness and physical struggles, I am grateful to God for his providential care and leading in my life. I trust that whatever is happening in your life, good or bad, you experience something of the faithfulness, light and love of our great God.

Blessings
Jonny
P.S. I have put samples of my kids songs on to a blog. If you want to check it out then go to www.jonnyskidssongs.blogspot.com

It's been ages!!!

As some of you have pointed out, it has been a looooooooooonnnnnngggggggg time since I last put any postings on here; March 24th indeed! So, I just thought I would post a quick update of what has gone on since then and what the next few weeks have in store.

Had an excellent Easter. Spent good Friday with my housemates; we went to church together in the morning and then headed downtown and had a lovely meal close to the water. They are all amazing and I'm deeply grateful to God for the gift of living with them.

I woke up on Easter day, and have to admit that the notion of resurrection was not at the forefront of my mind!!!! My head and throat were so tight and it took me a while just to feel motivated to get out of bed. Eventually I rolled out of bed and headed towards the Skytrain as I was meeting my Romanian friends at Willingdon Church in Burnaby. On the skytrain, the Lord began to graciously minister to me as I read the deeply moving account of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Just had a deep sense that despite my struggles, there was tremendous reason to celebrate - the resurrection changes everything; because he rose to life, I can live in the assurance that resurrection is my future and, as we all know, on that glorious day there will be no more pain! From that point the day began to change. After an encouraging service at Willingdon (it has 5000 people), I headed back with my Romanian friends to their house in Abbottsford. In the afternoon the church met together to celebrate the wonder of the empty tomb and enjoyed a fellowship meal afterwards. After the initial discouragement, this became a true "resurrection day."

After Easter I had a crazy week as it was the end of the semester. Much of my time was devoted to an exegesis paper looking at Mark's prolouge. It was a lot of work but a rewarding experience.

Since then (last Fri), things have eased off a lot. I have an audio course that I'm doing and am also trying to get ahead before the very busy spring term begins in the middle of May. I'm also coming home! Yes that's right I'll be back home a week today. I'll be in there for a couple of weeks and also in Romania for a few days. I'm really looking forward to it.

Sorry that this post is not hugely interesting...was written rather quickly and there is also not that much to tell!

Much love,

Jonny

P.S. I have become a big fan of facebook and would encourage you all to check it out - www.facebook.com

John Piper is Bad!

Take a look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhLCus0tsmw ....made me chuckle!

Jossy's Giants

Do any of you remember a kids footy program called "Jossy's Giants"? It was my favourite show by a mile; it was classic, but not many people seem to remember it. Well, I just came across a website that pays tribute to this awesome series! If you were also a big fan then check it out and be sure to sign the petition requesting that the BBC bring it out on DVD! Check out the site www.jossysgiants.org

Another Good Weekend!

Hi friends,

It has been another good weekend (though not very productive on the study front!).

On Friday night my housemate Claire organised a St Patrick's Day party and invited a few of her friends over. It was an excellent time that consisted of bangers and mash, a game, a movie and of course a bit of Guinness. The movie was called "In the Name of the Father" and was a powerful telling of the Guildford Four story (for those of you who don't know the story, it basically involved the imprisonment of a number of Irish people for a bombing that they were supposedly guilty of - it was later proved that they were innocent and that the police had suppressed a lot of evidence). While the ending was somewhat redemptive, the film was a powerful reminder of the injustices that surround us in the fallen world. As Christians, injustice is not something that we can be apathetic about!

Saturday involved a bit of study and then an evening trip to an Ethiopian restaurant with my housemate Tim and a group of his buddies. I had not met any of his friends before, and they were all a lot of fun and made me feel very welcome in their group. The food was a mix of vegetables and spicy slow-simmered meat and tasted amazing (just like Adugnas!). Instead of a knife and fork you use something called injera to pick the food up with. Injera is kind of like a flat spongy cake that contains no wheat; you break a bit of and trap some of the food inside the injera. Lovely food, and lovely Ethiopian people working there.

Sunday morn was also good as I attended University Chapel. This Church is one that I attended for two or three months at the beginning of my time in Regent. At that time the church was struggling a lot, and it was really encouraging to see the work of restoration that God is doing there. The message was on Hebrews 11 & 12 and was by Gordon Fee. Gordon is one of the world's leading New Testament scholars (in my opinion the leading scholar), and did a wonderful job of expounding the text in a way that was very God-centred. I think the thing that really impacted me was his emphasis on the fact that although most people emphasise great exploits when preaching on Hebrews 11, the text itself includes some who conquered kingdoms BUT others who greatly suffered (beginning with Abel who was killed for his righteous offering). Thus what God is primarily concerned with when looking for faith is faithfulness; trust and loyalty to him, no matter what the circumstances! Powerful message!

Today I am heading down to First Baptist to meet with one of the pastors to discuss grief care and organising a funeral for my pastoral care class.

In terms of prayer requests, it won't surprise you that I would ask for your prayers for my health (regarding tension in throat and head). I have also many struggling with insomnia, and would appreciate your prayers for that.

This week is week 10 out of a 12 week semester, which means assignment time! Please pray for focus and discipline as I set out to complete a number of assignments.

Thanks for your continued prayer and support.
Grace and peace,
Jonny

A Kingdom Weekend!

Hi friends.

In the Gospel of Mark, the first words that we encounter from the lips of Jesus are, "The time has come; the kingdom of God is near." This great theme, that through the incarnation and the later giving of the Spirit, the kingdom of God is at hand, is one that is central to the Gospel story, and this weekend I had a taste of this glorious kingdom.

During the weekend I continued to struggle with my usual head and throat tension problem, and on Friday was petitioning God to relieve this tension; Well, so far he hasn't and I am reminded that there is a "not yet" aspect to this kingdom. Whether he will relieve me of this soon, or not is uncertain; what is certain is that when the kingdom fully comes, he will wipe away every tear!

Having said that, although the kingdom of God may not have come in its entirety, it nevertheless, in Christ, has come, and I had a wonderful sense of that on Saturday when I attended a Brian Doerksen worship concert ("Holy God"). The evening was filled with words and songs that were Biblical, reverent, liberating, intimate, exciting and honest. For a couple of years I have been somewhat disappointed, indeed disillusioned, by so much of charismatic worship. There is too often a lack of reverence - we forget that we are coming before a transcendent holy God. At the same time, much of the worship that contains a greater sense of reverence seems to lack the joy of enjoying God and the freedom that he gives. On this night these things came together and I came away with a wonderful sense of the Lord's goodness and presence.

Then on Sunday, I had another awesome day. I was staying with the Romanian family that I often spend weekends with, and they had a Pastor, Peter Dugulescu, staying at their house. Peter is a man who has been used by God in incredible ways; (NB the following material is directly taken from his ministry website) "he is one of the heroes of the revolution that overthrew the hated Romanian dictator Ceaucescu in December of 1989. At the height of the revolution, over 200,000 people gathered in the huge square in Timisoara when Elena Ceaucescu ordered that bombers bomb the city with biological weapons to preserve the buildings but kill the people. The head of the defence disobeyed her order and was murdered. Timisoara at that moment was the only "free" city of Romania. When people requested a pastor to lead them back to God, Peter took his stand. With microphone in hand, while Ceaucescu was addressing the masses in Bucharest, Peter Dugulescu fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom at the Timisoara Square, called for Ceaucescu's downfall, and led this massive crowd in "The Lord's Prayer". He could have lost his life at that time for choosing to take a courageous stand, but his life was spared due to the demise of Ceaucescu. That act of courage propelled Dugulescu into politics, where he became the first evangelical in parliament." He has since started many philanthropic ministries, details of which can be found on www.jhor.org

I think the thing that impressed me so much about Peter was his humility. He has been greatly used by God, and will go down as an important name in Romanian history. He has met the likes of Bush and Clinton, but you get the impression that he would treat an orphan with the same level of dignity as he would meeting the US president. As you can see I was deeply impressed by him, and had a profound sense of the "at-handness of the kingdom" as I spoke to him; I hope to visit him in Timisoara.

My time in Van is going extremely fast. I will be in UK at the end of April and am planning to go to Romania with Tim Gedai for a few days, which should be good.

I trust that you are all well, and pray that you would know the "at-handness" of the kingdom in your lives.

Much love,
Jonny

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEX!!!!

My lovely, beautiful, caring, and wise sister Becky (Ju is all of those things too!) is 30 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bex, you are a wonderful gift to me and our relationship blesses me in very deep ways.

The latest picture that I have of of you Bex (right) is from Dad's 60th - it's kind of funny to think that you're half way there yourself!!! (I'm sure you really appreciate that thought)

I hope you and your family have a special year.

Much love,
Your bro J
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