Jonny Moore-Crispin's Blog

2007-07-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-06-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2007-04-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-03-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

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

Jossy's Giants

2007-03-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-03-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-03-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

2007-02-15T19:39:00.000-08:00

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
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ken on Under the Hammer

2007-02-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

Random event last night - I was suffering from a bit of insomnia and was still awake at 3 and getting quite frustrated (to say the least!). In order to try and divert my attention away from my lack-of-sleep frustrations, I decided to try and watch my slingbox. Slingbox is a gadget that you plug into your freeview box and internet at home and it streams British TV down the internet so that I can watch it anywhere in the world (pretty cool eh?). Well, it hasn't worked that much since I have been out here, but at 3am it did and I watched "Under the Hammer", where people buy a property, do it up, and flog it for more. The weird thing was that one of the guys on it, "Ken", was one of the members of my first missions trips to Romania. It's a small world! Ken was a former Formula 3 racing driver, so we got to Romania pretty quickly! (P.S. Ken is the guy in the picture with a beard)

New Children's Album

2007-02-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

Forgot to mention that Children's Ministry have just released a new album (produced by Simon Goodall) and have kindly included a couple of my songs. I thought you might like to listen to a little sample so I have added a link. The address is: http://shop.childrensministry.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=746

My songs are I worship you Lord Jesus Christ (Tk 1), and Jesus, How I Love You (Tk 10). Also, on the kingsway website you can purchase the sheet music.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
J

Hi....and sponsor Mr Geaney!!!!

2007-02-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hi! Not too much to write home about but just that I'd say hi to y'all!

Things in Van are good...learning lots from my classes (Pastoral Care and Advanced Exgesis (Mark), and continue to feel intellectually streeeeettttttttttcccccccccccccccchhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeedddddddd. As an example, the other day our New Testament professor decided to pick on me to commentate on what is going on in the Greek in Mark's prologue - now when it comes to Gk, I am far from being an expert and had to admit in front of the class that I did not feel able to offer such a commentary - quite funny really and a little bit embarrassing. Nevermind - it's a learning curve!

Have continued to enjoy spending w/e with Pastor Corneliu and family, and they have continued to make me feel very welcome both at their home and in their church (they often ask me to share a word from Scripture in their services).

Well, I have spent too long on the Internet today, so I am going to sign off and do some work (and will be heading out to Regent tonight for "Taste of the World" - an opportunity to taste the food and experience the culture of the various (many) nationalities represented at the School.

Before I do, I just wanted to let you know a couple of things. First, my buddy John Geaney is running the London Marathon and is raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital who are providing care for his daughter Caitlyn. Please dig deep in your pockets and sponsor him. The address is www.justgiving.com/johngeaney.

Second, I have added quite a lot of photos to http://www.ringo.com/profile/jonmoorecrispin.html - check it out

Blessings,
JMC
P.S. I was pleased to hear that my 3 year old nephew decided to build a plane so that he and his teddies could fly out to Vancouver......very sweet!!!!

Introducing my Housemates and my Home

2007-01-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, just thought I'd introduce you to my housemates....Sheila, Sharon, Claire and Tim. The photo was taking on Tim's unofficial birthday! Also, thought you might like to see the place I call home!

Jerry and Me

2007-01-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

Hi Guys, I was just working at how to put a photo on my blog. Here is a recent one of me and my good friend Jerry.

2007-01-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

Hi peeps,

Thought it was about time I gave you a bit of an update on what is going on here in rainy Vancouver.

I've now been in Canada for over two weeks and it has gone really quickly. It's good to be back and I'm enjoying the classes I'm taking. I'm particularly enjoying an exegesis class on Mark's Gospel and am starting to get a feel for the shape of the book and some of the great themes that are in it. We truly do have an amazing Saviour!

The house situation is working out well. We are a mixed bunch with very different personalities, but God has graciously joined us together in a way that is, and will continue to be very special. I'm getting used to the idea of cooking again, and am starting to brush up again on my culinary skills (which was actually quite limited in the first place). Last week I went for spag bol, and you can't go far wrong with that so that went ok.

Although a number of my friends have left Vancouver, it has been good to catch up with a number of people who are still here. Today I went out for lunch with Kevin Hill who is one of my former housemates. Kevin is a wonderful guy and has been a good friend to me. He recently got married, and so he is smiling from ear to ear. A good friend of mine, Jerry Kosanovic came up for the wedding and was still here when I arrived, so I was able to go out for lunch with him, and enjoy good fellowship. It was also really good to catch up for lunch with Josh, who is the youth pastor at First Baptist (where I did my children's ministry internship).

One of the definite highlights since coming back has been to spend the weekends with a Romanian pastor and his family in Abbotsford (which is about two hours away). The pastor's name is Corneliu Ardelean, his wife is called Florica, and they have 4 children: Ana (23), Dina (21), Titus (16) and Luisa (9). (I think those ages are right - sorry guys if they are not!). They are wonderful people and have been so kind to me, and have invited me to stay with them whenever I want to. The aim of being there is partly for fellowship, and partly to learn a bit of Romanian and I'm going to try and spend most weekends with them (Titus is very kindly letting me stay in his room - thanks Titus!). Corneliu works quite near a sky train station which is quite easy for me to get to, so he picks me up at 4pm on Fridays, and then he takes me with him to work on a Mon morn which is somewhere between 5-6am (yes I know what you're thinking.....some of you can't believe that I can actually get up at that time!) I have spent time there with the youth of the church (who are very cool!) and will probably spend most Fri evenings at their youth group meeting. The group is led by a great guy called Flavius who does a really good job of leading a very energetic group. I have spent a lot of time with two of the most energetic guys in the group; they are twins and are called Micky and Alex and are a lot of fun. Micky is learning the guitar and is doing really well - I've shown him a few things and he has picked them up really quickly. Micky has kindly lent me a guitar which is really nice (multumesc Micky pentru chitara).

On Sunday morning, I went with Corneliu to a huge church (4,000) called Willingdon as Corneliu leads a Romanian Bible study that is based on the message given in the main service, and I met some really friendly people there. The actual Romanian church that Corneliu pastors meets at 5:00pm in Abbotsford, and has somewhere between 30-40 people. The service is relaxed and incorporates prayer, worship, preaching and opportunities to share songs/thoughts/scripture/poems etc. Yesterday I sang Blessed be your name and shared some verses from Habakkuk. The people there are lovely!

On a different note, my parents are hoping to go to Albania on Wed with Mike Wilcock and David Chan to visit William Niven and his family. William is a very gifted missionary-pastor who serves as a pastor in Albania. My home church is looking to give him a greater level of support, and so the purpose of the trip is to encourage William in what he is doing and to prayerfully consider how the church in Letchworth might be of most help to William. Dad has been quite ill over the last week or so, and is not sure whether he should go. Please pray for healing for him and wisdom for him and Mum as they decide whether they should go.

Well, I will sign off here. Thanks so much for all the emails you have all sent me - they have been a HUGE blessing to me. I truly have some amazing friends!

God bless y'all.
Love,
JMC

2007-01-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

Hi people!

How are ya?

Ok, so I'm now back in the beautiful city of Vancouver!

I arrived on Saturday, and those of you who know anything about Van will not be surprised to hear that I was greeted by....yes you've guessed it....rain! It was pretty wet and horrible when I left the airport to find a taxi.

When I arrived at my new house though, (incidentally my 8th in 8 years!!!), things improved. It is a very cosy little house and I'm living with some great people (Sheila (English) and Sharon (South African) who I lived with before; and Claire (a Kiwi) and Tim (from the US) who I met when I moved in). They are all really nice and I'm really grateful to God for his wonderful provision.

Classes start tomorrow, and begin with pastoral care which should be good. I'm also taking an advanced Exegesis course in Mark (which is going to be very tricky to say the least, as it relies quite heavily on Greek and to to say that my Greek is a bit rusty is a huge understatement!), and a Hebrew course by correspondence with Gordon Conwell Seminary.

In terms of prayer requests, please pray that I will settle back quickly into life in Vancouver, and that my studies will be challenging, rewarding and life giving. As some of you know I have often been quite anxious when I have been out here so please pray for the peace that passes all understanding!

Well, I will sign off here. Stay in touch because I really enjoy hearing from all of you.

May God bless you and keep you,
In Him,
Jonny

2006-12-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hope everybody had a good Christmas! Mine was excellent. It was good to spend time with friends and family.

The run up to Christmas has been pretty manic. I'm trying to finish up some correspondence work for Regent, and have been rather annoyingly interrupted by things such as heading to Peterborough to sort out my passport and London for my Canadian embassy. This has definitely set me back a bit and I still have to complete two 3000 word essay by Jan 3rd as well as preparing a sermon for LBC for Sunday.

After that rather negative paragraph, perhaps I should mention the Christmas highlights. I have really enjoyed the festive celebrations at Church as there has been a real sense of celebrating the wonder of the incarnation; We also had a great day yesterday as we had Neil, Trina and Faith Blake and Trina's sister Jackie join us for a yummy Christmas dinner. We also had Roy, an elderly man who has joined us for the last few years. God is really working in Roy. I'm not sure if he really knows Christ, but he frequently says how getting involved at LBC is the best thing he has ever done in his life. Pray for him.

Another definite highlight was heading to Cambridge on Christmas Eve to attend the Nine Lessons at King's College. This service is probably the world's most famous carol service so inevitably its pretty hard to get into! I went with Rich GG and we arrived at Cam at 9 for a service at 3 (Had we arrived half an hour later I don't think we would have got in!). After finding out at 10 that we had made the final 600 cut, Rich and I queued for a further 5 hours which was actually quite a good laugh as we befriended those around us. Some of the people that we spoke to had come over from the US just so that they could attend the service! When we finally got in we enjoyed the highly impressive architecture, and then a very peaceful and awe inspiring celebration of the Christmas story through Scripture and song. All in all it was well worth the wait, and the day was rounded off nicely with an all you can eat Chinese back in good old Letchworth.

Not sure what I'm doing for NY yet - may well head to Stu's.

Well, I think I'll sign off here.
Christmas Blessings,
JMC
P.S. Just to let you know, I am heading back to Van on 6th

2006-12-07T03:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,

As a number of you have pointed out, it's been a loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg time since I last posted an entry on this blog. The main reason (here begineth the exuse!) is that when I first set it up, it was mainly to keep people in England up to date with what I was doing in Romania, and now I'm back in good old Letchworth, it is not so exciting for people in Letchworth to read about what another person in Letchworth is up to - basically I'm saying my life is pretty boring and I wouldn't want to bore you with the details (which at the mo is predominantly centred around learning the finer points of Hebrew grammar!)

Well what I can I say???? Christmas is fast approaching (yipppeeee!!!) This is definitely my favourite time of year. I love being with people and celebrating the wonder of the incarnation. The fact that Christ didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped blows my mind! That the son of God would, in the words of Eugene Peterson, "move into the neighbourhood" is truly good news, and we as a church must be faithful in our proclamation of it. My prayer for all of us this Christmas is that we might know Christ as "Immanuel" - God with us; that His sweet presence might surround each one of us, as we remember Him, the One in whom there is light and life.

O come let us adore him!
Jonny

2006-11-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

I'm writing this from the surfing cafe and I have 7 minutes left of battery, so I thought I'd blog - if I can I think of anything to write.

So, what can I say..............well, last Thursday I made my way with Mum, Dad and Ju, to the East coast - good old Frinton-on-Sea for what was to be a very relaxing time. If you are looking for fun then may I suggest thatr Frinton is not for you. If you want a quiet, peaceful place full of grannies, then there could surely be nowhere better.....I'm down to four minutes. We stayed in a beautiful flat owned by some of Dad's friends and the weather was amazing. It was really good to spend time with my famiy and................this computer is just about to crash so I will post this and maybe add a bit more another day.

God bless y'all!
J

2006-10-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a whole 10 days since my last post, and a lot has happened in those 10 days!!!

Stu came over to Bucharest last Friday and it was really good to see him. Last year we had a regular practice of checking out the Bucharest restaurants on a Friday night, and so last Friday was just like old times as we made our way to a very nice Italian place (it was actually the place that we went to on our very first Friday in Bucharest last year, so it kind of book-ended my time in Romania); it has the tastiest spaghetti in town, and a pleasant bottle of red helped it go down nicely.

After the meal we went to spend the night with an awesome Japanese family. Eiko, the mother is a wonderful lady who has frequently filled my stomach with sushi, homemade lemonade, Japanese Tea, cakes, pizza, sandwiches, meatballs, chips....the list could go on and on!!! They live near the train station, which is the reason we stayed there, as the next morning Stu, myself, Eiko's son Yujiro (very cool guy!!!), and Stella (great Moldovian girl!!!) took a train and made our way up north to Balan - the town where Stu and I have been for the last few years working with the kids (Yujiro and Stella came last summer too). The purpose of the trip was really to hang out with friends and spend time at the local Pentecostal church. We had a great time and I think if any of you ever go there you might find Stuart's heart!!!

We stayed at Balan until midnight on Sunday and then got a night train back to Bucharest which got in at 5:30am. We spent the day absolutely nackered and then had to pump ourselves up as we had a little party in the evening. It was kind of a joint party...a leaving party for me, and a birthday party for a good friend of mine, Ana-Maria (hope you enjoyed the party Ana!!!)

After the party, I was so tired I could hardly think straight and was getting a bit distraught as I was trying to magically make 80kg of stuff weigh only 23kg. I discovered that night that I am not a magician and consequently Eiko has kindly agreed to store some of my stuff for a few months (thanks Eiko!!!)

On Tuesday morning, Bill Tully, the pastor of International Church took us to the airport. Stu's flight was 1 hour 1/2 earlier than mine, and so I had a long time to sit and contemplate about my time in Romania (I've become quite contemplative in my old age!!!) For a number of reasons, I was tired - physically, emotional and spiritually - and I sat at the airport with a significant level of sadness as I had had to say goodbye to many people who had become good friends.At the same time, I realised what a rich time of learning it has been; I have discovered a lot about myself, other people, and most importantly about the Lord. The strange thing is, the more I come to know him, the more I realise how mysterious he is - his ways are not our ways!

.............And things move on.........this is a new season, and I am excited about finishing up with my studies. In order to finish by the end of the summer I am having to do a fair amount of correspondence study before I head back to Regent in Jan. Because my house is always crazily busy, my sister Becky is very kindly allowing me to study at her place, which has been a huge blessing to me (thanks Bex xxxxxxxxxx). Please pray that I would be disciplined in my study, and that the time I commit would feel productive. Please also continue to pray for my head and throat which still give me constant trouble.

Well. it's 12:30 and I'm feeling pretty tired. Not sure how coherent this email will have been, but never mind at least it kind of gives an update.

I'm going to sign off here.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
JMC

2006-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've just realised that its been over a week since I posted anything on the blog, so thought that it was about time that I updated you all with what's going on.

After much thought and prayer, I have decided to finish up my Masters asap. I am therefore going to be leaving Bucharest next Tuesday and am heading back to the UK. I will be there until Jan and will then head out to Vancouver.

I have an exciting final few days in store - mainly social gatherings and also..........Stu is coming out on Friday until Tues!!!!! It will be fun to hang out with him - we are going to head up north for a couple of days to Balan, which is the town where we have done a number of missions.

Last Sunday was my final one at International Church. It was kind of sad saying goodbye to everybody, and at the same time I had a sense that I will see them again (who knows.......maybe I'll come back after my MDiv???!!!!???). I preached (3rd week in a row!!!) on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 (Paul's thorn in the flesh). What an amazing passage - there is so much there! Isn't it amazing that God's power is manifest most powerfully when we are at our weakest! If the Holy Spirit needed our strength to work with, then I wouldn't have a prayer, but weakness...I have lots of that!!! A number of people informed me that the Word spoke to them, and at the end of the service the church were very kind in expressing their appreciation of my ministry here.

Tomorrow night some friends of mine are hopefully going to record (in Romanian) kids songs that I have written. One of my friends has kindly translated them for me, and Kingsway have very kindly given me permission to use their backing tracks. There are hardly any contemporary Romanian kids songs, so it is quite an exciting little project really!

Well, I think I'll sign off here and head to the supermarket!!!

God bless all of you, and thank you so much for all the emails and text messages!
Jon

P.S. You would laugh if you saw me typing this message. The block over the road has wireless which we can pick up from our room as long as the computer is near the window. The only problem is that there is not much of a windowsill so I have jammed two legs of a chair behind the radiator under the window, and the laptop is resting on the chair....bizarre, but effective!!!

P.P.S. I recently read a little joke that made me chuckle....How do you know if a fish is a Christian....he has a car on his back.

2006-10-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I will try and keep this as brief as possible!!!

Many of you will probably have heard the rumour that I might be heading back to the UK soon and then back out to Regent in January....and the rumours are probably true! I'm in the process of seeking God about this and will make a decision soon.

When I first decided to stay an extra year my primary reason for doing so was because the church was about to enter a huge stage of transition - they would soon be without a pastor, and Stuart and I were the only musicians in the church. I felt a strong commitment to the church and did not want to abandon it in that state.

Things have, however, changed quite significantly. The church have an interim pastor who is doing a good job, and they now have a very competent keyboard player who is able to lead worship. While I certainly do not feel redundant (there is still loads that I could do!), I don't feel that the need is so critical. This is a really positive thing and I am deeply grateful to God for it. As this is the case, I feel that I could return to my studies knowing that the church is in good hands and I am becoming increasingly excited about the possibility of being able to have my MDiv finished by this time next year! The church here have taken the news very well, and some have said that their hope is that I will return next year and be able to commit to a longer period of time to the church - only God knows what he has in store in the future!

If I do head back then it will probably be in the next two weeks and if I am to finish my degree in the next year then I will need to work hard at home until January completing some correspondence courses.

Please know that I do not feel discouraged in any way. I am really pleased about the outcome of all of this. The church is moving forward and I will finish my Masters earlier than I had thought - everyone's a winner! For a number of reasons, I believe that even being here for the last 10 days has been used by God in ways I can't really express. God is so gracious to me and the way he leads continues to amaze me. We think he is taking us one way, only to find that he is taking us in another direction! Praise God for the way he sovereignly orchestrates the events of our lives.

I would value your continued prayers.

In him,
JMC

2006-10-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Any intercessors out there????? I had an email today from a friend who said that he would look at my blog every Monday and devote some time praying for me on that day. He said that perhaps I could try and find 6 other people to do the same on the other days of the week - that way I could know that I was being prayed for every day. I'm therefore putting the idea out there and if any of you feel that that is something you would like to do then let me know.

Blessings,
J

2006-10-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg day. Yesterday a good friend mine of mine called Dragos returned from the US. At the end of last summer I invited Dragos to move into my room. When he returned yesterday he said that he would like to share with me, but he would also like to share with his brother (Levi). The result.............they both moved in! Yes there are now 3 of us-should be interesting. Last night I stayed up until 3 rearranging the room and packing away some of my things (I can't believe how much stuff I can accumulate!) They moved in today and we now have nice bunk beds in the room, and surprisingly more space. Levi doesn't know any English, so I might actually learn some Romanian!

I spent most of today meeting with the interim pastor of International Church discussing the way forward for the church. While I cannot say too much here, please pray for the Church as it seeks God's leading for the future.

Thank you all for your comments. I hope you are all well.

Much love
Jonny

This morning

2006-10-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.

Just thought I'd write and let you know that I have arrived safely back in Bucharest. Things are going well (despite much sleep deprivation!) and it is good to catch up with my friends here.

I preached this morning on the story of when Jesus was anointed at Bethany (Matt 26). The sermon was part of a two week mini-series that I'm doing based on the great commandment. Today I preached on loving God, and next week I will consider loving our neighbour. I sought to bring out three things this morning. First, that there is a cost to loving God (the perfume was worth a year's wages). Second, that Jesus sees beauty in our acts of love for God (He described the woman's action as "a beautiful thing") Finally, that there is long-lasting value in loving God (Jesus said that her action would be remembered whenever the Gospel was preached). I'm not sure how well the message came through, but a number of people expressed their appreciation.

After the service I went to have lunch with a couple from the Church (Simon and Irena). Simon is English and works at the British school, and his wife is from the Ukraine - lovely people and it was great to have fellowship!

We'll I think I'm gonna sign off here. Thanks for reading this, and please feel free to add a comment and say hi!

Blessings,
Jonny

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2006-09-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I was just surfing the net and decided to set up a blog and I hope to keep it fairly up to date with my news from Romania (I'm sure that some of you are think, "I'll believe that when I see it!"

Just to let you know, I am returning to Bucharest on Friday and am preaching on Sunday. Please pray for my trip, for the sermon, and that I would qucikly adjust back to life in busy Bucharest!

Thanks for all your love and support,
Jonny