Immanuel’s Child

How would you like to not only brighten the face of a child at Christmas but also put into their hands the life changing message of the Gospel? You can with Immanuel’s Child, a ministry of Slavic Gospel Association. No other program geared for children at Christmas puts everything into the hands of the local church. Who better knows who needs this gift and what the gift should be then the local churches in the CIS.

Every $30 given towards our Immanuel’s Child outreach will provide substantial Christmas gifts These gifts will help establish a loving link between you and Russian children as well as their families. Your gift will provide:

* A personal message of love from your family. Sign a Star of Bethlehem ornament, which has a printed message of encouragement in Russian which will be given to a precious child.

* An opportunity for evangelism. Many children and their families will learn of Christ’s love for the first time this Christmas.

* A special Christmas gift. Purchased locally and lovingly wrapped, this gift will be presented by local church members.

* A children’s Bible. They will treasure it and read it!

* Candy and nutritious fruit. These are rare treats during a Russian winter.

* Other items such as warm clothes and toiletries.

* Materials for discipleship. Russian-language discipleship materials will be given to the local church – vital for the follow-up ministry that will take place throughout the year.

If your church would like more information on this exciting ministry you can obtain more information by visiting the website here. You can also contact myself in Canada at:

519-621-3553 or allenm@sga.org.

If in the United States contact SGA at 800-BIBLE-50 or info@sga.org.

Peter Deyneka, SGA, and Missions

With my new position as Coordinator of Training and Equipping with Slavic Gospel Association I thought it fitting to learn more about the founder of SGA, Peter Deyneka Sr. (1898-1987). In the book, Peter Dynamite-Twice Born Russian: The Captivating Story of Peter Deyneka Sr. (by Norman Rohrer and Peter Deyneka Jr. from SGA, 2005), the picture is presented of a godly man of prayer who worked tirelessly to see his own people saved and discipled into the church of Jesus Christ. At one point in the book it speaks of Deyneka’s call to ministry and presents an incredible challenge for us.

“In the early days of his Christian life, Peter attended all the missionary conferences at Moody Memorial Church. In one service, Peter was unusaly attentive because Pastor Rader continually made reference to the need for workers in the ‘corn’ field. Was it actually so? Did the Lord need workers in the ‘corn’ field?

Peter listened closely. He was hoping to hear of a need for workers among his own Slavic people, but the speaker did not mention Russia. He kept calling workers in the ‘corn’ field instead.

At the close of the meeting Peter responded to the invitation. His heart was so moved that he wanted to eagerly serve the Lord wherever the need was greatest, even if it meant the ‘corn’ field. Only after the service ended did he discover that Pastor Rader was appealing for workers in the ‘foreign’ field!

Many Christians since have clearly understood the need for workers in foreign fields and have done nothing. Peter misunderstood the call and was uncertain of the conditions, but he obeyed first and learned the conditions later” (pp. 24-25).

Are you being called to full-time Christian service? I would challenge you to read this brief but challenging biography of one of God’s choice servants! Contact the SGA US office if in the United States or the SGA Canada office if in Canada to obtain a copy.

$200 Shopping Spree at Monergism Books!

Enter here to be the big winner in the $200 Shopping Spree at Monergism Books.

The Kissing Diet

I decided I have the next big plan for a fad diet. The Kissing Diet. Everytime you feel hungry, go kiss your spouse. You’ll loose the pounds because you won’t be eating all the time, and your marriage will be even better as you shower love and affection on your spouse.

Well I think it’s a good idea. :)

John Gill (1697-1771) on Prayer

It is good for the saints to draw near to God; it is not only good because it is their duty, but because it yields their souls a spiritual pleasure; and it is also of great profit and advantage to them: It is often an ordinance of God, and which he owns for the quickening the graces of his spirit, for the restraining and subduing the corruptions of our hearts, and for the bringing of our souls into nearer communion and fellowship with himself. Satan has often felt the force and power of this piece of our spiritual armour; and it is, indeed, the last which the believer is directed to make use of. Praying souls are profitable in families, neighbourhoods, churches, and common-wealths, when prayerless ones are in a great measure useless. The believer has the utmost encouragement to this work he can desire; he may come to God, not as on a seat of justice, but as on a throne of grace. Christ is the Mediator between God and him, his way of access to God, and his Advocate with the Father; the Spirit is his Guide, Director, and Assister; he has many exceeding great and precious promises to plead with God; nor need he doubt of a kind reception, a gracious audience, and a proper answer, though never so mean and unworthy in himself; since the Lord will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise his prayer.

Centre for Mentorship and Theological Reflection

CENTRE FOR MENTORSHIP AND THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

“The Cross is Our Theology” – Martin Luther

Learning from John Calvin

about Ministry Today

Date: Thursday, June 05, 2008

Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Venue: Van Norman Centre, Tyndale University College & Seminary – 25 Ballyconnor Court, Toronto, ON

Dr.Timothy George, Executive Editor of Christianity Today and Dean of Beeson Divinity School

“Learning from Calvin about Ministry Today”

Dr. Victor Shepherd,

Winner of the Centre’s Best Preacher Award

“My ministry is dearer to me than life”

Dr. Dennis Ngien, Founder, Centre for Mentorship and Theological Reflection

Founder’s charge

No registration needed, except pay $3.00 parking fee.

For further information, please contact Dr. Dennis Ngien at: dngien_center@yahoo.com.

John Gill (1697-1771) on Marriage – In Preparation for my own Marriage

“Marriage is honourable in all”, (Heb. 13:4) it being an institution of God, and that of God in paradise; by whom our first parents were directed to it, in a state of purity and innocence; God made the woman for an help meet, and brought her to the man, proposed her to him, whom he approved and accepted of, and she became his wife, (Gen. 2:18, 22-24) it was the Lord’s act and deed, and to him Christ ascribes the act of marriage (Matthew 19:6). Christ honoured it by his presence, and at such a solemnity wrought his first miracle, and manifested forth the glory of his Deity, (John 2:1, 2, 11) and what makes this state yet more honourable is, that the marriage of Adam and Eve was a type and emblem of the conjugal union of Christ and the church, (Eph. 5:32) Adam was a figure or type of Christ, and, among other things, in his marriage; and Eve, the mother of all living, was a type of the church; Adam was first formed, and then Eve; Christ was before the church, and, indeed, before all things; Eve was formed from Adam, from a rib taken out of his side; the church has her original from Christ, and her subsistence by him; all her grace, blessings, and happiness, are from him; her justification and sanctification are from him, signified by the blood and water which sprung from his pierced side. Eve was brought by the Lord to Adam, not against her will, but with it, and by him presented as a proper match for him, which he approved and accepted of; and the church was brought to Christ, and given to him by his Father, to be his spouse and bride, whom he liked, accepted of, and betrothed to himself; and her consent is obtained by the drawings and influences of his Father’s grace: and though this is no direct proof of, yet it has a favourable aspect upon, and may serve to illustrate the “supralapsarian” scheme; that Christ had an interest in his church, and she in him, and was espoused unto him before she fell in Adam; this marriage transaction between Adam and Eve being before the fall. Moreover, marriage is honourable with respect to the ends of it; which even before the fall, and supposing Adam had stood, hereby he would have had an help meet; and the first law of creation would have been carried into execution, increase and multiply; a godly seed, a legitimate offspring would have sprung from hence; families formed and built up, and the world peopled with inhabitants; and since the fall the ends and uses of it are to preserve chastity, to prevent incontinence, and to avoid fornication; as well as to answer the other ends: and particularly this state appears honourable.

– A Body of Practical Divinity – Book 4 Chapter 1 – Of the Respective Duties of Husband and Wife

New Ministry – Slavic Gospel Association Canada

Slavic Gospel Association Canada

“Serving Churches – Reaching Russia – Since 1934”

I have recently accepted the position of Coordinator of Training and Equipping for Slavic Gospel Association Canada headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario. Our mission, taken from the ministry website, is as follows:

Serving churches – Reaching Russia: The Lord is preparing His church in the lands of Russia for the gathering of waiting fields that are white unto harvest. He has graciously placed SGA in the midst of it, serving Russian churches and North American churches to partner in the reaping of millions of souls for the glory of Christ.

The focus of SGA’s ministry is the marvelous work of the Lord in the lands of Russia, preparing His church for a vast harvest. Since 1934 SGA has been blessed to have a part in God’s plan for reaching the Slavic peoples with the glorious Good News of salvation.

One of the qualities that sets the former Soviet world apart from other mission fields is the historical presence of a small network of sound Bible-preaching, evangelical churches. Having a legacy of faithfulness throughout periods of cruel persecution since their beginning in 1865, the church members are precious brothers and sisters in the Lord. Because these proven Bible-driven churches are already there, SGA’s purpose is to support and strengthen them in their persistent efforts to reach their own peoples with the Gospel. These churches are a beautiful testament to the love of God for His people. He has purified them, protected their sound doctrine, blessed them with freedom, and now he is using them powerfully to carry the light of His Gospel to the aching world around them.

But SGA’s mission of service does not end with Russian churches. The great blessings of partnership are flowing in both directions. When as North American Christians we pray for and come alongside the ministries of our Russian brothers and sisters who have suffered for the Savior, we are thrilled to see the Lord bless their labors of love. We teach them systematic theology and they teach us how to love one another and live each day for the Lord. North American pastors, whose churches send them to teach, are thoroughly blessed by their enthusiastic students and eager to return. By serving as a bridge between the nations, SGA is serving both the Bible-preaching churches of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and the Bible-preaching churches of the West.

Our purpose, Serving Churches – Reaching Russia, is to encourage biblically-based relationships between North American and Russian Christians for the strengthening of the Saints and the furtherance of the Gospel.

I am available to speak in churches in Ontario starting in June to tell people about the great work of God happening in the former Soviet Union. This is an area of much growth and North American churches can be on the front line of serving Christ by serving His church in the CIS.

For more information on the Slavic Gospel Association see the Canadian website here.

Gill on the Pactum Salutis

My good friend Mark Jones, who is doing his PhD alongside me on Thomas Goodwin’s Christology at Leiden University, has noted that the work of the Spirit in the pactum salutis is an area that still needs to be explored in PhD work here.

Now Mark knows that the grand Particular Baptist theologian John Gill (1697-1771) is one of the few who have made a contribution in this regard. Richard Muller, has noted this contribution in his article, “The Spirit and the Covenant: John Gill’s Critique of the Pactum Salutis,” Foundations 24 (1981): 4-14. I would suggest any pursuing the idea of the Spirit’s role in the pactum salutis check out Muller’s article and the go directly to the source to Gill to see how he approached the issue.

Mark is right, it is an area that needs to be explored. Let’s not forget our Particular Baptist brethren though as we look at this issue. Often scholars fail to see the Baptist contribution to Reformed thought. Muller, has argued that Gill carries the 17th century Reformed legacy into the 18th century (see his “John Gill and the Reformed Tradtion: A Study in the Reception of Protestant Orthodoxy in the Eighteenth Century” in Michael A. G. Haykin, ed. The Life and Thought of John Gill (1697-1771): A Tercentennial Appreciation [Leiden, Brill, 1997]). Let’s not forget that!

Annual Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies Conference

Steave Weaver, the extraordinary PhD student at SBTS, pastor of Farmdale Baptist Church, and new Administrative Assistant of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies located at SBTS, has posted a reminder about the upcoming Andrew Fuller conference in Louisville, KY on August 25-26, 2008. You can see the update and a brochure of the conference here.

Make sure you are there and here me present my paper, “‘An Uncongenial Soil’: Thomas Patient (d.1666) and the Irish Baptists.”