BTM News 30

My ‘Day Job’

Due to staff problems at work I have had to work longer hours and I have had to work alternate Sundays. But, as the Nursing Home is being rebuilt, it is likely that we will need many more staff, and we hope that we will find some who genuinely are flexible, and not just at interview!

The net result of all this is that I am currently doing Sunday studies every two weeks instead of every week. Whilst folk understand, it is not very good for those who rely on the studies via the internet. Now and again I might be able to do the studies just for them anyway, but I cannot guarantee it.  If you would like to receive Barry's weekly Bible studies, please send an email to info@christiandoctrine.net with the word Sunday in the subject field.

The Ministry

The rest of my ministry (apart from the church) is as hectic as ever! I continue to receive a large number of emails, both via James Waddell as our ‘webmaster’ and direct from readers of the websites.

Some of these are abusive, some are scornful and others are just plain ignorant. Most are responsive and many of these tell us how overjoyed they are with the material. A growing number tell us that they have left their charismatic, ecumenical, Pentecostal or Romanist churches as a result of reading the articles. And some say they have rejected Alpha or stopped it going into their churches after reading our anti-Alpha material. Good news!

When the ministry started properly in 1985 I did not foresee that I would spend time on Roman Catholicism. The reason was that there are excellent ministries in that field already. But, bit by bit, I have been drawn into the same field! At first, my involvement was very general. Then came the realisation that simply telling people Rome was wrong was not sufficient. So, we began to produce a more regular feature, the RC News newsletter, containing quotes from actual Roman Catholic literature.

Then, more recently, came a study of the work of Thomas Aquinas. The main result of this so far has been a critical analysis of his views on predestination, as found in his Summa Theologica. Ex-Jesuits who have read it tell me it is academically and theologically sound and ought to be read by the churches. His work contains foundational Romanist thoughts on salvation, and that’s why it is so vital.

I am now to continue these studies, so that the heady mixture of theology and philosophy can be made more easily readable for Christians, in the hope that they will fully understand why Rome is heretical, from scripture.

Unwittingly, it is Roman Catholics themselves who have given me the impetus to do this work! Their arguments have been so obtuse at times that I had to search for the answers! It is also why I am presently working on a book provisionally entitled ‘Tom Got It Wrong!’. It will include my criticism of his ideas on predestination, plus other critical examinations of other texts of his. It will be linked with a Biblical reason for the book, a proposed approach to tackling Rome at foundational level, and more. I hope to finish it later in the year, and have put aside other manuscripts to do it.

Other Books

I have completed my book on the current reformed position, containing a number of examples of what has gone wrong. Basically, I believe that reformed men today rely so heavily on what the Reformers did, that they have evaded what they ought to do in our modern age. It is a call back to reality and to a more Biblical way of thinking.

The working title at the moment is ‘Walking Backwards From Calvin’, but it might change before I submit the book to my publisher in a week or so. It should be available within about two months.

As with my first book, ‘The Left Boot of Fellowship’, you can now purchase it amazon.

And just in case some folk think I am getting rich on the sales…so far I am £400 out of pocket (pre-publication expenses paid by me). And, the U.S. revenue department takes a wopping 33% off any royalties I get before I am paid. So far I have been paid with two cheques – but the cost of cashing them has been greater than the royalties! Therefore, I have had to let the cheques go uncashed, and have not received any payment whatever over the past year. The only real help will be if I can get several more titles published, to make cashing the royalty cheques more worthwhile!

In human terms, it is a lot of hard work for nothing – but I do it because the titles are important and should be read. If any of you want to buy copies, please do so…send them to friends, or family, or to Bible colleges!

Home

Well, my back garden must be dug out. At the moment it consists of two long piles of earth and nothing else. The costly fences I put up were almost immediately blown down and destroyed by high winds!

We found dry rot in two bedrooms and coming down into the dining room, and though I have knocked off plaster and removed affected wood, we have not been able to repair anything yet.

The dining room has had plaster missing from the bottom half of the walls for the past five years, since we had the walls damp-proofed. The huge window is now rotted to nothing, and as it will cost about £3,000 - £4,000 to replace I am hoping that my neighbour will allow me to extend my dining room out to his wall. This will mean I need only to put a roof over the extended bit (which I can do myself), which will cost much less.

Once that is done I must replace the two bedroom windows affected by the rot! Then, we must redecorate the whole place…after replacing the bathroom, which is in a very sorry state!! I have already sold my car for a cheaper one, to help pay for it all, so wish me well!

At last, it seems that my Achilles damage is starting to heal after over three years of pain and decreased mobility. It has made my working day very painful, so I am thankful for any relief gained.

That’s it for now – please pray for the ministry if God leads you to do so.

Did You Know…

I’ve been reading material about the Norsemen and have been struck by the incredible similarity between the promises made by the ‘gods’ to Vikings (the riff-raff of Nordic society) who fell in battle, and the promises made to Muslims who kill the infidel…both are rewarded with an abundance of beautiful women in ‘heaven’! Strange, eh? It seems that cults and fake religions cannot see farther than their own sinful pleasures when it comes to benefits!

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