Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God

William Carey's Enquiry - an exhortation to world mission

In 1790 William Carey, agitated by the church’s lack of concern for global evangelisation, proposed the formation of a society for world mission.

Merely praying for the success of the gospel wasn’t enough – something further must be done: ‘means’ as they called them, must be used to bring the gospel to the world.

In 1792 Carey published his ‘Enquiry’ in pamphlet form, the full title being, ‘An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens.’

‘If the prophecies concerning the increase of Christ’s kingdom be true, and if what has been advanced, concerning the commission given by him to his disciples being obligatory on us, be just, it must be inferred that all Christians ought heartily to concur with God in promoting his glorious designs, for he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.’ (Carey in his ‘Enquiry’)

One biographer suggests it is ‘the first and still greatest missionary treatise in the English language.’ (George Smith, ‘The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker and Missionary’ writing in 1887)

You can read Carey’s Enquiry in full here

Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God

The publication was followed by an historic sermon at a gathering of Baptist ministers in Nottingham in 1792.

Carey preached from Isaiah 54, ‘Enlarge the place of thy tent…Spare not, lenthen thy cords…for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and they seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not.’

The sermon was not written or published, but we are told that Carey predicted the restoration of the church and the dawn of a new era of missions. The church is, therefore, urged to go to the work of mission full of faith.

‘Expect great things! Attempt great things!’ cried Carey

The impact of a good sermon!

Earlier attempts by Carey to influence his Baptist colleagues had been unsuccessful ‘Sit down young man!’ he was told,  ‘You are an enthusiast!’

But this message, and the publication of the Enquiry, which outlined the need for missions and the responsibility of the churches, marked a new beginning.

It was agreed that a meeting would take place in Kettering to discuss the formation of a Missionary Society for the evangelisation of the world.

More next time…

To read the first part of the William Carey story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Up Close and Personal with Nelson Mandela’s Defence Lawyer

George Bizos' stunning autobiography, 'Odyssey to Freedom'

‘Early in the afternoon of 11 July 1963, a fine winter’s day, the telephone rang in my chambers.

‘I heard a coin drop into the call box and then the muffled voice of Harold Wolpe. He named a corner in the city centre and asked me to meet him there.
‘Our meeting place was outside a bookshop and I found him staring intently into the window at the books on display.

‘He didn’t turn round when I greeted him but pointed at a book.

‘We stood side by side, facing away from the pedestrians while he whispered that the leadership of the ANC had been arrested at its Rivonia headquarters and that he was going into hiding.

‘He handed me a file, asked me to find some excuse for his absence from court, and to report what had happened to his brother-in-law and partner, James Kantor.

‘I was not to see Wolpe again until he returned from exile almost thirty years later.’ (p.204)

In his autobiography ‘Odyssey to Freedom’, Nelson Mandela’s defence lawyer takes us on a journey on the inside of the legal processes and secret ANC meetings that ultimately led to democracy in South Africa. It is a tremendous story of how one modern day ‘Daniel’ helped influence a nation towards freedom.

Full the full book review and article on xenophobia, and how we, as Christians, should regard foreigners in our home countries click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Growing a Passion for World Mission

Title Page of Cook's Journal of his last voyage

Hardships at Home
In 1781, the 19 year old William Carey married 25 year old Dorothy Plackett and they lived in humble circumstances. They were married for 26 years and had seven children.

Theirs was a life of real challenges, the death of their two year old daughter, Ann, as well as the constant pressure of poverty.

William himself nearly died of a fever early in their married life. The sickness left him bald for the rest of his life. But they built a life together in service to Christ for the spread of the gospel.

In the years before they sailed to India, Carey pastored two Baptist churches, in Moulton and Leicester.

A further edition of Cook's Last Voyage (Queen's University, Ontario, Canada)

Cook’s Last Voyage
In 1783 an important book was published. It gained the attention of the English speaking world, and particularly William Carey.

Yorkshireman Captain James Cook was already as close to a ‘household name’ as you could get. The adventurer and explorer had been killed in Hawaii in 1779 and the Journal of his last voyages was published in 1783.

As Carey read the intriguing accounts of peoples from far off places and such different cultures he felt more than curiosity stirring in him. Cook’s journal was, he confesses, ‘the first thing that engaged my mind to think of missions.’ (quoted in Timothy George, Faithful Witness, IVP, p.20)

The Motive for Mission
Cook himself, wasn’t interested in promoting Christianity around the world. In fact, he disparagingly says of one particular people group, ‘No one would ever venture to introduce Christianity [here] because neither fame nor profit would offer the requisite inducement.’ (ibid p.21)

Cook’s statement reveals a spectacular misunderstanding of the apostolic impulse and is all the more ironic considering both William and Dorothy’s immense sacrifice in order to bring the gospel to India.

To read the next part of the William Carey story click here

To read the first part of the William Carey story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

William Carey the Dissenter

William Carey is one of the great heroes of the Christian Faith.

He was born into a family who considered the Church of England to be the authorised church of the English people. But when he heard the gospel and started to read the Bible, he realised he needed to find out more. He began to be drawn to those called ‘Dissenters’.

Holy Dissent
His biographer, Timothy George writes, ‘The Dissenters of Hanoverian England had inherited a legacy of persecution and harassment. When the Act of Uniformity was passed in 1662 over 2000 ministers were expelled from their posts because they refused to declare ‘unfeigned assent’ to everything in the Book of Common Prayer and seek re-ordination from an Anglican bishop…

‘In those days the Clarendon Code imposed severe penalties  on those who could not conform to the established religion; John Bunyan languishing for 12 years in the Bedford jail; George Fox locked up at Scarborough Castle in a cell which was open to the wind and rain of the North Sea, so that “the water came over my bed and ran about the room”…

‘the Welsh Evangelist Vavasor Powell dying in the Fleet Prison in the 11th year of his incarceration there; sergeants disrupting services…;meeting houses burned to the ground; properties confiscated; ruinous fines exacted. Such memories lingered long in the Nonconformist conscience…

‘In 1719 Parliament passed a bill forbidding anyone who attended a Dissenting meeting from teaching, with three months in jail as the penalty’! (Timothy George, Faithful Witness, IVP, p.9)

Nevertheless, the young Carey began preaching amongst them. First, in a house-church in Earls Barton, Northamptonshire and then later as an ordained Dissenting Pastor in Moulton.

They were tough years for Carey and his new bride, but they were years of preparation.

To read the first part of the William Carey story click here

To read the next part of the William Carey Story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

William Carey Believes and is Baptised

A child of the Church of England
Carey was a child of the Church of England, having been christened as a baby and assuming, as almost everyone did in 18th Century England, that any other kind of church was bogus, not a real church at all.

But one of the other apprentices, John Warr, was not a member of the Church of England. And, rather than his being strange or artificial, Warr had a definite and clear faith in Christ.

Biographer, Timothy George writes, ‘As parish clerk, Edmund Carey (William’s father) had required his children to attend church where they listened to the Psalms and lessons from the Book of Common Prayer.

‘Although Carey never disparaged this religious training, it left him, as he put it, ‘wholly unacquainted with the scheme of salvation by Christ.’ Indeed, he confessed, ‘Of real experimental [experiential] religion, I scarcely heard anything until I was fourteen years of age.’ (Quoted in Faithful Wtiness, Timothy George, IVP, p.6)

Convinced by Scripture

Eventually, he did indeed put his trust in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. He was converted and immediately began to zealously tell everyone of Christ’s love.

Being convinced by Scripture, which the so-called ‘Dissenters’ preached, William broke with family and church tradition and was baptised as a believer in 1783.

The Baptist Pastor, John Ryland, who oversaw his baptism, later wrote,

‘On October 5, 1783, I baptised in the Nene, just beyond Doddridge’s meeting- house, a poor journeyman-shoemaker, little thinking that before nine years elapsed he would prove the first instrument of forming a Society for sending missionaries from England to the heathen world, and much less that later would become professor of languages in an Oriental College, and the translator of the Scriptures into eleven different tongues.’ (ibid. p.12)

To read the first part of the William Carey Story click here

To read the next part of the William Carey Story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

William Carey, Father of Modern Missions

Romanticised view of William Carey's childhood home (http://www.wmcarey.edu)

Small towns can play a huge role in Global history
Kettering is a small town just 80 or so miles northwest of London, England, and which dates back to Roman times. Chances are that nowadays you would just drive past it on your way to somewhere else.

But it was here, in this humble, quiet town that an event took place the ramifications of which have truly changed the world.

It was here in Kettering that the evangelical churches finally caught up with the Moravians and a new century of Christian missions would begin when William Carey and a few like minded friends raised thirteen pounds, two shillings and sixpence to reach the whole wide world with the gospel.

If the powerful activity of the Spirit in the 18th century had served to awaken the English speaking world to the claims of Christ then His continued outpouring in the 19th century propelled the gospel to many other nations.

Instead of being weakened by the growing tide of rationalism and unbelief amongst scholars and academics the church radically invested in mission.

The Father of Modern Missions
William Carey was born in 1761, right in the thick of the Great Awakening led by George Whitefield and John Wesley.

He was born, not too far from Kettering, in a village called Paulerspury in Northamptonshire.

His father was a poor schoolmaster who apprenticed him to a local shoemaker aged only 14. And so, William Carey became a shoemaker by trade.

Like so many other heroes in the unfolding story of the Christian Church, Carey received no tertiary education and did not go to University.

We’ll continue Carey’s story next time…

To read the first part of the William Carey Story click here

To read the next part of the William Carey Story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

The Nineteenth Century Missionary Movement

Plaque outside the house in Kettering, England where Carey formed the Baptist Missionary Society

A culture-changing progression is observable:

In the 16th Century – the Reformation in Europe, with the rediscovery of the authority of the Bible as the basis for faith and practice. ‘You are justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law!’

In the 17th Century – the attempt by the Puritans to apply this rediscovery to all of life, and to restore the European church and society. ‘Do all to the glory of God!’

In the 18th Century – the evangelistic proclamation of this rediscovery to those outside the normal influence of the church. ‘You must be born again!’

In the 19th Century – the explosion of the message to nations beyond Europe, with thousands leaving Europe to take the gospel to those who have never heard it. ‘Go into all the world!’

In other words there was a rediscovery of the Bible as the authoritative guide for a relationship to God and each other, a thorough attempt to apply it pastorally, and then a Spirit empowered evangelistic proclamation of the gospel, first in Europe and America and then to the ends of the earth.

This progression gives us a general but helpful guide to place movements and leaders in their historical context. Of course, if you read previous posts, you’ll know that all of these various emphases have been happening all through church history, and with mighty demonstrations of the Spirit’s power, but it is not altogether inaccurate when considering Christianity in the 19th Century to speak of ‘the missionary movement’ or even ‘the missionary century’ as some do.

Nor is it altogether inaccurate to refer to one particular pioneer as ‘the father of modern missions’ as we turn our consideration to one of the most inspiring figures in church history, William Carey.

To read the next part of the William Carey Story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Church Planting Lessons from the First Fleet Part 7

HMS Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet of 1788, tragically shipwrecked just two years later

Keep your armour on!

John Piper once said, ‘We do not know what prayer is for until we know that life is war!’
And Terry Virgo also famously said, ‘The Christian life is not like a battle – it is a battle!’

The pressure of a new work, the move to a new place, the loneliness of building a new team, the discouragement of financial hardship, the unexpected setbacks – all these things can lead to a weakening of our resolve, and the temptation to retreat.

The first European settlers made many mistakes. Their approach to the Aboriginal people was intended to be respectful, but, inevitably, an innate sense of superiority soon asserted itself.

But there were comical moments too. As a boat of sailors landed on one beach, the cautious Aboriginal leaders gathered. Some small gifts were exchanged but still the locals seemed nervous. They wanted to know which gender the Europeans were. They looked like strange women, seeing as they had smooth, shaved chins and were covered with ornate clothing (the locals were completely naked).

As soon as the officer understood the locals’ dilemma he ordered one particularly unfortunate sailor to momentarily disrobe. On discovering that the European visitors were male ‘a great shout of admiration’ went up from the men who then signaled to other nervous locals that it was safe to approach.

Things didn’t always go so peaceably. Although Governor Philip had the respect of several local leaders, many didn’t know him. He was to learn the hard way, when, in an attempt to be jovial he scared a nervous local who promptly threw his spear at him. The spear went clean through Philip’s shoulder and out his back. The wound was made worse by the fact that the spear kept snagging the ground as Philip and his men ran back towards their boat in panic.

Disorder within
But the settlers had their own internal challenges. David Hill describes the pandemonium that took place on February 6th 1788.

‘…it was to be ten days [after arriving in Sydney Cove] before the majority of the female convicts were unloaded from their transports and rowed to the shore, by which time a large number of tents had been pitched for them.

‘[Governor Arthur] Philip’s caution turned out to be not unwise, because the women’s eventual landing resulted in wild scenes and debauchery that shocked many of the officers.’ (David Hill, 1788, Heinemann Australia, p. 154)

Whenever church planters attempt to break into a new community for the gospel there is resistance. Sometimes the battle is outside – cultural miscommunication, persecution, hostility. And sometimes the battle is inside – pride, sin, divisiveness and failure.

Paul exhorts us to ‘Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.’ (Eph 6:11) We are to be alert and aware always.

Recognise the potential of a new beginning

Arthur Philip is a fascinating figure. He exercised wisdom at a number of key points in an age where he may have acted ruthlessly.

He showed a care and concern for all the passengers of the first fleet. He allowed the convicts time up on deck for exercise and made sure they were kept healthy. This is in stark contrast to the terrible cruelty and mistreatment of those convicts who survived the Second Fleet. Relatively few died at sea under Philip’s care.

Although he didn’t have the choicest examples of human potential, he nevertheless realised that each one would contribute to the new community, for good or bad.

Clearly Philip felt the best way to proceed with the convicts was to help them realise the possibility of a brand new start in New South Wales. This could be, for everyone, a new beginning.
Their past, with its variety of criminal misdemeanours (some serious and some petty) was now truly past. The new community provided an opportunity for them to rise above their past.

In the church we are a new community because of the power of the work of Christ on the cross. His shed blood has opened a new and living way for us to be reconciled to God and to one another. We are now united with Him in His death and in His resurrection and are now living new lives in the grace of God.

Thus a new church plant represents a new era of grace to a village, town, city or people group. May God give you grace, strength and protection as you take the good news of Jesus Christ to all the world!

To read the first post in this series click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Church Planting Lessons from the First Fleet Part 6

Tim Flannery's collection of eye-witness accounts

Expect Providential Blessings
God both develops perseverance in us, perfecting our character and faith, but also surprises us with welcome provisions and comforts!

Being convinced of God’s sovereignty should never produce in us a fatalistic or stoic attitude. He can and does respond to our cries for relief, sometimes radically changing circumstances on our behalf.

At times His providential care for us can be seen in utterly unexpected ways.

Providence in a broken tooth!
I was struck by this when I read a strange but remarkable fact about Philip Arthur, first Governor of the Sydney settlement. It reminds us to trust God for amazing manifestations of providence.

In his book The Birth of Sydney’ (an edited collection of eye witness accounts of the earliest years of the settlement), Tim Flannery notes a peculiarity which may be of interest to those keen to establish cross-cultural relationships.

‘Young Cadigalean [Aborignal] men were initiated during a ceremony known as Yoo-lahng Erah-ba-daihng…held in Camerigal territory at Wallamola.

There the tribes would gather and, after days of ceremony, the highlight came when the initiates had an upper incisor knocked out with a stone.

The teeth were carefully kept by their Camerigal hosts, who returned them to the Cadigal at a ceremony some years later.

This practice of knocking out a front incisor, incidentally, was to have some significance for the Europeans, for Governor Phillip was lacking just such a tooth.

The Aborigines clearly viewed him as an important person, perhaps as an initiated elder who had returned from the dead. They called him Beeana – father.’ (Tim Flannery, The Birth of Sydney, Text Publishing, Melbourne, p.21)

God knows all things. He knows your need. He can help form bridges for us – we need to cross them, exercise sensitivity and wisdom – but He can give us unexpected help.

For the next installment in this story click here

For the first post in this series click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Church Planting Lessons from the First Fleet Part 5

HMS Supply, the oldest and smallest of the First Fleet ships

Commitment to the new community
It seems to me that there’s a connection between growing a large church and longevity in the leadership. The leading elder, along with other elders, is there for good, for the long haul. This obviously provides stability.

So I’ve been surprised over the years, to meet church-planters who are eager to leave after a very short time. And not surprised by the negative impact on the plant if that happens.

Of course, the Apostle Paul was often compelled, by persecution, to move on, but I’m not sure that’s always an applicable model for planters who may need to persevere until the work is established.

It finally dawned on the Australian ‘First Fleeters’ of 1788 that they were truly leaving the known world behind them. This truly hit home for the crew when they left Cape Town, about half way on their journey to Botany Bay.

David Hill writes, ‘Many felt as they headed away from the Cape that they were leaving behind all connections with the civilised world.’

David Collins, who was to act as the new colony’s Magistrate, writes, ‘When, if ever, we might again enjoy the commerce of the world, was doubtful and uncertain…All communication with families and friends now cut off, [we were] leaving the world behind us, to enter a state unknown.’ (1788, David Hill, William Heinemann Australia, p.130-131)

And so it is with us! At some point the daunting, but exciting, challenge hits home. We have left home and are building a new community for God in a new place. If we are alone, then we are in trouble. But, here’s the good news, Jesus tells us ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age!’ (Matt 28:20)

Autonomy is the goal
The First Fleet of 11 ships were given enough provisions to hopefully last until they could begin farming for themselves in Australia. The list itself makes interesting reading!

1400 shovels and spades, 175 hammers and 747,000 nails!! They took many animals on board including sheep, goats, chickens and pigs – even 4 mares and 2 stallions. But they only took 12 ploughs. Clearly, they expected to do line fishing as they only took 14 fishing nets but 8000 fish hooks! Somehow or other a printing press was taken on this first journey. Click here for the full list

The relationship between the local Aboriginal people and the settlers is described by Hill as one of ‘mutual incomprehension’! And so the settlers undoubtedly lost key opportunities to learn.

Initially they were dependent on their own provisions and the whole colony came close to starvation a couple of times until they were relieved by more supplies from England. Finally, however, their farming skills grew.

Dependence on external resources may be initially necessary as a new church is planted, but obviously, the evidence that the work has taken root is that it is not only self-sustainable but also can become a centre of generous giving into other pioneering situations.

For the next installment in this story click here

For the first post in this series click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Church Planting Lessons from the First Fleet Part 4

Be prepared for the challenge of moving
For some church-planters, just physically relocating can be an intensely complex process.

John Hosier has suggested that moving house and family can actually become a major spiritual warfare issue for a church plant and we would be naïve to assume that the move to a new town or country for the purpose of establishing a new church should go smoothly.

Multi-national companies move people from place to place with relative ease – but church-planters have sometimes hit what appear to be immovable obstacles.

As we read of the incredibly ambitious relocation of over a thousand people on the First Fleet to Australia, we are immediately struck by their perseverance.

The voyage itself took 8 months! Today we become impatient if a flight is delayed by just one hour! And a delay of 8 days due to volcanic ash can seem intolerable. I heard one comic recently talking about the speed and the wonder of flight, where you have passengers who don’t appreciate the almost miraculous nature of literally sitting down in a chair and flying through the sky!! ‘Agh,’ he said, imitating a disgruntled passenger, ‘but it doesn’t go back very far!’

On route to Australia Arthur Philip, first Governor of New South Wales, had to endure an outbreak of scurvy (which was restrained by a stop at Rio de Janiero where fresh fruit was obtained), a conspiracy to mutiny (which was uncovered in time) and extremely unhelpful Dutch authorities in the Cape who made the fleet wait while they were desperate for supplies.

But they were on their way and there was no turning back. So for us in church planting: Selling houses, relocating, getting visas, organising funding, ensuring key leaders get on site, losing folk who we hoped would be with us etc. all these are significant challenges. We must not be taken by surprise at the apparent difficulty of getting the new plant up and running. We can meet the challenges with prayer. ‘I will be with you!’ said Jesus in the context of worldwide mission (Matt 28:18-20)

The novelty of the new and the reality of the work
For my wife and I, relocating itself – getting to the new place – has always been exciting! New sights, new places, new people! If you consider yourself a student in life then every new place is full of interest.

I have deliberately trained my mind, whenever we’ve gone into a new setting, to discover the most positive things about the culture, people, the natural beauty, the architecture etc. and I keep enjoying those positives and remind myself of them when pressure comes.

The reality of the challenge doesn’t take long to crowd in and demand your attention. And that’s appropriate. There is work to be done.

A new work in a new place can feel isolated and under-resourced, even though you’re aware of it. Almost every church-planter feels this because they usually come out of a well-resourced context.

This was so obvious in terms of the First Fleeters that the parallels were striking: they were not only preparing to build houses, but also to begin farms. They took seeds and basic farm tools. They took live animals on the ships, cows and sheep and chickens and geese, in the hope of successful breeding in the new community.

But there was also the realisation, heightened by the distance, that they were leaving the source of regular supply in every sense, from clothing, to nails, to paper, even to food! In fact, a week before they arrived they ran out of cattle feed and several animals died on board.

‘The struggle to build a new life in the harsh and unfriendly Australian bush was about to begin. For the next few years life would be uncomfortable, to say the least, and most of the settlers would have no chair to sit on, no table to eat at and no bed or cot to sleep in.’ (David Hill, 1788, Heinemann Australia, p.151)

Are we tempted to complain? Speaking personally, the most difficult period of relocation for my wife and I was from the US to the Cape and lasted about 8 months.

Money was scarce; the house in which we lived was, frankly, odd (doors missing, no sink in the kitchen etc). We arrived in winter and were not at all prepared for the cold, did not have a telephone for a time and kept receiving unexpected bills we couldn’t pay, in addition to the other more usual factors of arriving in a different country with a young family.

It was a tough time for us – but it sounds pathetic compared to the First Fleeters! What was I complaining about? Things began finally to ease for us after about 8 months, but Hill writes that life continued to be intensely difficult for the new Australian community ‘for the next few years’. And so it was.

All these things are challenges in relocating. Challenges that church-planters face. Challenges that can be overcome.

For the next installment in this story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Church Planting Lessons from the First Fleet Part 3

The Lady Penrhyn, one of the eleven First Fleet ships

For the background to this post click here

Get to know the place
Do your homework and make sure your research is accurate. If you can, personally go and visit the place as much as possible. Get to know the people, the surroundings, the needs, the history and the opportunities there. Be thrilled with the beauty and variety of the surroundings and the people but be ready to face challenges. Building something new doesn’t come easily.

The glowing reports given to Parliament about Botany Bay were way too optimistic and were based on only six days of relatively superficial observation. The initial site was rejected.

Even when the fleet moved on to Sydney, the settlers couldn’t contain their optimism!

Hill writes, ‘The first recorded impressions of Sydney Cove…gave no indication that the newcomers had any inkling of the problems that lay ahead.’ (David Hill, 1788, Heinemann Australia, p.149) One settler initially described the harbour as the finest ‘in the universe’!

Well, it’s good to be full of faith and to believe that things will go well, but we also need to face our challenges realistically. David met Goliath with genuine faith, not unreality. There was a mix of previous experience, faith and boldness. He didn’t downplay the task but faced it with holy realism.

Make the right decisions quickly
After ten long weeks at sea, from Cape Town, the fleet finally drew close to Australian shores.

Arthur Bowes Smyth was aboard the Lady Penrhyn and expresses the wonder of their first sighting of land.

‘At 7am we discovered land about forty miles distant. The joy everyone felt upon so long wished for an event can be better conceived than expressed.’ (Hill, p.141)

Hopes were high. But they were met with an unexpected challenge. To everyone’s shock and surprise, Botany Bay itself was ‘totally unsuitable’.

Arthur Philip, the first Governor of New South Wales, wrote, ‘I began to examine the bay as soon as we anchored, and found that…I did not see any situation of which there was not some strong objection.’ (p. 143)

Captain Watkin Tench recorded their discouragement, ‘In the evening we returned on board, not greatly pleased with our discoveries.’ (p.143)

Here, Arthur Philip’s leadership was excellent. Within just three days, and with all the convicts still aboard the various ships, Philip and a few others set out in three small boats to explore the coastline further to the North.

It was here they discovered the more suitable site they called Sydney Cove, where the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are today. The decision to change location was made quickly.

The party returned to Botany Bay where convicts were attempting (unsuccessfully) to clear the ground in case this really was their best spot. Philip ordered the whole fleet to move up to Sydney.

Interestingly, two French ships, arrived at Botany Bay as the First Fleet were leaving. They had heard that the British had decided to establish a settlement there and fully expected to find a town, with houses and roads already built.

The French were bemused to find what looked like a hurried and comprehensive withdrawal from the Bay, but nevertheless entertained various of the leaders on their ships with some fine dining. It is amazing to think that information of a global nature took months and sometimes even years to get from place to place.

Clear decision making, especially in terms of location could be critical in establishing a new church community. And if a decision has been made that proves to be incorrect, surely wise leadership can acknowledge that and make an adjustment that benefits the community.

Many struggles still lay ahead for the settlers, and they very nearly came to starvation early on, but this single location decision certainly saved many lives.

For the next installment of this story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Church Planting Lessons from the First Fleet part 2

HMS Charlotte, one of the First Fleet ships

For the introduction to this story click here

The ‘First Fleet’
In 1788, 11 small ships carrying nearly 1500 people, half of whom were convicts, embarked on a heroic, dangerous and untested mission – to plant a new community in Australia.

After the Revolutionary War in America, England could no longer send its unwanted prisoners there. A new solution was necessary. Several exploratory trips to the west coast of Africa proved fruitless.

Back in England, decommissioned ships on the Thames and elsewhere were being filled with prisoners at the rate of about a thousand a year. Soon these ships were filled to overflowing and became breeding grounds for sickness and violence.

Botany Bay
Finally, under immense pressure, and, somewhat on impulse, Australia (known as ‘New Holland’ at the time) was decided upon as the chosen destination.

Captain Cook had visited Australia briefly in 1770 and named the west coast New South Wales. Optimistic reports were given to Parliament about a potential site which Cook had named Botany Bay.  The decision was made.

Church Planting?
As I read the excellent historical account of the First Fleet, ‘1788’ by David Hill, I was reminded of the experiences and challenges of church planters around the world.

The manner with which these ‘First Fleeters’ faced the difficulty of establishing a new community in unfamiliar surroundings seemed compelling to me, and encouraging.

Today, against a backdrop of apparently sudden successes, patience and perseverance in establishing a church can be viewed as a lack of faith, or anointing.

Obviously a modern day church planter’s motives and objectives are very different to those of an 18th century colonialist (especially one sent to establish a penal colony!) – but, given the significant differences, the experiences of the First Fleet to Australia, and the earliest generations of Australian settlers, in establishing a new community in a new place may provide some teaching points.

We’ll look at those teaching points here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Church Planting Lessons from the First Fleet

Transportation Notice from Dorset. Photo by Steinsky

Setting the scene
‘Farewell to olde England forever
Farewell to my olde pals as well
Farewell to the well known Old Bailey
Where I once used to look such a swell.

Singing Too-ral Li-ooral li-ad-dity
Singing too-ral li-ooral li-ay
Singing too-ral li-ooral li-ad-dity
And we’re bound for Botany Bay!’
(From a song of the ‘first fleeters’ who sailed from England to Australia in 1787 see http://firstfleet.uow.edu.au/s_ballad.html)

They were unusual times. British law was harsh. The death penalty was handed down for convictions as slight as petty theft.

As time went on, many judges became increasingly uneasy about sentencing to death those convicted of relatively petty crimes.

In fact, in 1800, Sir Samuel Riley declared that ‘there is probably no other country in the world in which so many and so great a variety of human actions are punishable with loss of life than in England.’ (Quoted in 1788, David Hill, William Heinemann Australia, p.8)

Transportation to America
The merciful alternative was to reduce the sentences to ‘transportation’, where the convicted criminal would be shipped off to one of Britain’s colonies, rather than be ‘launched into the next world.’

It sounds like an unusual solution to us now, but back in the 18th century it was the English solution to the unpleasant problem of dealing with the unruly and lawless!

Up until the revolutionary war, the American colonies were considered the perfect place for such convicts. And the English Judges, reluctant to so easily send people to their death, sent some 40,000 convicts to America instead.

However, a new option was now necessary, and a new community would be settled in a very far off place.

For the second installment of this story click here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

JC Ryle on How to Get Right with God

JC Ryle, the Bishop of Liverpool in 19th century England was eager to see a revival of authentic Christianity in his own generation.

In the previous century England had witnessed such remarkable outpourings of the Holy Spirit and huge numbers of conversions. Ryle was hungry for a further move of God.

So he began looking back in order to gain insight about how to proceed. In the last post we saw the first three essential truths that the great Methodist leaders, Whitefield, Wesley and others, proclaimed. These were the authority of the Bible, the sinfulness of mankind and the necessity of Christ’s death on the cross for our salvation.

In this post we’ll look at the other essentials that Ryle believed led to such radical cultural transformation in 18th century England.

1. Justification by Faith
The 18th century Evangelists ‘told men that faith was the one thing needful…that the moment we do believe, we live and [can obtain] all Christ’s benefits.’

The Evangelists rejected the idea that merely being a member of a church meant you were somehow right with God.

Ryle says, ‘Everything – if you will believe, and the moment you believe; nothing – if you do not believe, was the very marrow of their preaching.’ (p.27)

2. ‘You Must be Born Again’
It’s not uncommon to meet people who believe that the emphasis on being ‘born again’ was somehow a 1970’s American religious phenomena.

But actually, as Ryle demonstrates, the preachers of the 1700’s emphasised this constantly. Of course, both the term ‘born again’ and the necessity to preach the new birth goes right back to Jesus Himself (see John chapter 3).

Ryle emphasises ‘heart conversion and a new creation by the Holy Spirit.’

‘They proclaimed everywhere to the crowds whom they addressed, ‘Ye must be born again.’

And this new birth which they so constantly asserted ‘was something that could be seen, discerned and known by its effects.’ (p.28)

3. A Changed Life
Ryle says that the 18th century leaders of the Great Awakening taught ‘the inseparable connection between true faith and personal holiness.’ (p.28)

They were not inclined to consider anyone a true convert unless there was a definite change in lifestyle. Merely saying you were saved but not changing your lifestyle choices would cause the leaders to question the reality of your faith. If there was no evidence of the ‘fruit of repentance’ then they did not consider that a person had received true saving grace.

4. God is both a God of Wrath and Love
This is without doubt a clear feature of Christian preaching throughout church history.

‘They knew nothing’, asserts Ryle, of ‘a heaven where holy and unholy…all find admission.’ They didn’t preach that everyone goes to heaven in the end.

‘Both about Heaven and Hell they used the utmost plainness of speech.

‘They never shrunk from declaring, in plainest terms, the certainty of God’s judgement and of wrath to come, if men persisted in impenitence and unbelief.

‘Yet, they never ceased to magnify the riches of God’s kindness and compassion, and to entreat all sinners to repent and turn to God before it was too late.’ (p.28)

Conclusion
These were the teachings of the great Evangelists: The trustworthiness of the Bible, the sinfulness of the human race, Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, that we are justified not by works but by faith in Christ, and that a heart work – being born again – is absolutely necessary for salvation. This ‘heart change’ is a real change that affects every area of life. And that finally, God is a just Judge and a loving Father who is calling all people to come to Him for forgiveness.

Let us give good Bishop Ryle the last word:

‘These were the doctrines by which they turned England upside down, made ploughmen and colliers weep till their dirty faces were seamed with tears, arrested the attention of peers and philosophers, stormed the strongholds of Satan, plucked thousands like brands from the burning, and altered the character of the age…

‘The fact is undeniable: God blessed these truths…and what God has blessed it ill becomes man to despise.’ (p.28-29)

All quotes are from JC Ryle, Christian Leaders of the 18th Century, Banner of Truth edition.

© 2010 Lex Loizides

JC Ryle on the Truths that Changed a Nation

JC Ryle - Christian Leaders of the 18th Century

We’ve been enjoying JC Ryle’s insights into the preaching that shook England in the 18th century, and which led to many thousands coming to Christ.

In this post we’ll look at the content of the messages that were given. In outlining these for us, Ryle is obviously suggesting that there was a need, in his own day, for a revival of such preaching.

It may be that in quaint 19th century England the ministers and evangelists had softened their message, taken the edges off, in order not to offend those outside the churches.

If we really believe that the message should stay the same, even though we should package it appropriate to the context, then it is surely helpful to hear good old Bishop Ryle’s warnings and exhortations.

Ryle gives seven essential truths that the Methodist preachers all agreed on and asserted to their hearers. We’ll look at the first three in this post.

1. The Authority of the Bible
Ryle says that they ‘taught constantly the sufficiency and supremacy of Holy Scripture.’

‘They knew nothing of any part of Scripture being uninspired.

‘They never flinched from asserting that there can be no error in the Word of God.

‘To that one book they were content to pin their faith, and by it to stand or fall. This was one grand characteristic of their preaching.’ (p.26)

2. The Sinfulness of Man
‘They taught constantly the total corruption of human nature.

‘They never flattered men and women…They told them plainly that they were dead, and must be made alive again…

‘Strange and paradoxical as it may seem to some, their first step towards making men good was to show them that they were utterly bad; and their primary argument in persuading men to do something for their souls was to convince them that they could do nothing at all.’ (p.26-27)

3. The Necessity of Christ’s Death
Ryle says that the Methodist preachers of the 18th century ‘taught constantly that Christ’s death upon the cross was the only satisfaction for man’s sin; and that, when Christ died, he died as our substitute – ‘the just for the unjust’.

‘This, in fact, was the cardinal point in almost all their sermons.

‘They never taught the modern doctrine that Christ’s death was only a great example of self-sacrifice.

‘They saw in it the payment of man’s mighty debt to God.

‘They loved Christ’s person they rejoiced in Christ’s promises; they urged men to walk after Christ’s example. But the one subject above all others, concerning Christ, which they delighted to dwell on, was the atoning blood which Christ shed for us on the cross.’ (p.27)

It would probably be a good exercise for every preacher who is attempting to present the Christian message to their culture to review these points (and the three to follow) and see if any adjustment ought to be made in the content, if not the style, of their messages.

For Ryle’s next four points click here

All quotes are from JC Ryle, Christian Leaders of the 18th Century, Banner of Truth edition.

© 2010 Lex Loizides

JC Ryle on the type of preaching that awakened England

JC Ryle in his study

We’re busy enjoying JC Ryle’s description of the preaching of the Evangelists whom God used to change the culture of 18th century England. (This is Part Four of a short series on Ryle. See Part One, Two and Three)

Having emphasised that it was specifically preaching that was used by God, he describes the type of messages the Evangelists preached.

1. They preached attractive, accessible messages
‘They used illustrations and anecdotes in abundance, and like their divine Master, borrowed lessons from every object in nature.

‘They revived the style of sermons in which Luther and Latimer used to be so eminently successful.’ Ryle then applies a saying of Luther to the 18th century Evangelists: ‘No one can be a good preacher to the people who is not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and vulgar to some.’ (p.25)

2. They preached fervently and directly
‘They cast aside that dull, cold, heavy, lifeless mode of delivery which had long made sermons a very proverb for dullness.

‘They proclaimed the words of faith, and the story of life with life!

‘They spoke with fiery zeal, like men who were thoroughly persuaded that what they said was true, and that it was of the upmost importance to your eternal interest to hear it.

‘They spoke like men who had got a message from God to you, and must deliver it, and must have your attention while they delivered it.

‘They threw heart and soul and feeling into their sermons and sent their hearers home convinced, at any rate, that the preacher was sincere and wished them well.

‘They believed that you must speak from the heart if you wish to speak to the heart.’ (p.25)

3. Their sermons were full of Biblical content
‘I would have it understood that it was eminently doctrinal, positive, dogmatical and distinct.

‘The trumpets which blew down the walls of Jericho were trumpets which gave no uncertain sound.

‘The English evangelists of last century were not men of an uncertain creed…’ (p.25)

Next time we’ll look at the main points the Evangelists’ preached, and which had such a transforming impact on their culture.

All quotes from Christian Leaders Of The 18th Century by J. C. Ryle, Banner of Truth edition.
You can Purchase Ryle’s excellent book from the Banner of Truth website

© 2010 Lex Loizides

JC Ryle’s Thoughts on the 18th Century Awakening, Part 3

JC Ryle, the 19th century Pastor, wrote extensively about the great heroes of the 18th century awakening in England.

We’ve been enjoying his frank observations on both the source of the problems and the means of revival that God used.

Ryle specifically lifts up the role and gift of the Evangelist as being the key to the breakthroughs that took place, and we will continue to be challenged by his analysis in this post.

1. The opposition experienced by the Evangelists
Ryle writes, ‘At first people in high places affected to despise them. The men of letters sneered at them as fanatics…

‘The Church shut her doors on them…the ignorant mob persecuted them. But the movement of these few evangelists went on, and made itself felt in every part of the land.’ (p.23)

2. The Primary method for changing the cultural landscape of England was Preaching
‘The instrumentality by which the spiritual reformers of the last century carried on their operations was of the simplest description.

‘It was neither more nor less that the old apostolic weapon of preaching.

‘Beyond doubt, preaching was their favourite weapon. They wisely went back to first principles.’

3. The Evangelists preached everywhere.
‘If the pulpit was open to them they gladly availed themselves of it [but] they were equally ready to preach in a barn.

‘No place came amiss to them. In the field or by the road side, on the village green, or in a market place, in lanes, or in alleys, in cellars or in garrets, on a tub or on a table, on a bench or on a horse block, wherever hearers could be gathered [they] were ready to speak…They were instant in season and out of season…’ (p.24)

4. They preached simply
‘They rightly concluded that the very first qualification to be aimed at in a sermon is to be understood!

‘They saw clearly that thousands of able and well composed sermons are utterly useless because they are above the heads of the hearers.’

Ryle says they preached in a way that could be clearly and immediately understood: ‘To attain this they were not ashamed to crucify their style and sacrifice their reputation for learning.’  (p.24-25)

We’ll continue next time, to hear about the style of preaching which God used to turn England upside down in the 18th Century.

All quotes from Christian Leaders Of The 18th Century by J. C. Ryle, Banner of Truth edition.
You can Purchase Ryle’s excellent book from the Banner of Truth website

© 2010 Lex Loizides

JC Ryle’s Thoughts on the 18th Century Awakening, Part 2

JC Ryle...with beard

Last time we took a brief look at Ryle’s analysis of the problem. Today we’re going to enjoy his description of how God turned things around.

What makes Ryle’s commentary so appealing is the fact that we can apply the same lessons to ourselves and trust God for major breakthrough in our various cities and nations.

1. Everyone was aware of a major change
Says Ryle: ‘That a great change for the better has come over England in the last hundred years is a fact which I suppose no well informed person would ever attempt to deny. You might as well attempt to deny that there was a Protestant Reformation in the days of Luther…’ (p.21)

2. Where the change didn’t come from
Not the Government: ‘The government of the country can lay no claim to the credit of the change.’
Not the Church of England: ‘Nor…from the Church of England as a body. The leaders of that venerable communion were utterly unequal to the times. Left to herself, the Church of England would probably have died of dignity…’
Not the ‘Free’ churches: ‘Nor…from the Dissenters. Content with their hard-won triumphs, that worthy body of men seemed to rest upon their oars.’ (p.22)

3. The change came through Evangelists
‘The men who wrought deliverance for us…were a few individuals…whose hearts God touched about the same time in various parts of the country.

‘They were not wealthy or highly connected. They were simply men whom God stirred up and brought out to do His work.

‘They did His work in the old apostolic way, by becoming the evangelists of their day.’(p.22)

4. The demeanour of these Evangelists
Ryle writes, ‘They taught one set of truths. They taught them in the same way, with fire, reality, earnestness, as men fully convinced of what they taught.

‘They taught them in the same spirit, always loving, compassionate…even weeping, but always bold, unflinching and not fearing the face of man.

‘And they taught them on the same plan, always acting on the aggressive; not waiting for sinners to come to them, but going after, and seeking sinners; not sitting idle till sinners offered to repent, but assaulting the high places of ungodliness like men storming a breach…

‘The movement of these gallant evangelists shook England from one end to another.’ (p.23)

We’ll continue with Ryle’s observations next time…

All quotes from Christian Leaders Of The 18th Century by J. C. Ryle, Banner of Truth edition.
You can Purchase Ryle’s excellent book from the Banner of Truth website

To read the first post in this series go here

© 2010 Lex Loizides

Piercing Thoughts on the 18th Century Awakening p.1

JC Ryle on the 18th Century Awakening

JC Ryle

I am reluctant to pull away from the 18th century! Much more can be said and I need to get on to William Carey and the explosion of missionary activity in the 19th century.

So perhaps you will forgive me for rounding up a few thoughts and insights from British Pastor and popular 19th century author, JC Ryle. These insights can speak to us today and stir us to pray and work for the good of those around us.

All quotes are from Ryle’s excellent book, Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century, originally published as ‘The Christian Leaders of the Last Century, or England a Hundred Years Ago’ (references are to the Banner of Truth edition of 1978).

1. The Christian Faith was not influential
‘Christianity seemed to lie as on dead…There was darkness in high places and darkness in low places…a gross, thick, religious and moral darkness – a darkness that might be felt.’ (p.14)

2. The Church was ineffective
Describing both the Anglican Churches and the Free Churches he writes, ‘They existed, but they could hardly be said to have lived. They did nothing; they were sound asleep.’

‘Cold morality, or barren orthodoxy, formed the staple teaching both in church and chapel. Sermons everywhere were little better than miserable moral essays, utterly devoid of anything likely to awaken, convert or save souls.’ (p.14)

3. Church Leaders were distracted
Speaking of the Anglican clergy, Ryle doesn’t hold back: ‘The vast majority of them were sunk in worldliness, and neither knew nor cared anything about their profession…They hunted, they shot, they farmed, they swore, they drank, they gambled. They seemed determined to know everything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.’

‘And when they did preach, their sermons were so unspeakable and indescribably bad, that it is comforting to reflect they were generally preached to empty benches.’ (p.17)

4. The People were sceptical of true Christian faith
‘The land was deluged with infidelity and scepticism. The prince of this world made good use of his opportunity.’ (p.15)

‘It may suffice it to say that duelling, adultery, fornication, gambling, swearing, Sabbath-breaking and drunkenness were hardly regarded as vices at all. They were the fashionable practices of people in the highest ranks of society, and no one was thought the worse of for indulging them.’ (p.18)

Told you he didn’t hold back! Next time we’ll hear Ryle on how things got turned around.

© 2010 Lex Loizides