Month: November 2013

Ministers’ fellowship

On Monday we had our traditional end of year ministers’ fellowship in Rennes. We usually meet in the capital of Brittany for the last meeting of the year because it gives the opportunity for the ministers to visit the christian bookshop and collect their orders for their Christmas book table. There were a good number present. It was good to be there news about the various churches represented. I was able to talk about the Belgian Bible Institute which most know by name only.

We met in the knew building of the “Eglise Evangélique de Rennes Sud” (for a picture, click here)

Book review: “Preaching? Simple Teaching on Simply preaching” by Alec Motyer

I’ve got quite a large collection of books on preaching, and I try to read something on the subject on a regular basis, at least once a year. Alec Motyer’s book will stand as one of my favorites. It is quick and fun to read. The author covers all the areas of preaching from choosing and studying the text to delivery. He also talks about the preacher himself.

It’s not an homiletic manual, so I don’t think it would be that helpful for complete beginners. But it is a great refresher for those of us who are called to preach on a regular basis. It is a quick read and offers all sorts of helpful tips. It also removes some of the guilt feeling that can come after reading a more technical homiletics manual. While these manuals often leave you with the impression that if you don’t follow their rules to the letter, you will fail, Motyer doesn’t make you feel like that.

I would definitely recommend this book to any preacher, and read it on a regular basis as a refresher and encouragement.

I received the book free of charge in electronic format in exchange of a review, and I was not expected to write a positive review.

11th November ceremony

The 11th November is always a bank holiday here in France. Every town and village remembers those who died during world war one, and other conflicts. It is an interesting ritual with speeches from various people. Flowers are put at the foot of the war memorial. Before the ceremony, a mass is usually celebrated (but not everyone attends). There were a lot of people, mostly elderly.11 Novembre 2013IMG_20131111_115028

A visit to the Belgian Bible Institute

Last week, I visited the Belgian Bible Institute in Bruxelles. They hold a prayer day every semester, and I had been invited to lead the fall semester prayer day. I had met the director and some of the students at some conferences, and it was good to get to know that Bible institute better.

I was a bit anxious about the day. I had never led a prayer day, and the goal was to pray as much as possible from 9 am to 5 pm, with a lunch break. Would people pray? Would there be long times of silence? But everyone had come to pray, and we prayed. In the end, I didn’t have to do much apart from opening the word at the beginning, and announcing a hymn from time to time. It was a good day. There were about 30 people present. The day of prayer is the most important day of the semester, and it is compulsory for full-time students to attend.

I spoke on Colossians 2:6-15 on why we must keep Christ at the centre: because he is God fully and perfectly manifested, because in Him we have new life, and because in Him we have complete forgiveness.

On the following day, I sat in some lectures and chatted with students and staff in the morning, before going to Bruxelles town centre.