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The
Caribbean Pioneer (June 2002 Edition) |
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The following is a list of this month's articles.
Editorial - Is It Time to Reorganize? At the Lord's Table - Chance, or Purpose?
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Editorial Revelation 16:14 informs us that three demonic spirits that look like frogs are to gather “the whole world” for “the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” Symbolically these issue forth from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. The
dragon The
beast The
false prophet The
saints
Miracles of providence
Suffering saints The latest information is that brothers and sisters are suffering direct and cruel persecution from dragon, beast and false prophet in at least twenty-five countries across the globe, including several ‘western’ countries (there has even been one recent tragic case in Birmingham, England!). The Karolyn Andrews Memorial Fund, newly reorganized in Canada after being targeted by the international financial police in the Cayman Islands, is doing its best to help, but is desperate for funds also.
Waiting on tables Is it time, brethren and sisters, to reorganize the financial structure of the brotherhood on similar lines to those outlined in Acts 6? The apostolic church had both ‘evangelists’ and ‘pastors’, each with specific responsibilities. This was a wise division of responsibility. Perhaps it is time for our Bible Missions to concentrate on preaching, and restrict their funds to that end. Is it time for a specific worldwide pastoral or ‘welfare’ system to be devised, ecclesially based perhaps, using the sponsorship or twinning system which has proven to be so effective in denominations such as the American Baptists, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Church of God (Anderson, IN) and the Mennonites? Alan Eyre
QUIZ – KNOW YOUR DRAGON 1. What colour was the dragon? 2. How many heads? 3. How many crowns? 4. What did it want to eat? 5. With whom did the dragon fight? 6. Where was he hurled from, and to? 7. Whom did he accuse before God? 8. How was he overcome? 9. Whom did he pursue? 10. What did he spew from his mouth? 11. What did he give to the beast?
At the Lord's Table Scripture Reading: Ephesians chapter 1. One day a visiting stranger grasped Abraham by the arm and pulled him away from his campfire. Look up into the sky, he said. As Abraham’s eyes adjusted to the night and scanned the universe, the visitor said, Count the stars – if you can! Then he added, So many will your children be. Long afterwards, Jeremiah was holding an open-air meeting in the courtyard of his prison in Jerusalem. He related the word of the Lord, I will make the descendants of Jacob and David my servant as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Count
the stars, if you can The
mysterious force of gravity Chance? No way. We may not be able to count the stars, but, as David sang, the Almighty not only counts them, but calls them each by name. Not even a baby sparrow tumbles out of its nest without the great Creator knowing. And we are of more value than many sparrows. So there’s no such thing as chance at all in your life and mine. There is just a host of opportunities put in our way by a merciful Father, opportunities to grasp for us and for His glory. From all this swells the breadth and depth and height, indeed all the mighty cosmic dimensions, of Ephesians, chapter 1. Tiny
chances, eternal purposes In God’s universe tiny ‘chances’ work mighty and eternal purposes. A dollop of swill into a pigpen sent a sinner back to his Father. A bucket of water for a grumpy camel brought beautiful Rebekah a godly husband. Nathaniel’s nap under a fig tree led to a lifelong commitment to the Son of God. Dilly-dallying by a well changed one Samaritan woman’s sordid life for ever. That is how God works! A physicist once suggested that theoretically one butterfly’s fluttering can become a hurricane. Certainly, a serious scientific paper was published proposing that the wind shear from semi-trailers passing on a Texas highway can trigger deadly tornadoes. There’s nothing trivial in God’s universe. Much more important, there is nobody who is trivial, either. I am sure you realize that one reason why they nailed Jesus of Nazareth to a tree was because he dared, yes dared, to tell people that the desperate prayer of the blind guttersnipe Bartimaeus was far more important to God than the hypocritical posturing of the scoundrel priest Caiaphas each year in the Holy of Holies. And furthermore, that he, Jesus, was going to make sure that his friends, a handful of humble folk, would carry that ‘good news’ to every creature under heaven. Jesus, you see, even then understood how God’s universe works. No wonder the self-righteous people hated him! But it follows that your place at this memorial table is just as important as that of anyone else on earth. The
power of prayer There is no ‘chance,’ my brethren. There is only divine power, sustaining sparrows, sinners and saints. When Solomon spoke of “chance” he was just speaking of surface appearances, as he recognized thirty-six verses later: the ways of our hearts, all our eyes behold, sorrows, joys, childhood, youth, everything every day ‑ for all these things God will bring us into judgment. Yes, said our Lord, even every idle word any man may speak. That is to say, God will assess how we have turned fleeting chances into eternal purposes. Our lives are not the sport of chance. Our angels are beholding the face of God. They are purposive spirits ministering to those who are the heirs of salvation, strong on behalf of those who love the Lord. All things work together for good to those who are the called according to His eternal purpose. The
purpose of His will Glen Isaacs (asleep in Christ)
Brother Neville Beckford of Kingston was baptized into Christ in 1968. The Beckfords are the most famous Jamaicans in history. Neville’s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Peter, was Speaker of the Jamaican House of Assembly and possibly the wealthiest man in the entire world at the time. Peter’s son, William, was even richer, and became Lord Mayor of London, then the world metropolis. William’s son designed his own palace, the largest in the world ever built by a commoner. In the last century, Professor George Beckford was an economist of world renown. Brother Neville is genetically related to the royal families of Monaco and Hungary, and more distantly to those of Germany, France and Scotland. Neville himself was born in absolute poverty, as well as disabled from birth. But he found hidden treasure greater by far than his illustrious ancestors could ever dream of. This is his story.
The
story of my ancestors One historian has this comment on the first Peter Beckford. “In this Jamaican we see manifest certain of the less attractive characteristics which were to be passed on to his descendants. He was a man of violent temper, ruthless and not over-scrupulous in the conduct of his affairs, and given to exaggerations of a very misleading sort.” The second Peter, son of the first, who might have been my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, inherited a vast fortune. His father’s cash chest, when opened, is said to have revealed £250 million in modern currency equivalent. He became Speaker of the Jamaican House of Assembly. He was also above the law, as when he brutally murdered a senior judge and escaped prosecution. By 1700 he was reputed to be the richest man in Europe and the Americas, and possibly in the world. Certainly in 1735 his son, William, inherited the largest legacy in history, anywhere, and his fabulous wealth was said to be the envy of the crowned monarchs of Europe. The Beckford mercantile fleet was the largest in the American-Caribbean trade. William studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and became Lord Mayor of London (twice), the only Jamaican ever to reach such eminence. He soon became the richest land baron and real estate speculator in the western hemisphere, and probably the greatest individual slave owner in the entire history of mankind. Another historian has this to say of William. “His family’s position in Jamaica was at least as important as that of any of the great titled families in England, and he was wealthier than any of them. But as a ‘colonial’ with an ‘ugly’ Jamaican accent, he was cold-shouldered and regarded as an upstart. Proud himself, he felt their insolent hauteur.” Nevertheless, this upstart Jamaican, though rebuffed by British aristocracy, was most determined to take the Beckford genes to the very top of human society. Through various marriages over the next four generations, I am genetically related to the royal families of Monaco and Hungary, and more distantly to those of Germany, France and Scotland, as well as to numerous dukes and counts Lord Mayor William’s son, also William, built or rebuilt several magnificent great houses in Jamaica, including Fonthill in St. Elizabeth close to where I was born. He also personally designed by far the biggest palace in the world ever built by a commoner, Fonthill Abbey in the west of England. In the 1840’s, when slavery in Jamaica had been officially abolished and when his sugar fortune had crumbled, the gigantic and “impossible Abbey” literally crumbled too, in fulfilment of Psalm 49:14-20 and Ecclesiastes 5:13-15. However, one of William’s biographers insists that “in his eighties he was as mentally alert, astute and untiring as ever.” My
story After my family moved to Kingston, I met Larry and Enid Henry and they invited us to Sunday school at the Christadelphian meeting hall, which was then in a back street in Allman Town. I and my brothers used to attend. My brothers didn’t stay long. Perhaps because I am disabled in body, my mind is extra clear. I followed the Light, and I do know that from the first time I went, I never looked back. Not very long after the Six Day War, when Jerusalem fell to the Jews, I rose to newness of life, on March 10, 1968. Four years later, in 1972, I met Bro. Eddie Johnson. He worked to establish training centres for the disabled. He was a great believer in being self-reliant. Perhaps God-reliant would be more accurate, because he was a great believer in the power of prayer. He recruited me for one of his craft workshops, and I worked there for many years. I have never been famous as some of my ancestors. But God led me to treasures they never dreamed of. I am far richer than they ever were. Over the years, I have been a great reader, hungry for divine wisdom. I cannot buy books, but any magazines or books on the truth I can lay my hands on, I will devour them. Wisdom, that is what you need. The wisdom that is foolishness with men. Life is in her right hand. In her left are riches and honour. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed (Prov. 3:13-18). Neville Beckford
As a regular visitor to one of the Caribbean islands over several years, I always noticed that my favourite airport bus driver, an elderly Hispanic lady, was very courteous and pleasant but always bore a quiet sadness. I often used to wonder why. On a recent visit I found her bubbling over with joy, and accompanied by a very frail old man. She told me her story. In 1965 she and her husband, then in their forties, had tried to escape from Fidel Castro’s Cuba. She had succeeded, but he was caught. For thirty-seven years she had lived alone, praying and waiting for him to be released and join her in exile. Finally, ill and in his eighties, he arrived at the airport one day and they were reunited. Moved almost to tears, I asked her what had sustained them both over those sad and lonely years. She pointed heavenward and said simply, “Fidelidad” (loyalty). I was utterly humbled by this lesson in faithfulness. |
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