WIXLIB

Bible StudyIn this edition, and with permission fromKen & Marjorie Lee’s family, and inmemoriam to Rev Ken Lee, a series ofBible Studies, written by Ken and firstsubmitted back in 1999, will be reproduced and is entitled:MEANDERING IN MARK"Meander" means "To wander deviouslyor aimlessly". Perchance this is not tooaccurate a description of these studies; itis hoped that they are not too devious nortotally aimless. However, the term"meander" is used to indicate an approachwhich takes its time, stops as needful tolet a thought, an idea, an insightdevelop - all with the purpose of seeingwhat the Lord has to say to his people.May He speak, and to Him be the glory.23. Mark 9:2-13"Six days later", with these words Markcontinues his Gospel story. The interval oftime is far more precisely specified than isMark's custom. Peter, if it indeed was hewho told Mark this story concerning Jesus,may have have emphasised the precisetiming of the event; Mark however doesnot seem to attach any particularsignificance to this time interval, he simplyrecords it. The suggestion has been madethat six days was a customary preparationperiod of waiting to appear before Godsimilar to that experienced by Moseswhen he was so called (Ex. 24:16).Alternatively, if the translation is taken as"After six days" and the days are countedfrom Peter's confession "You are theMessiah", then the event which Mark isnow to record occurs on the "SeventhDay", reinforcing the need of a seventhday as a Holy Day, a day to be set apart.Certainly this day of which Mark now tellsis a day "set apart", set apart both byplace and by those involved. Jesus takesjust three of his disciples, Peter, Jamesand John with him to a high mountain.Mark does not use the term "highmountain" elsewhere in his Gospel. Thisplace is special and what is to happenthere is special, requiring witnesses, butonly such witnesses as will keep silent asto what they see, until the right time tomake their witness. The same threedisciples are granted the privilege andgiven the responsibility as at the raising ofJairus' daughter (5:37-43).They come to the high mountain andthere Jesus is "transfigured before them,and his clothes became dazzling white."The word used is "metamorphose" whichbears the meaning of a complete changein form. It is the word used by the ApostlePaul in Romans 12:2 to describe thechange in Christians needful for them todiscern the perfect will of God, and againin II Corinthians 3:18 as that whichhappens when a person truly sees, even ifonly in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. Theword is used in the passive form, thechange is not brought about by theperson himself or herself, it is of God, Godwho reveals his glory in and through thetransfigured. Here on the "highmountain" the disciples are given aglimpse of Jesus as he was and as he is tobe - all glorious! The picture of his clothesbecoming "dazzling white" is inconformity with the expectations of theperiod, that such would be the raiment ofthose close to the glory of God. Here isrecorded the visual confirmation of thewords from heaven which Mark hadpreviously recorded as being spoken atJesus' baptism (1:11), words which areshortly after repeated to the threedisciples with a command to them, "Listento him!"The vision is not limited to that of seeingJesus in his glory and hearing the voice;"there appeared to them Elijah with

Moses who were talking with Jesus".Here it would seem legitimate to asks thequestion as to how the disciples knewthat the figures who appeared with Jesuswere indeed Elijah and Moses as a strictinterpretation of the SecondCommandment (Ex. 20:4) would rule outthere being any extant pictures or statuesof these two persons. Maybe it was whatthey said or their mode of speech whichidentified them to those present, orperchance they laid claim to being thesepeople; Mark give no details but simplyreports what he believes to be thesignificant fact - that Moses and Elijah arepresent talking with Jesus. The symbolismof this is tremendous: Moses is the greatliberator and law giver; Elijah is the first(and greatest?) of the prophets who werenot court servants, not part of the powerestablishment and who called for arelationship with God which was morethan just keeping the Law. Theappearance of these two worthies withJesus, sets Jesus on at least an equalfooting of importance with them in thelife of the people of God.The three disciples are almostoverwhelmed with the experience. It is awonderful experience for them but it isalso terrifying. It is an experience ofholiness such as they have never knownbefore. They just don't know what it allmeans - but they don't want to let go of it,they want it to go on and on, to bepermanent for them. So, as usual, it isPeter who blurts out their desire, thedesire to keep what they there experiencefor themselves by erecting threedwellings, be they tents or somethingmore permanent; the exact nature of thedwelling places is not clear from Mark'swording. Peter's intention andunderstanding is however quite clear. Hedesires to keep the vision of glory as aprivilege for those present and in so doingto escape from the challenges of life offthe "high mountain". Moreover, hisspeaking of three dwellings shows himaccepting Jesus as being as important asElijah and Moses - but no more important.Peter had acknowledged Jesus as "TheMessiah" but he, and all the disciples, hadmuch still to learn as to what that meant.One suspects that deep down Peter wasonly too aware of his own lack ofunderstanding since Mark records, "Hedid not know what to say." Faced withtrue glory, how many of us would be asthose disciples on the high mountain,amazed, bewildered and afraid, consciousof our own inadequacies?All is brightness and light and then,suddenly, darkness. "A cloudovershadowed them." The picture isdramatic. It might be rendered "a cloudfell upon them" or even that it "embracedthem". If the disciples were terrifiedbefore, now they must have been almostbesides themselves in awe. In Jewishthought the sudden coming of a cloud ona high mountain could only mean onething, the imminent presence of AlmightyGod. And then they hear the voice, thevoice that can be for them no other thanthe voice of God, uttering the wordswhich Jesus heard uttered at his baptismaffirming the reality of the person ofJesus. At his baptism, only Jesus heardthe words (1:11), but now they areaddressed to the disciples: "This is mySon, the Beloved." Any thought that thedisciples may have had that Jesus ismerely on a par with Elijah and Moses isswept away; the Person whom they arefaced with is "The Son of God". What thatmight mean they have yet to learn, butthey must immediately have begun torealise that all that was revealed throughthe Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah)was pointing to its fulfilment in thisMessiah, the Son of God. He was and is

the One who is to be listened to for alldirection in living. The voice from heavenproclaims: "Listen to him." Andimmediately, there is no one there withthem except Jesus! From henceforth,although the Law and the prophets wouldstill remain important, these were to beseen through the revelation which cameand was to come through listening toJesusSo Jesus and the three disciples start tocome down the mountain and Jesus givesto those disciples the first words to whichthey are to listen, listen with new ears,with a new understanding. And whatdifficult words they must have been, forthey were no less than a command to tellno one of what had happened on themountain. The most tremendousexperience of their lives to date, and theycould not even share it with their fellowdisciples. Not share, until after the Son ofMan had risen from the dead! Howdifficult that must have been for them andyet it appears from the rest of Mark'sstory that they succeeded in keeping quietfor there is no record of any reaction byeither the other disciples or of any oneelse to this transfiguration event. It mustindeed have remained a secret until afterthe Son of Man had risen from the dead.Meanwhile, coming down the mountain,the three disciples were bewildered as towhat this "rising from the dead" mightmean. We can picture them in a turmoilof bewilderment and uncertainty.Perchance they had already forgottenwhat Jesus has told them all followingtheir acknowledgement of him as theMessiah at Caesarea Philippi. The glory ofthe vision on the mountain had wiped itout - but now - painfully it came back tothem. One of the widely held beliefsamong the Jews was of a generalresurrection of the dead at the end of theworld, but the words of Jesus seemed toimply that the Son of Man would risebefore the general resurrection. What didhe mean? It certainly meant that he,Jesus, was to die! They were full ofquestions, questions which they did notreally know how to put into words.So they began with reference to thatteaching with which they had beenbrought up. "Why do the scribes say thatElijah must come first?" Before the "Dayof the Lord", the end of the world, Elijahwas to come (Mal. 4:5-6). Elijah, who hadnever died but been taken up into heaven(II Kings 2:11), was to return to set thehearts of people right with one another.The prophecy in Malachi sees this asrighting relationships within the family.However, the Septuagint Greek version ofthe prophecy had added the words "and aman to his neighbour" thus extendingElijah's task of reconciliation. By the timeof Jesus the expectation was that Elijahwould restore all things to that statewhich God intended in readiness of theMessiah, and for the judgement to come.No doubt there were different schools ofthought as to the exact task and methodof Elijah, but there was a commonexpectation that he must come beforeany of the events that could lead to theresurrection of the dead. The disciplesask their question. The reply of Jesuswhich Mark records is far from clear.Verse 12 is a statement and a question. Inthe statement Jesus confirms the popularexpectation that Elijah is indeed to comebefore the Messiah and that the task ofElijah is "to restore all things". Thencomes the question: "How then is itwritten about the Son of Man that he is togo through many sufferings and betreated with contempt?" If Elijah hadindeed restored all things, how then canthere still be a situation in which the Sonof Man is rejected in any way? It wouldappear that Jesus is questioning the

traditional expectation of the task of thereturned Elijah, or perhaps not the task,but the actual success of Elijah's mission.Was it possible that Elijah could fail?Would he be rejected as so many of theprophets since his time had beenrejected? Jesus then, according to Mark,continues by saying that Elijah has alreadycome and "they did to him whatever theypleased, as is written about him." Towhat writing Jesus is referring, we do notknow. There is no extant knowndocument that contains any prophecyconcerning the returned Elijah having tosuffer. However it appears that Jesusknew of such writing which has since beenlost. "Elijah has come" said Jesus. As sooften, the disciples are left to answer theirown questions, to think through forthemselves what it all means. Did theythen realise that the person andtreatment of John the Baptist fitted whatwas apparently the expectation of Jesusconcerning the returned Elijah? Whatwere they now to expect concerning thefuture for Jesus? They now knew whomJesus truly was; they had seen his gloryand yet he still told them that he, the Sonof Man, was to go through manysufferings and be treated with contempt.Only by living with him and listening tohim in his words and his deeds would theyfind the answers which they sought,answers given, not on the top of the "highmountain" but down in the valley ofordinary life to which they now returnedwith Jesus. Was the "Good News" for thevalley, or just for the mountain top? Markgives his answer as he continues with hisaccount of"Jesus Christ,the Son ofGod"(1:1).The following article, author unknown,has been extracted from Parish Pump,with Pentecost, the birthday of theChurch, in mind, and all that that means,and is entitled:The U in JesUsBefore U were thought of or time hadbegun,God even stuck U in the name of His Son.And each time U pray, you'll see it's trueYou can't spell out JesUs and not includeUYou're a pretty big part of His wonderfulname,For U, He was born; that's why He came.And His great love for U is the reason Hedied.It even takes U to spell crUcified.Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grandHe rose from the dead, with U in His plan?The stones split away, the gold trUmpetblew,and this word resUrrection is spelled witha U.When JesUs left earth at His upwardascension,He felt there was one thing He just had tomention."Now go into the world and tell them it'strueThat the love I have shown is not just forU."So many great people are spelled with aU,Don't they have a right to know JesUstoo?It all depends now on what U will do,He'd like them to know,But it all starts with U

The following article, written & submittedby Pip Cartwright, was correct when firstpublished in July 2006, and correctionshave been made since then, and is acontinuation from the last edition, and isentitled:History of WCC: 1973 - 1974The last time I wrote an article on thehistory of the Witney CongregationalChurch, it was printed in the April 2008Cornerstone. I apologise for the gap ofover two years, however my biggest sourceof information came from the Minutes ofthe Deacons and Church Meetings.Somehow the Minutes of the Deacon andChurch Meetings for most of the 1970’s1980’s have gone missing and I had hopedthat they would re-emerge . Sadly theyhave not. If anybody knows of theirwhereabouts we are desperately keen tobe reunited with them. We have all theChurch Minutes from 1806 to 1973 safelydeposited in the County Archives in Oxfordand it is tragic that such more recenthistorical documents have been mislaid orlost.I have been asked to continue this researchdespite the lack of these importantdocuments. So I will try to piece togetherour history since 1973 using informationfrom the Newsletters of that time (thanksmainly to copies collected by the lateKathleen Collis) and personal memories ofChurch Members from those times. I wasa Deacon at that time so hopefully, despitebeing so long ago (37 years ago) I can piecetogether the events that have shaped ourpresent Church.To set the scene: In 1973 we wereworshipping in the large Dining Room at StMary’s Close, the home of our Minister,the Rev. Clementine M. Gordon.Previously in April 1970 we had movedfrom our old church building in the HighStreet (where Somerfields Supermarket istoday) to worship at St Mary’s Close. OurChurch Secretary was Mr Bob Richardson,a farmer, living near Ducklington and ourTreasurer was Mr David Pearson (who stillworships with us).In October 1968 Miss Gordon agreed toundertake a part-time ministry at WitneyCongregational Church for four yearswhilst she did research at Oxford. As partof the agreement she was able to take along summer vacation to sail hercatamaran. During these periods we hadtheology students from Oxford filling in forMiss Gordon as our Pastor. Interestinglywe welcomed a student, Mr RichardCleaves, for the summer of 1973. As manyof you know he is now Rev. Dr. RichardCleaves, Minister at our neighbouringCongregational Church at Highbury ChurchCheltenham.In July 1973 the Diaconate called an urgentChurch Meeting as Miss Gordon hadintimated that she would be giving up thepastorate in November 1973. This createda mini crisis in that we needed to find anew place to worship, appoint a newMinister and thus we needed to purchasea new Manse. The Diaconate was asked toexplore the possibility of purchasing aManse-Church. At the same time a Mr andMrs M Hamblett of Manchester came todiscuss the possibility of the pastorate, buteventually decided not to take up theoffer. Miss Gordon generously offered thecontinued use of St Mary’s for worship“until the right man and the right propertywas found”.A Housing Committee consisting of Mrs LWheeler, Mr Gerald Hayes, Rev. RaymondMoody and Mr Philip Turner was set up tofind a suitable property for a Manse orManse-Church.At the AGM in October Mr David Pearsonstepped down. Mr Gerald Hayes becameour Treasurer.

By December 1973 the Housing Committeehad found a suitable property, Staple Hall,which was a historic 17th Century building(1668) situated on the corner of BridgeStreet and Newland and opposite WestEnd. By February 1974 we had purchasedthe property and rewiring of the electricityand decorating was planned. We moved inon March 18th 1974 and the first Service atStaple Hall was held on Sunday March 21st1974.For those who have followed our historysince 1662, research revealed that afterthe ejectment from St Mary’s in 1662 ourChurch worshipped ‘underground’ until1672. In 1672 Frances Hubert M.A.obtained a licence to preach at the house,Staple Hall. The self-same house whereour Church was born in 1672. WitneyIndependent (Congregational) Church, westarted anew in 1974.*****The following article has been extractedfrom Parish Pump, and will help remindus of the price that many Christianbrothers and sisters worldwide arepaying, in order to follow Jesus Christ,and is entitled:Christian persecution growing inNigeria, India and Afghanistan,warns US CommissionA leading US Commission is calling forIndia, Nigeria and Afghanistan to bedesignated countries of particular concern,because of the growing threat to religiousfreedom in those nations.The United States Commission onInternational Religious Freedom (USCIRF)has recently published its 2022 AnnualReport. Its findings are in line with therecent Persecution Trends reportpublished by UK-based ReleaseInternational, which supports persecutedChristians around the world.The bipartisan USCIRF, which advises thePresident of the United States and US StateDepartment, is calling for 15 nations to beincluded on the US list of countries ofparticular concern because of risingpersecution and religious intolerance.The most notable additions are Nigeria,India and Afghanistan.Other countries on the list as the world’sworst violators of religious freedom are:China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan,Russia, Myanmar (Burma), Saudi Arabia,Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Syria andVietnam.The USCIRF’s 2022 Report warns: “Afghanswho do not adhere to the Taliban’s harshand strict interpretation of Sunni Islam andadherents of other faiths or beliefs are atrisk of grave danger.”Afghans who converted to Christianityfrom Islam over the past 20 years areconsidered ‘apostates’, a crime punishableby death. Converts, who already facedostracisation and the threat of honourkillings by family and village members, areat heightened risk following the Talibantakeover.According to the latest USCIRF report,religious persecution in India has alsotaken a significant turn for the worse. TheBJP government’s Hindu nationalist agendahas been impacting Christians and Dalits –growing numbers of whom have convertedto Christianity – as well as other religiousminorities. The report noted around onethird of India’s 28 states now limit orprohibit religious conversion.In Uttar Pradesh, one of the worstoffending states for religious persecution,the USCIRF ‘received documented reportsof at least 50 incidents between June andOctober 2021 targeting the Christiancommunity’.

The following two articles have beenextracted from Parish Pump, and reflectson the Ukraine and Chinese scenarios:Starving in the shadow of UkraineThe huge outpouring of support forUkraine is now eclipsing other crisesaround the world, which in turn isthreatening millions with starvation.So warns a number of charities and otherhumanitarian organisations. The UNreports that the situation in Somalia,where 4.5milliion people are at risk ofstarvation owing to the worst drought in adecade, is deteriorating quickly. Somaliaurgently needs some 1.1billion in aid, ofwhich only three per cent has beensecured.As one spokesman at the UN explains,“The outlook for Somalia was already grimprior to the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis,but we were then overshadowed by

Jun 11, 2022