Report on Trip to United Kingdom

The point: Continually sketch in the history and background of church ministries for newcomers to foster intelligent commitment and a sense of belonging.

Mrs. Blaise noticed her husband's unusual behavior regarding plans for her during his absence, leading her to suspect a surprise, illustrating the close patterns of thought in a good marriage.

Now, no leakage came from Mr. Spence in his visit a couple of weeks before we went. No leakage came from any correspondence, but you see it's a lesson of what happens when there's a good marriage. When there's a good marriage, a husband and wife are very much locked into each other's patterns of thought and behavior.

18:37 - 18:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually sketch in the history and background of church ministries for newcomers to foster intelligent commitment and a sense of belonging.

Martin describes his elaborate plan with his wife at Heathrow Airport to ascertain if Mrs. Blaise was present before revealing his wife, demonstrating the effort to maintain the surprise.

So in the good providence of God we had a lovely flight across on Tuesday the 23rd and when we got to the airport, my wife and I had it all worked out that not knowing whether Mrs. Blaise would be there occasionally, she has been there with Pastor Blaise to meet me and I know the structure of the whole situation at the Heathrow airport well, having been through there so many times. When you come through customs and all the rest, you come through a gate here and you walk down and then you come through doors here and then this part is chained off where visitors can wait and then you come out an ...

20:16 - 21:26 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin recounts the story of his wife's surprise trip to the UK, detailing the elaborate plan to keep it a secret from Mrs. Blaise and the emotional reunion.

To keep the surprise, Martin's wife hid in the car, and he feigned ignorance when Mrs. Blaise came out, showing the lengths they went to for the surprise.

the three of us then made our way from Heathrow airport which is over on the west side of London across London over to the east side and this dot here is the Layton area where the Blaises live. Well again knowing that Mrs. Blaise might have a little bit of suspicion by now, we figured we had to cover our tracks so we agreed that my wife would bend over in front of the back seat of the car and that Pastor Blaise would park not quite right in front of his house but just up a little bit and it's a good thing we did because no sooner did we drive up and Pastor Blaise opened his door and slammed it...

21:26 - 22:56 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin recounts the story of his wife's surprise trip to the UK, detailing the elaborate plan to keep it a secret from Mrs. Blaise and the emotional reunion.

Martin's wife, upon answering the door, pretended to be a tourist asking for Buckingham House, adding a humorous and memorable touch to the surprise reveal.

play that game and so we hauled the luggage in got it in and again because Mrs. Blaise did not want to appear ungrateful or unthankful that I had safely arrived, I could sense that she was struggling with something, she wasn't her normal bubbly self so we sat down in the living room and began to chat and we had already arranged that we let about 10 minutes go by before my wife would come to the door so I could see Mrs. Blaise struggling with her sense of disappointment, thinking in her own mind well I thought that Marilyn was going to be with Pastor, but it's obvious she isn't and she was stru...

22:56 - 24:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You are well schooled in the British diplomacy vagueness and lack of application in preaching disobedience to the authority of God lack of whole hearted submission to the same the fear of man the preachers trap all these…

Pastor Kurt's comment that the church hadn't been filled in 50 years illustrates the spiritual hunger and encouragement of the ministry there.

hold off until I give the report and I would amplify well those are the details and needless to say it was a blessed reunion and then on Wednesday we just spent a relaxed day with the family enjoying the renewal of fellowship with Pastor and Mrs. Blaise and then we had our first formal meeting on Thursday evening and in that area of East London they have a ministers fellowship involving seven or eight churches and because we were to meet at Gurney Road Baptist Church they did not advertise in the general Christian public because they knew there wouldn't be enough room for the people who would ...

24:23 - 25:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek and apply biblical directives for boy-girl relationships to please God in this area of life.

A young girl, distressed by her newfound belief in God and accompanying sadness, sought Martin's counsel, illustrating the spiritual impact of the youth conference and the need for biblical guidance.

but every single eye riveted on my eyes as I sought to open up the word of God to these young people and two specific encouragements that I'll mention were these one was a two hour question time we had on a Sunday afternoon to see the seriousness of those young people coming to grips with such practical things as the biblical directives for boy girl relationships specifically in terms of what is right and wrong in the physical aspect and I got very explicit with these young people and to see natural bashful shy English girls who could hardly lift their eyes to say hello to me during the whole ...

30:16 - 31:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He reports on the Leicester Ministers' Conference, sharing David Justly's positive assessment and reading a letter from a minister who found great encouragement and help for his…

Pastor David Justly's personal testimony of being deeply ministered to and observing the positive reception among other ministers at the Leicester Conference illustrates the spiritual benefit of the gathering.

I think it was the largest gathering that they have ever had for a Leicester conference now again it's difficult to assess the benefit of such a conference there are two morning sessions on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday afternoon discussion sessions two of which I was privileged to lead and then an evening preaching session and perhaps the best thing I can do is to quote what Pastor Justly said our dear friend David Justly from Yazoo City Mississippi made his first trip abroad and was able to be present at the Leicester conference and I called him after I returned and I said now David you wer...

33:12 - 34:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He reports on the Leicester Ministers' Conference, sharing David Justly's positive assessment and reading a letter from a minister who found great encouragement and help for his…

A letter from a minister expressing deep emotional impact from Martin's sermon and gratitude for his tape ministry illustrates the profound encouragement and help received by pastors facing difficult problems.

thank you for the time you took out of what was obviously a very busy schedule to listen to something of the problems we are facing here in Sidka I am not one who is easily given to tears but I confess that on returning to my room after this morning's sermon I wept I am still not sure that I know how to handle my feelings towards some of those who stand against the ministry but I pray that God will give me every necessary grace when the time comes for me to speak before we met you in London we'd already heard you on tape quite a number of occasions so much so that you had already won a place i...

34:40 - 36:08 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I made the point that of Barnabas it is said he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and the mark of a man full of the Holy Ghost is that he points people to Christ he doesn't point people to the Holy Ghost he doesn…

A gift of money from a congregant was used to provide a gourmet meal for the Blaises and purchase an electric mixer, illustrating the spirit of generosity and fellowship.

multiplied a number of men indicated again though they had never met me personally how much they had been helped and encouraged by the tape ministry particularly as it's carried on in our extension of that ministry out of London by Chris Frovine who is an official extension of Trinity pulpit in that area of the world so it was gratifying to sense the Lord's presence in preaching particularly as I ministered on the subject of Timothy and Epaphroditus models of ministerial excellence and rework that material that was preached in general here for a specific application to ministers well the confe...

36:08 - 37:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I made the point that of Barnabas it is said he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and the mark of a man full of the Holy Ghost is that he points people to Christ he doesn't point people to the Holy Ghost he doesn…

Pastor Hulse's report that Martin's visit refocused their vision and gave fresh courage illustrates the encouraging impact of Martin's ministry on brethren struggling with discouragement.

tell them to get the baptism of the spirit he exhorted them to cleave to the Lord and then it says much people was added to the Lord and disciples were first called Christ ones so you see the whole emphasis falls upon Christ not upon the Holy Spirit for it's the ministry of the spirit to point to Christ and I made the point that of Barnabas it is said he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and the mark of a man full of the Holy Ghost is that he points people to Christ he doesn't point people to the Holy Ghost he doesn't point people to miracles he points people to Christ to feed upon Chr...

42:01 - 43:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He recounts his ministry at the Whitfield Fraternal, a one-day ministers' conference, and then details the providential delays and rerouting of his flight that allowed him to…

Two ministers stating that the one-day Whitfield Fraternal did more good for their souls than the whole week at Leicester illustrates the specific spiritual profit of that particular conference.

other fields so I have reason to believe that God gave me a ministry of a Barnabas to encourage and strengthen our brethren and to deepen their resolve to press on in the work of the gospel well then the only remaining ministry was the following day on the Monday some 40 ministers from this whole general area came together for a one day ministers conference it's called the Whitfield Fraternal and I ministered to the men on two separate one hour sessions with a break for lunch and then opportunity for questions and answers and some of the men had been at Lester and two of them mentioned distinc...

43:29 - 44:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He recounts his ministry at the Whitfield Fraternal, a one-day ministers' conference, and then details the providential delays and rerouting of his flight that allowed him to…

The story of missing their original flight and providentially getting on a TWA flight that landed just before the airport closed illustrates God's sovereign hand in seemingly disappointing circumstances.

London to pick me up he says I get the VIP treatment he gives to no one else everyone else has to take the underground I said well look why should I get that treatment it means driving all the way across London you go in with us to help with the luggage we'll take the underground into Heathrow and then I'll know how to do it so the next time I come I can just come ordinary treatment and save you the time well he agreed to do that but there were some delays that we hadn't anticipated in getting to the Layton station and the trip out to the airport took longer than usual to make a long story sho...

44:57 - 46:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Remember the brevity of life and live in earnest, not boasting of tomorrow.

Standing in the same lounge where he first ministered 15 years prior, remembering departed saints, illustrates the swift passage of time and the brevity of life.

quickly what are some of the observations some of the things that I believe God was saying to me during these days to my wife and perhaps there's a word in here for you as well well the first thing that struck me as I reflected on this recent visit was the shortness of life and how swiftly time passes it was 15 years ago this spring that I made my first trip to the UK and as I stood in that very lounge where we used to have our public meetings at College Hall in Nighting Road in Leicester and we had to graduate from there to using a local church now for the public meetings because the lounge c...

48:38 - 50:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Labor at cultivating true friends, as life will have its measure of trauma and agony.

His wife's poetic description of true friendship as picking up exactly where you left off, regardless of time, illustrates the depth and authenticity of such relationships.

realism of the New Testament with all of the problems that churches founded by and nurtured by apostles had and if they had them we should not think that we will be exempt from them and then I came away in the fifth place with a renewed conviction of the tremendous blessedness of true friendship what is a true friend and I've reflected on that and my wife and I have together and my wife very poetically described it something like this a true friend is someone that you can in the providence of God be cut off from them for months or for years but in the first moment of seeing them it's as though...

54:30 - 56:00 Read in full sermon