Month: April 2013

Le FEU

FEU stands for “Foyer Evangélique Universitaire“. It is a student outreach. Unlike the GBUs, it is usually attached to a local church or several churches. In Chambéry, the FEU is attached to the church where I grew up and I used to attend it when I was a student here.

On Thursday night, I was invited to the FEU meeting to speak about my experience in the FEU 17 years ago, and to open the word briefly. It was great to be there. There were 14 of us. When I was a student, there were usually 2 or 3. I remember one year when there were more, but that was unusual. I talked about Isaiah 48: 1-11 and God’s purpose in everything he does, especially in salvation. The discussion that followed was interesting. It highlighted the difficulty we have as sinful human being to assign everything to God and His Glory. After the meeting we hanged around chatting and enjoying a drink. It was good to speak with a few of the students. I tried to answer their questions and show interest in their own studies and lives. It was a good time. I was grateful for the invitation.

Cars and their problems

We don’t live in a big city so we need a car to move around. We bought our Fiat Multipla 5 years ago, and it had already some mileage. It is 13 years old now, and still going well. But is is sometimes showing signs of ageing.

When we drove down last week, there was a strange feeling with the gear stick. Some of the gears were quite difficult to pass. I thought I’d have to have it checked when we get back home. Then, on Wednesday evening, as I was going out with Esther, The gears were very hard. We borrowed my mum’s car and I called a garage the next day. Two mechanics came, had a quick look at it and diagnosed a clutch problem. They took the car and said they would try to purge the clutch hydraulic system and see if the problem came from that. That’s what they did and it seems to do the trick. It should take us back to Brittany they said at the garage. But I think we’ll start looking at another car soon, just in case.

Glad to have the car back. Glad it didn’t happen on the motorway on the way back home. Glad that all the mechanics I have met so far have always been helpful and dedicated to their work.

Holidays

We’re on holidays at my mum’s place in the Alps. It’s good to be there. The weather has been great so far, and very warm. There’s nos much planned appart from reading, relaxing and sorting things out. I am scanning old lecture notes and various articles onto the computer for reference. Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking at a Student outreach meeting and on Sunday, I’ll be preaching.

Back to my roots: a visit at the Eglise Protestante Evangélique de Cognin

My family and I joined the “Groupe Biblique de Chambéry” (GBC) when it was in its infancy, in the mid  1980s. At the time, there were only 3 families, if I remember well: one missionary family from the USA, and two French families. We met in a flat in Chambéry. The church grew, and we were joined by other missionaries. We moved to a rented meeting room in a supermarket. the shop was closed on Sundays, but hired conference rooms upstairs. We were there for a few years until the church moved to its current premises in Cognin, a suburb of Chambéry.It became the “Eglise Protestante Evangélique de Cognin” after I left for Wales. I was converted and baptised in the GBC. That’s also where I met Esther I have many sweet memories there.

It was good to be back on Sunday morning, although it was a bit sad also. The church is still quite small, and a number of people have left. But the faithful remains, and  I was happy to see them and catch up with their news. I am due to preach there next Sunday.

Crossing France on the motorways

France has got a very efficient network of motorways. There are 11 392 km of motorways. About 8000 km of these are toll roads.

Today, we crossed France, from Guingamp to my hometown of Chambéry: 1000 km, 980  of which were on motorways.

I love driving on French motorways. It is a quick way to move around. They are well maintained. They feel safe. There’s not too much traffic if you avoid Paris and the few who have a lot of traffic. Some people think they are expensive. But you get the services you pay for, don’t you? I don’t mind paying if I get a good service. We left at 3am and arrived at 1.30 pm. That’s not bad considering many people were on the roads for their holidays. The only traffic jam we saw was in Lyon: people going towards the south. But we were on a bridge overlooking that road.

One of the downsides is that you don’t see much of the country. On our way, we went through many beautiful and historic places: Tours, the Loire Valley and its castles, Bourges, Lyon… But if we had avoided the toll roads, it would have taken several days for the journey. But we’ve arrived safely and quickly for a bit of holidays in the beautiful Savoie.

John Newton: What a man

[amazon_link id=”0852349084″ target=”_parent” container=”” container_class=”” ]John Newton (Bitesize Biographies)[/amazon_link]I have read two books in the “Bitesize Biographies” series published by EP so far. They’ve both been very helpful. So, when Cross Focused Reviews gave the opportunity to review a biography of John Newton recently published in the same series, I jumped on the opportunity. I received a review copy with no obligation to give a positive review.

I read it in one seating, on my way to a conference. I found the story gripping and fascinating. The chapters on John Newton’s Hymns and correspondence were especially helpful. Like the other books in the series, this book gives a introduction of John Newton’s life and ministry and make you want to know more about the man and his writings.