Testimony of the impact of ECLEA

Barnabas Mpekethi

Just before I left for Kenya 3 1/2 weeks ago, I received the following email from Barnabas Mpekethi of Kenya:

Praise Jesus my brother Jonathan. Tomorrow I will be teaching the book of 1st Timothy the fifth time in our Church. Now am in chapter 1 verse 6. Sure your teachings and commentary on expository preaching have really changed my way of doing things, and I thank God who sent you to East Africa.

Last Sunday I preached about the goal of our preaching which is love, which comes from the following: 1.Pure heart; 2.Good conscience; 3.Sincere Faith. Tomorrow I will continue with verse 6 downwards. The word has become sweet and the flow of thought is noticed by my church and the people they share with in the course of the week.

It has become my habit to spend hours on ECLEA's website studying six courses although I saw that [now] we have nine of them. To cut a long story short, God bless you and Karibu Sana Kenya.

Five star review!

I am happy to say that my book, Biblical Eschatology (Wipf & Stock, 2013), recently received its third five star review on Amazon. Jordan Fowler called it a "tour de force" and wrote that the book is, "perhaps the most comprehensive amillennial perspective on eschatology produced. I highly recommend this work both for amil's who want solid evidence that their view holds weight, and premillennialists who want to take a hard look at their position."

This blog vs. ECLEA's website

Although I formerly posted all my reports from East Africa on this blog, henceforth I will post all such reports on the "News" page of ECLEA's website, http://www.eclea.net/news.html, not this blog. The reports I receive of all-African conferences and TOTs from ECLEA's excellent national teachers also will be posted on the "News" page of ECLEA's website, not here.

On this blog I will posts material relating to my book, Biblical Eschatology, my preaching schedule, and other material. Much of the material may be related to ECLEA, but will not include the reports of my trips and the all-African conference reports.

Please check both ECLEA's website and this blog regularly, since new material will be added to both sites often.

A first-time event in Kenya

I just returned from three weeks in Kenya. While I was in Nairobi I spent a night at a small hotel in downtown Nairobi where I had stayed a couple of times before. I met with ECLEA-Kenya national coordinator Ernest Mwilitsa there. After he left, I went out to dinner. My room was locked and my two bags were also locked. While I was gone, someone opened my room and unlocked my bags. They stole my camera from one bag, a laptop I was bringing to a Ugandan I know from the other bag, and my phone charger I had plugged into the wall.

It had to have been an inside job. I told the receptionist, and she seemed completely uninterested (I suspect she is the one who alerted her confederate when I had left, since I had told the receptionist I was going to dinner). I told the security guard on duty, and he agreed that it was an inside job but did nothing else.

I thank God that it was nothing worse than that and everything else of particular value (except my books which were of no interest to the thief) were on my person. I was, of course, targeted because I was the only Mzungu in the place. All of which means that there will be no photos from this trip. But, as I say, I have much to be thankful for. I am safe and this theft helps keep things in proper perspective for me. The work of this ministry continues productively and unabated.

Biblical Eschatology reviewed for The Gospel Coalition

My book, Biblical Eschatology, has just been reviewed by Sam Storms for The Gospel Coalition. TGC is "a fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures." TGC was founded by evangelical scholars Tim Keller and D. A. Carson. The review concluded by saying:

Menn has made an excellent contribution to the study of eschatology. As noted earlier, its textbook format and style make it less readable for the average Christian. But its near exhaustive treatment of every issue imaginable, and his fair-handed and always biblically grounded interaction with views that he ultimately rejects, make it an extremely valuable resource for anyone wanting to dig deeply into debate regarding the end times.

The full review is available here: http://thegospelcoalition.org/book-reviews/review/biblical_eschatology. 

From Burundi: the Rema Library and more

In my last trip to Burundi I had mentioned how I had rearranged the library at the Rema Ministries headquarters in Bujumbura. Today I received an email from Felibien Ndintore, Director of Rema Ministries, who said this:

"I recognise that our library needed a bit of reorganisation which you did. Now after you did the work, the library looks better and books are found and returned in their place faster than before. So brother, let me once again thank you very much and assure you that, as we discussed before you departed, you will find the library better managed when you visit next time."

Felibien added the following with respect to the work ECLEA is doing in Burundi:
 

"I would have even started by thanking you very much for facilitating the trainings at our HQ, and elsewhere in Burundi. As I know or think others have thanked you for the trainings you conducted in other places in Burundi, I feel honoured to thank you for the trainings you conducted at Rema which have been of great importance both for the direct beneficiaries and the church leaders and congregations we are in contact with. I am sure the impact will go on and on even in ways we cannot see and report on. Personally, I have benefited quite a lot from the trainings; I had a number of issues/questions which were addressed."

It is always nice to receive reports like this, and it is an honor to be working where i am and doing what I do.

Biblical Eschatology highlighted in On Wisconsin Magazine and is now being used as a college text

My book, Biblical Eschatology, is one of the books highlighted in the Spring issue of On Wisconsin Magazine. Here is the link: http://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/departments/bookshelf/bookshelf-spring-2014/.

Also, Biblical Eschatology is listed in the The University of Fort Lauderdale's Spring 2014 Textbook List as the textbook for course number THE 650-Eschatology. It is found on page 22 of 23 of the list. Here is the link:
http://www.uftl.edu/pdf/UFTL_SPRING_BOOK_LIST_2014.pdf.