TIME AND TIME AGAIN!

THIS WEEK WE HAVE RECEIVED FRIENDS FROM 'ALL HALLOWS' Church in Bispham, Blackpool, on the north Western coast of England.     Bispham was mentioned as long ago as 1066A.D and even previously known in Roman days.      Now it is part, quite a big part, of the City of Blackpool.    Esther and I were invited to visit the Church for a Tea Party way back in 1983, and ever since then we have kept in touch, and they have prayed for all of us here in Testimony.     God has also often answered our prayers through them.      This week FOUR members of the congregation have been with us - Will and Ann Hulme and Martin and Denise Ormond..   We had not met before, and it has been so good to have with us in our home, and for them to be able to SEE what they have only heard about, and to MEET so many whose faces they had never seen before.     They have also been able to travel around a little, and have visit Riziki Children's Homes in Nakuru, and Neema Children's Homes just nearby, here in Eldoret.     The weather has been good, and we have found wonderful fellowship together in the Lord.

THIS is 'All Hallows' Church.    It was built in 1883, but there had been other churches build on the same site going back to about 1345 A.D.   The photo on the right is of the interior.   It is not too unlike the interior of St. Matthews here in Eldoret.   And, of course it is a pattern for many other Anglican Churches throughout the world.
THE NAME ' All Hallows '  means basically ALL that is Holy, and set apart for God's use.     It can also be taken to mean ' All the Halo's of the Saints' or 'All Saints'.  Not a very used Name, and it mainly flourished during the mid nineteenth century.
In the grounds of the Church is a Sundial.     A Sundial is a CLOCK.

The Metal Shard, or upright, will cast a shadow on the plate surrounding it, when the sun shines that is.    The Plate is marked out in hours and the time is discovered from noting the place where the shadow falls on the plate.
The plate is mounted on a column of stone which is held upright by an octagonal stone base.   It is said this was put up about 1780 AD, and that previous to this a CROSS had stood there.     Many Church Yards, or Cemeteries, have a sundial.  Certainly the dead are not conscious of the passing of time, but those who visit the graves might be the more concerned.      I have not seen one, so far, in Kenya!!      Quite a long way from today's timepieces.      THIS WEEK I have been watching a Film entitled LONGITUDE. It is the true story of how to measure longitude whilst at sea, and starring Jeremy Irons.   I have found it quite fascinating, and again something very much involving TIME, and the measurement of time.  I strongly recommend it.
Thinking of Time, we found ourselves discussing with our friends from Bispham what happens when we die - are we at once with the Lord in Heaven, or do we 'sleep'?       I personally feel that the body moulders away in the grave, until, on The Last Day, when the Trumpet will Sound, it is resurrected from the dust or ashes into a new body.     BUT at death, our spirit/soul no longer trapped in the body,  and sleeps.    However, we will not be aware of how long has gone by, from when our eyes close down here, and we open them, spiritually, in heaven.     For the dead, no time seems to pass, and even those who have died before or after us, will in fact be found WITH us in heaven as soon as we arrive.     Remember we are NOT conscious of time passing when we are asleep.    (1.Thessalonians 4v15-18)    It is only those who continue to be awake who are aware of TIME.   Thus, the ones left behind when a loved one dies, mourn, but the one who has died, rejoices for it is as if no time has passed and when he awakes in heaven it will the same moment as when those left behind have arrived.     As Paul has written in Thessalonians - those who have died before us will not see Jesus before WE who are living and caught up into the clouds at His Coming see HIM.     OUR sense of time is quite uniquely different from Gods Eternity.      Amazing.  All the tears of Earth are left behind in heaven.

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ABOVE IS A PHOTO of a puzzle communally completed by me, Frank Guinness, Allan and Margaret Nicholls, and Paul Davis.    Frank Guinness started us off.     We had no picture to help us, and had to feel our way, piece by piece.     It finally reveals a scene from one of Agatha Christie's mystery novels.      It was quite a teaser.

Well the week has almost ended.    I am preaching tomorrow on 'How to Keep Pure'. and there is also a Men's Meeting in the afternoon.     Plenty to do and think about.    Our friends will be flying back to Nairobi, and later home to the UK early on Tuesday morning, and the next day we hope to see Ian and Diana Hogley for a few days before Allan and Margaret also return for a second visit.     Our love and thanksgiving to you all, as always.

John, Esther and Daryl Green