2012, No. 5 (26/3/12)

Dear Brethren

We continue to press on with many gracious encouragements from the Lord.

Pastoral Theological Course (PTC)
There were just 6 students present to finish Unit B on the Doctrine of Scripture, and to do Unit C on the Doctrine of God.  One was unable to come because of the sickness of his wife and 2 others do not appear to have the zeal to do the Course.  The 6 are all well motivated and we had a blessed time together.  We were particularly challenged in considering the Doctrine of the Trinity.  We all confess it is a fundamental doctrine but we do not often consider why.  Robert Letham in The Holy Trinity points out: “Only the Holy Trinity can be love.  Human love cannot possibly reflect the nature of God unless God is a Trinity of persons in union and communion.  A solitary monad cannot love and, since it cannot love, neither can it be a person.  And if God is not personal, neither can we be – and if we are not persons, we cannot love” (p. 446).  In his introduction I found this reference to Islam a new thought to me: “I find it hard to see how Islam, or, for that matter, any religion based in a unitary god, can possibly account for human personality or explain the diversity in unity of the world.  Is it surprising that Islamic nations are associated with monolithic and dictatorial political systems?” (p. 10).  I have also found a book by Royce Gruenler helpful, The Trinity in the Gospel of John, where he shows how each Person relates to the other with disposability and deference.  So I find it a great privilege to teach, even the whole spectrum of theological study.  However, the great need remains for additional teachers so that I am not the only one, and so that ultimately I will give up the teaching as I must do before long anyway.

Grace & Truth
We have a 24+ page magazine that we plan to put out quarterly, although this last issue (no. 116) has taken 6 months to produce!  The aim is to introduce the Reformed Faith through the 1,000 copies distributed by writing exposition, doctrinal and practical articles.  We hope it will soon be posted on our website www.trinity.or.ke.  The young people the Lord has given us are involved in its design, formatting and production and we hope, before long, in the articles themselves.  Please PRAY the Lord will be pleased to use it to impact many lives.

Pokot North
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I am off to Pokot North again for 10 days.  This time I am going with one of the new young men, Simon Muriithi, whose testimony appears in the Grace & Truth magazine.  As always, my basic aim is to encourage the men who are labouring in the gospel there, Andrew, Joshua and Thomas, and the 2 ‘missionaries’ we have sent there, Amos and Isaiah.  Isaiah Juma, a 3rd. year in the PTC, went to Kasei with his young family in January, especially to help ministering in the secondary school.  God willing, we shall visit all the 11 places where we have ministry, including schools.  This will include some hill climbing that I hope I am up to, and sleeping high up in the hills where it gets cold at night.  Everywhere we go we will be preaching the gospel of God’s grace – may it reap a harvest for the glory of the Lord.

In Christ’s service,
Keith & Priscilla Underhill

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