Grace & Truth Accommodation

I thought I’d bring to your attention a new website which you may find of interest, called ‘Grace & Truth Accommodation’.

As some may know, I work in computer software, and recently I’ve been developing a general holiday home rental website called Go2 Holidays (http://www.go2-holidays.com/ ). As a Christian I thought it would be nice to make use of the same technology to produce a similar website aimed specifically at listing Christian-run holiday homes and accommodation. We know a number of fellow Christians who have homes or B&Bs which they rent, and usually they advertise them in one or other of the well-known Christian magazines and papers, but we thought it might be useful to be able to have these on a website as a resource on which you can search and compare, view photographs of properties, check availability, and book (either by email or telephone etc). So, Grace & Truth Accommodation is the result. You can view the site here: http://www.go2-holidays.com/ChristianHolidays/

I hope the site proves useful to those of you seeking to find accommodation for when you are away. Also, if you are amongst those who happen to have a holiday home which you rent, or if you know a fellow Christian who does, then perhaps you or they might be interested in adding that property to the range listed on this site (it’s free by the way!). Full details of how to create an account and list properties is provided on the FAQ page at http://www.go2-holidays.com/ChristianHolidays/FAQ.aspx. In essence, for each property you simply need to enter details such as name, location, description, pricing and so on, and either provide a link to your own website, or provide email, telephone or postal address information in the description as a means of informing the user how to book.

I trust, either as a user, or as a property owner, that you’ll find this new site of interest.

Sunday 25th July and Sunday 1st August

Please note that there will be no meetings in Awliscombe on the Sundays of 25th July and 1st August. Normal service to resume thereafter!

In the meantime you may listen to recent messages at http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?sortby=recent&keyword=Ian%5EPotts&SpeakerOnly=true&currSection=sermonsspeaker&AudioOnly=false

Awliscombe Sunday Morning Meetings

As friends, and regular visitors to our websites, will know we have held meetings in Honiton in our home since 1999, and since September 2008 have also held meetings in the village hall in the nearby village of Awliscombe on Sunday mornings at 10:45am.

With the Monday night meetings having gradually built up in number over the years to a regular group of between 8 and 12 usually being gathered, it was hoped at the commencement of Sunday mornings that a similar size group might, in due course, be gathered. However, despite occasional visitors, the Sunday mornings have continued to be very few in number in terms of who gather, and as such I do not feel that it can reasonably be described as a 'church' for the time being! So for now, I've revised the description on the Honiton SGC page and renamed the meetings as 'Honiton Sovereign Grace Meetings'.

Though our Sunday meetings are tiny in number (and now fewer than when we began) we still thank the Lord for His goodness towards us over the past year as we have looked to Him to bless the preaching of His word, to His glory alone. Whilst we cannot tell what the future holds, we nevertheless know that it is Christ alone who builds His church, that He uses His gospel to build it, and that wherever He sends forth His word it never returns unto Him void.

...And if you have a love for that gospel, or perhaps a desire to hear it for the first time, then we do of course extend a warm welcome to you to the meetings at Awliscombe.

Grace Hymns - Updated

Our Grace Hymns website (which contains a collection of hymn tunes - as MIDI files - which we have used at Honiton Sovereign Grace Church, and also provides a 'map' matching hymns from 'Gadsby's' Hymnal to the various tunes provided) has had a bit of an update. Along with a number of new tunes, there is also now a complete set of mapping pages for the 1156 hymns in Gadsby's Hymnal. Not every hymn in each page is yet mapped, but the majority are. Obviously there is a long way to go in terms of providing an extensive range of tunes, and good mapping from hymns to tunes, but little by little the website is progressing.

Those interested in Gadsby's Hymns will also be very interested to hear that you can now download the hymnbook as a Word file from here: Gospel Standard Trust Website – Downloads

SE London 'Mephibosheth Church'

For those residing in or around the Capital we would like to draw their attention to a small gathering of believers who meet in the South East London area.

For a while now Lou Boden and Denis Burns and their respective families have been gathering each week to worship the Lord - often hearing messages on tape by Don Fortner.

They describe their meeting as follows:

"We are a tiny gathering of saved sinners who are limping through this wilderness together leaving upon our Beloved".

If you would like to join with them, to hear the gospel and perhaps to encourage the brethren, then do contact them at:

mephiboshethchurch@yahoo.co.uk

Phone Lou Boden 07764 943 746

Dennis Burns 0794 0456273

Christ is All

“In the gospel, in the preaching of the cross, in the faith once delivered unto the saints, in all that we preach… Christ is all. He is all. He is our message. He is in all we preach. He is all we preach. He is all. He is the only thing that we are sent to preach. There is no gospel without Christ. The gospel is Christ.”

Based on twelve messages delivered at Honiton Sovereign Grace Church, the new 'Christ is All' website seeks to present Christ in His gospel through exposition of Paul’s epistle to the Colossians.

The original audio messages are presented for each passage covered, transcripts of which, it is hoped, will eventually be included for each.

A Tribute to Jim Gough

At our conference in April we again had opportunity to share fellowship with our brother Jim Gough and his wife Eileen, whom we had first met in Honiton when Don Fortner came to preach for us back in 2007. Jim had appreciated Don’s ministry for some time and was involved that year, as with this, in arranging meetings for Don in the Wolverhampton/Dudley area. The Gough’s appreciation for the faithful preaching of the gospel was further demonstrated by the fact that this year they first travelled north to the New Focus conference in Egglesburn, before driving the Fortners back to Wolverhampton, and then following those meetings, driving them all the way down to Sidmouth for our own conference.

Following the meetings in Sidmouth, however, Jim had to undergo heart surgery, following a period of poor health. Two days after the surgery the Lord was pleased to call Jim home. We heard of this with heavy hearts, being full of sorrow for Jim’s family and friends, whilst rejoicing with Jim himself who is now with the Lord he loves. We will miss his fellowship.

When he heard about Jim, our brother Don Fortner wrote the following tribute:

A Tribute to Jim Gough
(1942 – 2009)

Shelby and I met Jim and Eileen Gough two years ago in Wolverhampton, England. Our hearts were immediately welded together in the sweet fellowship of the gospel. The Lord took our friend home to Glory Friday night. Very few who read our bulletin will even know the name of this man; and you may be wondering why you are reading about him now. The reason is this: Our God teaches us to give “honour to whom honour” is due. Jim Gough is a cherished friend and was (while he lived on this earth) a faithful servant of God.

Jim was an elder at West Park Evangelical Church in Wolverhampton; but that hardly tells the story of his service to Christ and his people. The West Park Church was formed when Jim, Eileen and a few others saw the need to establish a gospel witness in Wolverhampton. He was devoted to the cause of Christ, frequently preaching the gospel at West Park and in other area chapels. Just last week, he and I spent some time discussing one of his new projects: translating and publishing good books in various Indian dialects.

Though my time with him was very limited, I never spent an hour in the company of Jim Gough that was not edifying and profitable to my soul. What higher compliment could one man give to another? Our mutual friend, Bro. Syd Buggins, wrote to me this morning, saying…

“His whole conversation, especially during the last few years, was all of Christ. He could not pray or preach, but it was full of his Saviour. May we be able to say truly, ‘the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.’ ………… but O the loss!”


Jim and Eileen opened their home, their hearts and their lives to two strangers from America two years ago. They followed us all over England, insatiably absorbing every word preached. When we arrived in Egglesburn this year, we were delightfully surprised to learn that they had (along with Syd and Joan Buggins) rented a van to drive us from meeting to meeting, making it possible for the six of us to spend many hours together discussing the things of God.

One of the last things we spoke of was the fact that so few who preach, preach Christ. Jim was a soft spoken man who hated conflict and went out of his way to avoid confrontation; but his heart was heavy as he spoke. Yet, he spoke with animated excitement as he encouraged me in the blessed work of the gospel. The very last thing he said to me, as we parted company one week ago was, “Bro. Don, be sure to thank your beloved congregation at home for sending you to preach Christ to us.” — Bless God, soon, we shall meet to part no more!

Don Fortner