Isleworth Congregational Church
Twickenham Road, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 7EU, United Kingdom
by Donald A.G. Burling It was the Babylonians, we are told, who first divided the circle into 360 degrees, approximating to the number of days in a solar year. The word approximating illustrates the fact that hardly anything in our world works out exactly right. Our modern sextants, chronometers and other measuring devices help us […]
Read on...by Donald A.G.Burling The Jews were an agricultural people, and their year tended to follow the harvest program. This began immediately after the Passover festival, when firstfruits of green barley were presented in the temple. They were then told to count seven sabbaths before holding a sort of interim harvest festival, before they began to […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling My title is borrowed from Phil Andrews’ article in last month’s newsletter. I have never taken the helm of a big ship, but I have had command of a small motor cruiser on the Thames, and even on that there was an appreciable delay between turning the wheel and any change […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling Could there be any connection between our April Fool tradition and the festival we call Easter? The idea seems at first thought almost blasphemous. Yet I remember reading somewhere that on April 1st junior clergy used to indulge in foolery that parodied divine service. The name of Easter is supposed to […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling The year 1701 was the shortest in British history: it began on the 25th March and ended on 31st December. Moreover eleven days were cancelled, in spite of protests from people who imagined that their lives had been shortened by eleven days. The occasion was the revision of our calendar to […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling I have been asked whether tracts are still necessary in today’s world. I answer, why not? They may be unfashionable, but so is preaching the Gospel. St. Paul urges Timothy to preach the word, to be urgent in season and out of season. Preaching does not have to be verbal. Tract […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling My family has suffered a couple of mishaps recently. My daughter Ruth inadvertently stepped off a kerb, fell and broke a bone in her right shoulder. Then my daughter-in-law Lucy, doing nothing more dangerous than getting up from a sofa, managed to twist her ankle and suffered severe bruising and tissue […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling On Saturday the 3rd December – the day after my 90th birthday – I have promised to give a talk to the local branch of the Association of Christian Writers, about writing Gospel tracts. Not that I can claim to be much of an expert; Only one of my tracts, as […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling We often say that to children, and with good reason. In our age of immorality, we are all too aware that the apparently friendly stranger may turn out to be an abuser or even a kidnapper. The trouble is, the habit sticks with us all our lives. This habit is peculiarly […]
Read on...by Donald A.G. Burling There is a well-known story of a farm labourer who had heard a sermon on sin. When asked what the preacher had to say about the subject, he replied “Oh, he was agin it”. This was thought funny, because of course any preacher would be against sin, However, that was […]
Read on...