Who Are We?
We are a husband and wife team with some years of varied Christian experience – Veronica and John Puckett. We have tried to make our website useful in some small way to serve God and his church.

Like many other Christians, we have an increasing concern for the spiritual and moral condition of our nation in the UK.
A significant element in its decline seems to be a dwindling concern for holiness in the church generally, and a dilution of the glorious message of the Gospel.
We believe that in order for the church to regain some Christian influence in our land, the church itself is in urgent need of renewal, and such a change requires nothing less than a substantial move of the Holy Spirit of God amongst his people.
Considering the condition of many UK churches, it seems that we need much more serious exposition and preaching of the Bible, together with much more serious and sober prayer and thought if we are to be favoured with such a recovering work of God.

God bless you.

What Do We Believe?

The Bible.  We believe in the total accuracy of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as given in their original languages.
We believe in their verbal inspiration from God, and therefore we accept them as our supreme authority and our only rule of faith and practice.
We believe that the Scriptures are given for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness to lead a Christian to spiritual maturity and to equip him or her to do good works.
God.   We believe in One God in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We emphasise that there is only one God, but three Divine Persons.
We believe in God as the absolute Ruler in creation, providence, redemption and judgement, and all people are therefore subject to him.
God the Son.  We believe in the essential, absolute and eternal Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Godhead.
We believe he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.
We believe he was a real man capable of being tempted, but maintaining sinlessness from birth to death.
We believe he voluntarily humbled himself to live on Earth as the Man of Sorrows, and that his humiliation culminated in his substitutionary death at Calvary, because there could be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of his blood.
We believe that he rose victorious from the dead on the third day and was seen by many people over a period of many days.
We believe that all his teaching was with his Father’s authority and was therefore infallible.
We believe he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father as the only and eternal Mediator and Intercessor between God and man.
We believe in his personal and visible return in power and glory.
God the Holy Spirit.  We believe in the Deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead.
We believe that through His activity alone is a person convicted of sin and born again to experience saving repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that only through the work of the Holy Spirit is a believer transformed and renewed to become more like Jesus in daily living.
We believe that the Holy Spirit alone can bring Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ in the worship and witness of the church.
Sin.  We believe in the total sinfulness of the whole of humanity as the result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden.  Therefore, every person by nature is dead spiritually, and is in complete slavery to sin and Satan, being totally unable to please God or obtain a relationship with Him.
We believe that the only basis of acceptance with God for him or her is the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Therefore, we believe that a person can only obtain salvation from sin by God’s merciful intervention and his gift of faith in Jesus Christ.
The Church.  We believe that the universal church, of which Jesus Christ is the Head, is composed of all those who through God’s grace in repentance and faith have truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Sacraments.  We believe that there are only two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
The Resurrection.  We believe in the resurrection of the body, the judgement of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the lost.

Becoming a Christian

A Christian is a creation of God.
A Christian is the result of God’s work in an ordinary person.
A Christian is the end-product of a process God carries out in a human heart.

To outline that process I will use the personal mode, hopefully to make it clearer.
The process can take place through various agencies –
Through reading the Bible.
Through hearing good Gospel preaching.
Through reading a good Christian book or other Christian print media.
Through Biblical truth spoken in personal conversation.
Any of these methods, or combinations of them, can be God’s communication line to me.

1. The Holy Spirit begins by revealing primary facts about God.
a. God convinces me that he exists.
b. God begins to reveal himself to me through the truth of the Bible.
c. God shows me that he is holy.
d. God expresses that holiness to me through his law.
e. God defines my sin by that law.
f. God shows me that his law applies to my thoughts and motives
as much as to my outward behaviour.

2. The Holy Spirit uses God’s law to speak to me.
a. Eventually, I agree that I am a sinner, that I have broken God’s law, and that
He is justified in condemning me; I fully deserve punishment.
b. I admit that I cannot keep God’s law and I cannot earn God’s approval
by my efforts to obey him.
c. I realise that I urgently need rescuing from my sin and its awful consequences.

3. The Holy Spirit shows me the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. I begin to see that he was faultless throughout his life and that he
in no way deserved to die.
b. I begin to see that when he suffered and died, he was taking my punishment
on himself; he was my substitute; he, the Holy One, was paying the penalty
that God’s moral law demanded for my sin.
c. I begin to see something of how much God loves me.
d. I become absolutely convinced that Jesus is the only One who can be
my Saviour. I need him urgently.

4. The Holy Spirit gives me repentance and faith.
a. I begin to feel so ashamed and sorry about my former thoughts and behaviour
that I determine to turn around and follow God’s way of life.
b. I begin to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour, dying in my place.
c. I begin to believe God has completely forgiven me for my sins.
d. I begin to believe God has accepted me because Christ’s righteousness
has been placed to my account.

5. The Holy Spirit gives me faith that the resurrection of Jesus demonstrates the completeness of his saving work on the Cross on my behalf. I am completely safe in him.

A Christian is a glorious work of a glorious God.

“Hallelujah, what a Saviour!”

At best, this is only a sketch of the more significant factors in God’s process of creating a Christian. God does not demand full and complete understanding of every point outlined above before he saves a person; sometimes it is much later that some points fully affect our thinking and faith.
The whole process can occur almost simultaneously, over a longer period, or even over many years, with its parts not necessarily following the order in which I’ve put them.
God’s timetable and programme is wonderfully different for each one of us.

Keep reading and studying the Bible. It is a treasure house of truth concerning God’s beautiful plan of salvation, and much more.
And pray!

Check It Out No. 1
Search the Bible and you will not find any proof that you are a Christian –
a. By being born in a ‘Christian’ country.
b. By being baptised.
c. By being christened as a baby.
d. By being a member of a church.
e. By believing a creed or set of church teachings.
f. By obeying religious rules even though they may be based on the Bible.
g. By receiving certain ‘sacraments’ on special church occasions.
h. By living a good life; doing good deeds.
There are many other similar non-starters.

Check It Out No. 2
In the New Testament, after hearing Paul preach the Gospel, some people “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
The Bible quotations below could help you search the Scriptures and know for certain how to become a Christian.
Check them out.

“The Lord our God is holy.” Psalm 99:9
“The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  Isaiah 53:6
“All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”  Isaiah 64:6
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”  John 3:16
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.”  Acts 3:19
“Through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.”   Acts 13:38
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”   Acts 16:31
“By the law is the knowledge of sin.”   Romans 3:20
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”   Romans 3:23
“God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins.”   Romans 3:25
“I would not have known what sin was except through the law. ”   Romans 7:7
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Romans 10:9
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”   Ephesians 1:7
“Christ died for our sins. ”   1 Corinthians 15:3
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.”   Titus 3:5
“He who comes to God must believe that He is.”   Hebrews 11:6
“Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”   James 2:10
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.”   1 Peter 2:24
“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”   1 John 1:5
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”   1 John 2:2

Our Testimonies of the Grace and Kindness of God

First Thought
A spray of tiny London Pride flowers spoke to a small boy.  Around their centres, he saw such beautiful colours gleaming like delicate enamel, and he realised that only God could have made such beautiful little things. It was the first spiritual thought he can remember.
Many years later, the grown-up little boy discovered that Creator as his Saviour, and his delight in the world around him was greatly increased.
George Wade Robinson’s hymn puts that stronger experience perfectly:
“Heaven above is softer blue, earth around is sweeter green!
Something lives in every hue, Christless eyes have never seen.”

That enjoyment has never diminished.

JohnMarch 25th 2009

Scared Stiff
Goodness and Mercy.  In the lovely 23rd Psalm, are these words: – “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  I’ve already lived a good many “days of my life,” and “goodness and mercy” have certainly followed me. That has definitely not been because I’ve deserved such blessings, but simply because God is good. On some occasions, it has seemed as if God’s goodness and mercy have gone in front of me! 

A ‘Presence.’  Just over twelve years ago, this really did happen in a remarkable way.  I’d been diagnosed with quite serious cancer, and John and I were going to the hospital for a consultation prior to the necessary operation.  I was scared stiff.  Parking limitations meant we had to walk some distance along a busy street.  As we threaded our way between other pedestrians, I became aware of what I can only describe as a ‘presence’ going on ahead of me.  I imagine blind people must know when someone else is near although they cannot see them.  Well, I just knew there was ‘someone’ in front of me, as real as John walking beside me.

Strength and Peace.  This ‘someone’ conveyed a sense of strength, quiet confidence and complete trustworthiness.  Whether he was an angel or even the Lord himself, I don’t know.  He went ahead of us right to the hospital entrance and then left us.  Gone was my fear.  I felt quite calm with a lovely sense of being cared for.  Later, I told John of my experience, but he’d been completely unaware of anything unusual.

If you are going through great difficulties, be encouraged.  God cares about needy people.

God Bless,

Veronica March 25th 2009

The Early Years
First Thought.   As I’ve written above, my first remembered thought of God came through a small flower.   I was part of a family that regularly went to church, but I have no memory of any other thoughts about God, even though I must have heard many Bible readings, prayers and sermons.

Tiny Chapel and Bible.   The same absence of spiritual memories is true of the week of children’s meetings I attended in a tiny corrugated iron chapel in a North Dorset hamlet.
Similarly, I cannot remember why, when I was about 12 or 13, I began to read my Bible.  My mother had given it to me several years earlier, and so I could never understand her negative comments when she discovered my secret reading of it!

Easing the Conscience.   In my early teens, I began attending Holy Communion at our village Anglican Church, but I only remember a few bits of the Prayer Book text and several of the hymns.  Its early morning service suited me because it gave me an easy conscience to go fishing the rest of the day.

A Day in my Diary.   Throughout my teenage years, spiritual struggles dominated my religious life.  Every so often, a day in my diary would be marked with the word ‘Reform.’
From that day, I was determined to live differently.  The Bible, and the hymns I read, convinced me that a holy life must be possible.

Great Intentions.   However, after putting ‘Reform’ at the top of one page, I would need to repeat my proud intention on another page several days later.  My efforts achieved very little.
I now know that my reform was doomed to failure before it even began because I was depending on my own will-power and strength.

First Light of Day.   One evening in my early twenties a miracle began.   Because of the sudden death of a relative, I had to sleep at my Grandmother’s cottage for six nights a week. After Gran had gone to bed, I used to love fiddling with finding stations on the short waveband of her radio. A Christian radio station was operating from North Africa at that time.   Was it by ‘Chance’ that I happened to tune in to its short-wave programme and heard the Gospel of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ clearly for the first time?

But more of that in another article.

JohnMarch 25th 2009

More than We Ask
Does God Answer Prayer?  I won’t attempt a theological answer, but I’d like to share an experience of answered prayer.

Feeling Low.   Some years ago, I was recovering from an operation and feeling quite low.   Our four children had fled the nest and John was very busy with our tree nursery.  I thought a chat with our eldest daughter, Jo, would be helpful, as her positive attitude during my illness had often cheered me up.

Futile Phone Calls.   She was in theological college at the time, so I needed to call her via a phone situated near the students’ common room  –  mobiles were not in general use then.   Usually a passing student would answer and then sprint round the campus searching for whoever the caller wished to speak to! After making two or three calls, and some kind and patient students had done their best, Jo could not be located.

Anxiety and Prayer.  The next morning, still longing to talk to her, even for just a few minutes, I tried to contact her again.   Yet again, she could not be found.   Anxiety for her began to replace my own need.   Where was she?   Was she all right?   Over the next few hours I prayed several times that the Lord would make it possible to get in touch with her, somehow or other.

Unexpected.  That afternoon I was working in the kitchen, which looked out on our garden and the nursery beyond.  A car turned in at the gate.   Another customer?  However, the car by-passed the parking area and came straight down the drive to the house.   It was Jo!  Understandably, she was rather bemused by my emotional greeting.

Better than Getting in Touch.  Knowing nothing about my phone calls, or my prayers, she explained she had been visiting a Christian retreat as part of her course.   As it was not many miles from us, she decided, on impulse, to drive home and stay overnight rather than make the longer journey back to college.  So we all spent a lovely evening together – far, far better than simply ‘getting in touch!’

God is Able.   In the Bible, we read that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”  Ephesians 3:20 NIV

Yes!

Every blessing,

VeronicaApril 30th 2009

The Early Years – Second Part
Chance?  On that day in my early twenties when I happened to tune in to the short-wave Christian radio station, was that merely accidental, or was it by God’s arrangement? Whatever, for the first time, I understood the Gospel of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ clearly for the first time.

If Jesus Came.  It was the reading of a poem that grabbed my attention.  The catalogue of questions in the verses of ‘If Jesus came to your house,’ exposed things in my life that were inconsistent with my church-going, my religion, and my Bible-reading and prayers.
The idea of Jesus walking straight into my home and life was extremely uncomfortable.

Born-again Christians.  The upshot of this radio encounter eventually led to meeting people who claimed to be born again.   I had read that phrase in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, though I had little understanding of its meaning.
There was certainly something different about these new friends from what I had seen in the Anglican church I attended in Dorset.

Pentecostal.  The people who had participated in the radio broadcasts, advised me to go to a Pentecostal church, so I went to one in a nearby town.   They also talked and preached about being born again.

Presumption.  Consistent with my long-established religious notions, I went to the morning service so that I could be free for the rest of the day.   The meeting always incorporated Holy Communion, with which I was of course familiar in its Anglican form, and I easily participated.   No one questioned me, and I suppose they simply presumed I was a believer because I took the bread and the wine.  They even asked me to help distribute it sometimes.

Uneasiness.  However, the more I was in contact with these Pentecostal people, the more uncomfortable I became.   I was increasingly conscious of my spiritual deficiency.   I was not the same as them.  Some of the young people had a meeting and were telling of how God had saved them.  I was scared stiff they would ask me.

God’s Plans.  Looking back, I can see how God was not going to let me get away.  As Francis Thompson titled his poem, God was ‘The Hound of Heaven.’   I had maybe deceived some Christians, and possibly also the leaders of the Pentecostal church.   However, God had planned a crisis – a letter arrived, ending an important relationship.

God’s Hammer.  “You can’t fool God!”   Those words hammered away in my mind.  A voice kept telling me that I may have fooled loads of other people, but “You can’t fool God!”
Of course, God does say exactly that.  “God is not mocked.” Galatians 6:7.
For hours and hours, I wrestled with my new situation and the pounding of those four words.
“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”   Jeremiah 23:29 NIV.
It was indeed a mighty hammer. It was a bittersweet lesson to learn that I couldn’t fool God!

The Masquerade was Over.  I had to get help.   There was only one thing to do.  I had to go to the pastor and confess to him and to God, all about my deceptions, my being an imitation Christian, a very stupid religious sinner.
God cared for me so much in getting me into that church where they preached Jesus crucified in my place.   He wonderfully provided someone ready to help me come to Jesus for salvation.
‘How greatly Jesus must have loved me!’
Another of their songs was,
“Calvary covers it all, my past with its sin and stain;
my guilt and despair, Jesus took on Him there,
and Calvary covers it all.”

God was so good to me, so patient with me during all those foolish years.
With the apostle Peter, I can wholeheartedly say of Jesus, “He is precious.”

JohnMay 29th 2009

Welsh Sojourns – an explanation for the Welsh content of our website

For two periods, over several years of our married life, Veronica and I lived in Wales, only returning to England the second time in late 2009. In our earliest days there, I acquired a strong interest in what made this small country ‘The Land of Revivals.’ At that time, we met Christians who had personal experience of the 1904 revival, and some who had experienced a mini-revival in Mid-Wales around 1920.

Through studying Welsh history, being in a variety of churches, meeting many people and hearing a fair amount of ministry, I hope my limited knowledge of the land and its revival history is reasonably accurate. I am particularly indebted to Dr Eifion Evans for his book, “When He is Come” which I bought in those early years and which initiated and maintained much of my interest.

In our second Welsh sojourn, we lived on the West Wales coast with spectacular views of Cardigan Bay – hence the enthusiastic references to the scenery and its stimulation to thought.

Sadly, for all its great history, and all the varied efforts of well-meaning Christians in Wales, it does not seem that the Land of Revival has any more definite signs of awakening than dear old England. However, even now, the Lord is able to stretch out his arm and “restore the years that the locust has eaten.” Praise his mighty Name!

Dr Eifion Evans’ book, ‘When He is Come.’  This is now re-published under the title ‘Revival Comes To Wales,’ by Bryntirion Press, Bryntirion, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan CF31 4DX.