Bierton Strict And Particular Baptists, A Testimony of David Clarke

192 general redemption and I began to realize things were not as it appeared and began to think was this replicated in other strict Baptist churches and was this just the tip of the ice burg ?

Meeting Richard Bolt At this time I met an old acquaintance, a Christian man called Dr. John Verna who too had met Mr John Metcalfe. I had first met him when I first became a Christian, at the age of 20. He was a Doctor working at Stoke Mandeville Hospital working in particular with paraplegic patients. He used to help with the Hospital outreach meetings, which were held every month at the hospital. Several Christians from various churches had joined a group of Christian from the Assemblies of God Church in Aylesbury, to reach patients detained in Hospital. Each month patients were individually invited to the Saturday night gospel meeting held specifically for patients and staff in the Archery unit of the paraplegics department. They would be collected from the various wards in their beds and a different speaker, each month, would give a gospel address and we would pray for them.

Dr. John Verna and his wife helped and encouraged and worked with this group of Christians.

I talked with John about my position at Bierton Church and he seemed keen to help and support me. He introduced me to a dear friend of his a Mr. Richard Bolt from a place in Kent near Matfield. John Verna believed Richard Bolt to have an apostolic ministry.

He and Richard Bolt came to my home and we spent quite some time together and I was encouraged by them both to continue to seek God for direction. Richard Bolt was a very straightforward man, direct encouraging and thoughtful. A man of conviction And I believed had the fear of the Lord.

I respected him for his honesty and sincerity. It was good to meet him.

I expressed my misgivings about my dealings in the Pentecostal Churches and my new position in the Strict and Particular Baptist church.

Both groups it had occurred to me went to extremes. One held to the belief in the gifts of the supernatural gifts and Baptism in the Holy Ghost (Spirit) and looked for and expected manifestations of spiritual gifts in believers including the working of miracles (Pentecostal). They were very subjective and looked inward to them selves for the evidence of God working in and through them. Whilst the other group (Strict Baptists) denied the operation of supernatural operation of spiritual gift such as speaking in tongues and gifts of healing etc. but rather looked inwardly to the evidence of Gods dealing with them by how unworthy they might feel to receive any thing from God. That doubts of salvation were a good sign and an evidence of faith rather than presumption. Both group depended on God the Holy