Articles

We all like to see progress being made. This is true in every sphere of life and activity in which we are involved. Parents are thrilled at the ongoing development of their children, as they master new skills and cope with the challenges of growing up. Teachers rejoice when ‘the penny drops’ and students surge […]

Matthew Else, the pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Peel, in the Isle of Man received his homecall on 18th May 2008 after a very short illness. His sudden death came as a great shock to his family, and his passing leaves a huge gap in the life and work of his church and its associated […]

Luke 6:43-45 ‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognised by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn-bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings […]

We know the calling of Levi, how he got up and followed Jesus, ‘leaving everything’ (Luke 5:28). If we are skim-reading Luke’s Gospel – not always the most profitable way to read! – we might easily overlook the deep wonder and significance of this issue. A taxman gets up from his desk and goes with […]

The Bible teaches that the church is the company of those who are committed to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. The Master said ‘Upon this rock I will build my church’ and the foundation to which he referred was expressed in the glorious testimony of Peter ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the […]

I had the privilege of teaching the Lifelearners Sunday School Class last week, and talked about the way that technology is challenging our parenting, particularly in the area of purity (and the exposure to readily available pornography). It brought to mind a good article on this subject written by my friend (and web guru) Tim […]

The apostle urges us to ‘Put all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, slander away from you, along with all malice’ (Ephesians 4:31). Richard Cameron, the Lion of the Covenant, the powerful Scottish Covenanter preacher of the 17th century, along with so many other preachers, was driven from his pulpit by Charles II of England. Cameron and […]

‘How Liberal Theology Infected Scotland’ is a deeply instructive short article1 written by R. A. Finlayson, the late professor of Systematic Theology in the Free Church College in Edinburgh. Finlayson attributed the nineteenth century infiltration of Liberalism into a confessional Church to wrong priorities by the leaders. He wrote: …not content with opening three colleges, […]

At a time when Reformed churches are taking the celebration and frequency of the Lord’s Supper more seriously, the question ‘How should I benefit from Communion?’ is timely. I want, however, at the outset to change the title I was given. The change appears minimal, but it is actually profound. I would like to substitute […]

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed until the day of redemption. [Ephesians 4:30] 1735 was a most remarkable year in the expansion of Christ’s kingdom. In order to appreciate what God did that year, we need to go back to 1662 when King Charles II, in an effort […]

In a few weeks time, a group of youngsters from this church, loaded up with rucksacks, sleeping-bags and Bibles will be heading off to camp. It’s thirty-four years since I first set off from home carrying more-or-less the same equipment. My first Christian camp was at Pendine on the South Wales coast. It was run […]

John 3:1-8 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” […]

At the annual assembly of the Associating Evangelical Churches of Wales in Newtown, Peter Milsom spoke on the deficiencies of the Pharisees from Matthew 23. They began well concerned for the purity of God’s people but by Jesus’ time this had declined into a legalistic joyless form of religion without power, opposed to the gospel […]

It was a remarkable testimony that God gave of Enoch: ‘He pleased God’ (Heb. 11:5). Enoch was a sinner and, if God was to mark iniquity against him, he could not stand. At best, his works were imperfect; they could never satisfy the demands of God’s holy law; so he could not earn a right […]

Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only such a word that is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. [Ephesians 4:29] In January 1932, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and within seven years had plunged the world […]