Articles

Every semester as I teach college students theology, I have them read one or two excerpts from Jonathan Edwards — and every time, I get one of two responses. First, he’s difficult to read! The second response I get from some students is about how Edwards simply sees life differently than they do. They’re surprised, […]

I recently attended a conference with a group of pastors from five continents and 15 countries. A number of them had heard about the vibrant and growing Reformed Baptist movement in Zambia, and they asked me what the contributing factors have been. Thankfully, I have been doing some research for a writing project, and so […]

John Newton (1725-1807) was one of the great English Christian leaders of the eighteenth century. He was a slavetrader-turned-abolitionist, mariner-turned-pastor, and blasphemer-turned-hymnodist (‘Amazing Grace’ being his most famous). He also was one of the great pastoral letter writers of church history. And he was one of the great peacemakers of his generation. Healer of Breaches […]

Each year, in the second week of August, the Aberystwyth Conference (organised by a committee of the Evangelical Movement of Wales) takes place and up to 1200 people attend. I, Geoff Thomas, first attended the conference in 1963, and after moving to Aberystwyth in 1965 there has been just one conference I missed while speaking […]

John Owen understood the demands and privileges of ministry. In a sterling sermon preached at an ordination service on Friday 8th September, 1682, he laid out in challenging and practical terms what the task of the pastor truly is. In his mind was the pressing need for ministers to pray. In this piece, we shall […]

Leadership in the church is so important that we should be prepared to go to great lengths to see future leaders of the church trained. In the final letter that we have from the apostle Paul, written in a lonely prison cell in Rome while he was expecting death for the sake of the gospel, […]

‘. . .instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires. . .who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.’ –Titus 2:12, 14 In the fall of 2001, while being the Senior Pastor at Golden Isles Presbyterian […]

Human life, body and soul together, filled David with wonder. The study of the uniquely-designed human being (Psalm 139:13-14) should bring us also to glorify God for his marvellous works. In his book Hallmarks of Design (pp.164-194), the scientist Stuart Burgess gives ten unique features that God has given human beings: Upright posture. Man is the only […]

When Charles Spurgeon wanted to help Susannah with her spiritual growth, involve her in his sermon study, or spend time with her for mutual encouragement, he looked to books. Perhaps you will likewise use good books to bless others and for your own edification. What books/authors did Spurgeon choose? The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. […]

Charles Spurgeon was the unlikeliest of candidates to win the heart of Susie Thompson. He was rural England and she was London and Paris. After seeing and hearing Charles in the pulpit for the first time, the furthest thought from her mind was marrying him. How then did Charles Spurgeon win and keep the heart […]

I spent five years immersing myself in the sermons of Martyn Lloyd-Jones. It was truly a transformative season in my life. What was the biggest takeaway? The answer may surprise you. He taught me how to pray. Those who really knew Lloyd-Jones will not find that answering surprising at all. His wife once said, ‘No […]

We have been charting the biblically wise advice of John Owen for pastors, given in an ordination sermon preached on Friday 8th September 1682. His counsel is profound, challenging, and utterly relevant to our contemporary task as preachers. Thus far we have observed the essentials he attaches to preaching the Word and his four great […]

During my first seven years in the pastoral ministry (1980-1987), I felt very green — inexperienced, and in some ways unprepared. Before coming to Bethlehem Baptist Church at the age of 34, I had never been a pastor. I was in school full time till I was 28 and then taught college Bible courses until […]

Heroes of the Spanish Reformation In the first part of the sixteenth century, Luther’s publication of the Ninety-Five Theses started a new movement across Europe which we know as the Reformation. By 1525, not only were Luther’s works translated into Spanish but Illuminist teaching was taking hold and subject to scrutiny and opposition. Valera, from […]

‘Be zealous’ — Revelation 3:19 This watch-word of Christ, it be not now a word in season, I know not when ever it was, or will be. If God should now send through the earth such surveying angels as Zechariah mentions (Zech. 1) could they return any other observation of their travels than this, ‘The […]

After nearly three decades, John Bolt is approaching his impending retirement from Calvin Theological Seminary with admitted ambivalence, grateful to be liberated from long faculty meetings and other academic tedium but wistful about closing a long and lively chapter of engaging students with a bracing seminars on Reformed dogmatics. ‘I feel incredibly privileged when I […]

Almost two years ago I shared 15 reasons why visitation is good for your Pastor (you can read it here). At the time it was so fulfilling to talk to people about what I’d written, both online and in the real world, and to feel a sense of conviction about my own pastoral practice in […]

‘Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.’ — Genesis 15:16 We find in Genesis 15 that Yahweh Elohim reaffirms His covenant with Abram (Genesis 12:1-3), saying that He will be Abram’s shield and great reward. He would have a son and his descendants […]

There’s a well worn quotation – often wrongly attributed to Mark Twain – which goes along the lines of ‘by the age of seventeen I realised that my father knew nothing. By the age of twenty one I was amazed at how much he had learned’. Regardless of who coined this phrase, it carries a […]

It’s exam-time. Over the next few weeks most of the youngsters who attend the church will be sitting exams of one sort or another. SATS, GCSEs, A levels, university assessments, music exams. . . From early childhood into our twenties, we face one daunting educational hurdle after another and some of us then go back […]

My late Dad bought me a pair of Grenson shoes for my wedding, solid and sensible footwear. They can be buffed to guardsman standard, but are stiff and inflexible and uncomfortable. I wore them to his funeral after my wedding, and have only worn them when I’m conducting funerals in the fourteen years since. Along […]

No doubt readers of New Life are well aware of my love for the work of the Banner Of Truth Trust. There is a good reason for this. As a student for the ministry I was one of the many victims of a broad, liberal ‘theological education’. I didn’t exactly fall for it ‘hook, line […]

There are the usual things I believe and say about any conference, for example, that its ethos is bigger that the messages. Each conference emerges from a certain constituency and reflects its values and beliefs, but when its constituency changes, this is reflected in the rearrangement of emphases in the conference. We also believe that […]

John Calvin wrote many commentaries, and many sermons. The Banner of Truth publishes a large collection of both. In the video below, watch as Derek Thomas briefly describes how Calvin’s sermons are different from his commentaries, who they are intended for, and why you should read them. Then, click here to take advantage of this […]

It used to be a feature of a Sunday afternoon that a letter would be written to missionaries, absent friends, or children away in college. This was the practice of Dr. Cornelius Van Til of Westminster Theological Seminary, especially writing to the mother of Bob Den Dulk whose godliness and wisdom he greatly admired. Then […]