Articles

What we put on may be more important than we think. The so-called ‘worship wars’ of recent years may have produced a winner. Many congregations remain divided between traditional and contemporary styles, but in most places the contemporary appears to have gained the upper hand. What’s more, our worship services have become increasingly relaxed and informal […]

Judged by the unqualified appeals in much modern ‘evangelism’ to the natural man’s unaided reason, emotions and will, one might conclude that ‘modern man’ is able to respond positively, and that he has no need of God’s efficacious grace. That such presumption is wholly groundless was the firm conviction of the late R. A. Finlayson, […]

In recent weeks I have been reading Augustine’s Confessions. It is a great and compelling read, a 300-page prayer that illuminates Augustine’s search for God and for life. As I read the opening chapters I was struck by a word that Augustine regularly uses and that had not registered with me before. Again and again […]

‘No man in his time spake with such evidence and power of the Spirit . . . many of his hearers thought no man since the apostles spoke with such power.’ (John Livingston) Whilst he was in the ministry at Edinburgh, he shined as a great light through the whole land, the power and efficacy […]

For our gospel did not come in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction (1 Thessalonians 1:5). No one took the preaching of Jesus in a casual, ambivalent manner. They either loved it or hated it, were drawn to him or repulsed by him. The same was true […]

Thomas Guthrie’s statue in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh epitomises what many of us involved in Christian social action are seeking to achieve; with a Bible in one hand and the other resting protectively on a ‘ragged child’ Guthrie’s life combined the two great priorities of the church — truth and love. It is a mystery […]

The present state of the Church of Scotland should be a cause for Christians everywhere to cry to God for mercy. For a professing Christian church to pass legislation that permits a congregation to call a minister (man or woman!) who is in a same-sex relationship is a theological scandal and a moral monstrosity. No […]

My nickname is ‘Typicus’ which stands for ‘typical’ because I am typical of thousands of pastors around world. I live in a remote area of Malawi. I pastor five churches of about thirty people each. I have a growing family, so there is no way that I can leave home and study in a seminary […]

If you lift a stone in the garden you find all sorts of creepy crawlies underneath. Sin is a little like that. What are secret sins? Psalm 19:12 – Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. It is not entirely clear what these hidden faults or secret sins are. Secret sins are the […]

On 26 June 2013 the U.S.A. Supreme Court issued rulings that boosted the cause of same sex marriage by a 5-4 decision, and ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. This is a major decision that will have long term impact. The court accelerated the advance of gay marriage in the US, […]

You may be an evangelical and be an Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Brethren or other. You may be Calvinist or Arminian. But we generally need more agreement on points of theology and worship if we are to live and serve together as a church. One of the ways in which churches identify themselves is by calling […]

Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God Brian S. Rosner, Principal of Ridley Melbourne, delivered the inaugural Leon Morris Memorial Lecture on 27 June at the College, where Leon Morris had been Principal from 1964 to 1979. Fittingly, the lecture brought resolution to what some have seen as a conflict between Law and […]

This is an extract from a Roundtable Discussion involving some of the faculty of Calvin Seminary: Darwin Glassford – professor of Church Education, Howard Vanderwell – Adjunct Professor of Worship, and John Witvliet – Professor of Worship. CHAIRMAN:  Parents may be wondering, ‘Will our children have faith?’ What encouragement would you give to parents in […]

The love of Christ controls me (2 Corinthians 5:14). How did the Apostle Paul do it? How did he maintain his zeal for the kingdom of God? After his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, he found out from Ananias, to whom Jesus had spoken, that he would suffer greatly for the sake of preaching […]

A report given at the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, May 2013. China is a vast country, and a country of vast contrasts. There are peasant farmers and billionaire IT entrepreneurs; sophisticated Shanghai and the wilds of the Gobi desert; there are Buddhists, Daoists, Christians, Muslims, and those who follow no formal […]

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. When Thou didst say, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to Thee, ‘Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek’ (Psalm 27:7-8). Sarah Butin, an eighteen year old recent high school graduate on her way to Furman University in the […]

A brief account of the early life of this remarkable preacher, assembled by T. H. W. Scott. Lying, filthy talking, and foolish jesting I was much addicted to, even when very young. Sometimes I used to curse, if not swear. Stealing from my mother I thought no theft at all, and used to take money […]

Agrippa replied to Paul, ‘In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian’ (Acts 26:28). Jean Jacques Rousseau, one of the two greatest and most influential writers of the 18th century Enlightenment (the other being Francois-Marie Voltaire), the one who ushered in the Romantic period of literature with his Julie, ou la Nouvelle Héloïse, […]

The Bala Conference has been in existence for around sixty years, more than half of which have occurred in the absence of its founder and guiding spirit, the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. This year we sought to shake off the spirit of melancholy that the sudden death of Graham Harrison1 had brought to all who knew […]

July 13, 2013, will mark the 200th Anniversary of the arrival in Rangoon of Adoniram and Ann Judson. More than a year earlier they had set sail in the brigCaravan from the safety of New England, but their lives were dedicated to Christ and to taking the gospel to the Burman empire. Their plan had intially […]

This year’s Proclamation Trust Evangelical Ministry Assembly is in the Barbican for the first time. There are some disadvantages to the venue besides its unfamiliarity but the idea of getting 1250 people in one room is attractive and as we get used to it I’m sure it will grow on us. The EMA tried to […]

I was converted to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ fifty-six years ago in January 1957. I had good parents and a stable home but neither my parents, nor I, nor my younger sister Ann, had any true knowledge of God before that date. My religious life amounted to saying private prayers in bed […]

It is clear that the Bible commends the quality of meekness, but what is our understanding of this virtue? Why is it commended to us, and what are its qualities? Most people clearly apprehend that humility is characterized by lowliness. We understand this because it is often contrasted with pride whereby a person boasts and […]

This is the second part of the 2012 Annual Lecture of the Evangelical Library in London. The first part can be found here. The lecture for 2013 is to be given on Monday June 3rd at 6.30 pm at the Evangelical Library and the subject is ‘The Doctrines of Grace in an Unexpected Place: 19th […]

The original vision for African Bible Colleges began in the hearts and minds of Dr and Mrs John W Chinchen. After spending seven years training pastors in the interior of Liberia, the Chinchens realised that in order to raise up servant leaders for Christ in Africa they should develop university-level training with a distinctively biblical […]