Articles

We live in a mad, as well as a bad, world. The pace of life is simply frenetic, and shows few if any signs of slowing down. One danger facing the Christian in this mad, bad world is that we become swept along in the rush and never really take, and make, the time to […]

There’s more to the ministry than preaching! We have to shepherd our people – all of them – as well. A. Biblical foundations [1] What it means ‘to shepherd’Two key verses are Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2, both of which are found in direct addresses to elders. We are to look after the sheep. […]

You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. (Leviticus 18:22) One of the more relevant issues on the college campus today is gender identification. A growing number of young men and women are wrestling with their gender. The recent repeal by Congress of the ‘Don’t Ask, […]

Cremation has become an increasingly popular practice today, not only in other nations, but in America as well. The general attitude is, ‘It doesn’t matter how you are buried or if you are buried or what happens to your body.’ Increasingly, professing evangelical Christians are supportive of the practice of cremation, saying, ‘It doesn’t really […]

Europeans should not forget their most pressing moral issue: abortion At the close of the last century, as the reckoning was drawn up in Europe for the actions and reactions of the twentieth century, could we not have been forgiven for tending a little toward the view that we had, after everything, acquitted ourselves rather […]

Watch over your own heart with diligence, for from it flows the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23) I have known men who began well, who began their careers and families with a steadfast commitment to honour God, to be faithful to their wives and children, and to keep a lid on their fleshly desires. Sadly, […]

Introduction In winding up his magnificent exposition of the sovereignty of grace in salvation, the apostle Paul writes: ‘For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things’ (Rom. 11:36). That is, from God as the Source, through God as the Means, to God as the End, all things exist and have their […]

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. (Joshua 1:8) Things began unravelling with frightening […]

In Geneva, 450 years ago, a new version of the Bible in English began to come off the printing presses. For the first time, English-speaking people in the British Isles could purchase a Bible in their own tongue translated, in its entirety, directly from the original Hebrew and Greek – a notable milestone on the […]

I. Valera Oichanko has been leading the work in Tiumen very successfully for the past eighteen months. Here is his latest report. We are very glad to be able to share with you the experiences and blessings we have had in our service for the Lord in Tiumen. We also thank you for your prayers […]

The first individual is André Kizito, pastor of an Evangelical Assembly of God congregation. Kizito is a highly motivated, well educated man who led a corrupt life in the military before being saved and radically transformed by the Lord. He is one of those believers who seems never to have lost his first love, and […]

Perhaps the highest and loftiest acts a Christian can have toward God are worship and prayer. These two acts are uniquely vertical – they are the only things a believer does that are directly toward God and that directly bring him or her into relationship and communion with God. The one exception is the reading […]

Dementia is one of the hardest afflictions of old age, both for the sufferer and their carers. When our bodies are sick, we can call upon mental resources to help us cope. The essential person remains the same. But when the mind is lost, it is our very self that is decaying. When Ronald Reagan […]

One of the most sobering verses in the Bible is Hebrews 2:3 – ‘How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?’ The Letter to the Hebrews was written to Christians who were being tempted to turn back to some form of Judaism. Perhaps the pressure and cost of ‘being different’ was beginning […]

I. From the Fathers to the Reformation1 We are familiar with the concise, scriptural definition of The Shorter Catechism: ‘Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone’ […]

In Deuteronomy 13:8 God tells Israel to show no pity. The situation is this: a dear one, whether father, mother, brother or sister is enticing other family members ‘to go and worship other gods’. God tells Israel, ‘. . . do not yield to him or listen to him – show him no pity.’ We […]

Yes, it is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he who will bear the honour and sit and rule on his throne. Thus, he will be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices. (Zechariah 6:13) One of my favorite books is entitled […]

‘But, Mum, you don’t know how hard it is to be a Christian today.’ ‘Oh, Dad, things were much simpler in your day.’ Every generation of Christians thinks it is more difficult to be a Christian in their day than in the past. Well, the present generation now has the New York Times on their […]

Luke 12:16-21: ‘And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there […]

It was good to be at the Westminster Conference again at the American Church in Tottenham Court Road. 1 Our first session, chaired by Phil Arthur, was taken by Garry Williams from the John Owen Centre, on the subject The English Reformation – Revise, Reverse or Revert? 1. Revise Historians like Christopher Haigh (English Reformations) […]

You know what Christmas is about. A very special baby was born. That special baby is God himself, the Son of the Father. It’s not about Santa is coming to town, it’s about God is coming to town. Sometimes God seems far off, but he came down to be with us. Isn’t he kind? But […]

. . . often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented thus far). (Rom. 1:13) Steve Johnson, a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, dropped five passes recently [Nov 28, 2010] in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The most damaging drop, however, occurred in overtime when he dropped a perfectly […]

Achill Island lies off the west coast of Ireland. It is a small place, now reached by a bridge from the mainland. In the mid-nineteenth century this island was the scene of a remarkable work of God’s grace in which hundreds of islanders were drawn to saving faith in Christ. The ethos of the island […]

The subtitle of this conference is ‘Building Biblical Churches for the 21st Century’, which is a summary of the nature of the conference. It is directed to all Christians who are actively working in their local churches to bring glory to God. This year the theme was Confronting the Culture, and the addresses were all […]

Genesis 15:7-21: He also said to him, ‘I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.’ But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I shall gain possession of it?’ So the LORD said to him, ‘Bring me […]