Yearly Archives: 2005

Biblical, God-fearing theologians divide sin into two branches, original and actual. These two branches are further subdivided. Original sin consists of imputed guilt and inherent pollution, while actual sin comprises sins of thought, word and deed. In a sermon based on the apostle Peter’s words to Simon Magus: “Thy money perish with thee, because thou […]

The apostle Paul writes, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore […]

In eighteenth century England, the market town of Olney in Buckinghamshire was noteworthy as the home of three evangelical Christian leaders, John Newton, converted slave-trader turned minister and hymn writer, who held the curacy of the parish church between 1764 and 1779, William Cowper, poet, who assisted Newton in the compilation of the Olney Hymns, […]

A letter in the Times, July18 Sir, The British Medical Association’s recent votes on assisted dying and abortion (report July 1) reflect in my view a growing contempt within the medical profession for human life, the reduction of doctors to instruments of social engineering, and an increase in moral relativism and nihilism in their ranks. […]

In 1894 a book appeared called ‘Letters and Sketches from the New Hebrides.’ It was a collection of personal letters written by Margaret, wife of Scottish missionary John Paton, to family and friends and thus never intended for publication. The book contained twenty letters written between 1865 and 1894. It has now been reprinted by […]

A DEFINITION On the topic of Puritan meditation, James Packer writes, “Knowing themselves to be creatures of thought, affection, and will, and knowing that God’s way to the human heart (the will) is via the human head (the mind), the Puritans practiced meditation, discursive and systematic, on the whole range of biblical truth as they […]

Martin Luther was born on November 10th, 1483. He was a young man of great abilities so his poor father put him to the study of law, intending him to be a lawyer. And he might very well have been a lawyer were it not that on July 2 in the year 1505 he was […]

In the furore that has followed the London suicide bombings there have been affirmations from all our politicians and Muslim leaders that Islam is a religion of love and that the suicide bombers are aberrant misguided criminals and not true Muslims at all. However the suicide bombers would claim that they are the true Muslims […]

It may seem strange to learn that the Bible has very little teaching regarding the maintenance of bodily health. Some understand the Levitical food laws as given to instruct us in proper nutrition and hygiene. However, those laws were given with moral and spiritual considerations in mind, the hygienic benefit there from being merely a […]

What must I do to be saved? Saved from what? What is it you wish to be saved from? Hell? That proves nothing. Nobody wants to go there. The issue between God and man is sin. Do you wish to be saved from it? What is sin? Sin is a species of rebellion against God. […]

If you walked behind the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town to the old cemetery any lunch time in the 1970s and 80s you would come across a fascinating gathering. A group of poor unemployed Africans, some of them alcoholics, and other HIV positive, were listening intently to another African reading to them from the […]

In an article in the Daily Telegraph (July 6 2004, p.18) some facts were given on the growth of bureaucracy in the UK today, including the following: 1. The Civil Service is now the size of Sheffield.2. Whitehall bureaucracy costs every household £850.5. Just one department – Work and Pensions – employs more people than […]

I had the privilege of being brought up on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland in a Christian home where family worship was held morning and evening. I attended church twice every Lord’s day and was fortunate enough to hear some of the greatest Christian men in deep discussion and debate […]

What’s Wrong with Same-Sex Marriage? by James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, Crossway Books, (Wheaton, Illinois, 2004, pb, 143 pp, $7.99) covers a topic which is presently under much debate both in Europe and the United States. Authors Kennedy and Newcombe offer an easy-to-read Christian response to the moral issue of same-sex marriage. As such, I […]

It is a remarkable thing to note that after all of the centuries mankind has had to sin, the way men deal with their sins has never changed. The first man, Adam, foolishly tried to conceal his shame, his sin, and even himself from the Lord. His fig-leaf covering was first applied in a feeble […]