Yearly Archives: 2010

The appearance of a new book by Stuart Olyott is always a welcome event and his latest offering is no exception. He is a master of good communication and clear Christ-centred teaching. The letter to the Hebrews is one of the hardest books of the New Testament to understand, yet as the author says in […]

In 1880 J.S. Curwen wrote his fascinating and rare book, Studies in Worship Music with its many observations on the psalms and hymns sung by the different denominations in the United Kingdom, the place of the organ if one was used, chanting, harmonizing, and how to train a congregation to sing. The last third of […]

. . . we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Don and Carol Richardson had come, with their infant son, to the Sawi people of southwestern New Guinea for the purpose of bringing the good news of the gospel to them. After building a house Don set about the task […]

John Newton first went to sea at the age of just 11. His godly mother had died when he was only 6 and his father was a ship’s captain. After that first voyage he kept on going to sea, and over the years he had many adventures and many difficulties, but his own foolishness lay […]

This is a reprint of a book first published around 100 years ago. Its aim is to help Christians come to a clearer understanding of the doctrines of grace as taught by the system of theology called Calvinism. After a brief biography of John Calvin, the author reviews issues at the heart of the Gospel. […]

When Paul was in prison in Rome, he presumably had many needs. The Church in Philippi, now an organised body with ‘bishops and deacons’, took a special interest in him and sent to him ‘once and again’ what they felt would be useful. In his present circumstances, Paul was not able to repay them; he […]

The seventeenth chapter of John’s Gospel constitutes such a deep and rich passage that no summary of it can ever quite do it justice. It is quite difficult to discern a clear structure in this prayer. It is like a spiral staircase, going round and round, revisiting themes and developing them further. It is true […]

The longing for happiness is etched indelibly in every human heart. We seek for happiness, we ache for happiness and we will do almost anything to secure happiness. Our problem is, however, that most people neither know what happiness is, nor where they can find it. Sin has blinded our minds, corrupted our hearts and […]

Oh that they had such a heart in them that would fear me (Deuteronomy 5:29). On October 23, 1740, after preaching the previous weekend in Northampton with Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, the great eighteenth century evangelist, made his way south along the Connecticut River to Hartford, then Wethersfield, and finally to Middletown. Nathan Cole, a […]

[The second part of a paper given in January 2010. The first part can be found here.] 3. AREAS TO BE GREATLY VALUED BY THE PREACHER. i] There is the utter delight and enormous cost of preaching. There is joy that is unspeakable in exalting God as a congregation listens, magnifying his grace, describing the […]

This paper was given to a gathering of ministers near Cardiff on 18 January, 2010. The topic was requested by the organisers. How infrequently are older men able to learn brand new lessons. Over fifty years ago I learned at a student week-end conference the Scriptures’ teaching of justification by faith. I believe that that […]

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not […]

The Spectator magazine organises monthly debates on social and political issues, and on 2nd March, 2010 organised a debate on the subject ‘England should become a Catholic country again’. The speakers for the motion, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Piers Paul Reid and Rev Dom Antony Sutch, were all strong Roman Catholics who made their case […]

One of the fullest and most beautiful accounts of the resurrection appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be found in the story of the walk to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). Mark refers to the story in one verse, but Luke had other sources of information not available to others. The story is an incontrovertible […]

Many years ago I was taking a class with Dr. R.C. Sproul. He said that most people find their identity either in ‘being’ or ‘doing.’ He pointed to his wife Vesta, who was sitting in the class, and said, ‘If you ask her what she does, she’ll answer, “I don’t do anything, I be.”‘ My […]