Yearly Archives: 2012

The title above, as many readers will recognize, is from answer 16 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (and Larger Catechism 22). It expresses a central truth of Scripture and reflects the universal confession of the church about Adam. Why then the added question mark? Not because non-Christians widely reject this truth, as they have for […]

‘How did we get here?’ is a question that is always relevant and often illuminating. Yet contemporary evangelicals don’t ask it as often as they should. In his book Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism, 1750-1858,1 Iain Murray tells a story that helps explain how evangelicals – Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and […]

The Christian life is full of extraordinary ‘highs’ and unsettling ‘lows’. This is something young Christians are often unprepared for. And yet God’s Word could not be clearer that our spiritual good requires that the Lord lead us through dark valleys as well as lifting us up to expansive mountain tops. This is why reading […]

And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number. (Acts 5:14) Roland Allen, in his book, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church 2, puts forth a clear distinction between the way the apostolic church grew and how our churches in the west grow. The church […]

. . . trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:10) Every Christian is called to heed and obey the myriad of commands for holiness, for keeping God’s law.2 And we all acknowledge that we fall short of that standard. In a desire to address legalism in the evangelical church the contemporary […]

How do we deal with doubts that arise against our faith? My question does not directly include how we answer the doubts of others. Our attempt to answer others’ doubts and objections has its place in the realm of what is called apologetics, but while it is legitimate and necessary at times for us to […]

So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. (Daniel 9:3) After reading the prophet Jeremiah and having known of the promised return from the exile, Daniel seeks Yahweh with diligence and zeal – fasting, putting on sackcloth and ashes, and making supplication. […]

The same day that I heard a Sudanese pastor and a Chinese missionary speak of their countries I read the text, ‘Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them’ (Matt. 13:17). Even our little conference in New South Wales was representative of the blessing […]

Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory, honour, and power, for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created. (Revelation 4:11.) We are to rejoice in the Lord always. We are to consider everything joy when we encounter various trials. We are to have […]

‘We’ve a story to tell to the nations.’ So how does it go? We need to think about that. Barna has his statistics, and it looks like a lot of us struggle in just knowing what that story is. Is it what you once heard the evangelist say, that you’re a hell-deserving sinner and that […]

Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) was a well known Puritan Pastor who was known as the ‘heavenly doctor’. This work is twenty sermons preached by him on Song of Solomon 4:16 to 6:3. For Sibbes the Song of Solomon is ‘nothing else but a plain demonstration and setting forth of the love of Christ for his church, […]

The Christian Medical Fellowship have drawn up 10 sound reasons for opposing the government’s proposals to legalise homosexual marriage. 1. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman Throughout history in virtually all cultures and faiths throughout the world, marriage has been held to be the union of one man and one woman. […]

It has often been said: if you wish to start reading the Puritans, begin with Sibbes – the point being that he is simple and direct. (Others may suggest Watson or Swinnock.) Richard Sibbes (1577-1635), ‘the heavenly doctor,’ was one of the foremost among Puritan preachers and divines.The Love of Christ was first published under […]

Paul Wolfe is a new author on the British scene who deserves to be read. He came close to never writing at all. At only 28 years old, newly married, he was diagnosed with cancer. He was studying for the ministry at Westminster Theological Seminary, and to use his phrase, had his life all scripted […]

Raymond Oakley, esteemed former pastor of the church at Hope Chapel, Arcal Street, Sedgley (1980-2007), and an acceptable supply minister for many years, passed to his eternal rest on December 3rd, 2011, aged 84 years. Our friend was a faithful minister of the gospel for sixty-two years and served the churches as a supply minister […]