Yearly Archives: 2013

I wonder if it has ever struck you in reading the New Testament how often faith and love are mentioned in the same breath. Again and again you find that where the one is the other is as well. Let me give you some examples. In one place, Paul declares that ‘we ought always to […]

Finding Peace with God1 provides a brief overview of the biblical doctrine of justification. It is written in plain language which makes it accessible to all and affords not only a timely antidote to the false teaching of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy but it also helpfully refutes the erroneous New Perspective on Paul adopted […]

What qualifies me to write on this subject? Simply the fact that I have been the pastor of Childs Hill Baptist Church in London for the last 30 years. How have I been able to do that? Firstly, I was converted when I was still only about to turn 13. Then, by the time I […]

J C Ryle was an evangelical Church of England minister of the 19th century who eventually became the first Bishop of Liverpool. During his life he became best known for writing tracts on a range of subjects. This book, first published in 1873, is a collection of nineteen such booklets. The common theme is the […]

A recent writer complains that ‘contemporary gospel preaching . . . rarely explains the cross of Christ;’ that is, it fails to tell us that ‘He died bearing the transgressions of His people . . . suffering the divine penalty for their sins . . . forsaken of God and crushed’ beneath God’s wrath. It […]

What is it that shapes our lives? Is it the all-pervasive influence and philosophy of this world? Is it our own fallen natures? Or is it our faith? What do we mean by faith? These are days when it can no longer be safely assumed that the language used for centuries will be understood, so […]

What should a church be looking for when it seeks a pastor? This is a question that should deeply exercise not only elders but every church member. What qualities should a search committee have uppermost in their minds as they look to God to provide them with a man after his own heart? Perhaps before […]

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting (Psa. 126:5). Read carefully. If your church does not evangelize, then it will surely perish. I say this even if you have several hundreds or thousands of members and are presently a vibrant, fast growing church. We all know of churches that fifty or one […]

Eugene Peterson published The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English in 1993. A whole Bible version was finally completed in 2002. The casual shopper in the average Christian book shop today could be forgiven for thinking that it is yet another of the veritable flood of English translations of the Bible that have been […]

On the 31st of October, 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, Germany. This event is remembered today as sparking the Protestant Reformation. In honour of this great day in Christian history we have highlighted some Banner books about the history and theme of the Reformation. […]

What do we make of Alexander Whyte? His books, unlike those of many of his liberal contemporaries, are still in print and are popular with Christians all over the world. Christian Focus publish his famous Bible Characters. Other books of his in print include: Lord Teach Us to Pray, Samuel Rutherford and some of his […]

Although Robert Murray M’Cheyne did not take his place among the founders of the Free Church of Scotland (he was taken to glory just before the Disruption) he fully sympathised with their rejection of state control of the Church of Christ in Scotland, and would have been among them when their Deed of Separation terminated […]

‘an excellent book, a brilliant series of studies . . . A great church history book but one that sets its sights radically on today’s church.’ – Melanie Carroll is one of the first to review Garry Williams’ Silent Witnesses. In the Notes below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles, posted June-September […]

‘MAGISTERIAL’ is the word most often used to describe Iain Murray’s biography of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I remember how eagerly and impatiently we waited for the first and then the second volumes, and yet after devouring them both in turn, wondering if our intrepid author had struggled to tell the story of such greatness in […]

David Cameron will almost certainly get his Syrian war. Who will fight it, let alone who will win it, remains unclear. But who will lose it is already known – the Christians. The relentless persecution of Christ’s followers is foretold in the Gospels. Suffering is portrayed as the pathway to triumph. The global position today […]