Resources

A review by Rt Revd Dr J Barry Shucksmith of Confessing the Faith: A Reader’s Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith by Chad Van Dixhoorn.1 The Westminster Assembly took place in 1643 – a synod appointed by the Long Parliament to reform the English Church. Parliament issued an ordinance to allow the Westminster Assembly, […]

I think that almost every reader of this magazine1 will recognize in these two lines the beginning of the hymn by William Cowper, ‘God moves in a mysterious way’. As far as I know that author is virtually unknown to Polish Christians. Although many Christians might not know the hymn, we know the truth that […]

The Quality of Urgency in Preaching Preaching, by definition, should be urgent in nature. By urgency we mean preaching that has, in the words of Merriam-Webster, a ‘force or impulse that impels or constrains.’ Preaching with urgency is done when the preacher not only hopes for but calls for and expects response to the Word […]

It is always refreshing when you come across an accessible, edifying book on Scripture. Sinclair Ferguson’s From the Mouth of God: Trusting, Reading, and Applying the Bible1 is an easy-to-read, straightforward guide to understanding and profitably using God’s Word. But Ferguson doesn’t leap right into the specifics of biblical interpretation. He knows our attempt to […]

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in evangelistic preaching? First, consider the work of the Holy Spirit upon the preacher himself.1 Clearly the preacher’s private time with the Lord is vital. This includes his own personal devotional time when God speaks to him in prayer, and his own systematic reading of the word […]

Since Wednesday 7th January 2015, France has been in shock. The attack at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper left twelve people dead, then five more were killed over the following two days. The French are sad, angry and indignant. How are we, as Christians, to react? Here are some things to consider […]

Peter Hulland has been an elder and a preacher in the Stanton Lees Chapel in the Derbyshire Dales for forty years. His home is noted for its hospitality; his family trust in the Lord. His church has preaching services that are attend by throngs of people several times a year. He is in his eightieth […]

‘a handsome volume … those who want a straight read of the mature theology of Calvin have their needs met in this translation’ – Paul Helm on Robert White’s new translation of Institutes of the Christian Religion. In the Notes below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles, posted September – December 2014. […]

Dear boys and girls, I am writing this on Christmas Eve. I am sure that you are all looking forward very much to Christmas Day tomorrow and I hope that you greatly enjoy all the presents you receive. I was asked recently to say something on our local Christian radio station about Christmas when I […]

They spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord who was testifying to the word of His grace (Acts 14:3). I very well remember in 1976, while working with Dr. Jim Baird at the First Presbyterian Church, Macon, Georgia, reading for the first time Arnold Dallimore’s marvellous biography on George Whitefield,1 […]

BOOK REVIEW: Calvinism: A History by D. G. Hart [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013], 339pp, $40.00/£25.00, ISBN 978 0 30014 879 4. Professor Darryl Hart has taken the plunge. A specialist in the history of twentieth-century American evangelicalism, especially Presby­terianism, he has a string of impressive publications to his credit such as Defending the […]

Mehdi Dibaj’s Final Testament is an extraordinary document. An Iranian preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ he was arrested and spent nine years in an Iranian prison on the charge of apostasy. He was eventually tried before the Islamic courts in December 1993 where he displayed such bravery in giving this defence of the […]

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple (Psalm 19:7). In his blockbuster book of 1976, The Battle for the Bible, Harold Lindsell exposed the massive infiltration of liberalism and neo-orthodoxy into nearly every denomination and seminary that considered itself evangelical. Many […]

I’m really enjoying the 1541 Institutes,1 and have now reached around page 160. I had been working through him at a fairly fast pace, but came down with a really bad dose of tonsillitis last week, and spent a few days in bed with a high temperature. It’s so frustrating to have time off and […]

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12). Many people are fascinated with their family trees. There are hundreds of websites, and an active department in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth that are dedicated […]