Topic Archives: Christian Living

JOHN OWEN AND THE PROBLEM OF INDWELLING SIN It is evident that in the shallowness of modern English evangelicalism sin is not dealt with seriously in evangelism or in the battles of the Christian life and many feel that Owen is the man who can teach this generation much that is absent, to our lamentable […]

What Jesus wants most for Christmas is that his elect be gathered in and then get what they want most to see his glory and then savor it with the very savoring of the Father for the Son. What does Jesus want this Christmas? We can see the answer in his prayers. What does he […]

PUBLIC PRAYER IN PULPIT AND PRAYER MEETING In secret prayer there is no necessity of a voice, for God hears a whisper as well as a sigh and a groan. The beauty of our expressions and the tunefulness of our voice can never render our worship more acceptable to God, the infinite Spirit; yet our […]

GEORGE CALHOUN: A TRIBUTE SOME YEARS AFTER GOD SAVE HIM, GEORGE BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND AND LOVE THE REFORMED FAITH Were he alive, George Calhoun may have discouraged my writing these remarks for public consumption. George was the founder of Mt. Olive Tape Library (P0. Box 422, Mt. Olive, Mississippi 39119). He did not care to […]

THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS HE DWELT AMONG US; “FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH” INDEED, BUT IN OUR MIDST The Christian Faith is deeply and necessarily ‘incarnational.’ “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” John tells us. “He was manifested in the flesh,” wrote Paul. Even more daringly, he tells us that God sent […]

A Commitment to Integrity Our calling is to know and do what is right in all situations and relationships in our lives Recently I heard a report about a young man’s situation which moved me deeply. I believe that his story is perhaps the most powerful testimony to Christian integrity I can recall in my […]

WINDOWS ON SIBERIA ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE HAVE REACHED EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS During September I visited Siberia again and attended the official opening of the big church in Tobolsk. I give below the latest news from the churches we are seeking to support. TOBOLSK a) During the past three months nine people were baptised and fifteen […]

WOODROW NEWSLETTER Dear Friends: This letter comes one year after the last update many of you have had from Nampula. Much has happened for which we rejoice – the arrival of two missionary interns from Malawi who have helped and encouraged us since last October, the coming of the Chiorino’s in February to assist in […]

THE NOVELS OF JAN KARON WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU READ A NOVEL WITH PAGES PEPPERED WITH PRAYERS BY THE PROTAGONIST? Many American Christians are enthusiastic about the novels of Jan Karon, and it was in the USA that we first came across them, but we obtained the Penguin boxed set of the best-selling […]

IN THE MIDDLE OF WONDERFUL, YET CONFUSING TIMES A total of 811 persons attended the XVII Annual FIEL Leadership conference in Brazil. Adhering to the theme “Grace, marvelous grace” pastor Jim Orrick from Kansas City and author and pastor Brian Edwards of London brought sixteen challenging messages directed to the hearts of hearers who had […]

‘THOU’ SHOULD BE PRESERVED IN HYMNS If some hymn-writers today are more at peace and more conscious of God’s glory using the pronoun ‘you’ in hymns then we have few objections to their doing so and can sincerely sing good modern hymns and metrical versions of the psalms and paraphrases referring to God as ‘you’, […]

WHY I DO NOT SAY, “GOD DID NOT CAUSE THE CALAMITY, BUT HE CAN USE IT FOR GOOD.” Many Christians are speaking this way about the murderous destruction of the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001, “God did not cause it, but he can use it for good.” There are two reasons I do […]

JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS Charles Spurgeon July 12, 1885 There is a judgment also passing upon nations, for as nations will not exist as nations in another world, they have to be judged and punished in this present state. The thoughtful reader of history will not fail to observe, how sternly this justice had dealt […]

PRIDE AND THE REFORMED CHURCHES Of all the dangers that can overtake a Reformed church pride is surely the worst and most serious. There is, of course, a right kind of pride, a thankfulness to God for our history or heritage. But the pride I am thinking of is that ugly, self-righteous, self-preening brute that […]

Forty years ago this month, on Labor Day 1961, the German cargo boat Carl Fritzen, which I had boarded at the Liverpool docks 11 days earlier, began its entry into Chesapeake Bay. We sailed past the beach where the Jamestown settlers had landed in 1607 where they gave thanks to God on the sands for […]