Topic Archives: Spiritual Growth

Do you remember the resolutions you made at this time last year? I would guess that many of us resolved at the beginning of 2015 that every day we would have a ‘quiet time’. We told ourselves that this would be the year when we at last would establish a pattern of daily Bible-reading and […]

You might, having read the title of this, wonder what is about to follow. Those of you who know even a little about a remarkable eighteenth century Scottish minister called Thomas Boston, will, however, have immediately recognised the source of my title. Boston’s Works run to twelve volumes and contain some lengthy theological treatises.1 When […]

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands (2 Timothy 1:6). Paul begins his second letter to Timothy by reminding Timothy of the blessings that are his in Christ. Timothy is reading a personal letter to him from […]

… in order to present you before Him, holy, blameless, and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:22). Paul the apostle commands us to do all things without grumbling or disputing (Phil. 2:14). James instructs us not to complain against one another (James 5:9). Paul told us to have no anxiety about anything (Phil. 4:6). And Jesus told […]

For their sakes I sanctify Myself (John 17:19). In a country where the evangelical church has been declining for years, where only seven to eight percent of the population are evangelicals (twenty-two to twenty-six million people); in a nation where evangelicals are alarmingly and increasingly called more dangerous and divisive than Muslims; it is high […]

Although the tendency to self-congratulation is no new phenomenon, the outlets for it have increased enormously. News of the so-called success of a congregation or a Church can speed round the world in minutes. The growth of the megachurches in the USA or the spread of the ‘New Calvinism’ is constantly to the fore. The […]

At the recent US Banner Ministers’ Conference we sat down with Dr. Ligon Duncan to ask him about his favourite Banner book, and why Christians should consider reading it for themselves.

. . . that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:18, 19). Asahel Nettleton was born on April 21, 1783, in North Killingworth, Connecticut, the second born of six children and the eldest son. Nettleton’s parents were professors of true religion and attended the local Congregational […]

God used the Apostle Paul on his third missionary journey, around A.D. 58, to plant the church in Ephesus, in the Roman province of Asia Minor, modern day western Turkey. Ephesus was a fruitful church which God used to plant many other churches in the region. Mighty societal impact resulted from the Holy Spirit coming […]

I am writing this en route to Cambridge after a flying (literally) visit to Glasgow. The week before Christmas, I answered the phone to be told that the police and fire service had to break into our apartment in Glasgow where one of our children is living and studying. Our daughter had not misbehaved; there […]

‘What our generation needs is a sense of God,’ says David F. Wells, who has done more than anyone to analyse the weaknesses of modern evangelicalism. Steeped as we are in atheism and secularism in society and worldliness in the Church, the times cry out for a sense of God. The present situation should vex […]

It is good to have something to look at when thinking about holiness. Or better, someone. It might be a fellow Christian whom you know. Or someone from the past who by grace lived a very holy life. Best of all is Jesus. For in him we have perfect holiness. And we have it displayed […]

John Bunyan was born near Bedford, England in 1628, just a few years before the Puritan revolution began. He grew up very poor and had no formal education. He taught himself to read and write, however, and enjoyed immensely medieval novels of the day. He was so foul-mouthed that even wicked men were embarrassed by […]

‘The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9). We are considering the perfections of God. When the Puritan Stephen Charnock considers the attributes of God he lines up this beautiful string […]

I first read this gentle little quiz in the Friendly Companion, the children’s magazine of the Gospel Standard Baptists. I rearranged it a little and then spoke to the children in our congregation and asked them if they could work out the answer. What is this? 1. It is one word with seven letters. 2. […]