Topic Archives: Church Life

‘. . .that they all may be one . . . so that the world may believe that You sent Me.’ John 17:21. Currently the number one, fastest growing website in the United States is www.godtube.com, the brainchild of former CBS television producer and graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary Chris Wyatt. Before going to seminary […]

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12. Robert E. Webber, in his book The Younger Evangelicals (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002) observes that denominations as we have known them […]

The head of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ. We see this particularly in the way he writes to the seven churches in Asia Minor in Revelation chapters two and three. He encourages and corrects and reproves. He observes too that while faithfulness in doctrine is commendable, it is possible to lose our first […]

AN OPEN LETTER TO REFORMED BAPTIST PASTORS AND CHURCHES by Ted Christman [The following letter was sent out to pastors and churches who have been primarily involved with the independent, Reformed Baptist movement in the United States. Its sad occasion was the serious moral failure of a very visible and deeply respected leader of that […]

GOD-CENTRED WORSHIP Where worship is focused upon the eternal God, and not man and his fading fashions, the numbers drawn to participate tend to remain relatively small The topic of contemporary worship continues to arise for discussion, if not debate, amongst pastors and people. One finds articles and books being written now in defence of […]

FEEDING SHEEP OR AMUSING GOATS The mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. An evil resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its impudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate evil for evil. […]

IS WORSHIP BORING? I believe God’s people will find worship nourishing, and rarely boring In December 2000 I was asked by a writer of “Word and Way” (the newspaper of the Missouri Baptist Convention) to contribute to a multi-page, special section on the subject of “Is Church Boring?” My input was requested because 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 […]

The Willow Creek Church is in a suburb of Chicago, one of the ten most wealthy and powerful cities in the world. It is a booming educational, medical, cultural, legal and economic centre with a hinterland of 6 million people. It is the ‘Bible button’ of the Mid-West, the city of Moody Bible College, Wheaton […]

One of the off-the-shelf suggestions for church growth is to ‘open the front door and close the back door’ meaning that welcoming and retaining new people will fill the pews. The subheads under that strategy include meeting people’s needs, providing the music they like, activities for children, etc. But Dr Mark Dever, a pastor and […]

During June this year I was able with God’s help to make a fortnight’s visit to Tiumen, Onokino, Tobolsk, Niagan and Priobye. In all places there is steady progress, much fervent prayer and faithful robust evangelistic preaching of God’s gospel with souls being added to the church. Nowhere did I find any spirit of complacency, […]

This year’s annual evangelical ministry assembly organised by the Proclamation Trust at St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, London, at the end of June was well attended with nearly a thousand present. Visiting speakers included Tim Keller and Don Carson from the USA and Phillip Jensen from Australia. The main theme was church planting. One always appreciates the […]

An edited extract from Mr Murray’s new book Evangelicalism Divided (Banner of Truth) * * * In his book on Evangelicalism, James Davison Hunter wrote: ‘A dynamic would appear to be operating [in Evangelicalism] that strikes at the very heart of Evangelical self-identity’. What is this ‘dynamic’? I believe that all the evidence points in […]

The local pastor often wonders what is happening in the other churches of his community. David Marshall is the pastor of Hamilton Reformed Baptist Church in New Zealand. Recently he needed to take a break from the rigours of pastoral ministry and so was granted a month’s leave. It was not convenient to go away […]

The modern evangelical church does everything to music — even the sermon ends with soft chords and melodies from the organ. Music taps into an emotion a congregation is already feeling, and then manipulates it powerfully. City stores know the power of music to loosen the purse strings and open credit card wallets. Psychologists are […]