Topic Archives: Preaching & Teaching

Guy Davies posted an interview with Robert Strivens, who is Principal-Designate of the London Theological Seminary, on his Exiled Preacher blog on 8 February 2008. The interview is reproduced here with kind permission. GD: Hello, Robert Strivens and welcome to Exiled Preacher. Please tell us a little about yourself. RS: Thank you, Guy. It is […]

Geoffrey Thomas is Pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church, Aberystwyth, where he has served the Lord for over forty years. His preaching and written ministry are deeply appreciated by many of God’s people around the world, and he is no stranger to Northern Ireland [where ‘Men for Ministry’ is based], having spoken in a number […]

to proclaim … the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ephesians 3:8 Recently four teenagers, three of whom were entering their last year at high school, were killed in a car accident. I cannot imagine the grief and heartache of the parents of these young people, knowing that their children’s lives were snuffed out at such a […]

Be sober in all things. (2 Timothy 4:5) Paul, in his last epistle, written shortly before his martyrdom in Rome, gives several exhortations to his son in the faith, Timothy; and this one in particular needs our attention today. Paul’s exhortation to be sober is a present imperative, not referring to freedom from drunkenness but […]

All of us know the experience of reality not matching expectations. Sometimes the problem is with the reality. We buy a cruise on the internet. But, when we take the cruise we find that it falls far short of what was advertised. Other times the problem is with expectations. We get married expecting we are […]

As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ one of my chief concerns is the efficacy of the Gospel message. In fact, I am more and more convinced that the potency of the word is bound up with the character of the preacher. Keeping this in mind, it becomes needful for the Christian minister […]

‘The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and the books, especially the parchments.’ (2 Timothy 4:13, ASV) As the Apostle Paul writes his second epistle to Timothy, he does so from the confines of a Roman prison awaiting trial. These are some of the last words he pens, or […]

Mark writes about the three women who were at the tomb of the Lord Jesus; ‘And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid,’ (Mark 16:8). The women who came to the tomb that first Easter morning showed […]

PowerPoint and the Death of Preaching I have nothing against PowerPoint presentations when it comes to missionary spots, illustrated talks or lectures, etc. But I take issue with the use of PowerPoint in the pulpit. A preacher told me recently that a church he was due to visit asked him not only for his hymns […]

For 16 years David Feddes has preached each week on the Back to God Hour, the radio ministry of the Christian Reformed Church. He followed Peter Eldersveld and Joel Nederhood, two splendid preachers. We heard them both with great profit, and also David. This is the opening of his final Back to God Hour message. […]

Alexander Somerville (1813-1889) was a close friend of Robert Murray M’Cheyne. They went to school and university together. As divinity students, they met for the study of the Bible using both the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) and the Hebrew original. More often still they met to pray and share their Christian […]

Most church denominations today ordain women as pastors, elders, and deacons. The Presbyterian Church in America, the denomination to which I belong, is not one of them, and for this reason we, and a few other like minded ones, are increasingly held in disdain by people both within and without the professing church. Those denominations […]

Send in the clowns! Trinity Episcopalian church on Wall Street, New York, had a ‘clowning’ good time at a Sunday worship service. The congregation was encouraged to come as clowns, red noses and all, while the choir and clergy all wore clown outfits with oversized shoes and painted faces. The whole service was done in […]

Today there is a widespread cry for relevance in preaching. But, generally, relevance is measured by the subjective feelings of those who sit, or might sit, in the pews of a particular church. Latching on to such feelings, a community church in Arizona advertised: “Stronger family relationships … greater satisfaction at work … and you […]

THE REFORMED CONFERENCE IN MANILA Over the years the conference has proved a tremendous catalyst for change, introducing men who would otherwise never have heard them to the doctrines of grace I am only now beginning to feel human again, having left Manila at 11p.m. local time on Sunday. I was already tired after preaching […]