Yearly Archives: 2000

Pastoral Challenges For Our Ministry In The New Millennium, By Brian Edwards [February 15, 2000] Brynygroes Conference Centre, Bala, at the annual Day Conference of the evangelical ministers of North Wales. We are living in unique days. Could it ever have been so hard to be in the ministry of the gospel as today? Consider […]

The start of the new millennium has many pundits wringing their hands about the future, but believers in Christ should he looking to the future with optimism. This may be the year in which the Lord returns. He can come at any time. Again, this may be the year in which we see the beginning […]

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31, NIV) For years I’d thought Timbuktu […]

This video is frequently recommended as a tool for evangelism. It is based on Luke’s Gospel, and reports indicate that it is faithful to the text. The motives and integrity of the makers and users of this video are thus not to be questioned. However they are misguided, and the following arguments are intended to […]

The old gospel of Owen, first of all, contains no less full and free an offer of salvation than its modern counterpart. It presents ample grounds of faith (the sufficiency of Christ, and the promise of God), and cogent motives to faith (the sinner’s need, and the Creator’s command, which is also the Redeemer’s invitation). […]

How are we to pray for the world-wide success of the gospel of Christ? How are we to plead the promises of Scripture? The Larger Westminster Catechism Question 191 sums up the Puritan view. What do we pray for in the second petition of the Lord’s prayer? Answer: We pray that the kingdom of sin […]

An Introduction James I. Packer ‘BAXTER, Richard, gentleman; born 12 November 1615, at Rowton, Salop; educated at Donnington Free School, Wroxeter, and privately; ordained deacon by Bishop of Worcester, Advent 1638; head of Richard Foley’s School, Dudley, 1639; curate of Bridgnorth, 1639-40; lecturer (curate) of Kidderminster, 1641-42; army chaplain at Coventry, 1642-45, and with Whalley’s […]

The British law known as Section 28 prevents public money from being spent on the promotion of homosexuality in schools and elsewhere. It has curbed the excesses of many local authorities, but taxpayers’ money is also being funnelled into pro-gay schemes through Health Authorities, whose actions are not subject to Section 28. The government is […]

Jean Henri Merle d’Aubigne was born in 1794 to a distinguished Huguenot family in Geneva. In his youth he received a thoroughly classical education, and after completing a course in the Humanities, he commenced, at the age of 19, the study of theology at the Acadamie de Geneve. It is important to note, however, that […]

The Place of the Reformation in the History of Christianity Merle d’Aubigne made a distinction between the history of Christianity and the history of the Church. In an address delivered in 1832 at Geneva he said, There are two histories, there is what we may call the “History of the Church,” that is of human […]

We are in contact with church and mission agencies all over the world and the one thing they all have in common is that they need workers. Most are even praying for those who will come short-term and help in the task. The bigger demand is for long-term workers of some level of maturity. It […]

‘Essentially Evangelical’ is the name adopted by a group of evangelical ministers to a proposed organisation of individuals (and perhaps of churches) sharing certain convictions. The envisaged movement would not constitute a denomination with any form of centralised leadership, but would be a voluntary means of promoting co-operation. Other such groups already exist in British […]

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night Psalm 90:4 1. Recognise that there is more than one perspective on life. Perhaps the most basic thing here is that there is more than one way of seeing things. It is […]

The following report is published in the current edition of the American “Presbyterian & Reformed News” [Vol. 5 No.4. December 1999]. In October, controversial Anglican minister John R. W. Stott preached in chapel at Covenant Theological Seminary, the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) located in St Louis, and filled the pulpit […]

Almost ten years ago J.I. Packer’s collection of articles and essays on the Puritans appeared, entitled in Great Britain, “Among God’s Giants” (Kingsway Publications, 447 pages). Many of the papers had been given at the Puritan Conference, and there were a number of other articles, not readily available to us before the appearance of this […]

Mark Pickett of Brighton was a student in Aberystwyth twenty years ago and for many years he, his wife and three children have been living, studying and working in Nepal. He has just written a simple commentary on Genesis in one of the Indian languages, actually their first commentary on Genesis. I recently heard a […]

The Times (Monday January 24, 2000) printed an extract from Monica Furlong’s critical biography of George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury (“C of E. The State It’s In,” by Monica Furlong, to be published by Hodder and Stoughton on February 17, £18.99). At 17 years of age Londoner Carey professed conversion in an Anglican church. […]

Over forty years ago the Banner of Truth reprinted John Owen’s “Death of Death in the Death of Christ ” The book became instantly famous in the English-speakng world because of its introductory essay written by the youthful Dr. J.I.Packer. The book is still in print, and here are its timeless opening paragraphs: “The Death […]

There is no topic of greater significance than conversion. The great mass of human beings can be divided into two groups, the converted and the unconverted. Alas, we must say that most are unconverted. The question, “Are you converted?” is often asked in sermons. There is no more important and earnest question than, “Am I […]

Swanwick Conference Centre January 11-14. The opening session was chaired by David Kingdon. The first paper was given by Geoff Thomas. On January 6th was the 150th Anniversary of the conversion of Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1850 in Artillery Street Primitive Methodist Church, Colchester and the theme of the paper was an examination of true […]

In the current Westminster Theological Journal (Vol 61 No 2, Fall 1999) Bob Letham, formerly of England but now a pastor with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Delaware, reviews Alister McGrath’s “J.I.Packer: A Biography” (Baker in the USA; Hodder and Stoughton in Great Britain). He makes many good points. He begins, “After Basil Hall’s ruthless […]