Yearly Archives: 2005

Over the last number of months, a serious controversy has blown up in Evangelical circles in Britain over the doctrine of penal substitution. At the focus of the controversy is a book, The Lost Message of Jesus, whose principal author is Steve Chalke, a London minister and founder of the Oasis Trust, which, among other […]

Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) was the leading theologian of the nineteenth century Dutch Calvinist revival. Studies in English of Bavinck have been sparse, partly because Bavinck’s four-volume magnum opus Gereformeerde Dogmatiek, is only being translated now (volume 2 on “God and Creation” was published in early November), and partly because Bavinck has often been perceived more […]

I will outline Baxter’s life and then highlight his zeal, first by his exceptional pastoral work at Kidderminster, then as expressed in his classic work The Reformed Pastor. A sketch of his life Richard Baxter was born in 1615. Unlike almost all the better known English Puritan ministers he did not enjoy an education at […]

“Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of […]

‘For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet he willhave compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.’Lamentations 3:31-33. Once every year something unusual occurs in our national calendar: it is the day known as ‘Remembrance Sunday’. […]

There are two tendencies among Christians which are equally dangerous and equally wrong. On the one hand you have those who pursue a purely intellectual approach – the only thing that matters for them is knowledge, especially of an academic or theoretical nature. These people usually have big brains and the memory of an elephant, […]

Even while Jesus hangeth on the cross in death he is still keeping possession of the throne, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Let this be remembered for your encouragement in the cloudy and dark day. If you live in any place where the faithful fail from among men, do not wring your […]

Soon after the Lord opened my eyes to see the truthfulness of what we call the “Doctrines of Grace”, I had an interesting encounter with a young lady. I was pastoring a small Southern Baptist Church in Wyoming and this lady was serving in our state that year as a summer missionary. Towards the end […]

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). In conservative circles, there was a time when men had thoughtful […]

About 100 people gathered in Derbyshire for the annual Carey Conference, somewhat fewer in numbers than last year. As in all the free grace conferences in Britain during these years the blessing of God shows itself in the presence of a humble united spirit. There is a good balance of older preachers and younger men. […]

The following is a report of the second half of the Conference. REPORTS FROM OVERSEAS. ANDREA FERRARI – ITALY. In July 2002 Andrea moved to Milan to 14 founder members of a new church with 20 averaging in their attendance. The Alfa & Omega Publishing house has an aggressive publishing programme, the latest being Spurgeon’s […]

The name ‘Alexander’ is virtually synonymous with the story of the first one hundred years of Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, and is woven deeply into the tapestry of its origin, development, and justly-deserved international fame. Many Christians first encounter the name without recognizing it. At the end of Paul Gerhardt’s hymn (based on […]

The fascinating error of Sandemanianism was opened up again at the Westminster Conference in London in December. Sandeman defined saving faith as bare assent. In four issues of the Canadian paper ‘Christian Renewal’ during November and December Doug Barnes the pastor of the URC in Hills, Minnesota, examined the erroneous teaching of the late Gordon […]

Amidst all the hollow fraternization of the ecumenical movement there may be seen one great gulf persisting. This runs along the fault-line of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. On one side of the line stands a host of romanticizing mediaevalists, crying out bitterly over the Reformation’s rending of the seamless robe of Christ: namely, the […]

On American television there is a commercial advertisement that is representative of a growing number of such commercials. The camera pans several people doing different, ordinary things, such as walking, talking on the phone, or simply standing. Then the product being advertised is named and appears in writing on the television screen: Valtrex. The announcer […]

“Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17) Some Christians profess to believe that Christ bore the sicknesses of believers on the cross. This theory underlies certain teaching about divine healing. The Bible teaches that on the cross Christ bore the sins of believers: “Who his own self bare our sins in his […]

Despite the appallingly low level of literacy in the land at present, we in the UK are still a nation of readers. Television, computers, videos and the like have not yet ousted the old-fashioned habit of reading. The charge “Give attendance to reading” (1 Timothy 4:13) is as relevant today as when Paul sent it […]

A recent conference organized by Sola Scriptura Ministries tackled the subject of Church and State in an Age of Terror head-on. Speakers included Dr. George Grant of the King’s Meadow Study Centre in Franklin, Tennessee, Dr. Michael Haykin of Toronto Baptist Seminary, and Dr. Joseph Pipa of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in South Carolina. The […]