Yearly Archives: 2006

“Some women were watching from a distance,” (v.40) Mark begins, and you might think that these were a group of curious onlookers, horrified by what they saw and so standing at a distance, but still constrained to see what was happening. They were ‘watching’, we are told, and that word is instructive. In several of […]

The disciples had been imprisoned. And after they were miraculously released, by an angel, they were again arrested and brought before the council. When Gamaliel urged caution in dealing with them, the Apostles were beaten and released. But, although they were commanded not to “speak in the name of Jesus”, they could not give up […]

As part of my mandatory military service, I was sent to live on a Kibbutz near the southern city of Eilat. Since I knew English, one of my duties was to care for the English speaking guests and volunteers. One day a big torsoed, black bearded man arrived. We called him Black John. He had […]

The other day I was reading Psalm 4 (I must confess that the older I become the more often I am drawn to the Psalms). In Psalm 4, David writes the following sentence, which has always somewhat puzzled me. He writes, ‘How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame’? What was David’s […]

John Pont, member of the church at Hanover Chapel, Tunbridge Wells for forty-one years, fell asleep in Jesus on April 24th, 2005. John Pont was born on December 12th, 1929. At that time his parents lived in the old chapel house at Matfield. His father was the caretaker. Although his father helped in the building […]

Green Eye of the Storm, by John Rendle Short. This well-known author from Australia has defended the creation narrative in Genesis 1 by describing the “controversy between science and Christianity” in the lives of Arthur Rendle Short (1880-1953), Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888), George John Romanes (1848-1894), and the author. The lives of these four men […]

The doctrine of election is often slandered as the enemy of missions, evangelism and a passionate faith in Jesus Christ. Few things could be further from the truth. In reality, this doctrine is a great motivation to missions and evangelism and it leads to a great love and joy in Christ. In addition, the doctrine […]

The 20th anniversary thanksgiving celebrations were a great success. Apart from a few administrative hitches, most of which only the organisers would have been aware of, the meetings went “according to plan”. We have received a lot of positive feedback from both the church members and the visitors who were present. To God alone be […]

So, you’re thinking about planting a church. That’s a great idea! You’re not alone. Aspiring to establish a new church is a good and necessary work, as we join others through the centuries in the regular exposition of Scripture, the development of a disciplined body of believers, and the right practice of Christ’s ordinances for […]

I was born in a Christian family. My father came from a very high class Hindu Brahman, or priestly family. One day, when he was going to his office, he saw some Americans selling Mark’s Gospel on the streets. This was in the 1960s, when communism was coming to India, so he thought it was […]

“You shall love your neighbour as yourself” Mark 12:31 The Faces in the Crowd As I reflect on Catholicism I realize that faces come to mind, not a system, not a monolithic structure, not a demonic institution. I remember people who were very, very nice. To be sure, this is my own personal experience, but […]

Today at our service to worship and celebrate God our Savior, we found ourselves confronted by a throng of about 500 men, women, and children who had come to prevent us from baptizing two believers. Apparently they had heard the good news from Arad, from which the two belong to the congregation there, and the […]

We often hear the observation that those who accept the Bible as the Word of God frequently differ from one other in their interpretations so . . . “what is anyone to believe?” It is true that we do not all agree about everything, and that that accounts in large measure for the rise of […]

Princeton and Preaching: Archibald Alexander and the Christian Ministry by James M. Garretson The most recent studies of Princeton Seminary include David C. Calhoun’s two-volume presentation of its history up to 1929, Mark Noll’s study of the influences of common sense realism on both the Princeton Seminary and its neighbor; Princeton University, and Lefferts A. […]

The collected works of John Bunyan fill more than two thousand pages in three thick volumes, The Acceptable Sacrifice; or The excellency of a Broken Heart was unexpectedly the last of his manuscripts that Bunyan himself handled. On a mid-August morning in 1688 John said goodbye to his wife Elizabeth, mounted his horse, and left […]

Walter Marshall’sDoctrine Of SanctificationCompared With The Keswick View AN ABSTRACT OF A RECENT WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY DISSERTATION Many proponents of the Keswick movement have claimed that the distinctive teachings of Keswick can be traced back to Walter Marshall, a Puritan theologian and pastor, author of The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (1692). Theologians in the Reformed […]

There were 130 people present at the annual Carey Conference in January. There was much said that was helpful and the session at which delegates from different parts of the world spoke of the work that they were doing was particularly moving. Each conference needs one session in which a new dimension of the Word […]

Have you no words? Ah! Think again,Words flow apace when you complain,And fill your fellow-creature’s earWith the sad tale of all your care. Were half the breath thus vainly spentTo heaven in supplication sent,Your cheerful song would oftener be,Hear what the Lord has done for me! William Cowper, 1731-1800 We all are familiar with complaints. […]

On Wednesday evening 4th January 2006 Rev Prof Frederick S Leahy died at the age of 83. He and his wife Margaret were planning to attend the pre-communion service in Lisburn Reformed Presbyterian Church. Instead the Lord took Fred to the communion of saints in Heaven. Fred Leahy was born in Co Donegal in 1922, […]

Theology suffers from neglect in our age. Liberals want social progress. Pietists want “practical holiness.” Church-growth gurus want proper atmosphere. And the doctrine of the atonement has been one of the chief casualties in this war against dogma. But wait a second. What could be more practical, more fit for (biblical) church growth, and more […]

Two years ago a young friend of mine died. Before he died he penned a “Parting Letter” to his wife (175 pages). The Letter is a moving testimony of God’s grace to a dying believer. As my friend concluded his letter he quoted these words of John Owen: “Jesus Christ is all, and in all; […]

It was a day of grace for Europe when Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, in Germany, in 1483. Entering first the University of Erfurt in 1501, then an Augustinian monastery, Luther was ordained in the Church of Rome in 1507. But the death of a friend in a thunderstorm, a visit to Rome-revealing its […]

Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house? And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers. 2 Chron. 7: 21-22. Those that forsake their father’s God, shall be rejected by the Lord God of their fathers. This was the sin that ruined Judah in […]

An Egyptian church leader answers questions about the situation faced by the 10-12 million Christians in Egypt today. Q.Many people are surprised to learn that there is a Church in Egypt. How long have there been Christians in your country? The Church in Egypt has existed for almost two thousand years, and throughout most of […]

4. The Relevance of the Doctrine for Today Many professing to be Christians and leaders in the Christian Church would regard this discussion as completely irrelevant. They have no place in their thinking or in their lives for an infallible revelation communicated to us by God. The doctrine of the divine inspiration of infallible Scripture […]