Articles

I [Geoff Thomas] first saw Dr Koop in Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in 1961. He was an elder, and bore a striking resemblance to the pastor at that time, Mariano Di Gangi. He was a surgeon in the Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia. Then I heard of him again when his son was killed rock-climbing one […]

During Easter Week Alec MacDougall of Trinity Baptist Church Gloucester took myself and my nephew David on a history tour of that city. We saw the memorial church, built on a site where George Whitefield preached in the open air. I would guess it was built as a Presbyterian chapel. It’s URC now – and […]

The history of God’s work in Scotland is profuse and brimming with manifestations of God’s power and grace. In my twenty-five years of ministry here it has been my privilege when time and opportunity afforded to take visiting preachers on ‘the grand tour.’ From the castle at St Andrews in the north-east to the various […]

SESSION 1 The Conference commenced with the 300 men singing the metrical version of Psalm 65, and with prayer. Iain Murray then explained to the Conference that the sickness of Dr Robert Godfrey of Westminster Seminary, California, had prevented his attendance, and that Dr Sinclair Ferguson would speak instead of him. John Marshall opened a […]

Preface The following article was written by Lisa Loden. Lisa and her husband, David, are well known in Israel and Palestine for their musical gift and for their important contribution toward the creation of a local Christian hymnody in Hebrew. Lisa is also active in cultivating relations between Jews and Palestinian Arabs in Christ and […]

Perhaps the most famous sermon ever preached in America was the one Jonathan Edwards delivered entitled “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God.” Not only has the sermon been reproduced in countless catalogues of preaching but it is included in most anthologies of early American literature. So scandalous is this vivid portrayal of unconverted […]

A Key to his Courage John G. Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides, today called Vanuatu, in the South Seas. He was born in Scotland in 1824. I gave my Pastors’ Conference message about him because of the courage he showed throughout his 82 years of life. When I dug for the reasons […]

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 united […]

The Reformed churches in Liverpool have a monthly officers meeting on Fridays in the winter, and I was invited in February, at the last minute withdrawal of Peter Masters of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, to speak to them on the subject of worship for 35 minutes to be followed by discussion. There were about 25-30 […]

[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 […]

To some it might seem unnecessary and even wickedly controversial to thrust upon readers any discussion of Arminianism. This might appear to be the case for two reasons. First of all, why should we revive ancient controversies and thereby provoke animosities that have long since died the death of old age? Arminianism takes its name […]

[After a decade of theological teaching with the Qua Iboe in Nigeria, Martin Bussey has gone to teach theology in Kenya alongside Keith Underhill and the Trinity Reformed Baptist Church. this is the first letter he has written about settling into East Africa.] That’s how long it is since we landed. And that’s why the […]

Near the end of his life, Augustine of Hippo meticulously reviewed everything he had ever published. He wrote an entire catalogue of his own works, a painstakingly annotated bibliography with hundreds of revisions and amendments to correct flaws he saw in his own earlier material. The book, titled Retractationes, is powerful evidence of Augustine’s humility […]

Two hundred years ago was the beginning of the golden age of missionary expansion from Europe and North America. At that time there were 174m professing Christians in the world which had a population of 730m. So Christians set up missionary societies. The first was founded in 1794, plainly called the Missionary Society. This became […]

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 […]

This letter arrived from Paul Williams, the pastor of an Evangelical Church in Swindon, which triggered off a chain of thought. “Yesterday Ruth and I had some time off and went to Bristol. We were taken by friends to the George Muller museum there, and also saw for ourselves the vast orphanages. What a joy […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]