Articles

A few details about Matthew Henry’s life (1662 – 1714) will be of interest. His grandfather was ‘keeper of the orchard’ at Whitehall, London, and he took his father’s Christian name for his surname ‘after the Welsh manner’. The earlier surname was Williams. Philip Henry, Matthew’s father, achieved fame as a nonconformist minister and diarist. […]

In his preface to this little book subtitled, “Good News for the Vilest of Men”, Bunyan states that one reason which moved him to write the book was: “to invite and encourage the worst to come to Christ”. He goes on, “I have been vile myself but have obtained mercy; and I would have my […]

God’s word is full of “very great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4). One of his most precious promises is found in Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” Our gracious God has committed himself to teaching, guiding and […]

Baruch Maoz was born into a Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts on December 30, 1943. In 1952 his parents divorced. A year later, Baruch immigrated to Israel with his mother and younger brother. At an early age he concluded that there was no God. In 1961, while serving in the Israeli army, Baruch was introduced […]

The following beautiful lines were written by a young woman in Nova Scotia, an invalid for many years with spinal disease, and a great sufferer, but in whom the grace of God was most wonderfully manifested. My life is a wearisome journey,I’m sick with the dust and the heat,The rays of the sun beat upon […]

Lieutenant General Sir William Dobbie (July 12, 1879 – 1964) was an officer of the British Army, who served as the military governor of Malta during World War II. Dobbie was a member of the Plymouth Brethren and was a veteran of the Second Boer War and World War I. He was also the former […]

At a marriage service Mr. Spurgeon said to the bridegroom, “My dear friend, don’t you begin to feel proud because Paul says that the husband is the head of the wife. Solomon says that ‘a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband;’ and the crown is the top of the head. Still, the governing […]

How do we overcome by faith in the evil day? What was the experience of David in Psalm 13. There are only six verses in this psalm, and it opens in this way, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must […]

When a doctor steps into the room and tells you, “I’m sorry . . .it’s malignant,” you have heard words that are about the hardest for anyone to hear. They are words that pack an emotional wallop, and can shatter your sense of wholeness in an instant! I’ve heard those words three times. The first […]

Geerhardus Vos’ Biblical Theology is well known to Banner of Truth readers and is foundational to understanding his writing. Recently an anthology of Vos’s writings has been published and the book has been reviewed by Sinclair Ferguson in New Horizons January 2006, the magazine of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. A Geerhardus Vos Anthology is edited […]

“Having turned away from Jewish and Christian faith, a Europe based solely upon the Enlightenment cannot long survive. The Europe that is declining in population is a Europe more rational than Europe has ever been, more scientific, less religious, less pious, more mundane, wealthier, more consumerist, more universally close to living etsi Deus non daretur […]

Several years ago I attended a huge rally at a Baptist church in Calgary, Canada. Tony Campolo was the main attraction. I had heard one of his humorous CDs but hardly knew the man. I figured he was your typical “evan” and was prepared for an evening of humourous fundamentalism. To great applause Campolo came […]

It is rather audacious to claim that we are reformed. It can also be misleading when we call ourselves Reformed Churches. For this might imply that we believe that our denominations are truly reformed; or, even worse, that at some point in the past we were or became reformed and that the task of reform […]

Contemporary Western culture wants a Jesus who either stays a cute baby in a manger or who grows up to rail against pollution or gun control, big business or labour unions. Absent from contemporary thought is the wonderful and terrible declaration that God, eternal Jehovah, shattered the silence of centuries, rent the heavens, and invaded […]

Review Article The author of “The Life and Labours of Asahel Nettleton”, Bennet Tyler, was a pastor for many years in South Britain, Connecticut, where he knew Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844) intimately. He eventually became the president of Dartmouth College. He is famous for his polemics against the liberal Nathaniel Taylor and the New Haven theology, […]

“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 […]