Resources

Last November Pepe Moreno celebrated 25 years as the pastor of the Evangelical Church in Alcázar, central Spain. We caught up with him (this is not easy) and got him to answer a few questions… 1. When did you first think about becoming a pastor? My calling to the ministry is, in many ways, related […]

‘But God,’ -Ephesians 2:4a. God spoke and all things came into being. He gave freedom for man and woman to eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve was deceived and Adam deliberately disobeyed God. And then death came upon all mankind, […]

The God who knows everything about himself has by no means told us all. There are many things that remain a secret, known only to himself. Much, we may be sure, has been passed over in total silence. And when he has spoken, he has told us only a very little. The mysteries of Christianity […]

It came as a bit of a shock, although not a great surprise, to hear a leading Reformed minister say recently that he did not have a proper doctrine of the church for most of his ministry. We have witnessed a recovery of the doctrines of grace over the last sixty years in the United […]

‘What man is he that feareth the LORD? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.’ (Psalm 25:12-13) There was a time not too many years ago when a believer was described simply as a ‘God-fearing man.’ That was […]

First Protestant missionary to translate the Bible into Chinese The great English poet and hymn writer William Cowper wrote the following well before Robert Morrison left for China: Great offices will have great talents, and God gives to every man the virtues, temper, understanding and taste that lifts him into life and lets him fall […]

The so-called great heresies are worthy of examination for a number of reasons, one of which is that they represent the main lines of attack against Biblical Christianity. With the exception of Gnosticism, which begins with the claim to secret knowledge apart from the Bible, they depend on a distortion of the Biblical witness. Modalism […]

‘Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.’ – Revelation 2:10 Zakaria Botros, an Egyptian Coptic priest, born in Egypt in 1934, who was declared by the Arabic newspaper al Insan al Jadeed to be Islamic public enemy number one, has a $60 million bounty on his head from Al Qaeda. […]

It is not so long ago that in almost every church service we would hear the opening words, ‘Let us worship  God’,  or ‘Let us unite in the public worship of God ‘. When it came to the public reading of Scripture, the preacher would say, “Let us hear the Word of God’ . A […]

Iola Thomas 1941-2016. A husband’s tribute, given by Geoff Thomas at the funeral of Iola Thomas, 27th October 2016. I believe in God-honouring tributes to be given in Christian funerals, and enjoy them, and feel something is missing if they are absent. If I had to give you a text on which I had to […]

In recent years there has been an increasing argument as to whether the Act of Remembrance, as practiced across the United Kingdom and further afield on Remembrance Sunday each year, should include references to God. It was General William Tecumseh Sherman who first coined the phrase, ‘War is hell.’ If that is the case, then […]

Calvin’s sermons on Paul’s epistle to Titus have been available in the form of a facsimile of the 1579 edition of Calvin’s sermons on the letters to Timothy and Titus. This new translation by Robert White, however, has the pleasing effect of making them more accessible to the modern reader, as well as more portable. […]

Taken from an appendix to a new book on holiness by Sinclair B. Ferguson, entitled Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification. In almost any discussion of the role of the law in sanctification there is one commandment that causes considerable debate—the commandment on the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8-11). It is certainly the commandment that seems to give evangelical Christians the greatest difficulty. […]

Next year, 2017, will be the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. At the end of October, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenburg. We expect lots of murmurings and questionings next year, that that whole event was a ‘fiction,’ and that […]

On September 3 2016, Rhodri Brady, the son of Gary and Eleri Brady, was ordained to follow his grandfather, Geoff Thomas, as the pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church (Independent), Aberystwyth. Geoff Thomas gave this ordination prayer on that occasion, using some material from Valley of Vision1. O blessed Saviour, help us. Who are we […]

The question of bodily exercise is dominating life in our society today. It is a constant theme in the media in the light of  the growing problem of obesity and certain diseases. We are bombarded with prescriptions for healthy eating and for exercise.  As someone said recently, ‘Gyms are opening up as fast as churches […]

Take advantage of this one week special listed below! Books on Sale ‘Hodge gives an excellent, general statement of the Reformed Faith, yet Dabney adds something beyond the general treatment of most subjects. When his method of teaching is recalled, of sending his students to the standard texts on theology (including Hodge), and then adding his […]

‘For you have shown today that princes and servants are nothing to you; for I know this day that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased.’ – 2 Samuel 19:6 All men are tempted by the big three-women, children, and power. We see the big three and the […]

‘David sent messengers and took her . . . he lay with her.’ – 2 Samuel 11:4. When Israel clamored for a king, Yahweh relented and gave them Saul, but after Saul’s disobedience, God promised another king after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). When Paul the apostle was addressing the Jews at Pisidian Antioch, reviewing […]

A remarkable book has appeared entitled With Mercy and With Judgement and with a sub-title, Strict Baptists and the First World War. It is written by Matthew J. Hyde. Dr. Hyde is a research scientist and a minister among the Strict Baptist Churches. He has done years of research into the stories of the soldiers, […]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is increasingly being quoted by evangelical writers and theologians. Eric Metaxas’ recent highly-acclaimed biography presents him as an evangelical martyr of the twentieth century. Stephen Nichols, President, Reformation Bible College, with a PhD from Westminster Theological Seminary, in his book, Bonhoeffer on the Christian life, states: ‘We can even lay claim to […]

There has been some online debate in recent days concerning pastoral visitation – chiefly in response to Thom Rainer’s blog post on church member visitation, where he provided 15 reasons why those in pastoral ministry ‘shouldn’t visit much’. While the risk of being viewed by one’s congregation as a sanctified social worker or life coach […]

The Banner publishes a number of small booklets that focus specifically on life issues and important questions. These booklets are designed to be read quickly, given away to friends or inquirers, and used to stock church bookstalls. You will find that they are relevant for readers today and can help facilitate edifying discussion. This week, […]

Western  society  is  beset  with  slogans  of  one  kind  or  another.  There  can  be  few  societies  which  have  had  to  face  so  many.  Not  that  previous  generations  have  not  had  to  respond  to  them.  Virgil  spoke  to  the  ancient  world  of  ‘Eternal  Rome’,  and  people  were  meant  to  be  grateful  that  the  Roman  Empire  would  […]

There  is  much  debate  in  the  modern  church  about  what  exactly  is  her  mission.  Often  the  answer  that  is  given  is  not  so  much  wrong  as  lop-sided,  and  exaggerated  implications  and  conclusions  are  drawn  from  that.  There  are  probably  three  main  views:  the  Church  exists  to  glorify  God;  the  Church  exists  to  build  up  the  […]