Resources

A review by Dr J. Barry Shucksmith of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by Robert White.1 John Calvin was the most eminent of all the 16th century Reformers. He was born at Noyon, 10th July, 1509. He trained to be a lawyer but being convinced of the errors of Rome, he turned […]

On Sunday November 23rd 2013, the bones of St Peter were presented to the world for the first time at a public Mass. According to the Catholic Herald it was ‘wonderful and almost unbelievable . . . a man from Argentina has reintroduced us to his predecessor, a Galilean fisherman born millennia ago’. Eight bone […]

This article was published as a ‘Letter from the Manse’ in the church magazine of Grace Baptist Church, Stockport, Cheshire (March 2015). I spent last week with seventeen other men. We came together for a ‘study week’ and we studied. Seven hours together each day around the conference table and personal assignments to be completed […]

Banner trustee Ian Hamilton talks about the Banner ministers’ conferences, and tells us of the oasis of encouragement and spiritual food that ministers of the gospel need and find at the conference. We hope you will consider joining us this year. Register for the US conference here or learn more about joining us in Elizabethtown, PA, […]

At a point in history when the church in the West is finding herself for the first time in 1,500 years to be marginal or often unwelcome, clear thinking on the nature and purpose of the church is vital. Join us in Philadelphia on April 22nd for an evening conference to hear the great wisdom and […]

I suppose if we had asked around our churches regarding what we would most like to see in 2015 one prominent answer would be a national revival of true religion. Of course, many definitions could be given of revival, although most of them would be related to historical records, which means that there is the […]

‘an accessible, edifying book on Scripture … an easy-to-read, straightforward guide to understanding and profitably using God’s Word.’ – Derek J. Brown on Sinclair B. Ferguson’s From the Mouth of God: Trusting, Reading, and Applying the Bible . In the Notes below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles, mostly posted January/February 2015. […]

A review by Greg Goswell of Covenant and Commandment: Works, obedience and faithfulness in the Christian life (New Studies in Biblical Theology, No. 33) by Bradley G. Green [Nottingham: IVP, 2014], 192pp, paperback, $16.28/£12.99, ISBN 978 1 78359 1 664. The latest volume in the popular and reliable New Studies in Biblical Theology series is […]

John Calvin preached 200 sermons on Deuteronomy. They have been dropped down the memory hole. Calvinist seminary professors have never heard of them, let alone read them. Until today, they had an excuse. Not any longer. In 1583, a translation of them appeared in English. This was ignored, then forgotten. Over four centuries later (1987), […]

‘Comfort with the comfort with which you were comforted.’ My husband Dennis lay in the Intensive Care Unit at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Surgery had led to his inclusion in the 10% who develop complications, leaving me both bewildered and overwhelmed. Day followed day with little improvement. I thought, ‘What if I lose him?’ […]

This article was published as a ‘letter from the manse’ in the church magazine of Grace Baptist Church, Stockport, Cheshire, England. Dear friends, I never buy newspapers these days. Most of the newspapers have websites where you can read all the news and comment for free. And you can also see what other readers have […]

This beautifully produced book consists of 34 short articles written by Pastor Benjamin Morgan Palmer for the Southern Presbyterian magazine between 1869 and 1870. The subjects covered include anecdotes from his pastoral life, a justification for foreign missions, the Beatitudes and Christian paradoxes. Pastor Palmer writes in the florid, wordy style of the 19th century […]

What daily anxieties of spirit are there in some because of the lack of children. They have many other comforts, but the not having of this embitters all. Abraham himself was much troubled about it: Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer […]

It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind (Joel 2:28). In 1848 at the age of twenty Andrew Murray returned home to Cape Town, South Africa from his theological studies in Scotland and Holland. The Dutch Reformed Church required ministers to be at least twenty-two years old […]

A review for the Pastor’s Library at LifeWay.com by Joey Cochran of The Works of Thomas Manton.1 Summary In 1662, the Church of England ejected two-thousand pastors for failure to accept the Act of Uniformity. These men lost pulpits, living, and homes. Many became fugitives for preaching and pastoring illegally. This company of pastors is […]

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36). Barbara ‘Basia’ Piasecka was born in Poland in 1937, and after graduating with a degree in art history and with $100 in her pocket, made her way to the United States and secured a job as a […]

To answer my own question, I hope so. I very much hope so. I am not a fan of hell. I bow to God’s sovereign wisdom and justice, but I wish there were no hell. I wish that every life were sooner or later redeemed, set free from the scourge of sin, and released from […]

Have you ever read Jonathan Edwards for yourself? Maybe you have read about him, or heard about him in a sermon, but have never delved into his writings. Or perhaps you are well acquainted with the writings of Edwards, but it has been a while since you last read one of his books. Whatever your […]

I am writing this en route to Cambridge after a flying (literally) visit to Glasgow. The week before Christmas, I answered the phone to be told that the police and fire service had to break into our apartment in Glasgow where one of our children is living and studying. Our daughter had not misbehaved; there […]

BOOK REVIEW: Bioethical Issues: Understanding and Responding to the Culture of Death by John Ling [Leominster: Day One, 2014], 312pp, $20.00/£10.00, ISBN 978 1 84625 427 7. Dr. John Ling, the author of Bioethical Issues: Understanding and Responding to the Culture of Death, has sat at my feet on Sundays for over 38 years. A […]

At the Westminster Conference at Westminster Chapel last December [2003] the opening paper was given by Iain Murray on the above title.1 The following are his opening words, and the remainder of this fascinating lecture has now been printed with the other five lectures in Knowing the Mind of God, published by the Westminster Conference […]

We sat down with Banner trustee Tom Richwine to ask him why he thinks young men and women should seriously consider attending this year’s UK Youth Conference.

I am asked whether, in my judgment, it is profitable for the minister of today to read the writings of Jonathan Edwards, and (I suppose) those of other similarly notable theologians of the past. The question may perhaps have been suggested to my friend by my own remark that I had recently been re-reading Edwards […]

‘What our generation needs is a sense of God,’ says David F. Wells, who has done more than anyone to analyse the weaknesses of modern evangelicalism. Steeped as we are in atheism and secularism in society and worldliness in the Church, the times cry out for a sense of God. The present situation should vex […]

One of the first, simple assignments homiletic students should be given is to assemble a team of prayer partners. Recruiting from their congregation, family members, mentors, and fellow students, the students are required to assemble a number of at least eight to ten people for their prayer team in the first week of the class. […]