Resources

The “Los Angeles Times” (July 10) ran an article on the erosion of membership in theologically liberal Protestant denominations in America. The article revealed this startling statistic: In 1960, the mainline Protestant denominations had 40% of American Protestants as members. Today, they have 12%. LA Times article The Episcopal Church USA is hanging on because […]

The annual Evangelical Movement of Wales Conference took place in the second week of August. It has been going on for forty-nine years (what a Jubilee next year) and for forty-eight it has been in this seaside university town. There is nowhere else in Wales where it can take place. There is the irresistible combination […]

In 2003 the Banner of Truth brought out a new edition of A History of the Work of Redemption by Jonathan Edwards. In new typeset and hardback it is a magnificent volume whose theme is of vast scope. From a deep and extensive knowledge of Scripture, Jonathan Edwards sets out to survey the whole of […]

In April 1723, Edwards left New York. He was called to the new settlement of Bolton, just 16 miles from his birthplace. However, he spent the summer at home in East Windsor. There he finished the thesis for his MA degree and immersed himself in other studies, while taking occasional services. Eventually, in November, he […]

Men are not saved by good works, nor by the free determination of their own will, but by the grace of God through faith. But this part of the human race to which God has promised pardon and a share in His eternal kingdom, can they be restored through the merit of their own works? […]

I thoroughly disliked Oxford on many accounts. Of course the place, the buildings, and colleges are things matchless in the world, and to talk of comparing Oxford and Cambridge is simply ridiculous. But I thoroughly disliked the tone of society among the undergraduates at Oxford, the more so from its complete unlikeless to what I […]

Fellowship in the book room at a Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference is sweet. Talking about books with fellow preachers, gleaning recommendations on various topics, or overhearing comments about an engaging new title all make the book room a profitable place to visit between sessions. This year at the USA conference was no exception! Seeing […]

It is a quarter of a thousand years since the birth of John Newton and we do well to pay our little tribute to his worthwhile life. In his day Newton was famous for five things – he was an outstanding example of a converted infidel, he was a great hymn-writer, he was a wise […]

[The following article is an excerpt from an upcoming book to be published by Founders Press entitled My Journey in Grace. The excerpt is taken from Part 1 – A Personal Journey. It appeared in the Founders Journal, Issue 64, Spring 2000, edited by Tom Nettles and printed by permission. http://www.founders.org] When the Lord called […]

Genesis 3:1-7 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,but God […]

[In the 1950s Professors Renwick, Collins and Finlayson used to travel south from Edinburgh and address the Durham University Christian Union. It was probably this sermon, preached with great unction and power, and published later in The Life of Faith, that left some of its hearers feeling so guilty that their heads were bowed low […]

Genesis 2:18 “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone’“. There have to be unique reasons why it wasn’t good for Adam to remain alone, but it’s just as bad for anyone to live in isolation from other people. We haven’t been made to spend our lives like the […]

Genesis 2:24&25 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.“ One of the greatest challenges to Christianity in Wales today is what is called ‘postmodernism.’ Don’t worry […]

Augustus Montague Toplady was born at Farnham in Surrey on 4th November 1740. His father, Major Toplady, died in May 1741 of yellow fever at the siege of Cartagena. Toplady was baptised at Farnham Church on the 29th November of that year. We can pass over his childhood for there is little of importance for […]

In the early part of my ministry I had no picture of what a reforming work might look like. Though familiar with some 16th century Reformation personalities and events, the ongoing necessity for biblical reformation had not captured my imagination. But that soon changed. I was in the midst of studying “Church Growth” under Peter […]

In the previous installment we traced the roots of the New School Dutch Calvinistic preaching. This type of preaching is characterized by historical-redemptive rather than an exemplary approach to Scripture. Rejecting what it considers the individualistic, subjective, mystical and experiential elements in Old School Calvinistic preaching, it emphasizes the covenantal, objective and corporate aspects of […]

Introduction Every religion has certain characteristics that sets it apart from its rivals. There are different traditions, customs, rituals, ceremonies, modes of worship and styles of preaching. Limiting ourselves to Christianity and preaching, there is a marked difference, for instance, between Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Pentecostal and Reformed or Calvinistic preaching. It does not […]

The Bible’s Teaching On Election This fundamental doctrine teaches believers that they were chosen in Christ before the world was created. The eternal Father chose a people from the ruins of the fall of Adam; a number that no man can number from every nation, kindred, tongue and people. The eternal Father loves them in […]

Someone contacted me to say that the town drunk had had a stroke and was in the local hospital. Could I visit him? I have had dealings with him over the years, seen him lain out on a bench in front of the bank dead drunk, an empty wine bottle under the seat, been approached […]

Keep a Close Watch on Yourself and on the Teaching (3)– Al Martin I Timothy 4:16 “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Take heed to yourself that you are growing in grace and maintaining a vital walk with God, by […]

The Banner of Truth has reprinted Robert Traill’s Justification Vindicated (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2002, xii, Puritan Paperback Series). It would be understandable if a reader of Justification Vindicated were to conclude that this book had been written only quite recently, for in it Scottish Presbyterian Pastor Robert Traill was responding to the rise […]

The Life of John Knox – Iain Murray John Knox was born around 1514 at Haddington. At 12 an unknown book arrived in Scotland, Tyndale’s Bible. Thirty years later the first Scottish martyr was to be burned at St. Andrews. Knox was ordained a priest in the Scottish RC church in 1536. In the 1540s […]

“On Becoming a Better Pastor”– Graham Heaps, Dewsbury Evangelical Church, Yorkshire I am tied to my notes because I have 10 minutes. It is natural to think that years of pastoring make one a better pastor, but is that necessarily so? My son played the violin and practiced for years and yet he failed his […]

If it were to be asked what is the recurring theme in Knox’s words and writings the answer is perhaps a surprising one. Sometimes he could be severe, and sometimes extreme. Given the days and the harshness of the persecution he witnessed, it would be understandable if these elements had preponderated in his ministry. But […]

(A sermon preached at the Memorial Service for Donna Cunningham, a single sister in Christ who died of cancer at age 58, and who served the kingdom unselfishly and sacrificially, especially in the education of church at Grace Christian School. She was also a faithful member of Covenant Presbyterian Church, Louisville, MS, who endured in […]