Topic Archives: Christian Living

Paul says, “An overseer must be above reproach,” (1 Timothy 3:2) and yet we hear of pastors falling into sin all too frequently. How should such pastors (and I would add Ruling Elders and Deacons) be viewed by the church and how should they be disciplined? Surely most evangelicals believe these pastors ought to be […]

By the mid 1960’s George and Patti Harrison were deeply into Eastern mysticism, evidenced in a number of George’s songs he had written for the Beatles during that time. But on Thursday, August 24, 1967 their involvement in Eastern mysticism went to a whole new level. Patti heard that the Maharishi Yogi was lecturing in […]

Obadiah, Ahab’s chief civil servant (not the minor prophet), was a remarkable man. We know very little about him, but what we know is deeply instructive and hopefully deeply humbling. Obadiah lived at a time of wholesale national apostasy. Ahab, beguiled by his heathen, Baal-worshipping wife Jezebel, had sought systematically to destroy the Lord’s prophets. […]

Caroline Hand writes on how reading John Gwyn-Thomas’s Rejoice Always1 helped her. Why is it we do not always see the fulfilment of God’s promises in our own personal circumstances? Romans chapter 5 tells us that tribulation produces perseverance, character and hope, with the end result that God’s love is poured into our hearts. But […]

David declares that our Lord is a God of deliverances, to whom belong escapes from death (Psa. 68:20). Some of those escapes can be quite narrow, as David himself experienced. At one time only a mountain stood between a murderous Saul with his army and a fleeing David and his company (1 Sam. 23:26). At […]

Aaron Burr, Jr. was less than two years old when his father, the President of Princeton, died suddenly and unexpectedly in September, 1758. A few months later Aaron’s grandfather, Jonathan Edwards, who had been elected President of Princeton to succeed his son-in-law, died from complications due to a small pox inoculation. A few months after […]

The situation that we find ourselves in, historically, is not a happy one. Let me begin by saying I hope that you are well convinced that freedom is founded upon Christianity. Our Saviour tells us very plainly: it is only if the Son shall make you free that you shall be free indeed. There has […]

Perpetua, a young, well to do woman, lived in Carthage in 200 A.D. Carthage, modern day Tunis in north Africa, had a vibrant Christian community living amongst a pagan people, and Perpetua had come to believe in Jesus as the Christ. She was attending a Catechism class to prepare her for public profession and baptism, […]

Most of you know the story about Eric Liddell, the gold medallist in the 400 meters in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, how he refused to run on Sunday and forfeited his place in the 100 meters, opting to run a race which was not his speciality. What you may not know is that Eric […]

As we look around the Western world today, there is very little to encourage anyone on the moral or spiritual level. Iniquity no longer hides its face for shame; immorality is assumed to be normal; violent crime is increasing. The Churches generally are becoming weaker, many of them no longer prepared to make any stand […]

Exodus 20:8-11. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, […]

It should be remembered that by the Lord’s appointments, all sorts of people can legitimately marry and receive His blessing by Palmer Robertson For some cultures today marriage is a thing of past generations. Parents and grandparents may have married but people today don’t bother with marriage. Current customs and tax-breaks don’t require it, so […]

THE 2002 PASSAGGIO REFORMED CONFERENCE IN ITALY The eighth annual conference of the reformed publishers ‘Passaggio’ took place at a new venue this year. Some fears had been expressed beforehand that moving the conference farther south to the town of Misano on the Adriatic coast would deter some of the participants of past years from […]

A Kingdom Which Cannot be Shaken Are you surprised that we have had two world wars already in this century? Are you surprised at the piling of these horrible armaments? Are you surprised at the confusion, the collapse, of so many institutions at this present time? [This sermon was preached by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on […]

DOUBTING GOD by C.H .Spurgeon “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. “-1 Samuel 27:1 The thought of David’s heart at this time was a false thought, because he certainly had no ground for thinking that God’s anointing him by Samuel was intended to be […]

THE INDISPENSABILITY OF GENTLE INSTRUCTION Everything in our lives matters to God. If there are things wrong in our lives, they need to be dealt with, removed. by Ian Hamilton Our Lord Jesus’ teaching is always deeply searching, sometimes almost unbearably so. Few statements of our Lord are more calculated to search out our hearts […]

THE VALUE OF A GOOD BOOK When Dr James Stalker gave the nine Yale Lectures on Preaching in 1891, which were subsequently published by Hodder and Stoughton under the title “The Preacher and His Models”, he drew to his conclusion with these words: A student ought, while at college, to make himself master of at […]

SHOULD CHRISTIANS DRINK ALCOHOL? Anyone considering the problem alcohol brings to our society today is challenged to become a total abstainer. That is a choice many Christians make. They don’t flaunt this fact before others, but are happy to live alcohol-free lives. Other Christians do reserve the right on occasions to drink alcohol. Here are […]

We will not be strong because of our own sense of righteousness, morality and good behaviour. by Geoff Thomas What a constant theme is Christian weakness in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. How alien a message it is to the prevailing Christian ethos of the 21st century. For example, those churches which claim to […]

SPORTS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN “As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4 Some men are spending their time in making money. That is the main object of their lives. They would be as usefully employed probably […]

WINDOWS ON SIBERIA Nizhnivartovsk Vladimir Radzihovski (31) and his wife Oksana (30) came to this oil rich city of NIZHNIVARTOVSK in 1993 at the invitation of Joseph Bondarenko, the leader of the original mission to western Siberia in 1991. The city now has 300,000 inhabitants and was founded in 1972 following the discovery of huge […]

ON READING BOOKS I thought it might be advantageous to delineate how I myself read books. I don’t presume to be a reader or bibliophile superior to all of our readers (I am certain that a number are quite superior to me!), but I believe it will be helpful to some who are perhaps looking […]

A WARNING AND A CHALLENGE Never, never he afraid to hold decided doctrinal opinions We cannot withhold our conviction that the professing Church is as much damaged by laxity and indistinctness about matters of doctrine within, as it is by sceptics and unbelievers without. Myriads of professing Christians nowadays seem utterly unable to distinguish things […]

LITERATURE IN TAMIL The 1689 Confession of Faith (3000 copies) and the Children’s Catechism (2000 copies) was printed in South India two weeks ago. Already, 200 copies have been sold and more orders keep coming. 200 copies will be sent to Sri Lanka as well. We are in the process of informing the churches and […]

TRUTH IS THE CURRENCY OF OUR LIVES Whatever else Christians are to be, they are to be men and women of integrity I recently heard the following cynical quip: How can you tell when a politician is lying? When he opens his mouth. People are increasingly disillusioned with politicians and the whole political system. The […]