Topic Archives: Christian Living

At the time of the Roe v. Wade decision, I was a college student , an anti-war, mother-earth, feminist, hippie college student. That particular January, I was taking a semester off, living in the D.C. area and volunteering at the feminist ‘underground newspaper’, Off Our Backs. As you’d guess, I was strongly in favor of legalizing abortion. […]

Jim Elliot’s wife, Elizabeth, once said of him, ‘At 21, Jim began an adventure that would require the ultimate sacrifice.’ That adventure was to follow Christ toward the mission field of Ecuador and, ultimately, martyrdom at the hands of the Auca Indians he loved so much. A Habit of Reading A big personal part of […]

Much has been said and written about Martin Luther in recent months. A lot has been made of the phrase that he used to characterize his understanding of justification by faith , simul justus et peccator, Latin for ‘simultaneously righteous, yet a sinner’. It certainly does help to clarify the Scriptural teaching on justification. On the […]

The church today is crippled with a comparative absence of strong and full assurance and, perhaps worst of all, most of us are scarcely aware of it. We live in a day of minimal, not maximal, assurance. How do we know this? Assurance is known by its fruits: a close life of fellowship with God; a tender, filial […]

Robert Cecil Rayner, a beloved deacon and member at Salem Chapel, Braintree, Essex, for twenty-six years, passed peacefully away on February 9th, 2017, aged 73 years. After a severe illness he wrote the following, dated November 2014. The heading was this: ‘Toiling with Rowing on the Sea of Life’. * * * My first recollections […]

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act in the UK. Although this article was written with the UK in mind, much of its content remains relevant to any country in which abortion is considering being legalized or is already legal. * * * Anniversaries are how we mark out our history , some […]

‘And He gave some as evangelists.’ , Ephesians 4:11  There is a plethora of good Bible teachers and preachers in the Reformed denominations of our day, and for this we ought to be thankful. We tend to attract men who love the Bible and theology and who, consequently, are gifted in communicating both. However it […]

At the 2017 Shepherd’s Conference, in Sun Valley, California, the Banner of Truth hosted a student event for Master’s Seminary Students. We sat down with Iain Murray and John MacArthur to discuss reading in the ministry, asking them if they could share their accumulated wisdom after reading and writing for decades. Here are some of […]

The following is a poem, written by William Cowper on the subject of prayer. What various hindrances we meet, In coming to the mercy seat! Yet who that knows the worth of prayer, But wishes to be often there? Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw, Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, Gives exercise to faith […]

Derek Thomas talks about writing Ichthus with Sinclair Ferguson. Watch as he breaks down the theme of the books, and talks about why the life of Christ is just as significant as his death. FULL VIDEO SHORT VIDEO

For the last four Septembers I have been scheduled to travel to a Reformed Conference in St Petersburg with a number of other men.  The initiative for this event came from Dewey Roberts, the long-standing pastor of the PCA congregation in Destin, Florida. The Russian people have been on his heart since 1999 and it […]

An account of John Swallow from Charlesworth written by his pastor, Mr E. Merrett. * * * John E. Swallow, for many years a deacon of the Particular Baptist cause at Charlesworth, Derbyshire, passed away on October 31st 1918, aged 56 years. In the following account we have a striking instance of the power of […]

There are not wanting here and there the signs that good Christians are suffering from a kind of spiritual metal-fatigue. In our fellowships iron rarely sharpens iron any longer. Much preaching that is orthodox lacks that ring of conviction which is needed to thrust it home into sinners’ consciences. A guilty tameness smothers our zeal. […]

John Walter Stevens, a member of the church at Bethel, Luton, and formerly deacon at Ebenezer, Clapham, and South Moreton, passed away on November 25th, 2016, aged 95 years. The following is taken from his own writings (written in 1993-94). * * * I was born in Clapham, London, in July 1921, of godly, praying […]

Malta is a Mediterranean island situated 60 miles south of Sicily. Its population is 420,000, almost half of whom live in the capital, Valletta, and the numbers have been swollen in recent years by a stream of refugees from North Africa. Its official language is Maltese but many of the people speak English. It became independent […]

An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. , Proverbs 31:10 I well remember the time I was allowed to take a series of eleventh grade American Literature class in a local high school and give the ‘other side’ of the story about the Puritans of the seventeenth century. They […]

The longer one lives in this world as a Christian, the more he or she becomes aware of the significance of their words and thoughts. The mind of the the believer plays a far more central role than we often realise. ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he’, the scriptures say. We […]

[A sermon preached at the morning service in St George’s-Tron Church, Glasgow, on 31 August 1997, following the announcement of the death in Paris, earlier that day, of Diana, Princess of Wales.] I urge, then, first of all, that requests, praers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, […]

Richard Sibbes was born at Tostock, Suffolk, in 1577 and went to school in Bury St Edmunds. His father, ‘a good sound-hearted Christian’, at first intended that Richard should follow his own trade as a wheelwright, but the boy’s ‘strong inclination to his books, and well-profiting therein’ led to his going up to St John’s […]

In spring 1991, a gathering of pastors in Leicester were listening intently to a preacher expounding the doctrine of sanctification. Their hearts burned within them as in three sessions he gave a masterly overview of his subject and drove home his message with real conviction. What particularly riveted their attention was the way that all […]

Ian Hamilton discusses his first time reading John G. Paton’s Autobiography as a young Christian, and the ‘seismic impact’ it had on his Christian walk.

A Trip to Prague I had never been to Prague and had the scantiest knowledge of the Czech Republic, but one day I was reading a newspaper and in the Travel section saw a cheap three day excursion offered to Prague. I thought about it and booked a flight and an hotel there. The Czech […]

One sometimes meets Christians who use scriptural words and thoughts with no more feeling than if they were licking stamps. They seem to belong to a religious world whose citizens live always north of the Arctic circle of emotion. Their spiritual affections are buried beneath yards of ice and snow. When they venture to talk about […]

‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.’ , Revelation 14:13 I wrote on this very important and comforting issue a few weeks ago. I wish now, however, to take it one step further. […]

The members of First Church (not the real name of the church) consistently made false accusations against one another. They would regularly throw verbal mud at one another. At times, they would even form alliances and fight against one another. Some of their claims were silly. One elder accused a teenager of rebelliously going to […]