Topic Archives: Church Issues/Unity
This is the text of an address delivered at the Leicester Ministers’ Conference, 28 April, 2012. It is included, along with four other addresses, in Iain H. Murray’s Evangelical Holiness and Other Addresses. J. Gresham Machen once wrote: ‘If we are going to avoid controversy, we might as well close our Bibles; for the New […]
ReadIn the last few months, the church I serve has been working through the updated version of Eshcol, John Owen’s little treatment on church life now entitled Duties of Christian Fellowship: A Manual for Church Members. The volume is divided into two main sections. The first contains seven ‘Rules for walking in fellowship with respect […]
ReadChurch and danger. Up until recently it would not occur to British Christians to put these two words together. We associate church with many things, but not danger. Yes, there is the threat of child abuse by wicked clergymen, and there is always risk associated with listening to false doctrine, but in terms of simple […]
ReadWhen is a Church not a Church? Such a theological conundrum presupposes that the inner reality may be lost while the outer shape remains, rather like a nut which when cracked open proves to have no kernel inside. In fact the Bible goes further and asserts that what looks like the Church may indeed be […]
ReadThe present is a time not for ease or pleasure, but for earnest and prayerful work. A terrible crisis unquestionably has arisen in the Church. In the ministry of evangelical churches are to be found hosts of those who reject the gospel of Christ. By the equivocal use of traditional phrases, by the representation of differences […]
ReadThis article was first given as a paper at the Free Presbyterian Theological Conference. * * * These articles deal with a theological work which, more than any other, gives a comprehensive treatment of the whole field of ecclesiastical theology, from the Scottish Presbyterian position. It is James Bannerman’s treatise entitles The Church of Christ. A […]
ReadThe 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 […]
ReadIt 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 […]
ReadAt the 2016 Shepherd’s Conference, Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and John MacArthur discussed books that have left a lasting impact on their lives and ministries. They pointed out two Banner titles that we have decided to put on sale, through May 12th. Watch the two short videos below to learn why these men speak so […]
ReadWe noticed recently a leading religious commentator acknowledging that the West will collapse without a Christian revival. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a rapid moral decay. He went on to say that the West will fall unless it rises up against the forces that oppose it. But how is […]
ReadThe conflict over worship today manifests itself in what have been called ‘the worship wars’. In many church buildings you witness a platform with a plethora of musical instruments. If you check out the order of service you will find that more time is given to so-called ‘worship’ than to the reading and preaching of […]
ReadMany explanations have been given for the explosion of the charismatic movement in Africa. Many have seen this as a powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit. Whereas there is probably more than one reason, I want to add my own observation to this for what it is worth. In this article, I am not referring […]
ReadHow Scotland Lost Its Hold of the Bible1 was first published in The Banner of Truth magazine, No. 623-624 (Aug-Sep 2015). The article can be downloaded as a 28-page print-ready pdf here, and may be freely printed and distributed. Man is now thinking out a Bible for himself; framing a religion in harmony with the […]
Read. . . there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and freeman, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:11). The so-called Charles Spurgeon of America, John Lafayette Girardeau, was born in 1825 on James Island, South Carolina into a French Huguenot family. He was reared in […]
ReadOne thing I love about Alaska is the pioneering spirit of independence evident in so many people here. ‘Do it yourself’ is just a way of life for many Alaskans. But this mind-set doesn’t carry over very well to a Christian’s relationship to the church. Many Christians have left traditional churches in favour of forming […]
ReadRecently I attended the communion service in Magdalene College chapel in Cambridge. The service was rich in Trinitarian worship, in elevated God-centred prayers, in excellent hymns and a fine, if too brief, sermon. As I sat and shared in the worship, this thought came to me, ‘How diverse the church of Jesus Christ is.’ Here […]
ReadThe present state of the Church of Scotland should be a cause for Christians everywhere to cry to God for mercy. For a professing Christian church to pass legislation that permits a congregation to call a minister (man or woman!) who is in a same-sex relationship is a theological scandal and a moral monstrosity. No […]
ReadRev. John Macpherson, former Free Church minister in Dornoch and London, and missionary in Peru, reflects on the influence of Bonar’s Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne on his life and ministry. I had the inestimable privilege of being brought to faith in Christ while I was young, about 14-15 years of age. Although […]
ReadRecently I read the large two volume official biography of John Stott written by Timothy Dudley-Smith. The books are interesting because of the account they give of many events, organisations and people in the British evangelical scene during the second half of the twentieth century. There is no doubting the huge impact Stott made in […]
Read. . . but to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:2 When the Puritans came to the Massachusetts Bay in 1630 under the leadership of John Winthrop, they came humbly, expectantly, seeking earnestly to fear and honour God, to […]
ReadHere is a clarion call to Christians to hold fast to the true Gospel – that is that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. The 8 chapters in the book have been taken from two works of the Victorian minister: Knots Untied and Home Truths. They cover subjects such as […]
ReadThe Great Ejection 1662: Today’s Evangelicalism Rooted in Puritan Persecution By Gary Brady Darlington: Evangelical Press, September 2012 176 pages, paperback, £8.99 ISBN: 978 0 85234 802 4 2012 has been a year of achievement and celebration in the United Kingdom. Highlights of the year have undoubtedly been the centenary of the sinking of RMS […]
ReadOn Monday 10th September 2012 I had the privilege of attending a minister’s fraternal in Mount Merrion Free Presbyterian Church, Belfast, where the guest speaker was Dr Joel Beeke. Dr Beeke is minister of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. The subject he had chosen to […]
ReadThe annual meeting of the Mbuma Zending, of Malawi, was held as usual on April 30, and the venue this year was the spacious Brabanthallen in the town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. This date is always chosen as it coincides with the public holiday observed annually in Holland in celebration of the Queen’s birthday. When presumably most […]
ReadPSALM 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? This Psalm refers to some unknown episode in the life of David, when such terrible things were taking place that it seemed that ‘the foundations’ of society were being destroyed. So, he cries out in grief in the third verse: ‘If the foundations […]
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