Topic Archives: Church & Ministry

Researchers are taking notice of a disturbing trend: children are spending less and less time outdoors. A recent survey of two thousand parents and children in the United Kingdom found that ‘the average child between 6 and 16 years old spends only an hour a day outside.’ The summary of the study says, ‘Believe it […]

I was at the opening of a new church building in London on Saturday November 17. Its opening is at a time when Britain is currently experiencing Ash Dieback, a disease of ash trees caused by a fungus. It was first identified in the UK in 2012 and is now widespread. Over the next few […]

‘Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.’ — 2 Corinthians 6:2 I tried to show last week that many of us in the Reformed and Calvinistic world are woefully weak in asking for the order in our preaching and one-on-one evangelistic work. I know some are very quick to ‘get […]

‘These men who have upset the world have come here also.’ — Acts 17:6 How do we motivate the millennial generation to take up the challenge of world evangelization? As I wrote last week, many define the millennial generation as those born between 1980 and 2000. In the United States roughly 75 million millennials were […]

This is considered the height of being contemporary and ‘really communicating’ to modern man. We are being urged to interweave pictures and videos during our sermons. If a new preacher is tempted to use a projector, I would suggest that you do it just occasionally at first. Don’t think that you are obliged to do […]

Let me get my caveats out of the way first. Yes, I have preached my share of long sermons (more on that in a moment). I don’t do many 15-minute homilies. My last four sermons on the Christ Covenant website (as of Monday) were 43 minutes, 46 minutes, 46 minutes, and 36 minutes. I aim […]

Instead of lifting my soul to gaze upon the Lord’s beauty while in a church service or reading my Bible at home, my mind drifts to my plans for later in the day, my favorite sports team, or to what is stressing me — and Satan loves it. When our minds are somewhere else, they […]

Proverbs 26.17 says, ‘He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears.’ Let go of either ear and you get bitten! If the controversy raised by this book review did not belong to me, wisdom would preclude my involvement—but alas, as a Reformed preacher I […]

This address was delivered by C. H. Spurgeon in 1891 and proved to be the final one he was to give at the Pastors’ College. A footnote to the introduction explains, ‘Having endured many years of poor health, which was not helped by the theological battles that had occupied his attention during the mid to […]

Every employment has its own particular perils and pitfalls, occupational hazards which are simply attendant on fulfilling the task in hand. In this post I want to share three healthy and holy fears which should characterise the mind and heart of a faithful minister. These are not the pathological fears which seize all of our […]

Here are some questions you must consider. . . 1. Are you currently meaningfully involved in a church? If not, do that for a few years and decide whether you still want to work in the church. 2. When you read about the offices of elder or deacon, do you resonate more deeply with one or […]

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in evangelism is telling people the good news without telling them the bad news. No wonder I’m met with blank stares or “That’s nice for you, but not for me.” When we don’t tell unbelievers about sin and wrath, they often think grace is irrelevant. They don’t see […]

Scottish evangelical Christianity represents a tradition of biblically faithful, theologically rich, and spiritually powerful devotion and ministry. I think, for example, of William Still, Eric Alexander, and Sinclair Ferguson as outstanding representatives of this glorious tradition. And I can’t think of these men and others like them and what they stand for without emotion. So […]

‘He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides in him.’ — John 3:36 Have you noticed the many sermons, the many books and blogs telling the church of Jesus that our purpose is to reweave the […]

I recently attended a conference with a group of pastors from five continents and 15 countries. A number of them had heard about the vibrant and growing Reformed Baptist movement in Zambia, and they asked me what the contributing factors have been. Thankfully, I have been doing some research for a writing project, and so […]

‘. . .instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires. . .who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.’ –Titus 2:12, 14 In the fall of 2001, while being the Senior Pastor at Golden Isles Presbyterian […]

Heroes of the Spanish Reformation In the first part of the sixteenth century, Luther’s publication of the Ninety-Five Theses started a new movement across Europe which we know as the Reformation. By 1525, not only were Luther’s works translated into Spanish but Illuminist teaching was taking hold and subject to scrutiny and opposition. Valera, from […]

Almost two years ago I shared 15 reasons why visitation is good for your Pastor (you can read it here). At the time it was so fulfilling to talk to people about what I’d written, both online and in the real world, and to feel a sense of conviction about my own pastoral practice in […]

Of all the societal and psychological changes brought on by the dominance of social media, one of its most interesting effects is on our language. Headlines have been replaced by hashtags as a means of capturing the essence of a story, and terms can be coined, duplicated and globally disseminated in a matter of minutes. […]

The Great Commission stands at the center of Christianity as the command of the risen Lord Jesus Christ for his church to proclaim the name of God in the world for the sake of all nations and God’s glory among them. The church fulfils the commission by making disciples of Christ, teaching them to observe […]

‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing…teaching…’ –Matthew 28:19, 20 There is a long history of Christians, on both the political right and left, who find themselves being seduced by Babylon, the political spirit of the age. The seduction is real, but it often goes unnoticed, slowly gaining a grip on our […]

First time attendee Samuel Beaulieu talks about his time in Elizabethtown, PA, attending the 2017 US Banner of Truth Ministers’ conference. Are you interested in attending the 2018 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference? Standard registration ends this month – click here to register.

Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. –Acts 2:38 Perhaps this heading takes you by surprise. You have come to know, over many years from my writing and preaching, that this is not […]

The previous article, in February, discussed some ‘aspects of the Church’: its twofold character as visible and invisible, and its twofold character as catholic and local. All references in the text are to James Bannerman, The Church of Christ, Banner of Truth Trust reprint, 2015. * * * When we come to discuss the actual […]

Watch long-time Ministers’ Conference attendee David Bissett talk about his first conference experience and a recent trend that has encouraged him.