Articles

Daniel Baker (1791-1857) of Georgia was one of the outstanding evangelists of the Presbyterian Church in America. Late in his life, Baker wrote a letter to one of his sons, a young minister, answering the question as to why God blessed his preaching: If you ask me why my preaching is so much blessed, I […]

The Bible is full of remarkable statements. One of the most remarkable is 1 Peter 2:17. Peter is instructing Christians how to live in an essentially Godless, anti-Christian society. He writes, ‘Honour everyone. Love the brothers. Fear God. Honour the emperor’. This is surely remarkable. Love the brothers and fear God we can readily understand; […]

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9). Theologians speak of both the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. I wish, briefly, to take up the issue of our Lord’s humiliation. He emptied […]

Many 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 […]

Percy John Henry Topping: Born 26 March 2015; died 4 April 2015. Aged 9 days An address given at Bethel Chapel, Luton by Mr. Ben A. Ramsbottom, on Wednesday, 22 April 2015 at the funeral service. Readings: Mark 10:14; Job 19:25-27; Job 1:21; Psalm 23; Jeremiah 31:15-17; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 5l-57. Hymns: ‘Sovereign Ruler of […]

Rosaria’s Message to the Church Dr. Rosaria Butterfield said it was difficult to describe her unlikely conversion to Christianity, but settled on defining it as a mix of an alien abduction and a train wreck. ‘I lost everything but the dog,’ she said. Butterfield was speaking September 3, 2015 at Central Avenue CRC in Holland, […]

George Rose (1873-1965) was a Baptist pastor in Tamworth Road, Croydon, in the years leading up to the Second World War. His biography has just been reprinted entitled Remembered Mercies Recorded (Gospel Standard Trust Publications, 376 pages). From 1933 he issued a Monthly Circular in which he wrote a message to his congregation, and those […]

Of all the major Reformers, John Knox is the one about whose early life we know the least – a fact that may come as a surprise since he wrote a History of the Reformation in Scotland.1 We cannot even be certain of the year in which he was born; it was either 1514 or […]

When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses for public debate to the church door at Wittenberg on the 31st of October 1517, the Protestant Reformation officially began its long journey.1 Luther was not the sole pioneer of Protestantism, as he had already been influenced in his theology by the life of Jan Hus (1369-1415) and […]

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they shall both be alike good (Ecclesiastes 11:5). My wife Margaret and I have been running Bible stalls in open-air markets since 1999, with a very small start […]

Approximately 150 years ago, Edith Cavell was born in Swardeston, Norfolk, England. The date was December 4, 1865. Throughout the fifty years of Edith Cavell’s life, she was content to be obscure, working hard and living humbly. But these virtues in and of themselves are not enough to make one unique. Surely there have been […]

… in order to present you before Him, holy, blameless, and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:22). Paul the apostle commands us to do all things without grumbling or disputing (Phil. 2:14). James instructs us not to complain against one another (James 5:9). Paul told us to have no anxiety about anything (Phil. 4:6). And Jesus told […]

Christians across the world are suffering. The media, both secular and Christian, report appalling cases of persecution on a daily basis – situations where Christians are tortured, raped, imprisoned, killed. Researchers list at least fifty countries where Christians are known to be suffering in such obvious ways. There are many others where it is officially […]

For their sakes I sanctify Myself (John 17:19). In a country where the evangelical church has been declining for years, where only seven to eight percent of the population are evangelicals (twenty-two to twenty-six million people); in a nation where evangelicals are alarmingly and increasingly called more dangerous and divisive than Muslims; it is high […]

It was something Caleb said about himself (Josh. 14:8). He had fully followed the Lord. Nor was it an idle boast. His words are merely an echo of the Lord’s: ‘my servant Caleb…has followed me fully’ (Num. 14:24). How may we do the same? We need faith. When Caleb and Joshua and the other ten […]