Yearly Archives: 2010

Protestantism can be an embarrassing concept at times . . . For the first twenty years of my life the term was identified with the Troubles which raged around my generation, and the ugly notion of taking aggravated and hostile sides against ‘the other sort’. As school life at a Protestant boys’ school gave way […]

The Free Church (Continuing) Assembly was addressed this summer [2010] by one of its evangelistic workers, Donald John Morrison, and this is what he said of the missionary to the Indians, David Brainerd. A man with a great missionary vision once said that ‘the spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions, and the nearer […]

Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God.’ (James 1:13) Charles Templeton, a newspaper reporter from Toronto, after a night of carousing and drunkenness, says that he had a conversion experience. By 1945 he was preaching with Billy Graham at Youth for Christ rallies around the U.S. and Europe. […]

Ian Hamilton was a minister for many years in the Church of Scotland. Since 1999 he has been the pastor of Cambridge Presbyterian Church. His book, The Erosion of Calvinist Orthodoxy: Drifting from the Truth in Confessional Scottish Churches1 has just been reissued in a revised edition with a new introduction, a chapter that details […]

In the history of the church of God, we believe no man is worthy of more honour than William Tyndale. When we think of that dear man, in loneliness translating the Scriptures, often in a musty cellar or draughty attic, what he sacrificed for Jesus’ sake! How different from an eminent minister preaching to hundreds, […]

If anyone in the ancient world wanted to know how to write, he read Marcus Fabius Quintilianus’ Institutio Oratorio. Among other things, Marcus pleaded that if you wanted to win the assent of your readers you must begin with a ‘courteou’a courteous and natural opening’; rather, he begins by calling down God’s curse of eternal […]

‘you don’t have to be a member of the Miller family for this autobiography to fascinate, astonish and inspire . . . There is no sense of self-aggrandizement or self-justification . . . Miller honestly chronicles set-backs and disappointments as well as the successes of his ministerial career and is careful to give God all […]

Rachel Lucas Pearce, for 59 years a member of the church at Bethel, Luton, entered her eternal rest on May 9th, 2010, aged 96. The following is her own account: As some of my children have repeatedly asked me to write a little concerning my hope of salvation, I venture with much fearfulness, feeling to […]

I recently had the opportunity to share with an unbeliever how I was converted to Christ. Some have enjoyed the privilege of having been raised by Christian parents and cannot recall a time in their lives when they did not trust Christ for their salvation. I have had the privilege of experiencing the saving grace […]

The author’s concern is with ‘spiritual, Christian greatness . . . and with the help it can be to see it in others’ and his ‘hope is that these pages 1 may give young Christians a relish for old authors, and encourage younger ministers of the gospel in the assurance that the Saviour of yesterday […]

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12) Aaron Burr, Jr. was reared in a godly home of prominence. His great grandfather was Solomon Stoddard, the powerful theologian and pastor […]

Luke 11:24-26 When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits […]

Satan makes great efforts to keep sinners in his kingdom. His evil hope is that they will continue to dishonour God for the rest of their lives and spend eternity still under his power. Thus Paul refers to the evil work of ‘the god of this world’: he ‘hath blinded the minds of them which […]

One of the most striking characteristics of our era is our unassailable belief that we are better and more civilised than those who lived before us. No other age has been as enlightened, as clever, as wise, as good, as ours. We Know Better. The characteristic insult of our age is to be described as […]

This is the final section of a paper given at the Theological Conference of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 2008. Its full title was, ‘James Fraser of Alness and the Preaching of the Gospel’. The previous two sections were: (1) James Fraser, the Man, and (2) James Fraser’s Magnum Opus.1 3. James Fraser […]

The first section of this paper, given at the Theological Conference of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 2008, dealt with ‘James Fraser, the Man’, and can be found here. The third and final part – ‘James Fraser as preacher and on Preaching’ – can be found here.1 2. His Magnum Opus The great […]

A paper given at the Theological Conference of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 2008. Its full title was, ‘James Fraser of Alness and the Preaching of the Gospel’. The subject was divided into three sections: (1) James Fraser, the Man; (2) James Fraser’s Magnum Opus, and (3) James Fraser as Preacher and on […]

On 12 September,1983, the Rev. William Still, Gilcomston South Church, Aberdeen, universally recognized as the senior parish minister, both in years and influence, among evangelicals in the Church of Scotland, gave the following address to some fifty ministers at an In-Service course of his denomination, convened at St Andrews. The address was published in The […]

Such a simple idea but such a good one! Alison Brown has taken Bible stories that fit with the numbers 1 – 12 and firstly painted a picture of the story and told it very briefly, then repeated the picture on the opposite page for the child to colour themselves. Finally, they are asked to […]

The Church of Scotland Glasgow Presbytery held a ‘Commemoration of the 450th Anniversary of the Reformation in Scotland’ service in Glasgow Cathedral on 29th June. The address was given by a prominent Roman Catholic, Prof. Tom Devine of the University of Edinburgh on ‘The importance of the Reformation for the Development of Scotland’ and it […]

The Bible’s Own Assessment of the Gospel Preacher [This is the Graduation address given at the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, in May 2010 by Edward Donnelly.] How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15). Preachers and preaching are […]

This book is a history of the 16th century Reformation in Europe. First published in 1882, it was written for teenagers so the text is easy to read. Mr. Lindsay’s thesis is that the Reformation was “a revival in religion animated by the yearning to get near to God”. Yet he also shows how the […]

‘The Banner of Truth has done the church a great service in reprinting this book. We will all do our own souls a great service if we buy it and read it thoughtfully.’ [Alan Hill on John Colquhoun’s Repentance at The Good Book Stall website] Below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles […]

Dr. David P. Murray is Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and was a pastor for 12 years in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). He was Lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at the Free Church (Continuing) Seminary in Inverness until he […]

But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position. (James 1:9) Are you poor? By this I do not necessarily mean financial poverty. Nor do I mean being poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3), a good thing. James is contrasting the brother of humble circumstances with the rich man (James 1:9-11). So […]