Last Monday I shared some of the things that Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones believed we should not do when weighing whether what appear to be gifts of the Spirit are genuinely from God. This week I am sharing his view on the positive ways of testing and examining these gifts. My paraphrase of his tests is as follows: 1. We should use our human reasoning and understanding. It’s interesting to see his stress on wisdom, led, of course, by the Scriptures,... Read more
I have recently shared a couple of quotes from The Soul Winner here and here, and a few years back I shared another bunch of them. Today I thought I’d share some great comments from Spurgeon about the gospel. “The gospel is a reasonable system, and it appeals to men’s understanding; it is a matter for thought and consideration, and it appeals to the conscience and the reflecting powers. Hence, if we do not teach men something, we may shout,... Read more
UPDATEThis was up for less than an hour before I received three responses! The list of the nations can be found on the Stoneliegh 2001 CD, The Fathers Embrace, which is available on iTunes, at least in the UK. I would be interested to know if that URL works in the USA as well. ORIGINAL POST I received this e-mail recently, the plea for which I definitely echo . . . I enjoy reading your website and am one of... Read more
Tim Keller will be speaking in the UK twice in the next few months. I received the following information from Oak Hill College which will be hosting him. I understand that he will also speak for Newfrontiers on the second trip. To book, click here. Two conferences with Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City, will take place at Oak Hill in November 2008 and May 2009. The first, Preaching to the Heart, is on 19 Nov... Read more
Piper Friday resumes this week. Today I wanted to draw your attention to the notes and mp3s of a recent trip Dr. Piper took in the UK. He was speaking to students on Ruth, and Dave Bish was there. I thought I’d share the following quote from a previous sermon on Ruth John Piper has preached: The Lesson of the Book of Ruth Here’s what I would suggest as the main lesson: the life of the godly is not a... Read more
Philippa Stroud is the Executive Director of the UK’s Centre for Social Justice. She spent seventeen years in poverty-fighting projects and published a book on social injustice before her involvement in the CSJ. From 1987 to 1989 Philippa worked in Hong Kong and Macau among the addict community. From 1989 to 1996 she pioneered a four-stage residential support project in Bedford enabling homeless people to move off the streets and to become contributing members of the community. From 2001 to... Read more
In a typically clumsy political maneuver by Gordon Brown, he has had to retract his endorsement of US presidential candidate Barack Obama. UK prime ministers are usually extremely careful to remain neutral in American politics. Blair, for example, was possibly the only person in the world (other than perhaps Billy Graham) who was able to be a close personal and professional friend of both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The Times report suggests that Brown was forced to make... Read more
I thought I would do a short series of posts looking at some of the practical implications of thinking in a multicultural way within the context of a Christian worldview. There is probably nothing more firmly embedded in our cultural identities than what we choose to eat. If you are English of a certain age, then the chances are good that next Sunday you will be eating for lunch a roast dinner of meat, roast potatoes, gravy and some vegetables.... Read more
A few days ago, I quoted from Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner. I thought I would share another quote from that first chapter again today. It is interesting in the context of today that some argue against emotionalism in preaching, while others try and by human effort create an atmosphere. Spurgeon would disagree with both approaches: “Nor is it soul-winning, dear friends, merely to create excitement. Excitement will accompany every great movement. We might justly question whether the movement was earnest... Read more
This from Terry Virgo’s blog: When you go through hard times, bitterness is waiting at the door, offering you fellowship. ‘What a terrible time you’ve had,’ it says. ‘How cruel they’ve been! How unjustly you’ve been treated.’ But bitterness isn’t a friendly companion; it’s a vile weed which puts its roots down deep into people’s personalities. Not content to disfigure just one soul, it grows up searching for others who might be willing to draw near. If you yield to... Read more
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