Maria Millis: the definition of an unsung saint
Brian Maiden
Date posted: 1 Oct 2019
In a new series, Brian Maiden gives a short biography of some believers you may not have heard of...
Have you ever heard of Maria Millis? Probably not. But before I tell you about her, let me tell you about Lord Shaftesbury.
Who was at Bethlehem?
John Peet
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
John Peet sheds light on the central characters in the nativity scene and explains their significance of their presence.
Last Christmas my wife and I were talking about those who were at Bethlehem. We found it most instructive to think on who and why.
50 years ago: 4 Christmases, 2 bishops, 1 gospel
Christopher Idle
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
Christopher Idle reflects on two memorable Christmas Carol Services where two bishops shared their story of coming to Christ.
When David Sheppard came to live just across the road from us in Peckham, it seemed providential.
politics & policy
Dark side of the Internet
James Mildred
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
Without a doubt, one of the most important responsibilities God gives to anyone is the one He gives to parents. Charged with raising their children in the fear of the Lord, theirs is a serious and difficult task. Joy and sorrow often go hand in hand in the mission and task of raising young people.
The challenge of raising children is all the more difficult today because of the Internet. First invented in 1990, it has grown enormously, in ways few predicted when it arrived on the scene. Like most things, there is plenty to enjoy about it. The Internet allows for greater connectivity and for the easier spread of information.
A tale of two cities: ten years on
Richard Hagan and Matthew Roberts
Date posted: 1 Oct 2019
en interviews Richard Hagan and Matthew Roberts who moved to Canterbury and York respectively to plant new churches
Ten years ago this month, Matthew Roberts and Richard Hagan moved with their young families to York and Canterbury them to plant new churches. en asked about the story of Trinity Church York and Emmanuel Church Canterbury.
Crossing the Culture
Reaching the Sikh
community with the gospel
Jon Taylor
Date posted: 1 Oct 2019
Although Sikhism is a major world reli-gion and the fourth largest UK religion,
it is surprising that even in well-stocked
Christian bookstores
there
is very
little
material in the way of reaching out to the
Sikh community. Typically in the apolo-getic section there are many books regard-ing Islam, some on Hinduism and a few
on Judaism and Buddhism, though little if
anything on Sikhism.
In 1992 Josh McDowell and Don Stewart
wrote ‘Sikhism is a religion all but unknown
to Western civilization’1. Strangely, we are left
with the same conclusion today.
history
Rule Britannia?
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 1 Sep 2019
Remembering the life of H M Gwatkin and the British Empire
The name of Henry Melvill Gwatkin (1844–1916) has long been a familiar one through his standard examination of the Arian heresy, Studies of Arianism (1882), which remains a classical study of this ancient heresy.
The joy of repentance
Wallace Benn
Date posted: 1 Sep 2019
Former area Bishop of Lewes, Wallace Benn, reminds us of the delight to be found in turning back to God
When the Lord Jesus began his ministry he proclaimed: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:15). Repentance is central to the Christian message and cannot therefore be downplayed or abandoned.
history
1919 revival in Toronto
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 1 Jun 2019
During and after World War
I, many
English-speaking Evangelicals were hoping
and praying that one positive result of the
horrors of that war would be a great awakening of men and women to their sin and
their need for the Saviour.
It was not to be; but there were local revivals,
a century on, that we should remember.
Church life
Why your church needs biblical theology
Joanthan Leeman
Date posted: 1 Jun 2019
The discipline of biblical theology is just as important to the life of your church as systematic theology.
Biblical theology is the root of doctrine; systematic theology is the fruit. And we need to get both right if we want to know who Jesus is, what the gospel is, and how to guard and guide our churches.
Transported to Australia?
David Robertson
Date posted: 1 Apr 2019
Evangelist David Robertson tells us why he is going Down Under
I was doing some research into my predecessor at St Peters Dundee, Robert Murray McCheyne.
The Gospel According To AI
Ben Clube
Date posted: 1 May 2019
Oak Hill Theological College student, Ben Clube, contemplates whether Artificial Intelligence is ‘good news’
The past century has seen explosive interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Pop culture has perpetuated the hype with The Terminator in the 80s, The Matrix in the 90s, and a deluge since the millennium with I-robot, Ex Machina, Black Mirror, Westworld, etc.
Encouragement in Europe
Michael Ots
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
Michael Ots reflects on ten years of the Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities of Europe (FEUER)
The name FEUER is a slightly tenuous acronym, using English words to spell the German word meaning ‘fire’.
Why a northern seminary?
Jeremy Marshall
Date posted: 1 Mar 2019
Jeremy Marshall challenges the current evangelical status quo
In 1854 the novelists Charles Dickens and Mrs Gaskell each wrote best sellers (Hard Times and North and South).
Keep going, pastor!
Jonathan Worsley
Date posted: 1 Apr 2019
Dilapidated buildings, small budgets and struggling congregations: Jonathan Worsley on irresistible grace & ministerial steadfastness
It’s Monday morning. You’re driving to the church office, reflecting on your sermon from Sunday.
Revitalisation: why bother?
John James
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
John James on what is so good about turning round dying churches
‘It is easier to give birth than raise the dead,’ my friend replied, as I began to talk about the church revitalisation project we were prayer-fully considering.
Millennials and internships
Matt Waldock
Date posted: 1 Mar 2019
Matt Waldock of City Church Manchester on how to attract young graduates into short-term church work
You simply cannot avoid them!
Technology
InSight into our universe
Pete Nicholas
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
On Monday 26 November Nasa’s Mars InSight probe touched down.
It is a wonderful technological achievement. Please note, I am using the adjective intentionally, ‘wonderful’ – an achievement that is (and should be seen as) ‘full of wonder’.
‘Sad... but never surprised’
Esther Smith
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
Esther Smith reminds us of the work of the charity Caring for Life
‘We’re never surprised by what we find behind closed doors; sad, but never surprised.’
history
Calvin’s atrocities?
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’.
This famous first line by L.P. Hartley (1895–1972) in his novel The Go-Between (1953) has long been a favourite maxim that orients my teaching of history, for it is notoriously difficult to treat former eras of history with the degree of empathy that they need to make them understandable.
Milestones 2019
Joy Horn
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
Joy Horn flags up Christian anniversaries worth noting in the coming year
EVENTS
Morgan Llwyd, said to be the first non-conformist minister in Wales, was born in 1619. Converted under Walter Cradock, he served as a chaplain in Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army and became minister in Wrexham. His books have influenced Welsh national consciousness and literature to the present day.
Reaching the loneliest older people at Christmas
Louise Morse
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
Louise Morse offers a timely challenge to the churches
Christmas is a great time to show the love of God and to tell the salvation story.