I have a confession to make. There was a time in my Christian life when I did not read Evangelical Times! I know this is a shocking admission. But please don’t turn the page in horror, or send a strongly worded letter to the editor. As you can see, things have changed. My ‘pre-enlightenment’…
Read more
We have been exploring the Bible’s teaching on the Sabbath as the special day of rest God has given his people. We have seen how the church has largely forgotten it, in our day, but also why it needs to be rediscovered. One of the reasons many Christians have abandoned the idea of such…
Read more
A recurring error of evangelical Christianity is to dislocate itself from the evangel, the gospel. That is, despite its claim to be gospel- and grace-centred, it slips all too easily into being law-centred, and grace becomes the casualty. To say this is in no way to imply that God’s law is not important or…
Read more
The past 30 years have witnessed huge moral and spiritual changes, not just in the life of our nation but also of the church. Much of that change is a reflection of the cultural revolution that started to sweep through the Western world when the so-called Baby Boomers of the late 1940s and 1950s…
Read more
What does Jesus demand of his followers for them to be recognised as true disciples? A brief look at the Sermon on the Mount helps us find out.
Read more
The book of Hosea relates the story of a man with a divine message that was out of sync with the outlook of his age - and yet very suitable for his age.
Read more
There will be important events during 2015 and, no doubt, significant changes in both state and church. We all know that a general election will take place, and perhaps we may see so-called minor parties receiving a greater influence than could have been imagined a few years ago. The situation in politics that we…
Read more
There are some trends in evangelical thinking that delight me; others create concern. I am still shocked by how quickly fads come, cause immense fascination and euphoria, and then disappear like a vapour. How much evangelical energy is wasted on these is beyond calculation. But, since I have been a Christian, I have noticed…
Read more
I have never been to Israel, and have no burning desire to go. But, if I did, I would want to visit Anathoth. It was there that my Old Testament hero was born. Called as a young man to leave an obscure, restricting, yet predictable ministry of maintaining the status quo (he grew up…
Read more
Countries are not Christian; only people are, and they become Christian by believing biblical truth through the work of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul makes mind-renewal the lynch-pin for Christian living: ‘Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2). The new birth brings…
Read more
Evangelical churches would do well to upgrade their thinking about and use of biblical doctrines. How is doctrine-building possible? I think of it as something like making a Lego model, fitting the bits together when reading Scripture or listening to biblical preaching. And the big thing is that, unlike merely human ideas, this brings…
Read more
More Christian teaching than ever before is available today in books, on the internet and via special events, but many evangelicals and churches seem strangely indifferent to doctrine. The doctrinal indifference of evangelicals is only bettered by the flabbiness found in liberal churches. This doctrinal downgrade has been going on for a long time.…
Read more
