This year marks the bicentenary of Grove Chapel in Camberwell, an historic independent and non-conformist congregation in which, by God’s grace, the gospel has been faithfully preached throughout its history. It all began with the conversion of a young man from Hertfordshire called Joseph Irons (1785-1852), who very soon experienced a desire to preach…
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The human ear is an intricate example of miniature and sophisticated engineering. Scripture is clear about its origin: ‘The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both’ (Proverbs 20:12). Note the dual stress upon the hearing ear and the seeing eye, implying a marvellous system in operation. It invites readers…
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Two themes run in parallel through Scripture with regard to men and women. Equal dignity and significant difference. Women are badly served when their essential dignity as human beings is disrespected. They are also badly served when equality is assumed to mean sameness. Radical feminism cheered for equality, but failed to take sufficient account…
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From time to time — usually when I’m on holiday — I have the opportunity to join another church at its prayer meeting. That’s always a very interesting experience. You can learn a lot by attending the prayer meeting in another church — often more than by attending its Lord’s Day services. You learn…
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A lot of ink has been spilled on the subject of the image of God, much of it helpful and some not. What is not helpful is when image has been interpreted to mean ‘mind’. The idea here seems to be that humans have minds but animals don’t. The problem is this easily comes…
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Pastoring a largely elderly congregation has shown me how old age can bring new challenges for the Christian. When your physical and mental strength are waning you can feel frustrated and even depressed about not being able to serve the Saviour as actively as you did before. Take heart! You remain a soldier of…
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News of Joshua Harris separating from his wife and departing from the faith will sadden many. I was in my early 20s when his book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, was first published. Although targeted at the American scene where the culture of ‘dating’ is a little different from here in Britain, the book was…
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Withdrawing two primary-age children from a week of schooling is a step of last resort. But that is the point that two concerned parents reached just before the summer. Faced with a new Sex and Relationships Education curriculum, Matthew and Naomi Seymour felt they had no other choice. ET caught up with them to…
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Theodore Beza is probably unknown, or not well-known outside of scholarly circles. This is a great pity, given his gigantic stature in the history of the Reformed faith. Beza was John Calvin’s most illustrious personal disciple, and indeed Calvin’s successor as the spiritual leader of the Reformed ‘capital city’ of Geneva. Born five hundred…
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We are repeatedly warned that modern technology is changing the way we think, the way we remember. Tech gurus tell us that no longer do we remember information, we remember where to find it. So, for example, rather than remembering the kings and queens of England, we remember the webpage (or kind of webpage,…
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The three deadliest words in the world today are the words: ‘It’s a girl!’ Over 100 million females are missing in the world due to gender selective abortion, infanticide, or neglect. And that’s just one of many markers of female inequality. Feminists are rightly outraged by this. If we ask what lay behind the…
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Have you ever wondered about the unpredictability of God’s grace? In other words, have you wondered why so many different men and women, from all social classes, have been brought into the kingdom of God? Perplexity Acts 4:13 reads, ‘Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were…
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