The growing interest in the occult is a phenomenon of our time, although occultic practices have also been around since the time of the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:26). When I was ministering in a church in Western Australia last year, I visited Freemantle, and found a place rampant with occultic activities. Some of the…
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Last month we considered some rather extraordinary advice, namely, that Christians should 'count it all joy' when they 'fall into various trials' (James 1:2). Why should we be joyful in the face of trouble? Scripture gives us four reasons, the first being that trials are sent by God to refine and purify our faith,…
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Here is another significant date in the history of Christian Science: 6 January 1895. On that day the 'Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science', Mary Baker Eddy, gave a 'Dedicatory Sermon' in her rather lavish 'First church' in Boston, Massachusetts. The occasion? 2600 children had given generously towards a room in the building for…
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Last month we saw how God prepared his people for revival. We take up the narrative at the General Meeting for the prayer societies in the parish in January 1742. This left the parish with a heightened sense that God was about to do a work amongst them. On the Sabbath, 31 January, McCulloch…
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It is probably true to say that throughout the twentieth century the majority of Germans have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ preached. In August 1887, C. H. Spurgeon wrote in The Sword and Trowel that ‘Germany was made unbelieving by her preachers’. What happened in Germany between 1517, the year Martin Luther…
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The issue regarding the millennium centres on one particular passage in the Bible - Revelation 20. Five times in this chapter reference is made to a 'thousand years', which is the meaning of the word 'millennium'. According to the first seven verses of Revelation 20, several things are said to happen in relation to…
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Following the earlier articles in this series, a question, of course, arises: 'Man is totally depraved. God has elected some to life and salvation. Christ has died for them. How is it that in time some (the elect) come to be saved, as distinct from others who do not?' Men and women are changed…
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Near the end of the film 2000 Acres a dying widow makes her sister promise to care for her two children - and pass on the family legacy. The legacy, it turns out, is hostility toward their unrepentant and abusive father. As she dies she whispers, 'My sole accomplishment in life is that I…
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Heilbronn in Germany has a population of about 120,000 people. The majority of these would claim to be Catholic or Protestant. Yet the churches they belong to seem very empty. Active church members are mainly elderly folk, while the young have little interest in the things of God. This is in spite of the…
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The hope of the return of Jesus is always presented in Scripture as the great purifying hope of the church. 'For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for…
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Wang Ming-Zi, the iron man of China, was dug from tough terrain. Was Wun-I, Wang's mother, a Christian? Fiery in temperament and suspicious by nature, she certainly was not a docile young woman. But on that hot summer's day in Peking (Beijing) in June 1900, Wun-I had no option but to follow her husband…
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