A pastor and his pregnant wife were assaulted by two Hindu extremists on Sunday 17 April, in yet another attack on Christians in India. According to reports, the incident happened at the church which Pastor Dinbanhu Sameli, aged 30, and his wife, Meena, aged 26, lead, in a remote village located in Bastar district,…
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The former head of the army has warned that the government’s controversial out-of-schools settings plans could affect cadet training courses. Lord Dannatt told The Sun newspaper, ‘I am all for a strong campaign to prevent radicalisation but common sense has to be applied’. Lord Dannatt joins a variety of critics of the government’s out-of-school…
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On 23 April 2016, precisely 50 years to the day, 200 or more of God’s people joined together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Emmanuel Evangelical Baptist Church in Cardiff. It was it a time to renew acquaintances young and old and, above all, give thanks to God for his abiding…
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There is so much religious confusion today in the Western world. For the first time in almost 1500 years, Christianity has new religious rivals ‘on the block’, each one claiming its own god. Up until recent decades in the West, the religious question was generally one of choosing the Christian God, or nothing at…
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A documentary film to commemorate the life of radical Scottish reformer John Knox was nominated for best factual film at the 2016 BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards in April 2016. Trinity Digital, the production company behind the feature-length film, was set up in 2015 by Murdo Macleod, a freelance producer from the Isle of…
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In February 2016, I had the privilege of speaking to many in India on the authority of Scripture, in relation to theistic evolution teaching coming into India. With my colleague Dr Nigel Robinson (PhD, Molecular Biology) we were able to reach a good number of UESI (Union of Evangelical Students of India) fellowships (Indian…
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Influential figures have spoken out about their concern over a new screening test for Down’s syndrome, which could see 92 more babies with the condition being terminated every year. At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 5 May, David Cameron responded to a question from the MP for Ribble Valley, Nigel Evans. Mr Cameron said there…
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Happy 90th birthday to Her Majesty the Queen! As she said on Christmas Day last year, she will have ‘Happy Birthday’ sung to her many times this year! Born on 21 April 1926 in London, Elizabeth was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York. She was third in line of succession…
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Macedonian Christians have issued a call to Christian Books Worldwide (CBW) to ‘come over and help us’. In its latest newsletter, CBW described the call as ‘amazing’, and ‘brings glory to our Lord and Saviour’. During a meeting between CBW and a pastor in Palma, Spain, the urgent need for materials in Macedonia was…
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Crosses have been torn down across China, as the state’s crackdown on independent evangelical Christianity continues apace, Release International has warned. Information from the organisation, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide, has revealed that 49 crosses have been torn down since the start of the year. Where churches have refused to demolish the symbol, authorities…
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Fred Stone was one of 11 children born to Pastor and Mrs John George Stone. His father was a Baptist minister in Hartlepool. During the war Fred served in the RAF and took part in the Normandy landings. Marion Stone was one of five children born to Mr and Mrs William Snowdon. Her father…
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At the recent communion season in Ballyclare & Doagh, congregations were privileged to sit under the ministry of Rev. Murdo A. MacLeod, Snizort, Skye. According to a report by Rev. E. Trevor Kirkland, on the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) website, Mr Macleod dealt with the marks of grace, in his sermon on the…
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On Friday 18 and Saturday 19 March 2016, Christians from across the UK met for the seventh annual Birmingham Conference, at Ebenezer Chapel, Old Hill. The preachers were David Silversides (Loughbrickland), John Thackway (Holywell, Flintshire) and John Saunders (Chichester). The conference was exceptionally good. The Word of God was faithfully declared and the meetings…
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On 18 December 2015, the British Museum of Natural History opened their new ‘Human Evolution’ exhibition. A few days later, I travelled to London to take a look. The exhibition began with the usual assertion of ‘the fact of evolution’, with a sign which read, ‘The fossil record shows that the human family tree…
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CLC International (UK) has opened a new warehouse at Sandycroft, Flintshire, as the organisation (formerly known as the Christian Literature Crusade) enters its 75th year. Neil Wardrope, international director of CLC International, spoke at the opening, which was a remarkable occasion attended by more than 160 people. The dedication of the building was carried out…
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Aborted babies in Britain number the entire populations of Scotland and Wales combined, research has found. More than 8 million children have been aborted since the Abortion Act 1967 came into effect in 1968. Every day, on average, 552 recorded abortions take place in Britain, according to official figures — the equivalent of the…
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GPs and housing officers should be recruited to snoop on Scottish families as part of the Named Person scheme, according to minutes from the board behind its implementation. In a report from the Christian Institute, whose spokesman Simon Calvert is also a spokesman for the ‘No to Named Persons’ campaign, documents reveal a worrying…
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The Open Air Campaigners (OAC) reached out during May’s Brighton Fringe Festival, bringing the Word of God to people across the seaside resort. Christian artists in Brighton explained that their creative process involves both pleasure and pain along the way. Their free exhibition ‘The journey — confessions of an artist’ was on view at…
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Christian charities rushed to help people left devastated when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on Saturday 16 April. According to the United Nations, the country’s call for $72.7 million in financial assistance has received little support, yet the death toll has risen to 660.  Some 23 people are still missing, nearly 7,000 buildings…
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More than 200 women gathered in Wrexham, in March 2016, for the annual North Wales Women’s Conference. The 2016 conference was called ‘Impossible love’ and focused on the book of Hosea, with teaching from Karen Soole, chairwoman of the Northern Women’s Convention. Every year, the conference is organised by Gwersyllt Congregational Church, a Fellowship…
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Steve Chalke, the founder of Oasis Church in Waterloo, London, has applied for a license to offer same-sex marriages in his church. If his application is successful, his church will become the most high-profile church to offer this in the UK. Mr Chalke revealed the news while launching a charter for churches of any…
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Insomnia is an unpleasant experience which can afflict us all from time to time. Our cat Sally never used to have any difficulty in sleeping. We humans though are not quite like that. It can be as though the whole world is peacefully asleep, but we are awake, tossing and turning. The anxieties of…
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‘If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all. And the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a…
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A mother has written to The Guardian to say she is afraid her little girl’s natural tomboy behaviour will see her packaged up and labelled as ‘transgender’ by society. The mother described her fear that, because her little girl dislikes ‘girls’ stuff’, she will be vulnerable to the ‘trans’ lobby telling her she is…
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Exam season is looming. It goes without saying that these next few months will be a stressful time for sixth formers. Parents across the country will testify to kitchen tables being completely lost under a sea of haribo packets, lucozade bottles and textbooks. As the future hurtles its way closer, it is incredible that…
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2016 marks the 25th anniversary of Emanuel University in Oradea, Romania. Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) has had a long history with Emanuel, which today includes funding scholarships that allow students to attend the university. SGA asked Dr Paul Negrut to reflect on the past 25 years and look forward to what they wish to…
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Continued from Victorian Christianity’s flight from faith (3) The first two articles in this series explored the erosion of evangelical theology during the nineteenth century. The first weakening influence came through literature. Romantic poets and novelists drip-fed their dislike of eternal punishment and substitutionary atonement into people’s sensibilities. Then came philosophy, with its dismissal…
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Does Protestantism have a priesthood? If so, what is its form and purpose? One cannot read the Word of God without recognising that humanity needs a priest to mediate between a holy God and sinners. Old Testament worship was regulated by this rule throughout its Levitical priesthood, and this system was powerfully reflected in…
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You might think that there is absolutely nothing to link the death of Jesus Christ with the death of Lenin in 1924. But there is just one thing: in both cases, the authorities of the day were troubled over their respective bodies. More than that, in both cases the question of the body has…
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Genocide is happening against minority religious groups at the hands of Daesh, the House of Commons has at last agreed. In a debate late in April, the Commons voted unanimously, with a vote of 278 to 0, that Christians, Yazidis, and other ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria are suffering genocide at…
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There have been many tributes to the life and ministry of Jerry Bridges, who died on 6 March, aged 86. He is survived by two children. Tony Reinke, staff writer for Desiring God, who conducted an interview in 2011 with Mr Bridges (http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/jerry-bridges-1929-2016-five-lessons), said, ‘He was not only a friend, he was a big…
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Gender identity politics has reached ridiculous levels in the US, with universities having serious discussions about whether men can use women’s bathrooms if they identify as ‘female’. News agency The National Review carried out a series of video interviews at a US university to see how far gender politics had gone. A video showed…
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‘Christians don’t need the Campbell Morgan of the Lord, they need the Lord of Campbell Morgan!’ attendees at the 2016 Our Daily Bread conference were told. Several hundred people from across the UK gathered at Westminster Chapel, London, to hear Bill Crowder deliver four messages exploring the life and ministry of Elisha. Called ‘Filling…
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It’s amazing how the game of golf can take over some men. They start playing for a little exercise and before long are addicts. They can’t get enough of the little white ball! I was never like that, but I did like to play this amazing game. Mind you, I was never very good…
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Eritrean refugees are the Christians the world has forgotten, according to Release International. In a report, the Christian advocacy organisation said Eritrean Christians are often ‘eclipsed by the crisis in the Middle East’, but the mass exodus is not to be ignored. About one in 12 Eritreans has fled the country in recent years,…
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How does one begin to reach an area with the gospel where there is no evangelical witness? A tiny answer to this question was recently provided in Bramhope, an affluent suburb of Leeds with no evangelical church. There is, however, the Puritan Chapel, built in 1649. It is Bramhope’s oldest building, well kept by…
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A Church of Scotland congregation has appointed a new minister who has vowed to help it continue to grow and flourish. In April, Rev. Stuart Irvin was inducted into the role at St Catherine’s Argyle Church in Edinburgh in front of 224 people, including family and friends. Mr Irvin, who is married to Lynne…
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It is difficult for modern readers to grasp the impact of the first issues of The Banner of Truth magazine, when it was published in a Britain almost bereft of Reformed truth. This anniversary issue assures us of the relevance and value of a magazine that has stood the test of 60 years of…
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Adrian Freer helpfully discusses the question of whether Christians should be buried or cremated. The subject is rarely raised, giving the impression that it is purely a matter of personal preference. While there are no explicit biblical commands or prohibitions, scriptural testimony does suggest a presumption in favour of burial, with many approving references…
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The author of this edifying little volume is a decades-long entomology enthusiast. Taking nine types of insects, he aims to set out ‘their spiritual significance, as they appear in the Word of God’. A readable style, coupled with colour illustrations and photographs, make this an accessible book. Although biological aspects of these insects are…
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The aim of this book is ‘to help give understanding and point out pathways of hope. And also to tell the stories of people who have found hope — and even joy — in lives touched by dementia’ (p.19). A mixture of well-researched and up-to-date information is interspersed with real-life situations that the author…
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Six years ago, Jeff and Twila Miles adopted a 12-year-old boy from Ukraine, called Carl, and took him to America. Carl had lived for several years in an orphanage, having been abandoned by his birth parents, who were drug addicts. In this honest and deeply moving book, Twila tells the story of the struggles,…
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The plethora of books about the Second World War, and especially Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime in Germany, is indicative of an ongoing fascination with this subject, from both modern readers and authors. Far too many of these books, however, make the fallacious equation of ‘German = Nazi’. This crisply written memoir of…
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