By Michael Bentley
Review
October 2012
To be a Pilgrim
To be a Pilgrim Rhett Dodson Day One Publications 128, £6.00 ISBN: 978-1-84625-355-3 Star Rating: 0 THIS BOOK HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW ON This Berief Journey
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By Nigel Faithfull
Historical
October 2012
Articles > Historical
Matthew Henry — a detailed look
Matthew Henry — a detailed look To fully appreciate the life and ministry of Matthew Henry, we first need to consider his ancestry and background. His grandfather was John Henry (1590-1652), the son of Henry Williams of Briton Ferry, which lies between Swansea and Neath in South Wales. John Henry became a courtier under…
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News
October 2012
News
Extinction of species
Extinction of species International conservation groups have unveiled a list of the world’s 100 most threatened animals, plants and fungi, stressing that urgent action is required in order to protect them from extinction. Although extinction is expected, it is believed that focused conservation efforts could yet save them. According to reports in Al-Jazeera, these…
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By Charles Powell
Article
October 2012
Articles > Comment
Knowledge
Knowledge One of the benefits of living here in Britain, AD 2012, is the sheer volume of information most of us are privileged to have access to. Our age may be defined by two things — information and global commerce. This observation was foretold in the book of Daniel 12:4, some 500 years before…
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By Allan Peel
News
October 2012
News > Youth Features
Olympic outreach
Olympic outreach The Olympic Games proved to be a unique opportunity to share the gospel in London. People from virtually every nation and tongue were visiting our capital city. It made me think of Acts 2, where we read that Jews ‘of every nation under heaven’ were gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost. We also…
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News
October 2012
News
Welcome Hall Evangelical Church
Welcome Hall Evangelical Church On Saturday 1 September, over 250 people gathered for the induction of Jeremy Brooks as pastor of Welcome Hall Evangelical Church (WHEC), Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire. Pastor Brooks was previously Director of Ministry for the Protestant Truth Society (PTS), prior to which he pastored Salem Baptist Church, Ramsey. WHEC was planted…
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By Christine McLaren
Article
October 2012
Articles > World Mission > Africa
Tunisia – where the ‘Arab Spring’ began
Tunisia – where the ‘Arab Spring’ began The death of Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi in January 2011 sparked a flame of protests across the Arab world. Many were stunned as long-entrenched Arab leaders fled or died. Violence and civil war today continues in Syria. But how is Tunisia doing? How did the…
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By John Brand
Article
October 2012
Reviews
A week in the life of Corinth
A week in the life of Corinth Ben WitheringtonIVP, 159 pages, ISBN: 978-0830839629 When I am teaching hermeneutics, I tell my students that, before they try and apply any passage of Scripture, they have to ‘go to Corinth’ first. It’s a shorthand way (that I learned from someone else) of saying they have…
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By Peter Rowell
Article
October 2012
Reviews
Pray, plan, prepare, preach — establishing and maintaining priorities in the preaching ministry
Pray, plan, prepare, preach — establishing and maintaining priorities in the preaching ministry Iain D. Campbell Day One 128 pages, £6.00 ISBN: 978-1-84625-149-8 This is a truly excellent book for preachers and hearers. Its emphasis should be of deep concern for all preachers. The introduction indicates what follows: ‘Every time the gospel is preached,…
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News
October 2012
News
Exorcisms
Exorcisms The Churches Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) has welcomed the storyline in the school-based drama, Waterloo Road, which highlighted the worrying rise in child exorcisms. The script featured a vulnerable African girl, Lula Tsibi, who exhibited challenging behaviour after her asylum-seeking father had been returned to Africa, where she presumed him dead. …
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Historical
October 2012
Articles > Historical
Matthew Henry’s evangelism
Matthew Henry’s evangelism In this extract from Philip Eveson’s recent biography of Matthew Henry, the author describes Matthew Henry in his outreach to the lost. Chester Castle Besides the work in his own church, Matthew had been engaged, almost from the beginning, in preaching to the prisoners in Chester castle. It was the jailor’s…
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News
October 2012
News
Pastor released
Pastor released Release International has called for continued pressure on Iran after the release of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who had been sentenced to death for apostasy. Pastor Nadarkhani was set free on Saturday, after an Iranian court dropped the charge of apostasy — leaving Islam — but upheld a charge of evangelising Muslims. …
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By John Harris
Article
October 2012
Reviews
Life’s big questions
Life’s big questions Vaughan RobertsIVP176 pages, £6.99ISBN: 9781844740215 This thoughtful and helpful book is a follow-up to the author’s previous volume, God’s big picture. In both publications he is concerned to give an overview of the Bible as a whole and to pick out certain unifying themes. In this book the major motif…
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By Geoff Thomas
Article
October 2012
Articles > Biblical/theological
The golden chain of salvation (2)
The previous article is here: The golden chain of salvation (1) The following article is here: The golden chain of salvation (3) The golden chain of salvation (2) ‘And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified’ (Romans 8:30). These memorable words are often…
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By Conrad Mbewe
Article
October 2012
Articles > Guest column
Encouragements for evangelistic preachers
Guest Column – Conrad Mbewe Encouragements for evangelistic preachers We come to the end of our series on evangelistic preaching. It is such an important topic, because we are dealing with the reason why Jesus left heaven to come and die on the cross. It was for the purpose of glorifying God through saving…
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By Robert Strivens
Article
October 2012
Reviews
We don’t do God
We don’t do God George and Andrew Carey Lion Hudson: Monarch, 176 pages, £7.99, ISBN: 978-0-85721-030-2 The former Archbishop of Canterbury here joins forces with his journalist son to express their concerns about the spiritual direction that Britain is taking. They lament the increasing pace of secularism in the UK public arena and the…
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News
October 2012
News
Green Party
Green Party Christina Summers, a member of Brighton and Hove City Council, has been dismissed from the Green Group over expressing her views on same-sex marriage in a free vote. The Green Group of councillors announced its decision on 10 September, which was held off until the end of the Green Party conference, to…
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By Erroll Hulse
By Jonathan Bayes
News
October 2012
News
Unite in prayer for revival!
Unite in prayer for revival! Yorkshire-based Prayer for Revival is growing in number and beyond its borders. The united prayer gatherings that took place on 14 July were again a great encouragement to all who participated. The eight meetings around Yorkshire were attended by a total of 180 people. At every meeting there was…
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News
October 2012
News
Classroom politics
Classroom politics Teachers who refuse to endorse gay marriage to their pupils could face the sack, according to warnings in the Daily Telegraph. According to the article, other jobs such as NHS chaplains and foster carers would also be at risk if a Christian or other religious person refused to toe the current populist…
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Historical
October 2012
Articles > Historical
Matthew Henry’s Commentary in contemporary English
Matthew Henry’s Commentary in contemporary English Martin Manser Martin H. Manser is a professional editor who has worked Matthew Henry’s Commentary into contemporary English, for publication by Zondervan as an e-book. Readers can here compare the two versions. ‘But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’ (Joshua 24:15) Original commentary:…
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News
October 2012
News
Insulting words
Insulting words A group of comedians, gay rights campaigners and Christians gathered outside Parliament in the name of free speech. Standing with Stonewall front-man Peter Tatchell was Simon Calvert of the Christian Institute. They were calling for the Government to amend the wording of Section Five of the 1986 Public Order Act. According to…
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News
October 2012
News
Human rights
Human rights On 4 September, four cases went before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to test the freedom afforded to Christian employees in the UK to express their faith and beliefs in the workplace. In the ECHR’s four page document, it outlined the applicants as: Nadia Eweida, Shirley Chaplin, Lilian Ladele and…
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Historical
October 2012
Articles > Historical
‘Thoughts fixed and affections flaming’: some jewels from Matthew Henry
‘Thoughts fixed and affections flaming’: some jewels from Matthew Henry The Bible (Deuteronomy 6:6): ‘He that loves God loves his Bible’. Help (Isaiah 47:15): ‘Happy are those who by faith and prayer deal with one that will be a very present help in time of trouble!’ Joy (John 8:56): ‘No joy like the joy…
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By Peter and Lucy Beale
Article
October 2012
Namibia
Encouragements in Namibia
Encouragements in Namibia Imagine one of the tutors at London Theological Seminary being interviewed on prime time BBC breakfast television, sympathetically and at some length. That gives you the idea of what happened on the state-owned Namibia Broadcasting Company’s breakfast programme. One of the lecturers at Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS) in Windhoek was…
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By E. M. Hicham
Article
October 2012
Articles > World Mission
Going to Mecca
Going to Mecca One fifth of humankind shares a single aspiration to complete, at least once in a lifetime, a spiritual journey called the Hajj (pilgrimage). Countless millions of Muslims, men and women from the four corners of the earth, have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam. In carrying…
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News
October 2012
News
New MAF logo
New MAF logo Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is rebranding, with a new logo. The news came as the eyes of the world were on the Olympics. More than 4.7 billion people tuned in to watch athletes from 205 countries participate in the Olympics, but 2 million people did not tune in. Some 22 per…
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News
October 2012
News
Muslim shrines destroyed
Muslim shrines destroyed Hard-line Islamist Wahhabi factions have destroyed historic Sufi sites across Libya in a wave of sectarian violence. According to reports from Al-Jazeera, the Libyan interim interior minister, Fawzi Abdel-Al, resigned after members of the newly-elected parliament accused his ministry of not doing enough to stop attackers who bulldozed a Sufi shrine…
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News
October 2012
News
Olympics outreach
Olympics outreach Churches around London were heavily involved in outreach during the Olympic and Paralympic games this summer. Just as the Olympics encompassed teams from around the world, so the local Christians, who reached out to the crowds, drew on enthusiastic participants from abroad. The Hub (as it became known) — centred on…
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By Anne-Michelle Gardiner
News
October 2012
News
International picnic
International picnic On Saturday 1 September, Norwood Grove Park played host to the third annual International Picnic hosted by members of Thornton Heath Evangelical Church. Just over 40 people, friends and members from the church, along with some of their relatives and neighbours, turned up to take part in the festivities — slightly fewer…
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By Lisa Atallah
Article
October 2012
Cyprus
The gospel on the island of Cyprus
The gospel on the island of Cyprus Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean, lies not far from the coasts of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Driving across this semi-arid country, one can still come across the idyllic scene of a shepherd leading a mixed flock of longhaired sheep, barely distinguishable from the…
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By Steve Ridgeway
News
October 2012
News
Mitchley Hill
Mitchley Hill On 25 August around 200 people gathered to witness the induction of the new pastor of Mitchley Hill Evangelical Church (MHEC), Sanderstead, South Croydon. The service was led by Juge Ram, pastor of Emmanuel Church, Birmingham. The main speaker was Brian Edwards, former FIEC president. Winston Saunders, retired pastor of Selhurst Evangelical…
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By Gladys Nash
Article
October 2012
Articles > Ecclesiological & Pastoral
Learning to be a Christian widow (2)
Learning to be a Christian widow (2) I was frequently troubled by the apparent pointlessness of my life as a widow. One Saturday morning about ten months after Ray’s death, I woke feeling completely flat and emotionless. I lay in bed thinking that I was really just going through the motions of life, marking…
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News
October 2012
News
Bishop urges love
Bishop urges love The outspoken Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin Kwashi, has urged his congregation and fellow ministers to love their enemies and defeat evil with good. Mr Kwashi was visiting the UK during the summer to highlight the plight of Nigerian Christians in the north of the country, where the militant Islamic group Boko…
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By Grenville Hobson
News
October 2012
News
Parr Street, Kendall
Parr Street, Kendall This year marks significant changes at Parr Street Evangelical Church in Kendal. Brian Maiden, who has been our full-time teaching elder for the past 15 years, retired at the end of August. His expository ministry has been greatly appreciated and of immense value to Parr Street’s members and the many who…
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News
October 2012
News
Irish Women’s Convention
Irish Women’s Convention The Irish Women’s Convention is planning a convention, for 20 October 2012, in the Assembly Buildings, Fisherwick Place, Belfast. The conference will run from 10.00am-3.30pm and provide opportunity to learn from God’s Word, praise the Lord and catch up with friends. The theme is ‘God’s design for women’. The speaker at the…
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News
October 2012
News
Haiti storms
Haiti storms A tropical storm, Isaac, hit the poverty-stricken nation of Haiti on 25 August, causing widespread misery for many families recovering from the earthquake of 2012. According to reports from Tearfund, most of the damage has been to homes, gardens and trees, as well as to agriculture and cattle. Some cattle have been…
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By Guy Davies
Article
October 2012
Reviews
Archibald Brown: Spurgeon’s successor
Archibald Brown: Spurgeon’s successor Iain H. Murray Banner of Truth432 pages, £16.00, ISBN: 9781848711396 At the 2011 Leicester Banner of Truth ministers’ conference Iain Murray gave an address on Archibald Brown (1844-1922). Few of us knew anything much about the subject of his talk, but by the end we wanted to know more about…
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By Neil Richards
Historical
October 2012
Articles > Historical
Henry Martyn — a life lived near to Christ
The passing of 200 years since Henry Martyn’s death has not dimmed the brightness of his star nor the beauty of a life lived for Christ. As he began the last year of his life, he wrote, ‘To all appearance the present year will be more perilous than any I have seen, but if…
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By MERF
Article
October 2012
Articles > World Mission
All things working together for good!
All things working together for good! Romans 8:28 says, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.’ Statistics show that, over the past 30-40 years, more Muslims have converted to Christianity than during the entire 14 centuries…
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News
October 2012
News
Press censorship
Press censorship One of the world’s most closed regimes, Myanmar, abolished press censorship in September to help bring in reforms. According to NBC News, this is the latest in a series of huge economic and political reforms by the quasi-civilian regime, and marks a U-turn from the oppressive policies of the military, that ran…
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Article
October 2012
Articles > Comment
The ministry of Evangelical Times
The ministry of Evangelical Times The July 2012 edition of ET set out in full a credal statement called The Cambridge Declaration, as drawn up in 1996 by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (ACE), in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This statement, along with those commonly held doctrines in the major Reformed confessions, expresses this newspaper’s…
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By Jeremy Walker
Historical
October 2012
Articles > Historical
Matthew Henry — an overview
Matthew Henry — an overview Matthew Henry was born on 18 October 1662, not long after Black Bartholomew’s Day (24 August 1662). This was the date on which his father — in common with 2000 other ministers of the gospel — was ejected from the Church of England, for refusing to compromise his conscience…
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News
October 2012
News
Bull Appeal
Bull Appeal The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by Peter and Hazel Bull, the Christian guest house owners held by the Court of Appeal to have discriminated against two gay men by refusing them a double bed. According to the Christian Institute, which is supporting the Bulls, the date for the…
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News
October 2012
News
McDonald’s controversy
McDonald’s controversy McDonald’s is facing a huge battle with senior Hindu religious leaders over the locations of its latest sites in India. According to the Daily Telegraph, the first site, Katra in Jammu and Kashmir, is home to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, one of Hinduism’s four holiest shrines. The shrine is a steep ascent…
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News
October 2012
News
Wedded blitz
The battle for preserving marriage as a life-long union between one man and one woman has become global, with legal and political challenges across the world seeking to undermine God’s sacred institution. Christians have long argued that redefining marriage outside its biblical parameters (Genesis 2:21-25) can only open a floodgate of sorrow and…
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By Jeremy Walker
Article
October 2012
Reviews
The heart of Christ
The heart of Christ Thomas GoodwinBanner of Truth158 pages, £5.00ISBN: 978-1-84871-146-4 This is a profoundly refreshing book by the warm-hearted Puritan, Thomas Goodwin. The author’s contention is that believers do not consider as they should — to their great comfort and encouragement — the disposition of Christ in his glory toward his people on…
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By John Brand
Article
October 2012
Reviews
Matthew Henry: his life and influence
Matthew Henry: his life and influence Allan Harman Christian Focus, 207 pages, £8.99, ISBN: 978-1845507831 Matthew Henry must surely be one of the best and most influential names in Christian history and, at the same time, one of the least known lives. Now, at long last, we have been blessed with a good biographical…
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Article
October 2012
Interviews
The big interview GOD’S COMPASSION
The big interview GOD’S COMPASSION The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability’s (RHN) lead chaplain, Geoff Coyne, and auxiliary nurse, Ruth Hussey-Yeo, Registered Nurse at St George’s Nursing Home in Milford-on-Sea, spoke to Sheila Marshall about working in the adult care environment. ET: When did you come to faith in Christ? Geoff Coyne: It was when…
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News
October 2012
News
Right to Die
Right to Die The widow of pro-euthanasia campaigner Tony Nicklinson has vowed to continue his fight to allow families to carry out assisted dying. According to media reports, Mr Nicklinson, 58, died a week after the High Court ruled against his appeal to allow his family to end his life. He had been refusing…
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News
October 2012
News
Rimsha Masih
Rimsha Masih Relief agencies and lobby groups in Pakistan and Britain are still helping hundreds of destitute families who fled Pakistan as a result of the wrongful imprisonment of Rimsha Masih. The young teenager, who has Down’s syndrome, had been detained by police, accused by a local imam of blasphemy and burning Muslim scriptures,…
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By John Thornbury
News
October 2012
News
Kentucky Baptists address Calvinism
Kentucky Baptists address Calvinism On Saturday 4 August, the Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC), consisting of 2400 churches and 71 separate associations sponsored a conference on Calvinism. The stated purpose of the conference was to give an opportunity for people of different perspectives on the issues of divine sovereignty and related subjects to engage and…
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News
October 2012
News
Root causes
Root causes The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has welcomed ‘reformer’ Chris Grayling to the Ministry of Justice, claiming that a root-and-branch review of the prison system is needed. Christian Guy, managing director of the CSJ, said, ‘The appointment of Mr Grayling is to be welcomed, and I am sure he will continue the…
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By Guy Davies
Review
October 2012
Archibald G. Brown
At the 2011 Banner Ministers’ Conference Iain Murray gave an address on Archibald Brown (1844-1922). Few of us knew anything much about the subject of his talk. But by the end we wanted to know more about this remarkable servant of God. With the publication of this excellent biography this longing is more than…
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By Jeremy Walker
Review
October 2012
The Heart of Christ
This is a profoundly refreshing book by the warm-hearted Puritan, Thomas Goodwin. The author’s contention is that believers do not consider as they should – to their great comfort and encouragement – the disposition of Christ in his glory toward his people on earth. In this volume he sets out to correct that oversight.…
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By John Brand
Review
October 2012
His Life and Influence – Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry must surely be one of the best and most influential names in Christian history and at the same time one of the least known lives.  Now, at long last, we have been blessed with a good biographical account of this most famous of all Bible Commentators, thanks to the efforts of Allan…
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By John Harris
Review
October 2012
Life’s Big Questions
This thoughtful and helpful book is a follow-up to the author’s previous volume “God’s Big Picture.” In both publications he is concerned to give an overview of the Bible as a whole and to pick out certain unifying themes. In this book the major motif is the “Kingdom of God.” Centred round this he…
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By John Brand
Review
October 2012
A week in the life of Corinth
When I am teaching hermeneutics, I teach my students that before they try and apply any passage of Scripture, they have to ‘go to Corinth’ first. It’s a shorthand way (that I learned from someone else) of saying that they have to determine what was the original application to the original readers of the…
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By Peter Rowell
Review
October 2012
Pray, plan, prepare, preach – establishing and maintaining priorities in the preaching ministry
This is a truly excellent book for preachers and hearers, though its main emphasis is a deep concern for preachers. The Introduction sets the basis of what follows, ‘Every time the gospel is preached, God’s mind and will are being revealed’. It lays down relevant positive and negative Biblical requirements for God-commissioned preachers, that…
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