As a teenager, I attended a church youth group called the ‘9:23 Club’. The name came from the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’. The message was clear enough: being a Christian involves suffering. In…
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Lewis Allen has evidently thought long and hard about the nature of the Christian ministry. The result is The Preacher’s Catechism, a collection of 43 questions and answers which bring essential truths to the preacher’s heart. Loosely following the structure of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, its subjects include the glory of God, sin, the…
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The letter of James is frequently commended as a ‘practical’ book. But in this devotional commentary, Sinclair Ferguson is out to prove that its wise guidance is drawn from a weighty theology. The link between beliefs and behaviour is demonstrated ably in his treatment of James 2:14-26. Here Ferguson unpicks the difficult wording by…
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In days when any true understanding of the fear of God is in short supply, this challenging book calls us to wonder again at the character and glory of God and rebukes our careless and sloppy attitudes to his holiness and mercy. The Fear of God is the title of the fifth of John…
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Books of daily devotional readings are not for everyone. Many such books are already available and this one may seem intimidating at over 700 pages. Readers should not be put off, however. It distils more than 30 years of prayer meeting addresses by Gordon Keddie. This is a worthwhile and helpful volume, containing a…
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365 daily readings? Are you thinking: ‘Not another “through the year” book’; or, ‘Next year, but not now’? Think again! This book will delight those who use such devotional aids and love Spurgeon, but its indexes also help make it into a valuable resource book. Each day we are given a title, text, reading,…
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Voices from the past is a book of devotionals for each day of the year (including one for 29 February!). Richard Rushing has carefully edited writings from 33 puritan authors, including John Bunyan, Samuel Rutherford and Jonathan Edwards. His objective is to make the important writings of these puritans accessible to a wide range…
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