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…
Read more
In previous articles we have been looking at the importance of balance in the Christian life, following the lead of William Williams, Pantycelyn (1717-91) who wrote a letter at the end of his life in which he said, ‘I have come to see that true religion consists of three parts: first true light respecting…
Read more
During Easter 1985, Thomas Howard - a graduate of Wheaton College and a professor of English at Gordon College, both long-standing bastions of evangelicalism, and himself the product of a staunch evangelical family, whose sister is Elisabeth Eliot, author and widow of the evangelical martyr Jim Eliot - became a Roman Catholic. His conversion…
Read more
In the early years of my ministry in Cardiff I read a book which had been recommended to me, and in my opinion it would leave a lasting impression on anyone who read it. It is the sort of book that, as you lay it aside, causes you to become very thoughtful, because you…
Read more
'Of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption ...' (1 Corinthians 1:30) Growing in grace In Reformed circles it is usual to view sanctification as something progressive; that is, sanctification is seen as a process in which, as time passes, the believer…
Read more
The apostle Paul wrote, 'Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God' (2 Corinthians 7:1). This is a clear call to holiness to all who belong to God. In the previous chapter Paul outlined several wonderful promises that…
Read more
Paul exhorts us to 'adorn the doctrine of God' (Titus 2:10). This we must seek to do, but we must be careful how we do it. We cannot adorn it with choirs and music, whether they be cantatas or guitars. Listen to the birds sing, the wind whisper through the pines, the water rippling…
Read more
