Topic Archives: Marriage & Family

Maggie Paton’s letters ought to be read alongside Paton’s autobiography. James Paton wrote that he was eager to publish these letters because “they present another picture of mission life and experiences in the New Hebrides from that portrayed in the now famous Autobiography of her husband.  The story of John Gibson Paton (1824-1907), Scottish Presbyterian […]

A review by Ryan M. McGraw of Catechizing Our Children: The Whys and Hows of Teaching the Shorter Catechism Today by Terry L. Johnson.1 Catechizing is often a missing ingredient in the discipleship of covenant children today. Many parents reject catechizing by pitting it against Bible memorization. Yet those making this objection fail to realize […]

The following review is for a forthcoming book from the Banner. Click here to learn more, or join the waitlist. In the opinion of many, next to the Bible itself, the very best tool for family worship is The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine F. Vos. It is now back in print. Banner of Truth […]

These extracts are taken from the diary1 of Elizabeth Jollie, 2 the wife of Rev Timothy Jollie, who was the minister of the Non-conformist con­gregation in Sheffield from 1681 to 1714. Mrs Jollie was herself the daughter of Rev James Fisher, the ejected vicar of Sheffield who died in 1666 when Elizabeth was 19 years […]

The responsibilities of Christian parents are great. They are commanded to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). This has never been an easy task — least of all today, when so much of the atmosphere in which our offspring must live is diametrically opposed to God and his […]

The following is taken from the excellent Memoir of John H. Rice, W. H. Maxwell (Philadelphia; 1835), pp. 334-337 * * * Union Theological Seminary, Feb. 13th, 1828 My Dear Jane, I have a thousand times purposed to write to you, since your marriage; but have never yet seen the time when I could fulfil my intentions. […]

Today more than ever attention focusses on young people. Newspaper headlines of their activities feature everything from revolution to drugs, student sit-ins to the generation gap, hooliganism to hijacking. Not that the news media are unfair or disproportionate: in a year or two the average age in America will be twenty-four. Most of these young […]

Charles Spurgeon was the unlikeliest of candidates to win the heart of Susie Thompson. He was rural England and she was London and Paris. After seeing and hearing Charles in the pulpit for the first time, the furthest thought from her mind was marrying him. How then did Charles Spurgeon win and keep the heart […]

I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh. — Romans 9:1-3 (ESV) […]

An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. , Proverbs 31:10 I well remember the time I was allowed to take a series of eleventh grade American Literature class in a local high school and give the ‘other side’ of the story about the Puritans of the seventeenth century. They […]

What daily anxieties of spirit are there in some because of the lack of children. They have many other comforts, but the not having of this embitters all. Abraham himself was much troubled about it: Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer […]

A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way (Isaiah 35:8). Jehovah spoke the word through Jeremiah the prophet (Jer. 7:12), giving Judah a history lesson, that they might remember what […]

When your child learns to write, he is ready to begin taking sermon notes. Say, what? Let’s say that little George is 4 or 5 or 6 years old and he knows how to write his name and how to write all of his letters. Now he can get started! All you need is a […]

The Banner had the opportunity to sit down with Mark Johnston and ask him to tell us a little bit about his past. A Banner author of three titles , Let’s Study Colossians and Philemon, Let’s Study 2 Peter and Jude, and Let’s Study John , Mark shared with us his upbringing as a child […]

In this small book the author makes the argument for teaching children the catechism regularly from a young age, quoting many well-known theologians as he goes along. The author discusses the history and strengths of the catechism (specifically the Westminster Shorter Catechism), but it is when he writes about its structure and the way it […]