Topic Archives: Church Issues/Unity

This is the text of an address delivered at the Leicester Ministers’ Conference, 28 April, 2012. It is included, along with four other addresses, in Iain H. Murray’s Evangelical Holiness and Other Addresses. J. Gresham Machen once wrote: ‘If we are going to avoid controversy, we might as well close our Bibles; for the New […]

In the last few months, the church I serve has been working through ‌the updated version of Eshcol, John Owen’s little treatment on church life now entitled Duties of Christian Fellowship: A Manual for Church Members. The volume is divided into two main sections. The first contains seven ‘Rules for walking in fellowship with respect […]

Church and danger. Up until recently it would not occur to British Christians to put these two words together. We associate church with many things, but not danger. Yes, there is the threat of child abuse by wicked clergymen, and there is always risk associated with listening to false doctrine, but in terms of simple […]

When is a Church not a Church? Such a theological conundrum presupposes that the inner reality may be lost while the outer shape remains, rather like a nut which when cracked open proves to have no kernel inside. In fact the Bible goes further and asserts that what looks like the Church may indeed be […]

The present is a time not for ease or pleasure, but for earnest and prayerful work. A terrible crisis unquestionably has arisen in the Church. In the ministry of evangelical churches are to be found hosts of those who reject the gospel of Christ. By the equivocal use of traditional phrases, by the representation of differences […]

This article was first given as a paper at the Free Presbyterian Theological Conference. * * *  These articles deal with a theological work which, more than any other, gives a comprehensive treatment of the whole field of ecclesiastical theology, from the Scottish Presbyterian position. It is James Bannerman’s treatise entitles The Church of Christ. A […]

The members of First Church (not the real name of the church) consistently made false accusations against one another. They would regularly throw verbal mud at one another. At times, they would even form alliances and fight against one another. Some of their claims were silly. One elder accused a teenager of rebelliously going to […]

It came as a bit of a shock, although not a great surprise, to hear a leading Reformed minister say recently that he did not have a proper doctrine of the church for most of his ministry. We have witnessed a recovery of the doctrines of grace over the last sixty years in the United […]

We noticed recently a leading religious commentator acknowledging that the West will collapse without a Christian revival. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a rapid moral decay. He went on to say that the West will fall unless it rises up against the forces that oppose it. But how is […]

The conflict over worship today manifests itself in what have been called ‘the worship wars’. In many church buildings you witness a platform with a plethora of musical instruments. If you check out the order of service you will find that more time is given to so-called ‘worship’ than to the reading and preaching of […]

Many explanations have been given for the explosion of the charismatic movement in Africa. Many have seen this as a powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit. Whereas there is probably more than one reason, I want to add my own observation to this for what it is worth. In this article, I am not referring […]

. . . there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and freeman, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:11). The so-called Charles Spurgeon of America, John Lafayette Girardeau, was born in 1825 on James Island, South Carolina into a French Huguenot family. He was reared in […]

One thing I love about Alaska is the pioneering spirit of independence evident in so many people here. ‘Do it yourself’ is just a way of life for many Alaskans. But this mind-set doesn’t carry over very well to a Christian’s relationship to the church. Many Christians have left traditional churches in favour of forming […]

Recently I attended the communion service in Magdalene College chapel in Cambridge. The service was rich in Trinitarian worship, in elevated God-centred prayers, in excellent hymns and a fine, if too brief, sermon. As I sat and shared in the worship, this thought came to me, ‘How diverse the church of Jesus Christ is.’ Here […]

The present state of the Church of Scotland should be a cause for Christians everywhere to cry to God for mercy. For a professing Christian church to pass legislation that permits a congregation to call a minister (man or woman!) who is in a same-sex relationship is a theological scandal and a moral monstrosity. No […]