All Posts (Page 39)
The Imperative of Preaching: A Theology of Sacred Rhetoric
John Carrick commences with a declaration from Dr. J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism: “Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative” (7). The truth of this statement is a leading premise of this “theology of sacred rhetoric.” Carrick is Assistant Professor of Applied and Doctrinal Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is also one of its preaching instructors. He graduated from Oxford University and has had pastorates in the U.K. and in Greenville, North Carolina. This is his first book.…
The Island of Nis
James, the youth: Must Christians always be narrow? The wiser Mr. Brockton: Christians are both pluralists and exclusivists simultaneously. James: Do you mean that Christians accept other religions and faiths? Mr. Brockton: We permit them to be wrong. My story will explain. The island of Nis was considered a religion-free zone, and most of the younger inhabitants had not even as much as heard of formal religion. To be sure, some primitive ancestors had ventured that way in earlier days,…
The Lofty Grosart
James, the youth: Must all those who call themselves Christians understand the Bible? The elderly and wise Mr. Brockton: No, only those who will go to heaven. To call oneself a Christian is not the same as being one. James: But I call myself a Christian—no, rather, I am a Christian, and I don’t understand very much of the Bible at all. Brockton: How do you know that you are a Christian? James: The Bible states that those who radically…
The Way to God
Years ago, two cousins were visiting near the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. Although they were told by their parents not to venture into the swamp, they disobeyed. As the sun was setting, they decided to head home in hopes that their absence would not be detected. Neither boy made it back. When they were found dead a few days later, a note was attached to one of the boys. It read, “I thought I knew the way, but I was…
The Whisperer, The KJVer, and Other Types of Group Prayer Participants You Dont Want to Be
My first opportunity to pray in a group came when some of my fellow students and I were standing in a circle, holding hands. The leader told us we could either pray or squeeze the hand of the person next to us. I was a squeezer that day. Since then, I have enjoyed praying and hearing others pray hundreds of times in both planned and impromptu settings. However, I have learned through my mistakes and the conduct of others that…
The World Trade Center and Our First Acts
The wilting sadness of the World Trade Center tragedy—the dead bodies in the dust, the people jumping out of windows, the angst of the traumatized, the weary searching, the yearning eyes of family members, the apparent senselessness of it all—leave disturbing imprints on our American soul. What are we to do? First, we should pity all who do not know Christ. We will all die, but not all will die in such a tragic manner. Some who perished are now…
You Don’t Look So Good
When humorist Erma Bombeck saw her new passport photo, she gasped, “Anyone who looks like that is too sick to travel!” Getting a good look at yourself can be deflating to say the least. It might surprise you to know that when you look in the mirror in your bathroom you don’t really see yourself. You see the exact opposite of yourself. Your left ear is on the right side and your right ear is on the left side. Spiritually,…
Trying to Be a Christian
I was astounded. I had just explained to a group of nuclear scientists the difference between trying to earn salvation by our own works and trusting Christ for it. I thought that I had made myself exceptionally clear. As I left, however, one man thanked me and remarked, “I guess I just need to try harder to be a Christian.” He had missed it completely! Why couldn’t he see my point? He had as much hope of getting to God…
A Fly for Oscar
James, the youth: "There is no such thing as a trivial death." The poet and sage, the older Mr. Brockton: "No, but there are trivial men who die. I will illustrate this, though you will not like my illustration. The story goes this way: "Oscar Felton was dying. Everyone knew it. Oscar knew it better than anyone else. He would die and go to hell—that was unquestioned. It wasn’t that Oscar was such a bad fellow to be around, but…
A New Lord’s Day Meeting Pattern Encouraged
Here are some suggestions to improve the meeting pattern for those churches that are basically traditional in their approach. ________________________ Our churches must regularly evaluate our meeting patterns. There is no guidance from the Word on what time of the day a church should meet on the Lord’s Day. A church is not more or less spiritual if its meetings begin at 9 a.m. or 3 p.m. All the considerations for the times of meeting are strictly practical in nature.…
Introduction to A Million and a half in answer to prayer by George Muller
The following article is an introduction written by Jim Elliff for the book Autobiography of George Muller, or, A Million and a Half in Answer to Prayer by George Muller Hardcover | 736 pages | Westminster Literature Resources ________________ On November 8, 1840, a slender, 35 year old man with wiry black hair held a diamond ring in his hand. His wife, a Brethren woman, would certainly not have worn it—much too audacious for a woman of God of her…
New Testament 90 Day Reading Plan
DAY BOOK CHAPTERS 1. MATTHEW 1-4 2. 5-7 3. 8-10 4. 11-14 5. 15-17 6. 18-20 7. 21-23 8. 24-25 9. 26-28 10. EPHESIANS 1-2 11. 3-4 12. 5-6 13. I PETER 1-2 14. 3-5 15. TITUS ALL 16. I CORINTH. 1-4 17. 5-8 18. 9-12 19. 13-16 20. MARK 1-4 21. 5-8 22. 9-12 23. 13-16 24. I JOHN 1-2 25. 3-5 26. JAMES 1-2 27. 3-5 28. I TIMOTHY 1-3 29. 4-6 30. ROMANS 1-3 31. 4-5 32.…
Why Read a Good Book?
As an old man Paul directed Timothy to “bring the books, but especially the parchments” on his return trip. Luther, who wrote a book or large tract every two weeks from 1519 until the end of his life, said “Printing is the highest and ultimate gift of God.” And d’Aubigné, the Reformation historian, expressed his appreciation for books this way: These epistles, these books, all these flying sheets were the means of regenerating the age. While dissipation came forth from…
The Care and Feeding of Flies
I just received this news about a Warren, Arkansas event, which took place 84 years ago. I’m sure that I’m the very latest one to receive this intelligence. Here it is: Mar. 3, 1914: Warren, Mar 2 – Yesterday closed the fly contest that has been carried on in Warren for the last month. The Democrat-News offered $10 to the boy who caught the greatest number of flies and the Warren Commercial Club $5 to the one who caught the…
Review of The Life and Labours of Asahel Nettleton
Book by Bennet Tyler and Andrew Bonar Tyler, Bennet, and Bonar, Andrew, The Life and Labours of Asahel Nettleton, Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, reprint 1975, 454 pp. ($18.00) The author, Bennet Tyler, was a pastor for many years at South Britain, Connecticut, where he knew Nettleton intimately. He eventually became the president of Dartmouth College. He is famous for his polemics against the liberal Nathaniel Taylor and the New Haven theology, a view which countered the Edwardsian…
Review of God Sent Revival by John Thornbury
Thornbury, J. F., God Sent Revival, The Story of Asahel Nettleton and the Second Great Awakening, Welwyn, Herts, England: Evangelical Press, 1977, 238 pp. ($15.00) John Thornbury was a pastor of a thriving church called Winfield Baptist in Winfield, Pennsylvania, but is now retired. He studied in Kentucky at the Lexington Baptist College with further studies at the University of Kentucky. He has authored several books, the latest of which is an excellent biography on David Brainerd. Thornbury was a…