Andrew Brunson: Turkey Releases US Pastor After Two Years In Prison
Turkish court ordered release of Andrew Brunson, who had been held on terrorism charges related to the failed 2016 military coup.
Brunson was convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to three years and one and a half months, but the court took time served into account and the remainder of his sentence was suspended. The interim panel of judges also lifted judicial control provisions, leaving Brunson free to travel outside Turkey. The American pastor at... Continue Reading
Dr. John R. de Witt Called Home to Glory
John R. de Witt, former senior minister of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, SC, and former Moderator of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian General Synod, died on September 30, 2018.
Dr. John R. de Witt, former senior minister of First Presbyterian Church and former Moderator of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian General Synod, passed into glory on Sunday, September 30, 2018. The service will be held Wednesday, October 3rd at 2:00 in the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC. Dr. John R. de Witt,... Continue Reading
A God-Directed Orphan Ministry (Charles Spurgeon)
Spurgeon was well aware of ministry needs in the metropolis, and he led his congregation to seek and follow God’s direction in identifying and responding to such needs.
In the summer of 1866, five years after worship and preaching services commenced at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon challenged his congregation at its Monday evening prayer meeting: “Dear friends, we are a huge church, and should be doing more for the Lord in this great city. I want us tonight to ask Him to send... Continue Reading
4 Reasons to Remember your Creator in Middle Age
How do we respect and remember our Creator in busy, striving, stressed-out middle age?
But that’s not the end of the story. Remember, middle-agers, our Creator is in the business of re-creating. In salvation, He begins the process of making all things new, including His creatures. In fact, the Creator lived as a creature in the midst of His creation to save His creatures. Although it’s young people... Continue Reading
Gottschalk of Orbais – Bold Witness and Sweet Poet
In spite of the fact that his teachings coincided with those of Augustine, as well as recent, well-respected theologians, the bishops had him flogged for heresy.
Even though three church councils had condemned Pelagius in the fifth and sixth centuries, by the eight century his teachings were at least partially accepted. During the so-called Carolingian Renaissance, however, both kings and scholars began to give greater attention to details related to God’s grace (such as predestination, free will, and the extent of... Continue Reading
The Number One Reason Youth Leave The Church
The reality is that the number one reason young people drift off from the church is because they are not believers.
We similarly cannot be surprised when young people do not become believers when their parents don’t teach them the gospel at home and our Sunday school programmes focus more on morals, or nice lessons, than they do on the Christ and his gospel. If our children never hear about sin and the means of salvation,... Continue Reading
Origen on Prayer
More clearly than any of Origen's other writings, On Prayer reveals the depth and warmth of his religious life and piety.
Among the Early Church Fathers, Origen was as towering and prominent as Augustine (354-430) and Aquinas (1225-1274). In the Western Church both Jerome (347-420) and Ambrose (c. 340-397) unhesitatingly copied Origen’s work and thus bequeathed it to posterity. Bernard (1090-1153) and Eckhart (c. 1260-c. 1327) read his works in the original, and Erasmus (1466-1536) admitted... Continue Reading
Prudentius of Spain – A Classical Christian Poet
Prudentius reminds us of Augustine, who cried, “Too late have I loved thee, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new!”
Both this and the rest of Prudentius’s account reminds us of Augustine’s Confessions. Like Augustine, Prudentius pursued a legal career, ruled by an exuberant spirit and an obstinate desire to win. Like Augustine, he rose to prestigious positions (he was governor of two provinces) and served in the imperial court in Milan. But what good did this do... Continue Reading
Charles Spurgeon and the Importance of Consistency with Scripture in Theology
Spurgeon demonstrated consistency with Scripture over consistency with one’s preferred leanings
Spurgeon maintained that no man-made theological system is authoritative. He said, “My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times... Continue Reading
Jonathan Edwards the Pastor
Rather than relying on outward signs of success, Edwards sought to cultivate—through prayer, Bible study, and meditation—dependence on God alone.
Edwards was only twenty-three when he became the assistant pastor of First Church of Northampton, Mass., a Congregational church led by his maternal grandfather, the venerable Solomon Stoddard. Just two years later, Stoddard died, leaving Edwards to shepherd the church alone. He would remain pastor of First Church until July 1, 1750. They were years... Continue Reading
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