Posts by Jeremy Walker

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Over the course of the last few years I have had every good and necessary reason to consider how I and the church which I serve might more effectively communicate the gospel of God to our neighbours round about us. In recent months, as we have tried to carry out our calling in this regard, it has...
Robert Candlish on the prospects for the resurrection body: And when all is spiritual, and all immortal, what an opening is there for the spiritual and immortal soul, possessed of a kindred body, and ushered into a congenial world, -- first , to express itself in communion with all holy...
A couple of interesting questions have come in following the recent piece on street preaching , and it might be helpful to offer some answers in this same environment. First, no, I did not have any particular individual or group in mind when I wrote the piece. I began thinking it through a couple...
In recent weeks there has been a spate of arrests of Christian brothers in the UK involved in street preaching and other open-air witness. As someone who preaches in this way fairly regularly, this is obviously a matter of interest and concern, and that on a number of fronts. For the record, I do...
As part of our attempts to proclaim Christ in our small corner, we are investing some effort in a village near the town where I live. This village is, I think, fairly typical of our part of the world. It has a storied and pleasant-looking Church of England building nestled near the comfortably...
Another snippet from Fuller, this time from an ordination sermon from Matthew 25.21, concerning the work and encouragements of the Christian minister. As he does often in such writings, Fuller fixes his eye on the last day and the great prize: Place yourself in idea, my brother, before your Lord...
On the plane to Glasgow yesterday I enjoyed finishing off Robert Hall Sr.'s Help to Zion's Travellers , edited by Nathan Finn (Borderstone Press, from Amazons US and UK ). It is a volume developed from a sermon preached by Hall in 1779. In that sermon, Hall - as a man himself wrestling through the...
Andrew Fuller wrote a series of "Letters to a Young Minister" in which he discoursed on the various aspects of pastoral labour, focusing on the preaching of sermons (which he distinguished in some ways from what he called "expositions"). Speaking of all preparation for the labours of the Lord's day...
When I first saw the article on polyamory to which Carl subsequently referred I was grieved by its tone of everday reportage, the normalisation of sin. It is no consolation to be tickled by the notion that Prof. Trueman was, until recently, on some kind of presidential prayer shortlist, and now,...
Do you laugh or cry? For the sake of the gospel I desperately want this to be a spoof, but I fear it is for real.
I was grateful to be offered an early glimpse of David Murray's latest book, Jesus On Every Page (Thomas Nelson, 2013) (see below for a giveaway and special launch offer). It did not disappoint. Imagine, if you will, an art gallery devoted to portraits of one particular person by one particular...
Charles Spurgeon was not the only man of God to be labouring during the heyday of the gospel's progress in Victorian London. On the other side of the river lived and worked that most excellent servant of Christ, Archibald Geikie Brown. He is the subject of Iain H. Murray's fairly recent biography,...
I have been somewhat relieved to discover the reason for a slight slowdown in my recent output. It is not that I have been busy in the church, or that I have taken a holiday with my family, or that I have been investing in other time-sensitive commitments, or that blogging is not my first priority...
Iain D. Campbell and William M. Schweitzer, eds., Engaging with Keller: Thinking Through the Theology of an Influential Evangelical (Darlington: Evangelical Press, 2013), 240pp. paperback, £9.99/ $15.99 This fascinating volume is something of an in-house discussion into which, because of the nature...
At the moment, I am imagining that Luther has a smartphone and a Twitter account. Of course, being Luther, he might find a far more effective means of communicating his response to this , but it does rather demonstrate a little something of that old motto, semper eadem .
Reformation21 blogger Iain D. Campbell is one of the editors of and contributors to an imminent volume from Evangelical Press entitled Engaging with Keller: Thinking Through the Theology of an Influential Evangelical (the other editor is William M. Schweitzer). Ian Hamilton provides a sincere...
As we travel the pilgrim path, we are continually confronted with decisions which need to be made. This is true of every child of God, although the nature and impact of the decisions which differ in accordance with our calling and circumstances. So, for example, it might be a Christian woman who is...
For a nice blend of topics, sit back first for a leisurely Trueman on the sufficiency of Scripture , and then enjoy a bracing Mohler on the age of the universe . The former provides a good basis for the latter.
Like many dreams, the details began to fade very rapidly, only a few of them sticking, but the vivid impression remains. In this dream, I had (I presume) been invited to preach. I knew the building, more or less. It housed a congregation that I was a part of at some previous point of my life, and...
You may be interested to know that a new site explaining and promoting Reformed/Particular/Covenantal/Confessional/Calvinistic Baptist covenant theology (choose whichever label least offends you) is alive and kicking. Catchily entitled 1689 Federalism , the key piece at present is a helpful video...
You may not be aware of a portentous US drama for mild paranoiacs called Person of Interest . The premise is fairly simple: after September 11, 2001, a mysterious and reclusive (you could be mysterious without being reclusive, I suppose, but the reclusive are typically more mysterious than average...
The Westminster Conference gathers annually in London in December to benefit from two days of thoughtful and stimulating study of church history, seeking to make plain the applications from the past to present challenges and opportunities. The conference this coming winter takes place on Tuesday...
There seems to be a growing appetite for funerals that seek to avoid the fact of death. This tendency is developing not only outside but within the church. Typically, the day's business begins with the burial (or, indeed, the cremation), getting the bit in which death cannot be avoided out of the...
A few days ago I was contacted by an American brother who had recently received an email inviting him to preach at a conference in London. The email, as many do, lacked a little coherence, but was addressed directly to him and essentially invited him, at fairly short notice, to preach at a...
You may well have heard the horror stories about people who overlooked a small lump or growth somewhere on their body, and who kept overlooking it, sometimes ignorantly, but sometimes wilfully, wishing it would just go away, finally heading to see a doctor when the mass had developed to a dangerous...
It is with great sadness that I report the homegoing of Graham Harrison. Mr Harrison was a stalwart of the Reformed and Evangelical scene in the UK, and a fixture at gatherings in Wales and the UK more widely where doctrinal and experimental Calvinism was declared and cultivated. With a fierce pair...
Peter J. Morden, Communion with Christ and his people: The Spirituality of C. H. Spurgeon, Centre for Baptist History and Heritage Studies (Regent's Park College, Oxford), 2010, 318pp., paperback, £25 Peter Morden, tutor in Church History and Spirituality at Spurgeon's College, has given us a...
There are a few things that frustrate me about a number of the books that I have read recently. One is those extravagant examples seemingly designed to showcase the brilliance of some penetrating thinker: Barry (not his real name) is a basketweaver from Clapham. Having been reared by donkeys, when...
It was suggested that I might wish to draw your attention to an upcoming conference to be held in Louisville in a few weeks time. It's an awesome new conference called Death March 2013, and we will be rocking some of the biggest names and bands . . . No, hang on, messed that one up a bit. It is a...
It seems that apologies for absence are de rigeur on Reformation21 at the moment. I am not sure whether I should follow suit, because nasturtiums have been cast against me. First of all, I was not in the seventeenth century developing a patent Puritan throat tonic, but rather swanning about in the...
L.M. (Angel's Song) O Lord, the way is hard and long And fellow travellers are few; I am not wise, I am not strong, I fear I shall not make it through. On every side a sinking mire; Down every path a mocker's glee; In every way a burning fire; On either hand a roaring sea. But you, O Lord, my...
The Word of God must be preached plainly and simply, not in allusions and doubtful terms, not in innuendoes and learned phrases; not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth; not with the refinements of the schools, but so that the women, and children, and...
No, not advice about brushing your teeth regularly, flossing wisely, or avoiding Stilton and garlic soup before that pastoral visit - that would be oral hygiene. This is - to give it its technical name - vocal hygiene: keeping the voice healthy. My mind is upon it because of my present schedule and...
C.M. (Godre'r Coed) How can this guilty sinner flee The judgement that is mine? How can a wretched man escape The punishment divine? Tell me where wrath and mercy meet; Show me God reconciled. Where can a rebel find true peace, Rest for a heart so wild? Come, take the path to Calvary, Climb up her...
It is sometimes difficult to work out exactly what people are doing when they open their Bibles and let their eyes pass over the pages of Scripture. An observer might surmise that one of the things that they are not doing is reading the words and assimilating the truth that is contained there. That...
Preachers are meant to be conduits for the pure word of God. Sometimes the pipe gets dirty and what comes out is impure. Sometimes the pipe gets clogged and the truth gets impeded. Some preachers have poorer settings: trickle, fine spray, jet. I suppose gush can be healthy, if sometimes a little...
For anyone who may be interested, here's the complete picture: Introduction . Principles 1 and 2 . 1. Know and watch and guard your heart, cultivating the fear of the Lord. 2. Seek wisdom. Principle 3 . 3. Remember the power of words. Principles 4, 5 and 6 . 4. Consider your testimony and character...
Having trawled through the following . . . Introduction . Principles 1 and 2 . Principle 3 . Principles 4, 5 and 6 . Principles 7 and 8 . . . . we come to the end: 9. Train and restrain your appetites. He who earnestly seeks good finds favour, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil. (Prv 11.27...
It has been rather disconcerting to see the British (and, from what I can tell, the world) media fawning over the pomp and pageantry of papal pursuits. The most incisive discussion I heard as the vote was going on was a gentle altercation over whether you wanted to call it 'thrilling theatre' or '...
What's a Time Lord to do? He dabbles a little in the 17th century and the shadowy fiend known mainly as the Pope of Ealing throws twitterbombs in his direction. He dips an intergalactic toe in the murky waters of the 21st century, and Davros himself pitches up and gets narky. But not to worry,...
We're making progress, and I will bundle all these links in due course, but for now we have had . . . Introduction . Principles 1 and 2 . Principle 3 . Here are principles 4, 5 and 6. 4. Consider your testimony and character (digital footprint). The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he...
So far, the introduction and the first two principles . Today, the most developed of the principles, concerning the power of words. While the applications are specific to social media, I hope that the principles are transferable to any communication. 3. Remember the power of words. The mouth of the...
Following on from part one , in which I suggested that, as with so much else, we should ask the question, "How may I use social media to the glory of God?" Here are the first two principles: 1. Know and watch and guard your heart, cultivating the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the...
Social media is perhaps the most common or popular expression of what is sometimes called Web 2.0. Web 1.0, for those who may be wondering, consisted mainly of static pages containing fixed data. Web 2.0 is the more dynamic, interactive expression of the interweb which we all now enjoy, or at least...
8 8. 8 8. D (Cleveland) Psalm 21 The king shall have joy in your might, And in your salvation rejoice; You gave him his heart's true delight, And heard the request of his voice; You met him with blessings untold, And set a gold crown on his head; His days rolling on from of old; He asked, you gave...
A few days ago a brother in the church which I serve asked me for book recommendations for Christians in business. Having only two or three volumes at my disposal, I wrote out to a few fellow-pastors and other friends seeking their counsels. What follows is a consolidated list of responses. I wish...
Paul "Champion of the Chip People" Levy makes good points regarding petitions, with which - I must confess, though it irks me to do so - I am substantially in agreement. If he carefully reads the post about the Keep Marriage Special petition, he will observe that it is not so much a recommendation...
Many Christians in the UK will be aware of one or more of the various campaigns opposing the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill currently passing through the Houses of Parliament. There was significant opposition to this legislation in the House of Commons, though the Bill did pass its Second Reading...
A word to the wise: learn all you can while you can, because the longer you go on in ministry, the less 'discretionary time' you are likely to have. If you are a younger man, perhaps a seminarian, you may feel busy. But you may, relatively speaking, have few or limited church responsibilities, you...
For those who don't know of it, you may be interested to hear that Todd Pruitt and Carl "I'm not a celebrity, I'm just high-profile" Trueman are building their empire with a podcast entitled The Mortification of Spin . According to the spin, er . . . blurb, MoS is a bi-weekly casual conversation...