I first read of Isaac Watts as a boy learning American history at school in that battle cry, “Give ’em Watts, boys!” at the battle of Springfield, New Jersey. Over time I spotted his name in hymnals as the author of the some of the most famous hymns in evangelical Christendom. It happened this week… Read More Give ’em Watts, boys!
Just been reading Peter Adam’s St. Antholin’s Lecture, Gospel Trials in 1662: To Stay or To Go? for reasons I will explain if I have more time, when I read this paragraph: Two groups of people prefer the theory that Puritans cannot be Anglicans, nor can Anglicans be Puritans. Some Nonconformists may take this view because… Read More Two Brands of Anglicans
This past week I went to my first Acts29NJ church planters conference at Emergence Church, Totowa NJ about 18 – 20 minutes from where I grew up. The plenary and discussions got my mind working as I sought to apply what I learned from these planters and what I have experienced in ministry these 22… Read More Musical Tone
I read a blog by Brian Croft the other day who asked some questions concerning our assumptions on decline that got me thinking. Like him the more I hear the push “to overcome” the “plateau or decline” the more I pause and think of scenarios where a church’s decline in numbers is not necessarily a… Read More Decline and…
With sermons for tonight, tomorrow night and Easter Sunday done, my thoughts and prayer turn to those whom our heavenly Father draws to hear the gospel this year – those who only come to church on Christmas and Easter. Do you know what is true about folks who only come to church on Christmas and… Read More Holy Week, Easter, Prayer and Preaching
Ever met an evangelist? I met one recently in the pages of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. He is simply called “Evangelist” but it would be wrong to impose upon Bunyan’s character a modern understanding of an itinerant, American-style preacher. Rather, Evangelist here represents an important facet of the office of pastor which remains connected… Read More Seeker, Seeking, Sought
January 31, 2013 is the 121 anniversary of the death of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers. It seems fitting today to honor the witness of such a godly man by reading the account of his own conversion. God had blessed Spurgeon with so many gifts for the preaching and teaching ministry of the… Read More Remembering C.H. Spurgeon
If you’ve read my posts you will know that at the end of November John Owen arrived at 501 Green. I was just reading the sermons in volume nine of The Works of John Owen, “Sermons to the Church” and spotted this. Across the centuries, the “prince of the English divines” describes the same experience… Read More John Owen on Preaching
No, not the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge held by Isaac Newton and more recently by Stephen Hawking, but another “Lucasian” chair. This one is at St. Helen’s, Bishopgate and cheekily named by me for its long time Rector, Dick Lucas. St Helen’s, Bishopsgate is an Evangelical Anglican Church (Church of England) in the… Read More A Lucasian Chair
Christian Focus have released a kindle/e-book edition of Robert Bruce’s sermons on the Lord’s Supper (some of the most helpful ever preached on the topic). It is available this week (I am writing on 091712) at a special price here (UK) and here (US). Robert Bruce preached these sermons on the sacrament in 1589 at Giles Cathedral where he… Read More An E-book Deal!
The Vicar's Garden 