How sad our state by nature is
My father dug this hymn up for me, I can’t remember seeing it before. It’s an Isaac Watts number written in common metre, Indelible Grace have butchered, I mean remastered it here if you fancy your tunes a little more…
Category Reformation21
Playing to the gallery (or, Anselm’s chance)
Anselm Mulliner is a character in one of P. G. Wodehouse’s short stories, entitled “Anselm Gets His Chance,” available in the collection Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (US), for those interested. Anselm is curate of the parish of Rising Mattock in…
Why I’m grateful for Dr Derek Thomas
I have a two week old daughter who’s sleeping pattern is not particularly great but I can testify that at 4 O clock this morning an interview with Derek Thomas at the Reformed Forum knocked her out for four hours.…
Going Down? Dawkins, Doubters and Debauchery
Editors’ note: A summary of the incident referred to by Dr. Oliphint can be found here. Richard Dawkins, who is arguably the (non-existent) god of all things atheist, recently found himself on the wrong end of a verbal baseball bat.…
A thought on the homosexual marriage debate
As Christians in the UK and elsewhere engage in discussion among themselves and with civil authorities about the nature of marriage, it seems that many are concerned that such battles are indicative or even productive of a coming judgement. It…
‘My name is Michael Cain, not a lot of people know that’
When I was a young Christian I was given the advice of reading an evangelistic book regularly. It’s good for the soul and I think one of the benefits is it keeps reminding you of the simplicity of the gospel…
The Quest for Comfort
Last year we went through the Heidelberg Catechism each Sunday as our confession of faith. People loved it and lots bought Kevin Deyoung’s book ‘The good news we almost forgot’. I recently got sent ‘The Quest for Comfort – the…
Evidence of malevolence
If you wanted evidence of the cruel intelligence and brutal vindictiveness of the Adversary, ask a preacher about the coincidence of his preparations and temptations. You will begin to understand why it was that Luther flung an inkpot at the…
Phillip Jensen’s favourite mistakes
I try to read The Briefing each month (now that it’s free online). In all honesty it drives me round the bend. It’s Australian, which is bad enough, but it’s also pragmatism gone mad.The usual things come up every few months: ‘Worship…
Pragmatism
The former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling (he of the white hair and black eyebrows), has written a memoir of his time at No.11 Downing Street. It’s called Back from the Brink and provides a fascinating insight into…