J. C. Ryle was a prominent evangelical leader in the Church of England during the second half of the 19th century. A champion of orthodox doctrine in an age of theological decline, he never divorced dogma from holy living. In fact, his book Holiness, from which this excerpt is taken, argued that no true Christian lacks practical godliness. And developing godliness requires practicing the spiritual disciplines.

Pastor John Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 7:1-40

  8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion . . . 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, 28 (NIV)

  In 1758, pastor-theologian Jonathan Edwards became president of Princeton; in 2001, Princeton professor Peter Singer endorsed bestiality.1 The university has come a long way since Edwards’ day—downhill.

  In December 1952, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Stanley L. Miller, and his supervisor, Harold C. Urey, conducted an experiment that not only shook the world but sought to re-create it. They shot electricity through an atmosphere they claimed was akin to that on primitive earth and created amino acids—the building blocks of life. When the Miller-Urey experiment was published in Science on May 15, 1953, it captured the imagination of Darwinian evolutionists by suggesting that life arose on earth by spontaneous reactions.1

   Oliver O’Donovan, Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at the School of Divinity, New College, University of Edinburgh, is a prominent evangelical ethicist in Britain. In 1977 he penned a discussion paper on marriage and the family for the second National Evangelical Anglican Congress. At a time of falling birth rates, owing to the increased availability of contraception and the impact of feminism, O’Donovan warned against viewing parenthood as an inconvenience. Those who marry should be open to children; closing the door on parenthood implies a selfish view of married love.

Pastor Chris Scripture References: 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Psalm 118:1; Matthew 14:19; 2 Corinthians 1:11

  by Phil Boatwright KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP)–Movies mirror the evolution of man. Now, I know some people raise an eyebrow when they hear a Christian refer to the evolution of man, but I’m not inferring that man came from monkeys in the trees or fish in the sea. (If that were the case, then how come there are still monkeys in the trees and fish in the sea? What, are they underachievers?) No, when I refer to man evolving, I mean his nature, his temperament and his acceptance of things good or evil.

  On March 16, 1742, Jonathan Edwards’ church in Northampton, Massachusetts, renewed its covenant with God. Every member of the church “over fourteen years of age rose and assented to the document.”1 The Great Awakening2 had begun there eight years earlier and was continuing, but Edwards knew that healthy congregations needed pointed moral teaching, such as the document contained. He never assumed that once people had come to Christ, they could easily, and without a pastor’s counsel, figure out the rest—the range of moral and social applications. They very much needed instruction in discipleship, which has major repercussions in the […]

1 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” 4 And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because […]