Here is Charles Spurgeon speaking to other pastors at the end of the 19th century: “Brethren, we shall never see much change for the better in our churches…till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians.” While the prayer meetings in his own church at the Metropolitan Tabernacle flourished he was […]
Once a year we consider the story of a well known Christian as part of our Sunday evening service. This is largely a chance for me to be self-indulgent and pretend that I am still studying history. The more serious aim is to be encouraged by the Lord’s work in years past and also allow […]
Tonight was our annual biography evening at church. You can listen to the talk here. However, if you do so, you might find the handout that we used helpful to follow along. It is reproduced here: Early Life Born in 1832 to godly parents in Barnsley Converted as a teenager after a period of […]
If people know two things about me they probably know that I am a Christian and that I have always been a bit of a sport obsessive. Scarcely a putt can be holed, a try scored, a race won or a wicket taken without me being interested in it. So I was struck by a […]
We have an annual tradition at Woody Road. Once a year we devote an evening service to a significant figure from church history. This year it was the turn of Martin Luther. You can listen to the talk here. However, I like to tell people’s stories in their own words so those present were given […]
A few weeks ago I posted the handout that accompanied my recent talk on John Bunyan. In that talk I focused principally on three of Bunyan’s works- Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, Pilgrim’s Progress and his Advice to Sufferers. I didn’t have much time to reflect on his Holy War that I read […]
Once a year I attempt to do a biography of a leading Christian character on a Sunday evening. You can hear the talk on John Bunyan here. I tried to tell Bunyan’s story using his own words. That meant there were lots of quotes! So, if you want to follow the talk, it is probably […]
A couple of years ago I did some work on the life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones to be presented to the Oxford Training Partnership. At some point I may write it up in a series of posts. But, for the moment, I want to reflect on one aspect of his life that intrigued me. It comes […]
Our Relationships Series has come to an end. On this blog over the last few weeks my main focus has been on the subject of homosexuality. However, I think our time considering friendship was as important. I am convinced (and I made this point again on Sunday morning) that close relationships, where anxieties, temptations and […]
It’s time to complete this brief survey of the life of the 19th century pioneer missionary that I started before Christmas! Throughout these posts we have seen something of Hudson Taylor’s service- his passion for souls, willingness to embrace suffering and so on. In the last post I want to pose this question: how was […]