The Magazine Podcast

How can we judge which books will be most profitable to us? Should a minister pursue breadth in reading or depth of reading early in his ministry?  These and other questions are addressed in this week's reading from Iain H. Murray's 1996 address, 'The Preacher and Books.'    Resource read:  Iain H. Murray, 'The Preacher and Books,' Banner of Truth Magazine Issue 389 (February 1996).    Similar res...

What is the proper relationship between a preacher and his books? How can a minister prioritise the most helpful kinds of reading and study?  These and other questions were addressed by the Rev Iain H Murray in his address to the Bethlehem Pastors' Conference in early 1996. We read part of his address this week.    Resource read:  Iain H. Murray, 'The Preacher and Books,' Banner of Truth Magazine...

We were saddened to hear of the recent death of Paul Helm (1940–2025). Paul, who is perhaps best known for his work in philosophical theology, has had a long and fruitful association with the Banner of Truth.  Daniel J. Hill, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, has written a tribute to Paul. We are grateful to Dr Hill for reading it for us on the podcast.    Explore the w...

J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937) is noted for his earnest and powerful contending for the truth of the Bible and of the historic Christian faith in the early part of the Twentieth Century. Early on in his life, however, he almost fell prey to the liberalism that was sweeping through the seminaries and churches of the Western world. This encounter with liberalism, and the grace of God in preserving hi...

In this standalone short episode, we provide some details of an exciting opportunity at the Banner of Truth Trust. With our General Manager nearing retirement, the trustees are prayerfully seeking a Chief Operations Officer to guide the work into the future. Could that be you, or someone you know? Will you pray for the right person to be appointed?  Read more about the role: https://banneroftruth....

A hundred years ago, the great New Testament scholar J. Gresham Machen sounded the alarm about educational freedom in America. He believed that the state had begun to encroach in a most grievous way upon the sphere of the family, assuming duties it had no warrant to perform.  Machen's words of caution are most timely for us. We live in an epoch in which, informed by UN policy goals, western govern...

In this short bonus episode, we read an apt New Year meditation from the pen of Professor John Murray: 'Memory and Prospect.'    Featured Resource:  – John Murray, 'Memory and Prospect', Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 172 (January 1978).    Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your fe...

This week we review some of the ground we have covered on the podcast in 2025, and read an article from our editor, Mark G. Johnston, 'When Preachers Sing the Blues'.  The article reminds us that the charge to preach God's word is often, perhaps always, accompanied by a heavy spiritual burden. While the Lord's grace is sufficient for every preacher, that sufficiency is proved in and through very t...

Maurice Roberts, who edited the Banner of Truth Magazine for many years, is noted for his poignant editorials. This one, from the December 1994 issue of the magazine, is typically probing and helpful. Are we battle-weary? Are we disappointed? Are we, dare we admit it, spiritually sleepy?  If so, Rev. Roberts' article can help us see our need and seek the Lord for the grace of repentance and the gi...

The gospel of God is to be offered freely to all. Accordingly, all who hear the gospel have a warrant to believe it. As Samuel Rutherford wrote, 'reprobates have as fair a warrant to believe as the elect have.' This week we consider the offer of the gospel made freely by God, addressed to every sinner—indeed, addressed to you and to me.    Featured resources: – Iain H. Murray, 'The Free Offer of t...

This summer the Trust brought out a new, retypeset edition of William Cunningham's Historical Theology (1863). This week we read its new introduction by Banner Trustee Donald John MacLean, to find out why this work is of unique value to the 21st Century reader.   Read Material: – 'William Cunningham's Historical Theology – An Introduction', Donald John MacLean, in William Cunningham, Historical Th...

The poor are a priority to God, and must be a priority for us, too. This week we focus on this aspect of the biblical witness with the help of Peter Barnes (Revesby Presbyterian Church, NSW, Australia) and Thomas E. Peck, the nineteenth-century Southern Presbyterian minister and teacher.    Featured resources: – Peter Barnes, 'Looking After the Poor: Biblical Principles', Banner of Truth Magazine,...

There are many pitfalls in preaching. One area which many preachers struggle with is application. And yet, in a sense, application is the whole of preaching. David Vaughn's letter to a fellow Christian leader in the December 2025 issue of the magazine addresses this very subject.    Featured resources: – David Vaughn, 'What can we learn from John Knox?', Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 514 (March...

This week's normal Magazine Podcast episode will be delayed. In the meantime, we are publishing Iain H. Murray's address, The Benefits and Dangers of Controversy from the Ministers' Conference in Leicester in 2012.     

This week, by kind permission of Dr Robert Tracy McKenzie, we read his insightful piece on the motivations of the Mayflower Pilgrims. As we mark 405 years since they made landfall in Provincetown, Massachussetts, what can we learn of spiritual benefit from their reasons for going to the 'New World'?    Original article:  https://faithandamericanhistory.wordpress.com/2017/11/12/why-the-pilgrims-rea...

Part II of Warren Peel's preaching on Proverbs 4:23 from the 2025 Australia Conference.   Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

Of all of the great imperatives found in Scripture, few are more crucial than that found in Proverbs 4:23:    'Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.'   If we fail to do this, all else will be in vain. This text was taken by Warren Peel, pastor at Covenant Christian Fellowship in Galway at the recent Banner Conference in Australia (February 2025). The conference...

This week we consider the life and legacy of the great Scottish Reformer John Knox (c. 1514–1572). In particular, we focus on his preaching and ask what made it so effective.   Featured resources: – Iain H. Murray, 'What can we learn from John Knox?', Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 514 (March 2006). Excerpted from  A Scottish Christian Heritage .  – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 'Remembering the Reforma...

There is much talk of awakening, revival, and 'quiet revival' in the churches in the West at present. While we wish to avoid the extremes of sensationalism and cynicism, it is right for us to hunger to see God move again, and to give ourselves afresh to studying how the Lord has moved in the past. This week's piece helps us to reflect on one aspect of the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century:...

This week's bonus episode is an interview with Jeremy Walker, a pastor at Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley, West Sussex, just south of London. Jeremy has long been a friend of the Banner and serves as book reviews editor for the magazine.  We sat down with Jeremy to talk about his Christian pilgrimage, call to ministry, some favourite books and, well, where he stands on the pronunciation of J...

Some articles have what it takes not only to arrest the attention, but also to change the life. Maurice Roberts published just such an article in the August–September 1995 issue of the magazine.  'Why Is There No Wrestling?' is a passionate plea for urgent prayer. It is a call to arms that is just as timely today — perhaps more so — as it was to its original readers thirty years ago.  We read the...

The following address, the second of two on the subject, was given by Rev. Iain H. Murray at the 1988 Banner of Truth Youth Conference.    Banner Resources on Assurance William Guthrie, The Christian's Great Interest Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth: Assurance in the Christian Life Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices Thomas Brooks, The Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume III ('A Cabi...

The following address, one of two on the subject, was given by Rev. Iain H. Murray at the 1988 Banner of Truth Youth Conference.    Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

There have always been calls for the church to de-emphasise doctrine. Sometimes these calls come from those who wish to promote 'unity' at any cost—enter the ecumenical movement. Sometimes they come from those who feel that the truths of the faith are encumbrances or 'stumbling blocks' to those who just want a simple faith.  This week's episode shows why such calls are so misguided. There can be n...

Jeremiah Burroughs was a peace-loving Puritan. Without sacrificing the truth, he sought unity among those who professed it, and prayed, preached, and pleaded to that end. Indeed, Richard Baxter, who felt keenly the need for peace but struggled himself to promote it, once remarked that if all the Episcopalians had been like Archbishop [James] Ussher, all the Presbyterians like Stephen Marshall, and...