The Magazine Podcast

How should the bodies of deceased believers be treated? Are burial and cremation equally valid for Christians? Do the Scriptures speak to the issue at all, or is it merely a matter of preference? These questions are all addressed by this week's featured article, by S. M. Houghton.   Featured Content: – 'Earth to Earth', S. M. Houghton, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issues 70-71, July-August 1969. – Ex...

James Gilmour (b. 1843) laboured in Mongolia, seeing precious little external fruit in the form of conversions. He continued on, serving his Lord Jesus in trying and discouraging circumstances. In this historical address from the 2023 UK Borders Conference, David Campbell introduces us to Gilmour, a true stalwart of the faith, who laid down his life in service to the Mongols and for their salvatio...

When is controversy justified? When is it not? How ought it to be conducted? When ought it to be refused? These are questions of particular importance for Christians in an argumentative and distracted age, such as ours. The three selections we read this week go some way towards helping us answer them.   Featured Content: – Excerpt from 'The Benefits and Dangers of Controversy' in Evangelical Holin...

We are by nature grumblers and malcontents. We take offence easily, and become critical when our desires and expectations are disappointed. Paul Levy, in this week's main article, helps us to see that these tendencies aren't mere quirks, or 'weaknesses', but sins of great consequence in the church of God. Moreover, they are sins to which we are often tempted at times of great growth and kingdom ad...

The third and final instalment of our mini-series on the three Bonar brothers who became ministers of the gospel in 19th-century Scotland. This week we consider the life of the youngest, Andrew Bonar, who ministered principally in Collace, Perthshire, and in Glasgow.   We consider the graces and gifts, weaknesses and witness of this humble, happy servant of Christ.   Featured Content: – 'Andrew Bo...

The second of three episodes inspired by David Campbell's mini-series on three remarkable brothers who ministered in 19th Century Scotland. This week we consider Horatius Bonar (1808–1889), pastor, author, and hymnwriter. We read David Campbell's article on him, an excerpt from Iain H. Murray, and then read a piece by Bonar himself critiquing the idea of 'religion without theology'. We close with...

Dr Chad Van Dixhoorn has spent many years researching and teaching the theology of the Westminster Standards (comprising the Confession of Faith, with the Larger and Shorter catechisms). We sat down with him to learn more about the standards and the 'Assembly of Divines' that produced them, as well as asking him about his own upbringing in Canada, his conversion, and work. We finished by discussin...

Motherhood is a precious and unique gift of God. Yet faithful motherhood has perhaps never been under such sustained and serious attack as is it now. In such a context, Christians need to recover a respect for mothers and motherhood that reveals the Lord's goodness to a faithless world. In this episode we consider the calling of a mother, and the beauty and necessity of her God-given role.   Featu...

The first of three episodes inspired by David Campbell's mini-series on three remarkable brothers who ministered in 19th Century Scotland. This week we consider the life, ministry, and faithfulness of John James Bonar. Not as well known as his brothers Horatius and Andrew, his ministry unveils a steady commitment to parish ministry that eshewed distraction and worldly ambition.   Featured Content:...

Confessions of faith, such as the Westminster Confession of 1646, play a celebrated role in Reformed, evangelical Christianity. This week we consider the value of such documents, and the way in which they often result from a period of pressure or crisis, which leads God's people to give fresh expression to their faith, in order to assist believers in its defense and propagation, and their unity in...

Andy Murray is a social worker and church deacon who blogs about leadership, the church, and the 19th Century Scottish gospel minister Thomas Guthrie, among other subjects. We sat down with Andy and talked about some of his passions, including the reunion, in the churches, of gospel passion and concern for the poor. We also asked him how the Highland game of shinty is played.   Resources Mentioned...

How should we think of the Law of God? Is it all one, or are there distinctions to be made between different subdivisions of law? How does the way we think of the Law shape our Christian lives? These fundamentally important questions, and others, are addressed in this week's episode, with the help of Maurice Roberts and Samuel Bolton.   Featured Content: – 'Three Forms of Law', Maurice J. Roberts,...

Thomas Guthrie lived to share the truth and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Living through a time of spiritual challenge and social transformation, he had eyes to see the poorest of the poor, a heart to care for them, and the organisational flare to set up a 'Ragged School'. Far from being the outworking of a 'social gospel', Guthrie's work was animated by a genuine love for these at-risk children,...

Meditation is to the Christian life what digestion is to the body: without it, the processes which sustain life are greatly hampered - even rendered impossible. The Puritans held an extremely high view of the necessity of meditation. They saw it as one of the primary means by which we take the great truths of the faith and appropriate them, applying them to our hearts in order that we might love a...

Many errors of faith and life stem from focusing on just one part of the Bible's teaching, to the exclusion of other things clearly taught in Scripture. This week, with help from Stephen Clark and C. H. Spurgeon, we look afresh at the importance of pursuing a faith and a life that reflects all that the Lord has spoken.   Featured Content: – 'Context, Nuance and Balance: Why They are Essential to C...

The Fourth Century was, theologically speaking, a century of conflict and clarification. Heretical teachings concerning the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Persons of the Trinity were widespread and backed by powerful churchmen. Faithful, biblically-rooted theologians contended for the truth, and two church councils (in 325 and 381) helped to clarify orthodox doctrine in the face of these...

What are mortification and vivification? What role do they play in our Christian lives? How can we encourage men in the church to grow, in a cultural environment which in various ways undermines attempts to pursue godliness? These are questions about which the subject of this month's interview has thought deeply. Joe Barnard is Lead Pastor at Holyrood Evangelical Church in Edinburgh, and it was ou...

'It is good to give thanks to the Lord,     to sing praises to your name, O Most High;  to declare your steadfast love in the morning,     and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp,     to the melody of the lyre.' – Psalm 92:1–3   Evening worship on the Lord's Day is neglected by many churches today. This week's episode constitutes a case for and a call to the practice...

We've a short 'extra' this week, as we mark 362 years since the infamous 'Black Bartholomew's Day' of 24 August, 1662.   25% off Sermons of the Great Ejection (for one week, to 30 August 2024) with code 'anniversary362': - https://banneroftruth.org/store/church-ministry/sermons-of-the-great-ejection/   Purchase the Banner of Truth 2025 Calendar (in stock, UK and World; coming soon to North America...

Many, perhaps most, evangelical churches today separate children from the main congregation for the preaching of the word of God. This week's episode asks at what cost we do this, challenging deeply-rooted assumptions about our practice of public worship.   Featured Content: – 'Children and the Sermon', Iain H. Murray, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 108 (September 1972). – 'Ten Benefits of Corpor...

A little more than 100 years ago, a Scotsman by the name of Eric Liddell made a stand for the Lord's Day. It was a very public stand, since he was a member of the British Olympic team sent to the Paris Olympics of 1924, and his decision to honour the Lord's Day entailed not running in one of his chosen races (the 100m)–the heats for which were to be held on a Sunday–and training instead for the 40...

This week we begin a three-part 'mini series' on the great subject of public worship. We begin by considering just why it is that public worship is so crucial for the church. Why should we do it? How should we view it? To do that, we enlist the help of Warren Peel, Peter Barnes, and the Puritan David Clarkson.   Featured Content: – 'The Primacy of Public Worship', Warren Peel, Banner of Truth Maga...

Speaking for the first time at our Youth Conference this year was Joseph Mangahas (Mang-AH-hass), one of the pastors at Cubao Reformed Baptist Church, Manila.   Joseph sat down with us to discuss gospel work in the Philippines, his conversion and Christian growth, and the many and varied ministries of Cubao Reformed Baptist Church. It is an episode to encourage all who delight to hear about the Lo...

Few things are more difficult than seeing a beloved child turn his or her back on the Lord. What is the Christian mother or father to do in this situation? This week's lead article, from Lipe Cortial (original article misattributed to Cilas De Menezes), gives a number of helpful pointers for parents, and encouragement to seek the Lord's glory in what may seem like an impossible situation. Our seco...

This week we finish Stuart Olyott's article exploring the nature and practice of 'corrective discipline', a subject utterly essential in our non-judgemental age. He shows us that the work of such discipline must always be focused on the restoration of the erring member, and carried out with great humility and wisdom. We also read the testimony of B. R. Basted, who found himself in a situation in w...