A History of Ireland - Ireland Before the Plantation (Part 2) is now available. To get your copy, click here.
This book Deals with the Waves of Invasion, Castle
Place Names, Patrick of Ireland, the Normans, Ireland's Importance in
1492, the Reformation.
When you read the section on Patrick of Ireland, commonly known as Saint Patrick, you are in for a surprise. You never thought that these things were true of Patrick, especially when you listen to all the Irish hype about him at this time of year. He is celebrated on 17th March each year, "St Patrick's day."
You must read about this, so get your copy NOW.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
A History of Ireland - A New Perspective
My new book entitled, A History of Ireland - A New Perspective (Part 1), is proving very popular this week. It looks at the history of Ireland from the perspective of it being "His story," the story of God's doings with men in this part of the world. This is indeed a 'new perspective' on this issue, and one that I am not sure has ever been attempted before.
The good news is that this little book is selling for $0.99 normally, but until Sat 10th March 2012, it is going for FREE. So visit here to download your own copy. This is part 1, and part 2 is now available on the internet today. To get you copy, please click here.
Make sure you get your copy and find out what this new approach to Ireland's history really is.
The good news is that this little book is selling for $0.99 normally, but until Sat 10th March 2012, it is going for FREE. So visit here to download your own copy. This is part 1, and part 2 is now available on the internet today. To get you copy, please click here.
Make sure you get your copy and find out what this new approach to Ireland's history really is.
Patrick of Ireland
Many people are aware that Patrick is known as the ‘patron saint
of Ireland.’ However, that may be the
limited of their knowledge of him. What
little historical fact we do know about Patrick challenges how he is depicted
by Irish mythology. The first thing to
be remembered is that Patrick was British, not Irish – his father was a church
elder and his grandfather a church deacon, either in Scotland, Wales or the
west of England. Patrick was born and
bred in Britain. He was brought up in a
Christian family where he would have been taught the truth of the Gospel, a
fact backed up by his later evangelisation of Ireland in adulthood, and as recorded
in his “Confessions.” Having been captured
by Irish raiders, Patrick was brought to Slemish in County Antrim, where he
tended sheep. It was here on this lonely
hill that he began to reconsider God, and His call on his life, and eventually
escaped.
Yet when he was home again in Britain, and having recognised
God’s call to him, he trained for ordination to the Christian ministry. While undergoing the discipline of
theological training, he heard ‘the voice of the Irish,’ almost like the
apostle Paul’s vision of the man from Macedonia (Acts 16:11), calling him to
return to Ireland. When ordained, he
obeyed God’s call, and arrived at Saul in County Down, he planted his first
church there. His missionary and
evangelistic efforts took him right across Ulster and into the rest of Ireland,
making Armagh his base. He is reported to
be buried in Downpatrick.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Lonely Leaders.
A minister who is providing leadership for the church will by definition be a very lonely man. He is out in front and away from the crowd. He is the shepherd and not a sheep. He faces dangers at the front line. He can be most vulnerable out there, with few friends. While others are content to remain in the safety of the fold, and take no risks for the sake of the Gospel, the shepherd wants to go out in front leading the way to heaven and to home.
If a minister has many followers and supporters, many speaking well of him and saying how great he is, he is probably not a leader, but a follower. The church today needs leaders, but she does not want leaders. Leaders, if they are Christian leaders in any real sense, will draw the flock further and further away from ther world, but that is not always what the church really wants. She wants to be able to live in peaceful co-existence with the world. And within dead churches, a leader is as unwelcome as anything could be.
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones was "a very lonely man." Whilst he had many admirers and followers, not many went the length that he went as a preacher of the Gospel. He was innovative in the right sense and longed to see true truth re-established in the churches. But he not only longed for this - he actually did something about it. He put his faith into action. Had it not been for him, there would probably not be the InterVarsity Press (IVP), the Williams Library (The Evangelical Library) in London, The Evangelical Press, or the Inter Collegiate Christian Union (now UCCF), the Banner of Trust Trust, the British Evangelical Council, or many other fine Christian organisations that uphold biblical orthodoxy.
He was ahead of the crowd, hence his loneliness. He was misunderstood and unjustly criticised. He had a few very close friends, but many acquaintances.
This is always true of true leaders.
If a minister has many followers and supporters, many speaking well of him and saying how great he is, he is probably not a leader, but a follower. The church today needs leaders, but she does not want leaders. Leaders, if they are Christian leaders in any real sense, will draw the flock further and further away from ther world, but that is not always what the church really wants. She wants to be able to live in peaceful co-existence with the world. And within dead churches, a leader is as unwelcome as anything could be.
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones was "a very lonely man." Whilst he had many admirers and followers, not many went the length that he went as a preacher of the Gospel. He was innovative in the right sense and longed to see true truth re-established in the churches. But he not only longed for this - he actually did something about it. He put his faith into action. Had it not been for him, there would probably not be the InterVarsity Press (IVP), the Williams Library (The Evangelical Library) in London, The Evangelical Press, or the Inter Collegiate Christian Union (now UCCF), the Banner of Trust Trust, the British Evangelical Council, or many other fine Christian organisations that uphold biblical orthodoxy.
He was ahead of the crowd, hence his loneliness. He was misunderstood and unjustly criticised. He had a few very close friends, but many acquaintances.
This is always true of true leaders.
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Lloyd-Jones Vindicated
My reading today in DMLJ's sermons on 2 Peter was most enlightening. After Rev. J. J.Murray's statement that DMLJ believed in limited atonement, I read the following words from the Doctor:
"Salvation clearly is in Christ and in Him alone. He has fulfilled all the promises. It is in Him that God is saving mankind. God promised to save mankind - here He does save mankind - Christ is the fulfiller of all promises," (2 Peter, BTT, Edinburgh,1983, p.110).
Is this what an Owenite would preach? Is this the statement of someone who believed that Christ only for the elect? Does this statement indicate that DMLJ believed that God's design in the atonement was to save only the elect?
Can someone out there please explain to me how a preacher who makes a statement like this be described as a believer in limited atonement?
If DMLJ believed in limited atonement as Rev. Murray alleges, what is the Doctor's understanding of the statement he made in this sermon?
Does DMLJ exegete "mankind" as Jews and Gentiles? No evidence exists to substantiate such a view.
Any comments?
"Salvation clearly is in Christ and in Him alone. He has fulfilled all the promises. It is in Him that God is saving mankind. God promised to save mankind - here He does save mankind - Christ is the fulfiller of all promises," (2 Peter, BTT, Edinburgh,1983, p.110).
Is this what an Owenite would preach? Is this the statement of someone who believed that Christ only for the elect? Does this statement indicate that DMLJ believed that God's design in the atonement was to save only the elect?
Can someone out there please explain to me how a preacher who makes a statement like this be described as a believer in limited atonement?
If DMLJ believed in limited atonement as Rev. Murray alleges, what is the Doctor's understanding of the statement he made in this sermon?
Does DMLJ exegete "mankind" as Jews and Gentiles? No evidence exists to substantiate such a view.
Any comments?
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