Here in the USA, it’s rare to see kids playing sports in the neighbourhood anymore. We’re now organised and ‘professionalised’ — including uniforms, state-of-the-art facilities, endless trips to the field, competitive coaches, equally competitive parents, and the after-season tournaments designed to give parents ‘bleacher bottom’. In addition, you’ve got to pay to play — and when you’ve paid that much, you’ll be sure to play.

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Can anyone be good without God? This question often comes up in debates between Christians and atheists. How should we answer it? Here, the politician’s answer is true - it all depends upon what you mean by ‘good’, ‘without’ and ‘God’.

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Once I received an invitation to preach in California. As the time drew near for my departure I started to become worried because I hadn’t received a ticket for my flight from England from the churches who’d invited me to preach. But they were soon on the phone telling me not to worry, and telling me that I didn’t need a ticket. This didn’t relieve my concern; it just deepened it. Of course I needed a ticket! Everyone knows you can’t fly without a ticket! What on earth were those people in California on about?

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Once on a day in March, I was due to fly out of JFK Airport in New York at 6:15 p.m. But the flight was delayed for three and a half hours because of ice. That afternoon there had been a light snowfall—only about two inches. When it came down it looked lovely. The houses and trees were covered with a beautiful coat of white; but at the airport, it caused havoc.

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What values should children imbibe at school? I’ve noticed that for most people ‘modesty’ is absent from the list. It’s an interesting omission, and one that should make us think about the nature of our society.

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“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me?” (Psalm 42:5). When the Psalmist gave utterance to these words, his spirit was dejected and his heart was heavy within him. In the chequered career of David there was not a little which was calculated to sadden and depress: the cruel prosecutions of Saul, who hunted him as a partridge upon the mountains, the treachery of his trusted friend Ahitophel, the perfidy of Absalom, and the remembrance of his own sins, were enough to overwhelm the stoutest. And David was a man of like passions with us: he was not always upon the mountain-top of joy, but sometimes spent seasons in the slough of despond and the gorge of gloom.

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A child of God oppressed, suffering sorely, often driven to his wit’s end-what a strange thing! A joint-heir with Christ financially embarrassed, poor in this world’s goods, wondering where his next meal is coming from-what an anomaly! An object of the Father’s everlasting love, and distinguishing favour tossed up and down upon a sea of trouble, with every apparent prospect of his frail barque capsizing-what a perplexity.

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One evening recently I was with some dear friends: they had kindly entertained a tall young Dutch lad for a month while on work experience here. It was his first visit to England, and he brought with him a pocket calculator, which would give him the Dutch equivalent for any English word he keyboarded in: the first week it was in constant use! I was amazing to realise it could deal with 7000 words of English, and give the equivalent in any of six European languages! If a more complicated word was keyed in, it would come up with a question mark –meaning, ‘Consult the dictionary!’ And how wonderful to realise that God has given a child the working knowledge of a complete language by the time it goes to school.

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January: A busy time for me. Most of the family decided to read me through this year. They kept me busy for the first two weeks, but they have forgotten me now.
February: Clean-up time. I was dusted yesterday and put in my place. My owner did use me for a few minutes last week. He had been in an argument and was looking for some references to prove he was right........

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“Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ; Not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall be receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free” Ephesians 6:5-8.

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Christmas is not about mince pies and roast turkey. It’s not about sleigh bells and Santa Claus. We can have a great Christmas without any of these.

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Ten point check-up
There are ten sins of which church members are frequently guilty. Each of them is plainly forbidden by the word of God. Because of this, those who indulge in them merit God’s strong displeasure. However, as each member honestly faces these issues, the church will receive the fruits of his favour. The ten sins are:

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"And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me. Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God." Isaiah. 49. 2-4.

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“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:6). Eight times in the space of this verse is the pronoun used in the singular number and the second person—a thing unique in all Scripture—as though to emphasize the indispensability, importance and value of private prayer. We are to pray in the closet as well as in the church: in fact if the former be neglected, it is not at all likely that the latter will be of much avail. He that is an attendee at the prayer meetings in order to be seen of men, and is not seen alone in his closet by God, is an hypocrite. Private prayer is the test of our sincerity, the index to our spirituality, the principle means of growing in grace. Private prayer is the one thing, above all others, that Satan seeks to prevent, for he knows full well that if he can succeed at this point, the Christian will fail at every other.

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The Victorian Baptist preacher C H Spurgeon once delivered the following rebuke and challenge:

“Behold, how many professing Christians there are that are asleep! They are inactive. Sinners are dying in the street by hundreds; men are sinking into the flames of eternal wrath, but they fold their arms, they pity the poor perishing sinner, but they do nothing to show that their pity is real.

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by the late C. D. Alexander

We mean, why the emphasis on the Reformed doctrines as the only way to the reviving of the evangelical cause? Is it not sufficient to preach the plain and "simple" gospel without this insistence upon such themes as Divine Sovereignty, Predestination, the Election of grace, and Redemption Absolute and Particular?

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Somebody once wrote to G K Chesterton to ask him what he thought of civilisation. In his cynical but effective way, Chesterton responded, “I think it is a wonderful idea – why doesn’t somebody start one?”

When a magazine ran an article, “What’s wrong with the world?” Chesterton sent back a short Letter to the Editor. He wrote, “Dear Sir, regarding your article, ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ I am. Yours truly, G K Chesterton.”

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“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4

The illustration which our Lord uses, in which the Word of God is compared to our daily bread, is most instructive. Bread is indispensable to life. We all understand this. However strong a person may be, if he takes no nourishment, he will grow weaker, and life will become extinct. Even so with the Word of God. It contains a heavenly principle, and works powerfully in them that believe.

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Civil rights, animal rights, gay rights, prisoner’s rights, the right of a woman to choose – one cannot fail to notice the emphasis on individual rights in our society. What one does not hear, however, is a corresponding concern about responsibility, and you cannot have one without the other.

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Churches overseas are going in one direction while churches in North America and Europe are going another. Churches overseas are placing greater and greater emphasis upon the grounding of believers in Biblical truths. Churches in North America and Western Europe increasingly are accommodating Biblical illiteracy.

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Several years ago the Hoover Company offered free flights from Britain to America to anyone who bought one of their appliances. But so many people bought a Hoover product and claimed their free flight that Hoover was unable to meet the demand! A huge row followed, as customers demanded that Hoover keep its promise.

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The brilliant white colours of early summer – the cow parsley of the roadsides, the white candles of the horsechestnuts and the snow-like blossom of the hawthorn – are going over, and already the hay is coming in, for May and June are the months of grasses.

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You must know the gospel. Otherwise you cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said: ‘Ye shall know the truth; and the truth shall make you free’. Sinners are saved by the knowledge of the truth, and Christ is the Truth.

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Look that ye love the Lord Jesus Christ with a superlative love, with an overtopping love. There are none have suffered so much for you as Christ; there are none that can suffer so much for you as Christ. The least measure of that wrath that Christ hath sustained for you, would have broke the hearts, necks, and backs of all created beings.

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Some time ago I heard of two Christian young men deciding to go to a night club. Such places of lewd entertainment are rightly called 'night' clubs. Jesus once said: 'this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil' (John 3:19).

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We who follow Christ in these perilous times are engaged in a war that has many fronts.

Action ebbs in one sector only to flare up in another, or two, or ten others. The enemy is everywhere, assuming many forms and taking at any given time whatever shape best serves his evil purposes, and he is for that reason often mistaken for a friend.

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Consider your occupation with Christ and remember that growth in grace is commensurate with your growing in the knowledge of Him (2 Pet. 3.18). That knowledge is indeed a spiritual one, yet it is received via the understanding, for what is not apprehended by the mind cannot profit the heart. Nothing but an increasing familiarity and closer fellowship with Christ can nourish the soul and promote spiritual prosperity.

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"This my friend." Song of Solomon 5.16.

A friend is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Tell me not of money: affection is better than gold; sympathy is better than lands. He is the poor man who has no friends.

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"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee" (Isa. 26:3). What is signified by a mind "stayed on" the Lord? At least three things. First, to make the Lord the Portion of my soul. All around us are those vainly seeking contentment in things: such as money, and what it can buy, social prestige, fame, pleasures, etc.—all of which are broken cisterns which hold no water. Only the One who made us can satisfy the heart; only as our affection is set upon "things above" do we drink of the Fountain of living waters. Just in proportion as "Delight thyself also in the LORD" (Psa. 37:4) will "perfect peace" be mine now.

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We are asking the question today "How do we assess hymns, and how do we assess hymn-books?" I hope to do three things. Firstly I want to make a general observation about singing in the New Testament. Then I want us to look at Paul's instructions in Ephesians and Colossians. Then I want us think a little about the book of psalms.

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