The Best Friday

From Phillip Jensen:

“Holidays are always marvellous opportunities to relax and catch up with friends, but the Easter holiday is even better because it gives us time to think about the greatest weekend in human history: when our Lord and Saviour died and rose again. The death of Jesus was so great that I would call Friday not just good, but the best Friday.”

– Hear Phillip and Peter Jensen in the latest Two Ways News podcast. Well worth listening and sharing.

The Image of God Reconsidered — Two Ways News podcast

From Phillip Jensen:

“One of the most profound and widely quoted verses of the Bible is the creation of Man in the image of God. So, this week Peter and I went exploring some of its implications. It is such a fruitful concept by which to understand humanity, not the least because in the New Testament we find Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”. But before we get there, we need to understand how we are as individuals, male and female, in the image of God as well as how humanity, as a whole, is in his image.

There’s so much fruitful discussion to be had on this passage, we hope our conversation will stimulate yours. …”

– Listen (or read the transcript) here.

What and Who are Humans?

From Phillip Jensen:

“As we look at Genesis 1, we come to a great climax in the creation of humans in God’s Image.

More bottles of ink have been spilled over this phrase than possibly any phrase in the Bible. What is the image of God? In what way are we in the image of God? What are humans and who are we?

The questions go on and on. Yet this teaching of Genesis 1 has stood the test of time in identifying God’s universal identity and value of humans.”

– Listen to the latest Two Ways News podcast with Phillip and Peter Jensen.

The Goodness of God — Two Ways News

From Phillip Jensen:

“‘Good’ is such a strange word. We all know what we mean by it, but it is so difficult to define. So when God declares his creation to be ‘good, very good’ what is he saying? Is the world itself good or simply pleasing? And if it is good, what is it good for?

In this week’s Two Ways News, Peter and I venture into the meaning of God calling the world good and the implications that has for living in this world and the next.”

– Listen (or read the transcript) here.

Words and Relationships

Phillip Jensen writes:

“On Peter’s recovery, I thought it would be good to hear his views on the topic of words and power that Genesis 1 so importantly illustrates. So, we return to the topic of words and see how they create and operate in relationships. This brings us to how they are distorted and politicised by suspicious people.

I’m sure you will appreciate coming back to the two voice podcast as Peter and I struggle through this important and highly contemporary issue of words.”

– Listen to the latest Two Ways News podcast here.

Book Recommendations on ‘Corporate Worship’ from Pastors

From 9Marks –

“ ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God’ (Col. 3:16).

Is there a singer or musician in your church who is hungry to glorify God as they lead in corporate worship? Or do your members need to be taught that they’re all ‘part of the choir’?

9Marks asked a couple of pastors who have thought a lot about corporate worship for book recommendations on the subject. …”

– You may recognise some of the books they recommend.

The Power of Words — How could we keep silent? Two Ways News podcast

From Phillip Jensen:

“Sadly Peter was sick when we recorded this episode of Two Ways News, so it is a solo effort for today’s topic. Thankfully, Peter has now recovered.

From Genesis 1 we see the power of God’s word, which is part of God’s wisdom by which he created the world. Thus, the power of words is one of the joys and problems of life. The devil’s power is in his lying words. Yet it is God’s word that never returns to him empty but always achieves his purposes. Understandably but wrongly, this leads people in authority to censorship.”

– Listen here.

Repeating the Basics — The Cross and the Resurrection

“Friends in Christ, today I am going to repeat the basics!

When the Apostle Paul summarises the central gospel truths he preached, he writes of what he…

‘…passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…’ (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

It is what you should hear of again and again at any decent church – in our preaching, in our songs, in our confessions, creeds and prayers:

– In the Cathedral Newsletter, Dean of Sydney, Sandy Grant, reminds us of what we must not forget.

Exploring and Celebrating the Nicene Creed

“This year is the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, which is an important part of our liturgy for a number of our services, in particular for the Eucharist. We encourage you to mark this year by devoting some time to focussing on the creed, both personally and as a congregation. …”

– The Ministry Development Committee of the Diocese of Ballarat is seeking to help church members think about what they mean when they say the Nicene Creed on Sundays.

Related:

Credo Magazine feature: 1700 Years after Nicaea. – January 2025.

Christ and Creation — Two Ways News podcast

From Phillip Jensen:

“Dear Friends,

Hello again, thanks for the feedback and encouragement. Peter and I are enjoying chatting over the great themes of the Creator and creation in Genesis 1.

So far, we have been struck by the opening words ‘In the beginning God created’, which take us to the idea of one God and one universe. But yet when we come to John chapter 1 we find that the word by which God created all, became flesh in the person of Jesus. Furthermore, in Colossians 1, the world was created not only through God’s son but also for him.

So, in this week’s Two Ways News we are exploring the place of Christ in creation. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did in making it.”

– Listen here.

Who is Melchizedek?

“Who is the greatest in the book of Genesis? Abraham? Wrong! The greatest man in Genesis is Melchizedek.

‘Who?’, you say. Even if you have been a Bible reader for a while, your knowledge of Melchizedek may be a little sketchy. Who was he? And why does he matter?

Melchizedek appears in three places in the Bible. We will take these in turn and see how they fit together.…”

– Christopher Ash, Writer-in-Residence at Tyndale House in Cambridge, begins a new series, ‘Curious characters in the Bible’, by exploring questions around the mysterious Melchizedek.

God’s Deep Irony!

“HG Wells, historian and author of The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds responded to a request from The American Magazine in July 1922, to identify the six most influential people in history.

‘I am an historian,’ he said. ‘I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history’.

Why then was HG Wells, and many like him, not a believer? Perhaps it has something to do with what we might call, God’s deep irony. …”

– John Mason writes in this week’s Word on Wednesday from The Anglican Connection.

Creator, King and Country — The importance of the first five words

From Phillip Jensen:

Citizenship is a wonderful thing. To be part of something larger than yourself gives meaning purpose and identity. Peter and I grew up in the British Empire having been born before the granting of Australian citizenship. It was for the Empire that our parents and grandparents generation went to the world wars. Today that is almost unimaginable, for now people find their identity in being Australians.

However, when we read Genesis 1 we are confronted with a ruler who is over and above every empire and nation because he is the Creator of all things. In this episode of Two Ways News we look at the meaning and implications of the opening words of Genesis 1.

– Listen here.

The reality of ministry – 2 Corinthians 4

Archie Poulos preached at Moore College’s chapel this morning.

From 2 Corinthians chapter 4, he spoke about The Reality of Ministry.

Watch here.

Two Ways News Podcast — The Foundations of Genesis Part 2

The second episode of the 2025 series of Two Ways News Podcasts is now out, with Phillip and Peter Jensen. They continue on Genesis 1–11.

“We spent last time talking about the background ideas of how we come to read Genesis, but Peter, you said something about the nature of literature, and I’d like to follow you up more on the assumptions when you’re reading, because you talked about how you approach reading.”

Great listening.

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