Addressing a Roman Catholic Resurgence

“We are in the midst of something of a resurgence of Roman Catholicism, though many are not aware of this.

Despite many recent controversies, failures, disputes and divisions, it remains a real force in the world, influencing society, politics and spirituality.

Just recently, The Rosary in a Year podcast surpassed The Joe Rogan Experience to claim the top spot on Apple’s charts, with much being made of what implications this has for our understanding of where modern culture is heading. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Adrian Russell commends the Reformanda Initiative to help us understand and helpfully respond to the resurgence of Roman Catholicism.

Word In Song Conference Sydney West — 21 June 2025

Here’s something which may well be of interest to churches and church musicians in Sydney’s west –

Emu Music’s Word in Song Conference for Sydney’s west. Saturday 21st June 2025.

The Church Record’s Easter Recommendations

From The Australian Church Record:

“A few of the ACR team share some top picks for a Jesus-focussed Easter.”

– on the ACR website.

Videos from Nexus25 available

Thanks to the team at Nexus25, the videos of the talks from Monday’s conference are now available for your edification.

Talks by Dave Jensen, Dominic Steele, Chris Braga and Phil Colgan.

– See them here. Very helpful and challenging for ministry teams, small groups and individuals.

When Should a Pastor Preach Through Romans?: Thoughts from Sinclair Ferguson

The Banner of Truth has released this helpful 4 minute video excerpt from a longer (audio only) interview with Sinclair Ferguson.

The Minister Imposter Syndrome — TPH with Archie Poulos

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Pastors facing up to our imposter syndrome – navigating the noise that leads us to make bad decisions.

As Pastors, we feel the pressure to have the right answers to people’s questions.

We want to be able to navigate the complexities of life and church and land everyone safely at the other end.

People share with us and the hardest parts of their lives, they trust us with their most private issues, and time and their money.

And they trust us that we will handle the most complex relationship difficulties with wisdom.

We end up feeling like imposters. Who am I to lead the people of God?  And how can I have wisdom here?

Archie Poulos from Sydney’s Moore Theological College has found the secular book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment helpful as he has addressed these issues.”

– Watch or listen 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.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

In 2013, Phillip Jensen wrote about “St. Patrick – The Irish Evangelical” –

“St Patrick’s Day is a Saint’s day. There is nothing wrong with celebrating saint’s days, though there is nothing particularly right either. As our Apostle says: ‘One man esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind’ (Romans 14:5). …

Legendary stories make it hard to know the truth about early saints. …

However, the problems of saints and saint’s days should not stand in the way of remembering, with gratitude, those whom God has used in the past to spread the gospel and contribute to the welfare of the world.”

How Marriage Vows Work

“One profound privilege of pastoral ministry is officiating weddings. It’s always an honor to be asked by a couple to perform their ceremony and help shape one of the most significant moments of their lives. Yet there are five words I dread hearing: ‘We wrote our own vows.’…”

– While Anglican ministers don’t have latitude when it comes to customising wedding vows, it’s a common enough request. At The Gospel Coalition, Joe Carter has some helpful thoughts.

Old Preaching

“The greatest challenge in writing about preaching with older people is the sheer diversity of older people, their needs and backgrounds. So, this blog provides some thoughts, you will need wisdom to apply them to your context. As preaching requires both exegetical content and public speaking skills, I will start with the question of content and finish with some quick public speaking with older people tips.

The greatest content danger for sermons for older people is assumption. …”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, Aged Care Chaplain Ben Roland shares some help and encouragement.

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.

Improving self reflection to strengthen resilience in ministry workers

From The Pastor’s heart this week:

“A new study shows that training in systematic self reflection will develop resilience among ministry workers, who are at risk of stress related ill health.

Self reflective resilience training is beneficial to those in ministry roles and programs in this area can minimise stress related ill health.

BUT, Not all self reflection is equal.

Organisational Psychologist with Sydney’s Center for Ministry Development Kirsty Bucknell has surveyed and tested a significant number of Australian Protestant Ministry workers to analyse the relationship between self reflection and mental health outcomes. …”

– Watch or listen here.

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.

Do your Sunday Songs pass the test?

“How does a pastor decide which songs to introduce? Why one song and not another? Here are a gauntlet of questions I ask when considering a new song for my church.

If we’re going to sing a song on Sunday, it’s got to pass all the way through. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition, Brandon Ryan addresses an important question.

A short reflection on the significance of Lent

On the Bathurst Diocese Facebook page, Bishop Mark Calder has a short reflection on the significance of Lent (which began on Wednesday).

– Watch here. (May require a login to Facebook.)

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