Smart Planting, Right Planting
“It wasn’t so much that anyone called us to prayer, but that the day reminded us all of the way that God is sovereignly growing his church, in all sorts of unexpected places and amongst the least likely of people. God’s word is powerful and his mighty Spirit is transforming lives. …”
– At The Sola Panel, Paul Grimmond reflects on last week’s church planting conference at Moore College.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
“When Baxter lay a dying, and his friends came to see him, almost the last word he said was in answer to the question, ‘Dear Mr. Baxter, how are you?’
‘Almost well,’ said he, and so it is. …”
– C H Spurgeon puts death in perspective for all who belong to Christ. At Pyromaniacs.
Video: UK couple quizzed by police
“The 2005 story of Joe and Helen Roberts – an elderly Christian couple from Lancashire who were interrogated by police because they criticised a ‘gay rights’ project being run by their local council.
In this new video, Helen speaks about how intimidating it was to be questioned by police officers for over an hour. The officers told them they were near to committing a hate crime which carries a seven year prison sentence. …”
– Video from The Christian Institute – report from Anglican Mainstream.)
Why I don’t have a television and rarely go to movies
“But leave sex aside (as if that were possible for fifteen minutes on TV). It’s the unremitting triviality that makes television so deadly. What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ. Television takes us almost constantly in the opposite direction, lowering, shrinking, and deadening our capacities for worshipping Christ. …”
– John Piper challenges Christians to consider the influence of what they watch – at Desiring God.
A Tortured Existence
“We want our celebrities to start strong and finish weak, to begin with a bang and then fizzle, pop and sputter, all for our enjoyment and entertainment… Jackson gave us so much to talk about, so much to enjoy. More than any other celebrity he embodied the ‘vanities’ of Ecclesiastes. …”
– Tim Challies reflects. (Image: Google News.)
Al Stewart to head Evangelism Ministries
A media release from the Diocese of Sydney –
Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen has announced the appointment of Bishop Alan Stewart to spearhead a major diocesan church planting initiative.
Dr Jensen says “Connect09 has challenged us to move from maintenance to mission. The fact that I have released Bishop Stewart from his valuable ministry in Wollongong is an indication of how high church planting is on our mission agenda.” Read more
ACNA Assembly latest
The inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church of North America continues. You can read the latest from the ACNA website.
See also George Conger’s report at Religious Intelligence.
ACNA is the elephant in the tent
“The formation of ACNA is a direct challenge to the legitimacy of The Episcopal Church (TEC). Four dioceses have left TEC: San Joaquin in California, Quincy in Illinois; Fort Worth in Texas and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The new Province includes 11 Northern Virginia parishes, some of which pre-date the American War of Independence. It is no surprise then that TEC is litigating over millions of dollars worth of property. …”
– ACL Chairman Robert Tong writes at SydneyAnglicans.net
Nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
– The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 2:1–5. (ESV)
Archbishop of Canterbury to speak at TEC GC forum
“Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will make a presentation addressing the world’s economic crisis during a panel discussion webcast live July 8 from the Episcopal Church’s 76th General Convention, scheduled to take place July 8-17 in Anaheim, California.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson will host the event, to be called ‘Christian Faithfulness in the Global Economic Crisis’ at the Anaheim Hilton …”
– From the Episcopal News Service. (Photo: Lambeth Palace.)
Diocese of Brisbane 2009 Synod
The Diocese of Brisbane held its Synod last Saturday –
“The Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr Phillip Aspinall, has used his Presidential Address at Synod to speak of his hope for the future after a successful Connect to Church Sunday and a growing commitment to continue the effort. Dr Aspinall described as wonderful and fantastic a move by Bishops from 21 Dioceses from around the country to support a Back to Church Sunday event in September, mirroring a similar event in the Brisbane Diocese in February.…”
See the Brisbane Diocese website for a report
Archbishop-elect Duncan to the ACNA Provincial Assembly
“There is no one here who would go back. I hear it over and over. ‘There has been suffering and loss, some of it very wounding indeed, but we are so much better off than we were before!’
I hear it over and over. ‘God has been so good. God has been so faithful. So many miracles of provision! So many kindnesses and graces!’ …”
– Archbishop-elect Bob Duncan gives the opening address to the Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church of North America.
Don’t take your iPod to church!
“Reading the Bible in electronic format makes it easy to chase down cross-references, to read notes related to the content, to find word definitions and so on. But all of this is at the cost of the natural, God-given flow of the text. As we use our iPods in place of our Bibles, we begin to understand Scripture as we do Wikipedia, a text suited more to browsing than deep study.…”
– Food for thought as Tim Challies reflects on how the medium affects how we read the message. Part 1, part 1.5, part 2.
The Anglican Church in North America – Hidden reefs ahead
“The launch of the Anglican Church in North America this week should be a cause of great thanksgiving to God for all who long to see the Anglican Communion united in the gospel, rather than a counterfeit unity engineered through endless ‘conversation’ and artful ambiguity.
However, we can be certain that this new stage of the global Anglican realignment will be opposed. …”
– Charles Raven writes at SPREAD.
UK: Police examine church’s Easter invitation
“A five-strong team of police officers investigated a church’s literature because someone said a leaflet inviting the public to an Easter service was ‘offensive’.
Two mounted policemen were later joined by three armour-clad officers who jumped out of a police van to examine the Easter invitation leaflet. …”
– Story from The Christian Institute. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…