Ministry Today — New Opportunities

William Taylor, Mark Dever and Phillip Jensen are speaking on ‘Ministry Today – New Opportunities’ at the Ministry Intensive planned for August 17 and 18 in Sydney.

Details here.

Open Letter to Anglican Communion

The ACNA’s Archbishop Robert Duncan has written this Open Letter to the Anglican Communion –

“Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There are times in the history of God’s people when the prevailing values and behaviors of those then in control of rival cities symbolizes a choice to be made by all of God’s people. For Anglicans such a moment has certainly arrived. The cities symbolizing the present choice are Bedford, Texas, and Anaheim, California. In the last month, the contrasting behaviors and values of the religious leaders who met in these two small cities made each a symbol of Anglicanism’s inescapable choice. …”

– read it all here on the Diocese of Pittsburgh website (PDF file).

Bible overview — from John Richardson

John Richardson of the Ugley Vicar is posting online audio files of his Bible overview talks. The first three are now online –

Part 1. (Genesis to Exodus)
Part 2. (Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy)
Part 3. (Joshua — 2 Kings)

Schori declaration a sad milestone

‘That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.’ Neil Armstrong’s words come readily to mind for those who watched (on television) the first ‘man on the moon’. That was 40 years ago. …

– Robert Tong writes at SydneyAnglicans.net

The spirit of Jezebel

Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, reflects on the TEC General Convention –

Dearly beloved in Christ,

As I have been reading my way through 1st and 2nd Kings, I have been almost bogged down in the depressing history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel – how they went further and further away from the Lord God, and more and more into the worship of the pagan deities, even to the sacrificing of their own children. Prominent in this journey was Ahab, the king, and Jezebel, the queen. Read more

The Bishop discovers heresy?

“The bishop is simply not concerned with seeing persons come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. She has made this clear over and over again and her convictions were well-known when she was elected as the denomination’s Presiding Bishop. …”

– Albert Mohler on last week’s pronouncement by Katherine Jefferts Schori. (Photo courtesy ACNS/Rosenthal.)

Challenges we face — 2009 AGM

ACL President, Dr Mark Thompson, spoke at last night’s ACL Annual General Meeting —

The clarity which Peter Jensen’s leadership has given us on the priority of evangelism and necessity of directing our resources to this end is something for which we can thank God. As we face the end of his episcopate, the challenge is not only to maintain that priority but to build on the strategies put in place over the last eight years which have given expression to it. We certainly do not want to go back, but we can’t afford to stand still either. We need to press ahead, thinking creatively about how to maximise our opportunities to proclaim Christ in a rapidly changing culture.

Bus stop gospelling

“How many people are willing to talk? Well, I have not recorded the stats, but based on a rough estimate from my limited memory, I would say at least a third of the people who I approach are willing to talk …”

– Paul McDonald in Toronto shares an idea worth considering. (h/t Tim Challies.)

After B033, can English Evangelicals unite?

“It is a sad fact that throughout a period when Traditionalist Anglicans should have been united, they have been bitterly at loggerheads, sometimes over policies, but often, one suspects, over personalities. …”

– John Richardson writes about the English reaction to the TEC vote this week – at the Ugley Vicar.

The Americans know this will end in schism

“In the slow-moving train crash of international Anglicanism, a decision taken in California has finally brought a large coach off the rails altogether. The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States has voted decisively to allow in principle the appointment, to all orders of ministry, of persons in active same-sex relationships. This marks a clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion. …”

– Bishop Tom Wright in The Times.

ACL 2009 AGM reminder — Thursday 16 July

The Anglican Church League’s 2009 Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 16th July 2009 from 6:15pm to 7:00pm, following the monthly Council meeting. Read more

Canterbury must say ‘enough’!

Last weekend we learned that the House of Deputies (clergy and lay representatives of the convention) effectively recommended an end to the moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops, established by Resolution B033 in 2006 in response to a recommendation of the Windsor Report, calling upon Bishops and Standing Committees to ‘exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.’

This week we now learn that the House of Bishops followed that lead by a 2/3 majority (99 to 45 with 2 abstentions) by passing resolution D025 …

– Bishop Glenn Davies writes at SydneyAnglicans.net. (Photo: Russell Powell.)

Two Rival Religions?

“On November 3, 1921, J. Gresham Machen presented an address entitled, “Liberalism or Christianity?” In that famous address, later expanded into the book, Christianity & Liberalism, Machen argued that evangelical Christianity and its liberal rival were, in effect, two very different religions. ”

– Albert Mohler writes.

See also three talks, ‘Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism’ by Lee Gatiss.

(Image of J. Gresham Machen: The Theologian.)

Withering and the Word: John Calvin at 500

“Calvin’s confidence was in the Word of God, and that’s why his theology and vision of the world continues to capture the minds and hearts of people in the 21st century. That’s why five hundred years later we remember his birth. That’s why Calvin the preacher and expositor has millions more spiritual children than Erasmus the scholar and hermeneutical skeptic. Strive for relevance in your day, and you’ll may make a difference for a few years. Anchor yourself in what is eternal and you may influence the world for another five centuries. …”