Wearing the disguise of Faithfulness
“The inevitability of the votes to allow the affirmation of homosexual unions and the calling of homosexual ministers is rooted in decisions made prior to those crucial votes. The actions in Minneapolis would be inconceivable but for the fact that the denomination has for decades allowed increasing theological pluralism to mark its membership and its leadership…”
– Al Mohler writes on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s decisions last week,
Getting church right
The Liturgical Panel of Sydney Diocese has been working on new resources to help those involved in planning and leading contemporary-style worship gatherings.
While it’s a work-in-progress, their helpful website is now up and running, and features a ‘Service Builder’. It’s at bettergatherings.com. Thanks to all involved!
Related: Bishop Robert Forsyth’s column at SydneyAnglicans.net. and Thinking about what we do in church (i).
Albert Mohler on the Future of the Southern Baptist Convention
President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Albert Mohler, last week spoke at The President’s Forum at the seminary. His topic was “The Future of the Southern Baptist Convention”.
Interesting listening and an insight into growing up as a Southern Baptist, US culture, and whether the Southern Baptists will be mission-minded or bureaucratic. While the culture is different, listeners will pick similar challenges for Sydney Anglicans.
Worth hearing. The 57 minute audio file is available at the SBTS website.
ACL Centenary Dinner — bookings close Monday 24th
All members and friends of the ACL are invited to celebrate 100 years of the Anglican Church League at the Centenary Dinner on
Thursday 3rd September 2009
7:00pm for 7:30pm
Moore College Dining Room
1 King Street Newtown
Download your Invitation here (230kb PDF file).
The closing date for bookings is Monday August 24.
Mark Driscoll at the Crystal Cathedral
Mark Driscoll is the guest speaker at the Crystal Cathedral on this week’s Hour of Power ‘television church’ and he gently introduces a topic not normally addressed there: sin. The video is available here. h/t Justin Taylor.
Related: So much for Possibility Thinking.
“Do not worry” — a devotional and a testimony
There’s a lot of worry in the Anglican world these days, and especially here in North America. “What will happen to the orthodox in TEC if we decide to stay?” “Will Canterbury act to provide a place for the orthodox to sign the Covenant and be on the ‘inside track’ without retaliation from 815?” “Will my bishop inhibit and depose me for even thinking about leaving?” “What if we lose our buildings…?”
The American Anglican Council’s Phil Ashey shares a story of the Lord’s kindness.
Related earlier posts – 1, 2, 3. (Photo: Screenshot from WBNG News, NY.)
Chappo and the Hallway challenge
Much loved evangelist John Chapman has recorded a two minute video to encourage you to pray for your unsaved friends, and to use the resources available for Connect09.
The video is available at SydneyAnglicans.net and would be ideal to play in church.
As always, Chappo reminds us what it is really all about:
“People who are apart from Christ are lost. Their plight is desperate. They need to be forgiven. And they need to find Jesus as a Friend – as a Saviour. They need to know that he’s died so their sins can be forgiven.”
Tip: You can download the video files from SydneyAnglicans.net, but if you have problems playing them (we did), the 76MB mpeg4 file can be downloaded from Vimeo. You’ll need to register with Vimeo if you haven’t already, and then on this page, the download option is on the very bottom right (“Download Quicktime version”).
Our thanks to the team at Anglican Media Sydney for making these videos available.
Lutherans adopt statement on sexuality
Updated:
“The Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) by a two-thirds majority August 19 approved a theological statement addressing human sexuality, setting the stage for an anticipated vote Friday on whether to allow pastors in committed same-sex relation ships to serve in local congregations…”
– The Episcopal News Service reports on the ECLA’s moves paralleling those of TEC. (The ECLA and TEC are in ‘full communion’.)
See also the voting results and text of ‘Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust’ from the ELCA website.
As the meeting was taking place, a tornado touched down, knocking the cross from the steeple of Central Lutheran Church across the street. It was, of course, nothing more than a coincidence. Or was it? John Piper has some thoughts about what happened in his own town:
“The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin. Turn from the promotion of behaviors that lead to destruction. Reaffirm the great Lutheran heritage of allegiance to the truth and authority of Scripture. Turn back from distorting the grace of God into sensuality. Rejoice in the pardon of the cross of Christ and its power to transform left and right wing sinners.”
Worth reading it all. (Pictures: top – ELCA, bottom – Joe Bjordal.)
Lord hast thou not a time for these poor benighted souls?
What happens when, in the Lord’s providence, his people long for others to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? What happens when his people work together for this end?
In May 1787, the First Fleet set sail from Portsmouth, carrying 1,400 officers, ships’ crew, marines and their families, convicts – and the Chaplain, Richard Johnson and his wife Mary. They were bound for New South Wales, on the other side of the world.
John Newton was one of the key men who had worked to have a minister of the gospel on the First Fleet.
We get a glimpse into his motivation in this previously unpublished extract from his 1777 diary. It was written seven years before he helped found The Eclectic Society, ten years before the Fleet sailed, and twenty-two years before he helped found CMS. –
8 July 1777
My leisure time and rather more than I can well spare taken up with reading the accounts of the late voyage of Capt. Cook in the Southern Ocean and round the Globe.
Teach me to see thy hand and read thy name in these relations. Thy providence and goodness are displayed in every clime. May I be suitably affected with the case of the countless thousands of my fellow creatures, who know thee not, nor have opportunities of knowing thee.
Alas that those who are called Christians, and who venture through the greatest dangers to explore unknown regions, should only impart to the inhabitants examples of sin and occasions of mischief, and communicate nothing of thy Gospel to them. Lord hast thou not a time for these poor benighted souls, when thou wilt arise and shine upon them?
Give thanks for John Newton, and men and women like him.
Special thanks to Marylynn Rouse of The John Newton Project, who found this entry in Newton’s diary from his time in Olney and passed it on to us.
The painting of John Newton by John Russell hangs in the CMS building in Oxford. Photo © Marylynn Rouse / The John Newton Project, used with permission.
Get a Bible with all the words
In this 2 minute video clip, John Piper explains why we need a Bible translation that has all the words.
Archbishop’s address at Civic Commemorative service for William Cowper
“2 Timothy 4:7,8:
‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’
It was this text that Bishop Barker chose for the funeral sermon of Archdeacon William Cowper in July 1858. It was an apt summation of a great man, a man who helped lay the foundations of our national life and lay them strong and true. He had a vision of what it is to be human and Christian, a vision which still offers us a challenge as to who we should be in our generation. Our city owes a huge debt to Cowper…”
– Archbishop Peter Jensen spoke at yesterday’s Civic Commemorative Service for Archdeacon William Cowper, at St. Philip’s Church Hill, York Street.
(Image courtesy William Cowper website.)
Ministry changes in Canberra & Goulburn
Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn, Stuart Robinson, has announced a number of ministry appointments in the diocese. Key among these is the invitation to Trevor Edwards to become a full-time Assistant Bishop.
Trevor has been Rector of St. Matthew’s Wanniassa and, since 2004, also part time Assistant Bishop with responsibilities for outreach and renewal in the diocese. Trevor’s many friends in Sydney will wish him well as he continues to serve the Lord Jesus in this new ministry.
Details from Bishop Robinson’s letter on the Canberra and Goulburn website.
Understanding the Pentateuch
In 2005, James Robson, Tutor in Old Testament and Biblical Hebrew at Oak Hill College in London, gave a series of evening lectures on the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch.
The course ran for 8 weeks, with two lectures each week. They are available as mp3 files courtesy of Oak Hill and would be suitable to listen to on your iPod on the way to work. Each one is about 50 minutes long.
Jesus: Connections for life
Dominic Steele has produced a booklet to spell out Jesus’ answers to the questions raised by Jesus All About Life campaign which starts in Sydney on September 7.
Details from Christians in the Media.
It promises far too little — the false gospel of prosperity theology
“‘God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you.” That was the message of Gloria Copeland as she was speaking at the Southwest Believers’ Convention recently held in Fort Worth, Texas. …
This ‘turbocharged’ theology offers a false hope, presents a failed message, and is a False Gospel.”
– Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes bluntly about the false gospel of ‘prosperity theology’.
See also this from last year on Word of Faith preachers.
(Oh, and if you must see for yourself the messages given at “the Southwest Believers’ Convention”, you can do so here. Note: the mp4 video files are around 1GB each.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…