Episcopalians Deceived
“Those who wonder why the Episcopal Church Church accepted such a radical revision of the historic Book of Common Prayer in 1979 might profit from reading an article at episcopalnet.org: ‘How Episcopalians were Deceived’, by Francis W. Read, written for the New Oxford Review in 1981. He reveals that the authors of the new book resorted to deception in order to introduce a new theology into the church, ignoring their critics and lying about their true intent…”
– Roberta Bayer, Editor of Mandate, published by the Prayer Book Society in the USA. See her article on page 9 of this PDF file. She refers to this: How Episcopalians Were Deceived.
With Calvin in the Theatre of God
The Desiring God National Conference was held in Minneapolis last weekend with the theme “With Calvin in the Theater of God”.
Through the generosity of Desiring God, audio and video files of all the messages are now available online. (Note: The video files are around 150MB each.)
Continue the ‘conversation’ and keep giving your money
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson has issued an impassioned plea for unity in his denomination via two videos on the ELCA website – (update: This wmv file is one of them)
“My heart aches when I hear ELCA members express a feeling of abandonment because of the decisions on human sexuality taken by our church-wide Assembly. I deeply concerned when ELCA members and congregations are being encouraged to signal that disagreement by withholding financial support…”
Meanwhile –
“Conservative Lutherans from congregations throughout the country voted on Saturday to begin deciding on whether to go their separate ways from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. … ‘We are forming a churchly community because our prior churchly community has walked away from the faith off the one holy catholic and apostolic Church,’ said Ryan Schwarz, a member of the Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform) steering committee.”
– from a report in The Christian Post.
Related: Lutherans adopt statement on sexuality.
Wearing the disguise of Faithfulness.
Lutheran Coalition for Renewal.
Mark Dever on 2 Peter 1
On the weekend Mark Dever spoke at the 9 Marks ‘God Exposed’ Conference on Preaching at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina.
Before the conference, on Thursday, he addressed the seminary chapel on 2 Peter 1 and the challenge of preaching God’s word.
The 48 minute video file is now available on the SBTS website. A great reminder. (The last three minutes of the video, on Charles Simeon, is missing – it’s all there on the audio file.)
Canberra & Goulburn 2009 Synod report
The Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn has posted news on last weekend’s diocese synod – including Stuart Robinson’s Synod Charge and the latest Diocesan Statistics.
Please pray for the churches of Canberra & Goulburn as they seek to reach men and women, boys and girls with the saving news of Christ.
Bishop Bob Duncan radio interview
Bob Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, was interviewed on Christian radio in Pittsburgh last week.
You can hear the interview (37 minutes / 36MB mp3 file) from WORD FM. (h/t Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.)
The danger of ending every sermon with application
“The standard sermon ends with several points of application. I have nothing wrong with this. Many of my sermons end with some ‘now what’ points that relate the text to everyday life. But congregations should not expect every sermon to end with three ‘take home’ points…”
– Kevin DeYoung with some helpful thoughts on preaching at DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed.
A matter of Trust(s)
Here’s an excerpt from the weekly update from Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council –
Beloved in Christ,
As we went to press last week there was breaking news of the decision of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, finding in favor of the local parish of All Saints’, Pawley’s Island and against the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church (TEC). Among the findings of the court is that the so-called “Dennis Canon” is illegal in SC and has no effect. The basis for this is that one person can’t establish a trust on someone else’s property. It is the person who owns the property that is the one to establish a trust, if they wish to. Makes sense, doesn’t it? As the court stated in the finding, “It is an axiomatic principle of law that a person or entity must hold title to property in order to declare that it is held in trust for the benefit of another or transfer legal title to one person for the benefit of another.” Read more
Why learn Biblical languages
Elizabeth Groves, who lectures at Westminster Seminary, speaks on why learning the biblical languages is so important. Worth watching on YouTube (h/t Ian Clary.)
Why do the heathen rage?
“Ready for a day to honor blasphemy? According to press reports, September 30 is set as the observance of the first-ever International Blasphemy Day. …
How should Christians respond?
First, take no offense. Refuse to play into the game plan of those sponsoring International Blasphemy Day. The Lord Jesus Christ was and is despised and rejected of men. Our Lord bore the scorn heaped upon him by his enemies. Christianity is not an honor religion. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not commanded to defend his honor, but to be willing to share in the scorn directed to him. Is the servant greater than his master?…”
Bishop Martyn Minns’ message to Lutherans
“[The] Convocation of Anglicans in North America… has posted a video for the benefit of a this weekend’s Lutheran CORE meeting near Indianapolis…”
– Julia Duin blogs at The Washington Times.
Three helpful posts for difficult times
Worth reflecting on –
What To Do When You Receive Bad News – Mark Altrogge.
Helpful Things: Pastors Who Love Their People – John Knight (h/t Desiring God).
Not afraid of bad news – Iain D Campbell quotes Spurgeon.
(Image: Blazing Center.)
Landscape — new CMS online magazine
CMS NSW has launched its new online magazine – Landscape.
Moore College open day Saturday
Moore College is holding an Open Day and Spring Carnival on Saturday, 26 September, 9:30am – 2:30pm in the College grounds. Families welcome. See this PDF file for details.
Inspiring People in the news
“Peter Costello caused quite a stir when he addressed the Hillsong Church conference on leadership in 2004 while he was federal Treasurer. Now he has taken up an invitation from the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, to speak at one of a series of one-hour panel discussions at the Westin Sydney on Tuesday…”
– from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Details of the events at Inspiring People.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…