The Lure of Rome

Dr. Robert Godfrey, Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary California, speaks about why some evangelicals and other Protestants in the US are becoming Roman Catholics.

35 minute interview here. (h/t Ligonier Ministries.)

Bishop of Tasmania’s Christmas message

John Harrower, Bishop of Tasmania, climbed the Cathedral tower in Hobart to record his Christmas message. See it on his blog.

Nathan Tasker’s ‘A Star. A Stable. A Saviour.’

Nathan Tasker’s Christmas EP ‘A Star, A Stable, A Saviour’ is available as a free download for the next seven days, from Grouptune. (h/t Gary Ware.)

What is church for?

“If the word in our Bibles simply means a ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’, our real question is: What is a Christian ekklesia? What is distinctive about the particular gathering or assembly into which God calls his people?

To answer this we need to look at the key places where God gathers his people together. …”

– Phillip Jensen asks ‘What is church for?” – at The Briefing.

New church plant in Newcastle

The Diocese of Newcastle website reports on the new church plant in Newcastle, headed by Archdeacon Arthur Copeman.

The clear goal… is to reach out to people who are outside the present church and to be able to tell them of God’s love for them in the Lord Jesus.

And from Bishop Brian Farran’s Newcastle Synod Charge in October:

“Archdeacon Copeman is establishing a church plant in Newcastle that will reach out to younger families. … Given the broad sweep of Anglicanism, it is appropriate that there be an Anglican Church in Newcastle City that is of the Anglican Evangelical tradition.”

(Arthur is leading a session at the Provincial Mission Convention in Canberra in January. His topic: ‘Starting from Scratch: Church Planting with a Team of One’.)

What’s next for New York Churches

“Don’t Leave Our Church Homeless” read the signs distributed during Thursday’s press conference outside New York City Hall. More than 60 churches in New York meet in public schools for their Sunday services. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal this week, the churches learned they will need to find a new location before February 12. …

“It’s ironic,” one Brooklyn city official commented at Thursday’s press conference, “that the Klu Klux Klan can meet freely in public schools, but churches, who were the backbone of the civil rights movement, are not allowed.”

– John Starke, the new pastor of All Souls Christian Church in the Upper West Side of New York, asks for prayer for his church and more than five dozen others. (h/t Carl Trueman.)

December 2011 Church Record online

The December 2011 issue of The Australian Church Record is now available from their website.

Love, marriage and the homosexual agenda

“As I write this, the Australian Labor Party has decided to amend its political platform to include a commitment to change the legal definition of marriage.

Under intense pressure from the Greens, with whom they formed a coalition after the last election delivered a hung parliament, from its own left faction, and from a bold and confident gay lobby which has mounted a very sophisticated publicity campaign, the Labor Party has endorsed a right of same sex unions to style themselves ‘marriages’. In a largely successful attempt to claim the moral high ground (an astonishing thought in itself)  this world-wide campaign has adopted the slogan ‘marriage equality’.

It should be abundantly clear that this is not about providing financial and legal security for homosexual relationships…”

– ACL President Mark Thompson writes at Theological Theology to explain why opposing changes to marriage is an act of love.

Exploding Fenella Souter’s Myths of Christmas

“Last Saturday, the ‘Good Weekend’ magazine published by the Sydney Morning Herald (and the Melbourne Age?), ran an article by Fenella Souter entitled “Truth, Lies and Santa Claus: Exploding the Myths of Christmas” (not available online).

It was highly sceptical towards the narratives surrounding the conception and birth of Jesus recorded in the Bible…”

– Sandy Grant at St. Michael’s Wollongong looks at some mistakes and undocumented claims in last weekend’s ‘Good Weekend’ – at The Briefing.

New Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts

In March 2011, Dr Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge, gave a public lecture at The Lanier Theological Library in Houston.

His topic: New Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts. The 62 minute video is well worth watching.

Christmas — Myth or History?

Bishop Paul Barnett responds to an article in last weekend’s newspaper.

“So don’t let the sceptics and atheists take away your hope.”

“You cannot but be impressed with the zeal of the modern sceptic and reciprocally unimpressed with the lethargy of the contemporary Christian. Right on track the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend (3rd December, 2011) has a lengthy and well-researched article, ‘Divine Intervention’ (Fenella Souter) in which she debunks the historical basis for the first Christmas.

Her two main arguments are that there are only two gospel accounts and that they are contradictory, with the addition of many fictional details…”

– Read the full article on Paul Barnett’s website.

Update: If it comes in handy, here’s a PDF version formatted to suit a double-sided A4 sheet.

Two new assistant bishops for Canberra-Goulburn

Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn, Stuart Robinson, has followed-through on his stated commitment to appoint a woman bishop in his diocese. Announcement here.

Dick Lucas at the Autumn Joint Ministers conference 2011

Last week we linked to video of Carl Trueman at the Proclamation Trust’s 2011 Autumn Joint Ministers Conference in Leicestershire.

Dick Lucas also spoke at the conference, giving three talks on 2 Peter, and now video and audio files of his addresses are online.

Archbishop of Sydney calls on ALP delegates to reject ‘false rhetoric’

Here’s a Statement released by Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen:

Archbishop of Sydney calls on ALP delegates to reject ‘false rhetoric’

The ALP has a proud history of achievement in genuine matters of equality, so it is disappointing to see it divided over the false rhetoric of ‘equality’ surrounding same-sex marriage.

The present law defining marriage is not a denial of rights. Issues of inequity regarding the financial and legal status of same-sex relationships have already been addressed by the Parliament and I have supported these changes.

There is no doubt the ALP conference has a difficult decision and this is a painful subject for many, but it is incumbent on delegates to consider the long-term consequences.

Redefining marriage will have unintended and unwelcome consequences for the meaning of parenthood, our openness to other forms of marriage, sex education and our commitment to religious freedom.

Dr Peter F Jensen
Archbishop of Sydney
2/12/2011.

(Source: SydneyAnglicans.net)

A reminder to pray for DNWA and a new Bishop

Dean of Geraldton and Administrator of the Diocese of North West Australia asks for prayer for the election of a new Bishop (election synod February 10-11), in his first letter to the diocese.

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