If Dead Men don’t Rise
Almost 2,000 years ago, a Christian named Paul wrote a letter to a group of people in Corinth, a city in Greece.
People in that city had at one time been enthusiastic about the Christian faith, but had then begun to have some second thoughts. They had written a letter to Paul to ask something like, “You told us that this man Jesus died and then came back to life. We’re pretty sure you don’t actually expect us to believe that a man was dead and then alive again. That must have been some kind of a metaphor or a moral, right?”
– Tim Challies takes a look at 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 and the implications of believing the Resurrection didn’t actually happen.
Tips for studying Acts
Here are some helpful tips from Don Carson – via Unlocking the Bible. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Don’t allow Prayer to be edged out
“Once upon a time I used to be part of a Bible study group. We’d spend most of our time studying the Bible together. The problem was we often spent so long looking at the Bible and talking together that we rarely allowed much time to pray.
So we changed the name to Prayer and Bible groups. And you know what? Prayer was still frequently edged out by everything else. I wonder if your experience has been much the same…”
– Dave McDonald calls us to actually pray. In practice. As Sydney Anglicans look to elect a new Archbishop in August, and to a united mission campaign in 2014, let’s not neglect to bring these matters before our heavenly Father.
Sydney Anglican 2014 united mission campaign
Dominic Steele and Baden Stace share some exciting news –
“At Synod last year, we resolved to pursue a united Mission Campaign across the Diocese in 2014.
The vision for this campaign is that it be a city-wide and uniting-force, providing a platform from which local churches can mission effectively and cooperatively in 2014.”
See jesusbrings.com.au – and watch the video.
If you skip the e-mail signup to watch the video first, be sure to sign up further down the page to get updates. You can also download the video to show in church or in your groups.
Please pray that this might bring great glory to the Lord Jesus – and also bring many people to rejoice in knowing him.
The Salamanca Declaration
“Yesterday I signed the The Salamanca Declaration and joined with other Christian leaders in presenting the Declaration to Michael Polley the Speaker of the House who then gave it to Rene Hidding MP to table in the Legislative Assembly. From the Media Release …
A document representing Tasmania’s Christian community will be tabled in parliament as a unified response to the social issues currently dividing public opinion. Every major head of church in Tasmania has come on board to sign The Salamanca Declaration…
The Salamanca Declaration is an affirmation of classical Christian values and the need to uphold them despite unprecedented attack. Seeking the common good of all Tasmanians, it puts forward three points of agreement summed up in the words life, liberty and legacy.
– Bishop John Harrower shares the latest on action by Christians in Tasmania.
Media report: Churches blast reform ‘tsunami’ – The Mercury. (h/t SydneyAnglicans.net)
Leadership as Stewardship — Part 1
“Christians are rightly and necessary concerned about leadership, but many Christians seem to aim no higher than secular standards and visions of leadership.
We can learn a great deal from the secular world and its studies of leadership and its practices, but the last thing the church needs is warmed over business theories decorated with Christian language …”
– Albert Mohler has posted the first excerpt from his recent book on leadership.
New Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force
Bishop Ian Lambert from Canberra & Goulburn will be the new Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force – from July 1 2013.
The Parable(s) of the Lost Sheep
Dr Barry Newman continues to blog about well-known Bible passages, and he’s just finished writing on The Parable(s) of the Lost Sheep. Helpful for preachers and anyone wanting to tease out the meaning of Scripture.
“The parable of the lost sheep, that wonderful story told to so many Sunday School children over the centuries, is not as innocent and lovely as it might first appear. …
The parable is recorded in two of the Gospels: Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:3-7.”
Download his series as a PDF file here.
Moore College Open Events 2013
Open Nights 2013
27th May and 26th August
Open Weeks 2013
27th May – 31st May
26th August – 30th August
Open Day 2013
28th September
See all the details at the College website.
A hole in History the shape of an empty tomb
We missed seeing this earlier – but Ian Palmer, the new Bishop of Bathurst, has written this Easter message in the April edition of 3D, the newspaper of the dioceses of Canberra & Goulburn, Bathurst, and Riverina. (Page 14 in this PDF file.)
It’s also a good reminder to pray for him and for Christian ministry in rural areas —
“Almost 40 years ago, in July 1973, Liz and I were in a bank in London when four armed men burst in.
We found ourselves lying on the floor fearfully eyeing the man standing over us with a shotgun, while his companions smashed their way into the tellers’ area and stole money from behind the desk and the safes.
It was a terrifying experience and although we eventually got out unharmed, all these years later the details remain vivid and the emotions powerful. Read more
Rushed policy making is poor policy making — Abortion Tasmania
Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower writes:
“Today we submitted the Anglican Church of Tasmania’s Submission to the Draft Bill and Consultation Paper proposed by the Tasmanian Government’s Health Minister as a private member’s bill. …
With others, we protested the initial 2 weeks response time given by the Tasmanian Health Minister and it was extended to 4 weeks! However, this time frame overlapped with the time we had been given by the Government to lodge our submission on the Euthanasia legislation. Well may we say: rushed policy making is poor policy making! Moreover, rushed policy is not only a dis-service to Tasmanians in governance but dismissive and divisive of our community.
This Tasmanian Government has made it very hard for us to engage effectively because of bringing out proposal after proposal for major social change. This rushed and turbulent process has been unnecessary and it has added distress to our community when life is already very challenging for many Tasmanians.
Some excerpts from the Anglican Church of Tasmania’s Submission…”
– Read it all here. The Anglican submission (PDF) highlights a range of significant issues of interest to all Australians.
Watch Me
“Using audio from Don Carson, this short video challenges us from the Bible how we must be sharing our lives, opening up the Bible and changing generations as we point them to Jesus.”
– Be encouraged to watch and share. From 10 of those. h/t Tim Challies.
We care for the mother and the unborn child
“In my distress at the draconian draft Tasmanian Abortion legislation, I cannot help but come back to basic statements of our wider communities’ commitments to humanity in all its seasons…”
– Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower is appalled by proposed changes to Tasmanian legislation which, he says, eliminate “any concept of legal protections for an unborn child, even in situations irrelevant to termination, such as acts of negligence or assault that result in prenatal death”.
He is urging Tasmanian Christians to make submissions by 5:00pm tomorrow (Friday 5 April 2013).
The Spirit of ANZAC
“I think it was at the end or just after the end of the First World War an Army Chaplain expressed his fear that ANZAC Day had the potential to be an alternative religion to Christianity. It seems to me that that he was both right and wrong.…”
– In an article on the Defence Anglicans website, Geoff Webb, Principal Anglican Chaplain to the Army, thinks Christians can find links to the gospel in ANZAC Day.
Bishop of New Westminster to retire
The Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, has announced that he will retire at the end of August.
“It’s time to hang up the mitre, park the shepherd’s staff, pull the ruffles off my fancy sleeves, and go play golf.”
Looking back on his time as Bishop, he writes, “Our witness to faith frequently encountered strong religious opposition. Strangely, the secular world has been more supportive.” (These related posts might help explain why.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…