New Life newspaper 1st Sept 2013
The latest issue of New Life newspaper from Melbourne (1st September 2013) includes stories on persecution in many countries. It’s an 800kb PDF file from the New Life website.
What is the Problem?
“Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and symbolic head of the Anglican Communion, has issued his most serious and straightforward diagnosis of the crisis within the Anglican Communion.”
– The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey thinks the Archbishop of Canterbury has made a serious misdiagnosis. Related: Tearing the Fabric. (PDF.)
Archbishop Davies at Moore College Chapel
“Moore College was privileged to have Dr Glenn Davies visit today to deliver one of his first sermons since being inaugurated as Archbishop of Sydney last week.
Students, faculty and staff gathered in a packed Knox Lecture Theatre to hear from Dr Davies.
The Archbishop has been a member of the Governing Board since 2000, but he was also a member of the Moore College faculty in the 1980s and 1990s, lecturing in both Old and New Testament as well as serving as the College Registrar. Now, as Archbishop of Sydney, he is the President of the College’s Governing Board.
The Principal Dr Mark Thompson was delighted that the new Archbishop was able to visit the College so early in his term and encouraged by his sermon on Mark 2 with its critical message on the forgiveness of sins that is ours in Jesus.
‘Glenn’s unreserved support of the College and his interest in its work is well known. He has a very longstanding association with the College going back more than 30 years. He shares with his predecessor a love for the College, a personal relationship with many of the faculty and a keen concern to see the College prepare men and women effectively for gospel ministry in today’s world. It was a delight to have him among us again’ said Dr Thompson.
‘Coming just one week after the Archbishop took office, our chapel service was a great opportunity to hear from him and pray for him as he begins this new ministry and takes on a new role with respect to the College.’
‘We are looking forward to many more visits from Archbishop Davies.’”
– report from Mark Fairfull.
Hear the entire chapel service as a 78MB mp3 file at this link.
(Principal Mark Thompson welcomes the Archbishop at 13:20,
and the sermon, on Mark 2:1-12, begins at 19:40.)
Church of the Triune God
New from Aquila Press is Church of the Triune God, a Festschrift to honour Dr Robert Doyle.
From the Publisher’s blurb: “Church of the Triune God explores the work of the Trinity in the Church today in conversation with key theologians such as Calvin and Augustine, and explores how the three persons of the Trinity are active in the different aspects of church life, such as prayer, preaching and mission.”
Contributors, sample pages, and ordering information.
Barnabas Fund urges prayer for Syria and Egypt this weekend
“This Sunday (1 September), we are urging churches and individuals to hold a time of prayer for Syria and Egypt’s Christians.”
– Details from Barnabas Fund.
And you can find a prayer for ‘the Forgotten Church in Syria’ here. (h/t Carl Trueman.)
Syria: Archbishop Welby’s speech in the House of Lords
“We have heard already about Lebanon and about Iran, particularly the effect that an intervention would cause on the new Government in Iran as they are humiliated by such an intervention.
However, there is a further point. I talked to a very senior Christian leader in the region yesterday and he said that intervention from abroad will declare open season on the Christian communities. They have already been devastated. There were 2 million Christians in Iraq 12 years ago; there are fewer than 500,000 today.”
– Read it here.
ACL President’s address — 2013 Annual General Meeting
President of the Anglican Church League, the Rev. Gav Poole, gave this address at the Annual General Meeting earlier this month:
“Chappo knew as much about denominational politics as anyone. He was after all a member of the ACL. But the legacy he left us with was a passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
ACL President’s address, 15 August 2013
In 2003 I received an important lesson in priorities. At the time I was ministering in The Episcopal Church (TEC), Dallas, Texas.
In 2003, the TEC General Convention consented to a practicing homosexual becoming the Bishop of New Hampshire. That led to a sequence of events that changed the Anglican Communion forever. Read more
Assessing Christian election guides
Sandy Grant takes a look at four different Christian election guides –
“Thoughtful Christians could benefit from interacting with each one of these election guides, even the ones where they find a considerable amount to disagree with.” – Read it at The Briefing.
“Archbishops past and present urge caution on Syria intervention”
“Both Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and his predecessor George Carey have warned of the consequences of military action in Syria. …”
– Report and photo from The Anglican Communion News Service.
“Archbishop urges Christians to ‘repent’ over ‘wicked’ attitude to homosexuality”
“The Most Rev Justin Welby told an audience of traditional born-again Christians that they must ‘repent’ over the way gay and lesbian people have been treated in the past …”
– Report from The Telegraph.
Preaching Christ in an age of Religious Pluralism
Church Society has published online the audio of Gerald Bray’s talk at the 2005 Church Society Conference.
The topic: Preaching Christ in an age of Religious Pluralism (Acts 17 v16).
It’s a 38MB / 80 minute mp3 file (direct link).
Reaching the lost in England
“While in parts of Latin America or Nigeria a street preacher can regularly lead 20 people to make a decision for Christ in half an hour, in France or Britain even Christians will hurry past a street preacher, embarrassed, and the brave speaker may be more likely to get arrested than make a convert.”
– Andrew Symes, the new Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream, writes on the challenge facing the Church in England.
Notes on Jeremiah by Graeme Goldsworthy
To promote the soon-to-be-released Gospel Transformation Bible, Crossway have made available a free download of the book of Jeremiah, with an introduction and study notes by Graeme Goldsworthy.
– Download it here. (h/t Gary Ware. Photo: The Bible Society.)
What the Hijabi Witnessed (and what she didn’t)
“I have had the pleasure on a couple of occasions of sitting next to a girl wearing a hijab. Typically, this has occurred in departure lounges of airports or on the platforms of railway stations. Never has it happened in a place of worship at the time of a service. Never, that is, until recently. …”
– Carl Trueman has some excellent points about what the girl next to him saw and heard. (Photo: King’s College.)
Related: Common Prayer. Better Gatherings.
How to be Polemical — without being a downright Nasty Person
“The chief advances of the Christian faith are due to those moments when leaders and laypeople saturated with Scripture rose up in defiance of the unbiblical trends of their time and place. We have the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed, the Chalcedonian Creed, and the Reformation confessions and catechisms because, by God’s grace, men and women had the courage of their convictions and dared to be polemical.”
– Terrific article by Michael Horton in Modern Reformation magazine.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…