Nepali Christians die in their churches
“It’s been revealed hundreds of Christians died or were injured as the Nepal earthquake hit their churches, including an Anglican minister and 17 of his parishioners…”
– More food for prayer from SydneyAnglicans.net.
Gospel Coalition 2015 conference audio
The Gospel Coalition’s 2015 National Conference was held April 13-15, and audio files of all the talks and workshops are now available.
Plenty of encouraging and challenging talks to hear.
Last on the list of files, John Yates II and John Yates III speak on “The Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What relevance does it have to today’s contemporary worship?”. [John III spoke at NSW CMS Summer School this year.]
“More and more pastors and church leaders are discovering the remarkable contribution Thomas Cranmer made to us all through his Book of Common Prayer.
This Reformation martyr’s understanding of what matters in worship is reverberating more and more through the evangelical community all around the world. The genius of Reformation Anglicanism is found in Cranmer’s timeless insights into the human heart and our motivations for Christian service.”
The Clarity of Scripture
Moore College Principal Mark Thompson was interviewed by Michael Horton on The White Horse Inn broadcast earlier this month. The topic: The Clarity of Scripture.
“Does the incredible variety of Christian denominations and interpretive traditions imply that the Scriptures themselves are unclear? How can we know what the Bible really says if there are so many different interpretations of it? ”
You can listen here. Most encouraging.
Mark’s book, A Clear and Present Word – The clarity of Scripture, (New Studies in Biblical Theology 21) was published by Apollos / InterVarsity Press in 2006.
Moore College to offer its own PhD
“Moore College is to be the first Anglican College in Australia and one of very few non-university institutions in the country to award its own PhD. The College has been supervising PhDs for many years in conjunction with the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. Now a Moore College PhD will be available…”
– good news from Moore College. (Photo: Dr. Claire Smith with her family.)
Latest on the Nepal Emergency Appeal
Here’s the latest on how you can help the people of Nepal – from David Mansfield, Director of the Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid –
Dear Friends,
The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid has launched an appeal to support emergency relief in Nepal following the earthquake which struck the area between Pokhara and Kathmandu on Saturday, 25 April. Please use any or all of the information below for your church bulletin. I’m attaching a ppt slide for you to make use of and a donation slip that can be reproduced. Thank you for your partnership with Anglican Aid.
After consultation with CMS Australia, funds will be disbursed through INF and the Diocese of Singapore to assist people affected by the earthquake.
Information from International Nepal Fellowship (INF), indicated that people are sleeping in the open fearing further aftershocks. INF went on to say, “As the death toll continues to rise following the Nepal earthquake, please do pray for those who are trapped and injured, those who have lost loved ones, for safety and wisdom of those involved in rescue efforts.” For more information go to cms.org.au/news/nepal-earthquake-update.
INF’s medical team from Pokhara, including other expatriate doctors, are travelling to one of the worst hit regions, Gorkha in Western Nepal, to provide support to local health services. Regular updates at inf.org.
CMS missionaries are currently serving on the ground with INF in long term medical and development work and are key personnel in the crisis response and rebuilding of the nation. cms.org.au.
Direct Deposits can be made to our bank account BSB 032078, Account Number 253522, Account Name: Overseas Relief and Aid. (please email: enquiries@anglicanaid.org.au to notify the office of your donation).
Cheques can be posted to – PO Box Q190, QVB Post Office, 1230, NSW.
For more information please call 1800 653 903. ABN 59 792 865 372. All donations to this appeal are tax deductible.
By His Grace alone,
David
Southern Region Information Night
Don’t miss our Information Night to be held at St. Peter’s Cooks River at 7:30pm on Monday 1st June.
Hear Dr. Mark Thompson speak on the vital role of the Anglican Church League in the life of the Diocese of Sydney. Read more
Paul in Rome in the Sixties
“The book of Acts indicates that Paul was under ‘house arrest’ in Rome, most probably between 60-62.
Luke’s text suggests that Paul was then released, something First Timothy and Titus also imply.
Second Timothy, written from Rome, however indicates that Paul was soon to face execution. Presumably, this execution was at the decision of Nero Caesar following the Great Fire in 64.”
– Confused about the Apostle Paul’s final years in Rome? Read this fascinating new article by Bishop Paul Barnett to understand better what was going on.
Tip: You may want to first read his earlier piece, ‘Paul lived in Rome two whole years’. The Mysterious Ending of Luke-Acts.
Nepal appeal launched by Anglican Aid
“Anglican Aid has joined other agencies in launching an appeal for victims of the Nepal earthquake.
A huge quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck the mountain Kingdom on April 25th…”
– Read the latest from INF and CMS via this story at SydneyAnglicans.net – and there’s a donation form for the Nepal Emergency Appeal here.
For background, here’s a message from Global Recordings Network Nepal Director, Surendra Shrestha”
“We need your special prayer because we have no water supply at all, no electricity and food starting to get shortage. No shop is open and even if there is open, no supplies there. We need God to intervene in this situation to provide all this need during this time. We don’t know what to do, we are in very confused situation. We all are nervous and nothing coming in our mind except pray. All around us looks like war zone. Some of the village is 95 percent destroyed. In one village call Barpak there were 1200 houses and only four of them are standing. The results are still coming in and earthquake is still on and off [aftershocks].”
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends
“100 years ago an Aussie Padre by the name of Andrew Gillison, serving in the 14th Battalion, found himself heading for Gallipoli.
At first, the chaplains were ordered to stay on ship and care for the wounded, but Andrew was not the kind of Christian man to stay where it was safe when others were in need…”
– Read Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers’ ANZAC message.
Former SAAB showroom home to Baton Rouge Anglican church
“At first glance, a Cadillac dealer’s showroom may not seem like a ‘mission outpost’ of Christianity, but that’s exactly how Holy Cross Anglican Church was described by a visiting bishop when he blessed the congregation last Sunday evening…”
– Story from The Advocate, Baton Rouge. Photo: Gerry Lane Cadillac.
GAFCON — threat, option, or only future?
“Two Archbishops walk into a bar for a relaxing drink after a hard day’s work in committee. One of them, in placing his order, starts a conversation with the man serving the drinks. He beckons to his purple shirted companion and over the next few minutes, the two of them share the Gospel with the bartender, and lead him to faith in Christ. Later both prelates testify that for them, this was the highlight of the conference.
Thankfully its not impossible to imagine that this story involved Most Reverends Welby and Sentamu, but in fact it was related by one of the GAFCON Primates who had been told the story by his two fellow Archbishop-evangelists at their meeting last week…”
– Andrew Symes at Anglican Mainstream asks if GAFCON is a threat to the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop of Canterbury visits Cairo
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited Cairo earlier this week, to stand with Christians facing persecution.
Here’s a report on the Diocese of Egypt website.
Prayers for ANZAC Day
Over at SydneyAnglicans.net, Mark Charleston has some prayers which could be used on the ANZAC Day weekend – and with links to more for Defence Anglicans.
Related: Anzac Day: More Than Civil Religion – Ian Lambert, Bishop to the Australian Defence Force
(Photo: Defence Anglicans.)
The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
The latest issue of The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has been released and is available as a download without charge.
Worth checking out. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Anzac Day – A reflection — Bishop Stuart Robinson
As we approach the 100th Anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli and the 70th Anniversary of Victory in the Pacific later in year, I’m minded to report a conversation I had with a soldier – NX146695 – who witnessed the formal “surrender” in the eastern half of the Netherlands East Indies on September 9, 1945.
On Morotai Island, NX146695, along with 10,000 Australian and Allied troops, stood motionless as Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces, General Blamey accepted Japanese Second Army Commander, Lt. General Teshima’s surrender of approximately 126,000 men.
NX146695 has vivid memories of that great day.
But he also carries memories of the cost; the cost of freedom; the cost of peace.
NX146695 (who is now 92) came face to face with death – and survived; many of his friends and comrades did not.
Indeed more than 100,000 Australians have given their lives – from the Boer War to Peacekeeping operations in this new century.
Even as we speak Australian Forces are on their way to Iraq to engage with a new enemy…not a country per se – but an ideology cloaked in a religion; ‘I.S.’ by name.
NX146695, Sergeant Harold Robinson, my father, knows first-hand the reality of being ready to lay one’s life down for another – as do so many of those who will read this simple piece.
It was Jesus who once said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that they lay down their life for their friends” John 15:13.
That inscription is also found on countless headstones across the former Western Front. I served as a Priest in Flanders and in the dead of winter I’d stand in those old trenches and weep as I contemplated the agony and the despair that faced combatants (on all sides).
And yet all is not hopeless. It isn’t.
Lest we forget that in order to bring peace between God and his wayward family, that’s exactly what Jesus – the one who first articulated those headstone inscriptions, did. He gave his life.
Yes, Jesus absorbed sin’s curse and sin’s punishment that I might go free.
My sin was laid in him – his righteousness was laid on all who believe.
He was willing to pay a very great price; the price of peace – his life for mine; for all who believe.
And we know his work was effective; we know that peace with God is available to all who trust this Jesus, because God raised him from that death; the price for sin having been fully paid by God in Christ.
As we honour those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, so too must we honour and worship and serve Him who gave his life that we might be set free from the clutches of our last great enemy – even death itself.
– Bishop Stuart Robinson is Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…