Is Tim Keller down on Exegesis?
“It is unsurprising that when Timothy Keller brings out a book about preaching, lots of people will be eager to consume it.
Preaching: Communicating In An Age Of Skepticism has drawn some notable reviews of a positive nature, but it has also raised a few questions.”
– Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman asks Tim Keller some questions about his new book.
‘In this world you will have trouble’
“The Commonwealth of Kentucky is now the setting for a dramatic display of judicial arrogance, even as the larger story points to the sweeping moral change that is transforming the nation’s landscape. Today, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Kim Davis, County Clerk of Rowan County, to go to jail for refusing to obey an order of his court requiring Mrs. Davis to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples…
What are government officials now to do? This story centers on a County Clerk in Kentucky, but the questions will eventually extend to any office holder, anyone wearing the uniform of the United States military, and virtually any government employee. The same pressures will come on anyone teaching on a secular college campus and anyone working for a Fortune 500 corporation.”
– Albert Mohler writes about the latest fallout from the US Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage.
Instant library: 22 free eBooks from R.C. Sproul
From Ligonier Ministries:
“To further help Christians know what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it, and how to share it, in May 2013 we made the ebook editions of R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series free forever. We continue to publish new ebooks in this series and this year have added Can I Lose My Salvation? and What Is the Great Commission?”
– Find them – for Kindle or iOS – at this link.
Packer on Preaching
“When did you last hear a sermon that spent 50% of the time on application? J. I. Packer has insightfully analysed contemporary and historic approaches to preaching over his years as a pastor and scholar. In this featured article, drawn from the summer edition of Churchman, Benjamin Dean outlines Packer’s approach to preaching…”
– Today’s post on Church Society’s blog.
‘Tamworth’s Anglican Ministers take marriage equality concerns to Barnaby Joyce’
“A group of Anglican church leaders from Tamworth have used a meeting with New England MP Barnaby Joyce to call for a balanced debate on same sex marriage…”
– Report from and audio ABC New England.
Rod Chiswell from St. Peter’s South Tamworth was interviewed – worth listening. (Photo: Barnaby Joyce Facebook.)
Church of England appoints third female bishop
“No 10 Downing Street has announced this morning that Her Majesty The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Christine Hardman … for election as Bishop of Newcastle…”
– Diocese of Newcastle (C of E). (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)
The visit of Dr Ryan Anderson
“Dr Ryan Anderson is the William E Simon Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in the USA and Founder and Editor of the online journal Public Discourse. Dr Anderson recently visited Australia … I attended his Sydney meeting held in the Strangers’ Dining Room at NSW Parliament House. …
Dr Anderson stressed the need to engage with our culture over the issue, saying that churches which had not done so in the US now regret their inactivity. Our pulpits, he said, are a place to inform congregations about what God says about marriage and they must not be silent.
I am a member of the pastoral staff of the Chinese Presbyterian Church in Sydney. At our recent staff retreat, we planned the preaching program for 2016. Unusually for a Chinese church we have dedicated three Sundays next year to preaching on what God says about marriage and sex. …
The need for Christians to engage their mind, to think clearly, faithfully and lovingly is always apparent but has never been greater.
In my next column I want to outline how we will preach the three week series and some useful resources to help preachers.
I urge you all to preach about this issue as a plebiscite/referendum is an imminent possibility and such a series on such a subject will always be helpful.”
– Presbyterian Moderator-General, David Cook, with an exhortation to all Christians, and especially to Pastors. (Image: St Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…