Bible Reading Plans for 2016

The start of a new year is always a good time to recommit to reading and treasuring God’s Word.

The team at Ligonier Ministries have compiled a very useful list of plans you can use.

The One Must-Read this Year – John Piper.

Reading the whole Bible in 2016 – more plans and encouragement via Justin Taylor.

Guard what you love

Here’s a short introduction to GAFCON.

Bishop of Bathurst ‘reflects on a year of challenges and opportunities’

“By any measure we might regard 2015 as a challenging year for our Diocese.

It began with terminating the employment of four people in order that we might meet our budget. I then moved to Dubbo becoming a part-time Bishop and part-time Rector, as the Endowment of the See could no longer afford to pay me.

In April the matters relating to the Diocesan loans and the CBA began to be heard in the Supreme Court, a hearing that lasted 36 days! Then the Judgement was handed down early in December.

Pour into the mix my heart attack and significant dental surgery later in the year, and we might be forgiven for wanting the year to close!…”

– Bishop of Bathurst Ian Palmer reflects on a difficult year. It’s a good reminder to pray for Christian witness in the Central West.

The Queen’s Christmas message 2015

Queen Elizabeth II has released her 2015 Christmas Message.

Watch it here.

And you can also read the Christmas 2015 sermon from Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, preached at Canterbury Cathedral. In part, he says, –

“Today, across the Middle East, close to the area in which the angels announced God’s apocalypse, ISIS and others claim that this is the time of an apocalypse, an unveiling created of their own terrible ideas, one which is igniting a trail of fear, violence, hatred and determined oppression. Confident that these are the last days, using force and indescribable cruelty, they seem to welcome all opposition, certain that the warfare unleashed confirms that these are indeed the end times. They hate difference, whether it is Muslims who think differently, Yazidis or Christians, and because of them the Christians face elimination in the very region in which Christian faith began. This apocalypse is defined by themselves and heralded only by the angel of death.”

Archbishop Glenn Davies’ Christmas message 2015

Archbishop Glenn Davies has released his Christmas message for 2015.
Watch it on Vimeo.

As Australians, we love to celebrate Christmas with lights. On Christmas trees, in shopping centres and in suburban houses, we see lights everywhere—nativity scenes aglow and twinkling lights in rhythmic patterns. Even though we are in the height of summer, lights are very much a part of Christmas. It is a wonderful time.

But this year, the world we live in has been overshadowed by darkness. We are appalled at the dark acts committed in Paris, Beirut, San Bernardino and elsewhere. We long for light to dispel the darkness. Yet that is exactly the message of Christmas, when God’s light shone into the world and the darkness did not overcome it.

Just as the Creator declared “Let there be light” and there was light, so God sent Jesus to shine into our darkness. Nothing can compare to the brightness of his star nor outshine his brilliance, no matter how many lights we might create.

Though we see these dark acts and cry out to God, remember this – he has answered with the words of Jesus – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Download it as a PDF file from SydneyAnglicans.net (will download to your computer).

Larger image. Audio file here.

Archbishop Wabukala writes to GAFCON clergy

GAFCON Chairman, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala has written to GAFCON clergy concerning the Primates’ gathering in January –

“Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray you will take a moment to read this important message.

As those who are ordained, we have a special responsibility to care for the people of God. In the foundational liturgy of our Communion, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer described this work as being that of messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord.

For many of us that calling is becoming harder as we face the challenges of a compromised church and an increasingly hostile culture. GAFCON was formed in 2008 to enable faithful gospel ministry to survive and thrive in today’s world as we stand united in our testimony to the truth of God’s Word.

Sadly, that truth continues to be called into question in the Anglican Communion and I am writing to invite you to partner with us as a decisive moment approaches. …”

– Read the full letter here via Anglican Ink.

See also: The Anglican Communion is at a Crossroads (on GAFCON’s updated website).

Update: Archbishop Wabukala has also issued this GAFCON Chairman’s Christmas Pastoral Letter, 2015.

(Archbishop Wabukala welcomes Archbishop Welby to Nairobi’s All Saints Cathedral in this 2013 photo by Russell Powell.)

Bishop Greg Anderson’s Christmas message

Bishop of The Northern Territory, Greg Anderson, has released his Christmas message – read it on the NT website.

9Marks Journal on Missions: Adding Wisdom to Zeal

The latest issue of 9Marks Journal is up on their website, and is full of encouraging articles with headings like “Ways your church can get involved in Global Missions starting tomorrow”.

Going to a CMS Summer School? (Not going to a CMS Summer School?) Thinking about the year ahead? This will be a very worthwhile issue to read.

Archbishop of Melbourne’s Christmas message 2015

Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier’s Christmas message for 2015 has been released. His focus is on the ‘humanness’ of Christ’s incarnation, and ‘Jesus’ way of peace’.

You can watch it here.

Should Evangelicals evolve on Homosexuality?

“While acceptance of homosexuality may be a growing trend among professing evangelicals, still the majority of evangelicals simply aren’t convinced. Evangelicals, for the most part, aren’t buying the arguments the ‘gay Christian movement’ is selling.

According to Rosaria, the leading merchant for the gay Christian movement is Matthew Vines. He believes it’s possible to practice homosexuality and genuinely profess Christianity…”

– At Desiring God, Phillip Holmes sits down for a coffee and chat with Rosaria Butterfield.

Read his article and watch both videos from the conversation.
Insightful comments on the nature and danger of sin.

Christian women in Baghdad face intimidation to veil

“The few Christians still holding out in Baghdad have found themselves at the receiving end of another barrage of intimidation.

Posters appeared on the morning of 13 Dec. – a Sunday – near Christian places of worship with a message to Christian women to cover up…” – Report from World Watch Monitor.

Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

“Hard times come with hard questions, and our cultural context exerts enormous pressure on Christians to affirm common ground at the expense of theological differences. But the cost of getting this question wrong is the loss of the Gospel.”

– Albert Mohler answers the question in the light of controversy over the suspension of a professor at Wheaton College.

Related: Thinking Theologically About Islam – Kevin DeYoung.

Liberation Letter

“Nowhere is the chameleon-like character of Mormonism on display more than at Christmastime.

After a richly-orchestrated, pitch-perfect ‘O Holy Night,’ one of the Mormon ‘apostles’ is now preaching. He started out by awarding Luke a brief honorable mention for providing us an account of the Christmas story, but after dispensing with this lip service, he went on to ‘another record’ in The Book of Mormon. It was some of Joseph Smith’s make-believe about Samuel the Lamanite and the Nephites in America at the time of Jesus’ birth, etc., etc.

The blind leading the blind, and the ditch here that they’ve fallen into is lined with Christmas lights, yet it is horribly dark.”

– Tim Keesee of Frontline Missions shares his experiences of his trip to Salt Lake City, and also a letter of liberation from a former Mormon, now his sister in Christ.

Read it here.

See Tim’s photos here.