Archbishop Glenn Davies preaches on marriage at Moore College chapel

On Friday 25 August the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, preached in the Moore College chapel on the Bible’s teaching on marriage, focussing on Matthew chapter 19. Good to watch and share widely.

See it at the Moore College website.

Religious freedom and rights

Yesterday, 2GB’s Chris Smith spoke with Associate Professor Neil Foster, from the University of Newcastle, about the repercussions of same sex marriage and the necessary protections.

Listen here. (h/t SydneyAnglicans.net.)

Reformation Rally, Saturday 26th August

Be sure you don’t miss the Reformation Rally at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Saturday.  Read more

The Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture

“The Church Catechism, as well as the general tone of evangelical thinking and preaching, has taught us that we believe ‘in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God’.

That is to say, the Holy Spirit has been given an association with the holiness of the believer, or rather, with the believer’s experience of holiness, which has almost excluded other functions ascribed to Him, and which has certainly distorted the perspective of biblical teaching on the Third Person of the Trinity. …”

– Church Society has republished this article by Alec Motyer, first published in Churchman in 1964. (PDF file.)

GAFCON in the Midst of Missional crisis

“We’ve looked at how GAFCON came to be and why it matters. Here we’ll unpack the challenges GAFCON and orthodox Anglicans face as we seek to be a missional movement to win people for Christ.

In what kind of landscape does the GAFCON movement now find itself? In what kind of environment do Orthodox Anglicans find themselves living day to day and doing ministry? To steal a phrase from the General Secretary of GAFCON, we find ourselves in the midst of a missional crisis. That is, in 2017 we are faced with a decision: how will we relate to the culture of our times and do mission within this culture?…”

– At The Australian Church Record, Caitlin Hurley concludes her brief series on GAFCON.

Hard truth about soft power

“How has the Anglican Communion managed to more or less stay together and even at times give the appearance of growth despite nearly twenty years of doctrinal and ethical chaos?

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s presence in Khartoum, Sudan, for the inauguration of the 39th Province of the Anglican Communion on July 30th illustrates the point. …”

– Charles Raven, Membership Development Secretary of GAFCON, takes a look at some of the ways power is used within the Anglican Communion.

Marriage redefinition: What does Romans 1:26-27 really have to say?

“Today, an article appeared on the ABC News website by Dr Robyn Whitaker, a lecturer in biblical studies at Trinity College Theological School, Parkville, Melbourne. The article is titled: “Same-sex marriage: What does the Bible really have to say?”.

Whitaker looks briefly at six key passages in the Bible that are relevant to the question of homosexuality. She argues that these passages cannot be used straightforwardly in the same-sex marriage debates, because they do not directly address the issue of same-sex marriage. She also argues that there are only a small number of passages about homosexuality in the Bible, compared to the many passages about other topics such as love and justice.

Close to the start of her article, Whitaker claims the following…”

– At Forget the Channel, Moore College’s Dr. Lionel Windsor examines a number of claims made in the article on the ABC News website. Read it all here.

How to ‘respectfully affirm’ marriage

“The case for same sex marriage touches on easily understood and widely shared feelings and aspirations.

Conversation with gay friends and family members quickly reveals that some wish to express a long-term commitment to the person they love, and they want to celebrate that, and invite the people who matter most to them, to celebrate with them.

So, when many Christian people have heard just such hopes expressed by their gay friends and family, and Christians want to ‘respect all people’ (1 Peter 2:17 ) and ‘do good to all’ (Galatians 6:10), why do many remain opposed to changing the definition of marriage to include couples of the same sex? …”

– Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Is Jesus good news for the LGBTI community?

Sam Allberry spoke at Village Church, Annandale, last weekend to explore the question “Is Jesus good news for the LGBTI community?”. Very relevant and very helpful. Watch here.

See also:

Looking forward to Jerusalem 2018

“As I write, invitations to the next Global Anglican Future Conference are beginning to go out to people around the Anglican Communion. The first Jerusalem Conference occurred in 2008. The second was in Nairobi in 2013.

The Primates are summoning representatives from all around the Communion to Jerusalem in June 2018. …”

– Dr Peter Jensen shares a personal testimony in the run up to Jerusalem 2018.

How should Christians engage the Same-Sex Marriage debate?

“So we’ve got a voluntary ‘Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey’ (commonly known as a plebiscite) coming up in September.

The future definition of marriage is likely to be decided in the next few months. And while most Christians I know are happy to vote in the Postal Survey (plebiscite), questions are being asked about how to engage the SSM issue – and whether we should engage at all.

There’s uncertainty: should Christians ‘force their views’ onto other people, especially a vulnerable minority like LGBTI? Is opposing the redefinition of marriage contrary to what Jesus would do? Is it unloving?

These are important questions to think through.

Here are 11 things we should understand – beginning with a basic overview of political theology …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Akos Balogh helps us think through engaging in the same-sex marriage debate.

Newcastle nominations close next Monday

From the Diocese of Newcastle:

“Please continue to pray for a new Bishop to the Diocese as we seek to listen for God’s call amongst those being nominated.

Synod members are reminded that any member of Synod may nominate a person to the Board for further discernment work. NOMINATIONS CLOSE ON MONDAY AUGUST 28.”

Will we still be free to have our own opinions of same-sex marriage?

“The proposed changes to the Marriage Act are far-reaching and must not be taken lightly. Those proposing a private member’s bill in favour of same-sex marriage say clergy will be afforded legal protections for counselling, officiating and speaking with respect to weddings. However, would this prevent ministers and evangelists such as Campbell Mark­ham and David Gee from being hauled before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner when one referred to same-sex marriage in a blog and the other in a street meeting in Hobart?

If same-sex marriage becomes law this will have a significant and disturbing impact on our schools. There is no doubt that teachers will be required to teach pupils about the validity of same-sex marriage. What protections will there be if they conscientiously object? …

If we must have a plebiscite, the population needs to be informed beforehand of all the legal implications that will arise from the adoption of same-sex marriage in spheres such as education, defence, health and aged care.

A private member’s bill, secretly drawn up — according to Christopher Pyne — and sprung on parliament by a few backbenchers, cannot hope to address these serious human rights issues without due process and wide consultation. …”

– In today’s The Australian, John P Wilson Moderator of the General Presbyterian Church of Australia, writes an important opinion-piece.

Archbishop Davies to Sydney Anglicans: Enrol to have your say in the postal plebiscite

Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Glenn Davies, has recorded a brief video message, and has written to Sydney Anglicans with an encouragement to participate in the postal plebiscite.

His letter may be downloaded from this link (PDF file). We have reproduced the text below:  Read more

Love says No

“It is a terrible thing when Christian love and kindness becomes so misdirected that we wound the souls of the very people that we are trying to help.

Let us not think, in a ghastly fit of blind spiritual arrogance, that we know better than Jesus, and can love better than Jesus.

Let’s humble ourselves, and trust that he knows best, and submit to him, and love people the way he loves them, and wants us to love them. …”

— Campbell Markham at Cornerstone in Hobart says Christians should vote “no” out of love for their neighbours, and for Jesus. Read it all.

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