Specials at Matthias Media

Matthias Media has some specials on offer, up until Thursday 2 August, 2018.

Worth checking out. Details here.

Australian Church Record — Winter 2018 — now online

The Winter 2018 issue of The Australian Church Record (number 1919) is now available on their website.

It’s a must-read. Be sure to download your copy – and let others know.

From this issue:

“The work that only Christians can do should have first priority for most of us.”

– Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel.

‘Dr David van Gend is only the beginning’

“Revelations in [yesterday’s] Sunday Telegraph of Medical Board complaints against Dr David van Gend prove that plans to regulate doctors’ free speech are dangerous.

The Medical Board has received complaints that Dr van Gend’s Twitter does not ‘promote the health of the community’ or the ‘wellbeing of individual patients’ because he has Tweeted his opposition to same-sex marriage and gender ideology. …”

– A media release from The Australian Christian Lobby.

Related:

Doctor code like ‘thought police’ – The Australian: (subscription)

“The Medical Board of Australia is drafting a revised code of conduct for doctors that is being ­attacked for ‘thought policing the medical profession’…”

Doctor’s code implies endorsing harmful cultural beliefs – Family Voice Australia:

“A proposed Code of Conduct, which is open for public submissions until August 3, could force doctors to accept ‘cultural beliefs and practises’ that are opposed to good medical practise, according to a group of doctors.

The Medical Board of Australia draft code of conduct that will apply to all Australian doctors requires doctors to be “culturally safe” and comply with a patient’s beliefs about gender identity and sexuality, with no provision given for a doctor to differ in their professional judgement.

A doctors’ group convened by Dr Lachlan Dunjey of Perth, has expressed concern for the future of medicine in Australia in light of the changes. …”

The promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:20)

“For how many so ever be the promises of God, in Him is the yea: wherefore also through Him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us” (2 Cor 1:20, R.V.)

Let us see how much we can learn from this one verse about the promises of God. …

– Encouragement from the Rev. Alan Stibbs in The Australian Church Record.

Keep Silent….or Speak Out?

“I can see as clear as day what is coming down the tracks. And I don’t want to have on my conscience the Lord’s people in a few years time saying ‘we didn’t see that one coming!’. Some of us did. And we have to speak out before it’s too late.

Whether people will listen or not – that’s not our concern. We have to speak the Word of the Lord.…”

– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson explains why he believes he must speak out.

Lambeth Diary from the First Week of the Lambeth Conference July 18-25, 1998

From Dr. Stephen Noll:

“This is the 20th anniversary of the historic 1998 Lambeth Conference.

I was present there, representing the American Anglican Council (AAC). In this capacity I filed a three-week ‘Diary’ of the Conference. I am posting this diary without revision, except for the final week.”

– Here is the first instalment. Fascinating reading.

GAFCON Jerusalem 2018 Videos

“A number of videos from GAFCON 2018 in Jerusalem are now available to view!

They have been organised in the following order:

  1. Full day livestreams from each of the five days (Monday 18th June 2018 – Friday 22nd June 2018).
  2. Bible Exposition and Plenary Teaching Sessions
  3. Interviews
  4. Miscellaneous videos including the reading of the Final Statement ‘Letter to the Churches’, a number of highlights videos summarising the conference and more.
  5. The conference programme so you can see what happened on each day.”

– Many thanks to the GAFCON Communications team for making these available.

(Photos: GAFCON Media.)

 

The night John Newton ‘attended an eclipse of the moon’

On Tuesday 30th July, 1776, John Newton observed a lunar eclipse.

The experience prompted a diary entry and a hymn!

“The moon in silver glory shone,
And not a cloud in sight,
When suddenly a shade begun
To intercept her light.

How fast across her orb it spread,
How fast her light withdrew!
A circle tinged with languid red,
Was all appeared in view. …”

– Read it all at the John Newton Project. (Linked from their home page.)

If you would like to see tomorrow morning’s total lunar eclipse (Saturday 28th July 2018) – from Sydney, look to the west before sunrise.

Partial Eclipse Begins at 4:25 am AEST
Total Eclipse Begins at 5:30 am (That’s when the Moon moves fully into the Earth’s shadow)
Maximum Eclipse at 6:21 am (That’s the deepest part of the eclipse.)
Moon sets at 6:55 am – which is the same as sunrise.
Twilight will wash out any subtle colours before sunrise.

Watch, and be encouraged by John Newton’s example to draw some meditations from the experience.

(Photo: 15 April 2014 lunar eclipse over Parkes, courtesy John Sarkissian.)

How to preach to the occasion

“How do you preach at a wedding? How do you give a funeral message? How do you prepare a graduation or ordination address?

Over the last few years I’ve had opportunities to speak at these special occasions. Here are some focus areas I’ve found that help get me in the right zone, rather than accidentally preparing another Sunday sermon. …”

– At GoThereFor.com, David Martin shares some helpful thoughts.

The worst sermon on the Internet?

Tim Challies has been exploring “great sermons that have made a widespread impact and stuck around for the long haul”.

In this final entry in his series, he turns to a sermon which is not so great.

What the Leyonhjelm Euthanasia Bill means for the Vulnerable

“If the Leyonhjelm bill passes federal parliament one thing is guaranteed: the ACT will implement euthanasia legislation.

As reported in the ABC today, Chief Minister Andrew Barr has written to all but the staunch objectors to euthanasia in federal parliament urging them to support the bill. …”

– Media release from The Australian Christian Lobby.

Commentary on the 2018 GAFCON Letter to the Churches – Part 5: Reforming God’s Church

“The second main section of the Letter is titled ‘Reforming God’s Church‘. It should come as no surprise that ‘Reforming God’s Church’ should be the longest section of the Letter to the Churches from a Conference held as a result of a ‘tear in the fabric’ of the church catholic and of the Anglican Communion.

For this reason, I shall devote two posts to this section under the headings ‘Reforming God’s Church’ and ‘Reordering the Anglican Communion’. …”

– Dr. Stephen Noll has published the fifth of seven posts on the GAFCON 2018 “Letter to the Churches”.

The earlier posts can be seen here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Heroes at drinking wine (aka intoxicated masculinity)

“Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!” (Isa 5:22-23)

The battle-lines have been dug in the conflict about Christians and alcohol, with entrenched positions generating pamphlets, sermons and even denominations.

But those trenches are now largely empty. Most of the fighting has already taken place; and the fortifications are largely abandoned with only a small cadre of hold-outs remaining, fighting for abstinence. And while I am not one of those who argues practically for this position, I do see their wisdom. The cost of new generations moving on from this discussion, is that unexamined worldliness seems to be winning. In interest of deeper healing, let’s reopen the wound…”

– Andrew Barry looks for true heroism and valour – at the Australian Church Record.

Living on prayer

“Having just returned from Jerusalem, attending the third Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), I was again reminded of the history of the old city, where God’s glory was made manifest in the presence of the incarnate Jesus…”

– Archbishop Glenn Davies shares these words of encouragement at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Riverina says farewell to Anglican Bishop Rob Gillion

“Over 200 people from across the Anglican Diocese of the Riverina gathered together to farewell Bishop Rob Gillion on Saturday, who handed his staff back after four years as their 10th Bishop. …”

– Story and photo from The Area News. (May require subscription.)

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