Christmas in the Future

“The countdown to Christmas is in full swing. …

For Christians, Christmas is the annual festival celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ—an event that split history in two. We recall the God who acted in mercy by entering this fallen and broken world to redeem it. We remember that in Christ, God is with us—Jesus, our “Immanuel.” And while we too countdown to Christmas and the year’s end that it signals, we reflect on the saving grace of our God.

We draw this significance of Jesus’ birth from the accounts in the Gospels, as well as the reflection of the New Testament writers generally. With another two thousand years of Christian reflection since, plus our favourite carols playing in the background, the importance of Christmas has been ingrained into us. Although the annual celebration is fixed immovably into our calendars, the Christmas event itself lies behind us. We have to look back over our shoulder, as it were, to see it.

But it was not always so. …”

– Moore College’s George Athas helps us put Christmas in perspective.

What should I tell my kids about Santa?

In his “Ask Pastor John” podcast, John Piper offers an answer to the question, “What should I tell my kids about Santa?”.

“Are we misleading the children in telling them this story as a simple statement of facts?

Bishop Andy Lines on the Church of England’s guidance on liturgies to celebrate gender transition

“… The sacrament of baptism is designed to signify the new identity that is given to us in union with Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection, so we were dismayed that this guidance commends using the same service to “recognise liturgically a person’s gender transition.”

In doing this, the House of Bishops has denied the teaching of Jesus Christ, not least by rejecting his words, ‘He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,’ (Matt 19: 4) in favour of celebrating a self-created identity. …”

– Bishop Andy Lines is quoted on the GAFCON website.

See also:

Pastoral Guidance for use in conjunction with the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith in the context of gender transition (PDF file, Church of England).

Anglican bishop who hailed transgender rite as biblical calls it flawed in shambolic U-turn – Rebel Priest.

Wisdom and folly: the bishops’ guidance on transgender welcome – Ian Paul.

The latest Fuel for Prayer from GAFCON

Here’s the latest Fuel for Prayer from GAFCON.

Ruddock Report summary and responses (Part 2)

“Following my previous post giving comments on Recommendations 1, 5-8 and 15 of the Ruddock Report and the Government Response, I will comment here on another set of recommendations (Recs 2-4, 9-12) and the likely outcome. Comments on recommendations 13-14, and 16-20, will (hopefully) be made in Part 3! …”

– More from Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia.

The Ruddock Report has landed! (Part 1)

“The long-awaited Religious Freedom Review: Report of the Expert Panel (chaired by the Hon Philip Ruddock) has now been released publicly, along with the formal Government Response.

After the prior leaking of its 20 recommendations there were no major surprises as to the final conclusion, but there is much interesting background to the recommendations (and in one or two cases the full Report seems to have a significant impact on how one should read the language of the recommendations.) It is also important to see the announced intentions of the LNP Government as to how they will respond.

In this first post in response to the full Report I will comment mainly on recommendations 1 & 5-8 and recommendation 15, with the other recommendations to be left for part 2 or later. …”

– Neil Foster provides his first response, at Law and Religion Australia.

Archbishop Glenn Davies’ response to the release of the Ruddock Report

Anglican Diocese of Sydney Media Statement

13 December 2018

We are grateful the Ruddock report has finally been released and view it as the start of an urgent process to frame appropriate legislation for religious freedom. This should be a bipartisan issue since it involves the harmony of our entire community, not just the more than 60 percent of Australians who identify with religious faith.

Dr Glenn Davies
Archbishop of Sydney.

Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

Transitioning a Liturgy

“The House of Bishops of the Church of England has issued guidance on the use of liturgy to mark and celebrate a person’s gender transition. This follows a statement from the Bishops in January (responding to a motion at General Synod in July 2017) that the existing rite of affirmation of baptismal faith could be used for this purpose.

Church Society and other groups responded then, as we also have on previous occasions (see below for examples). We continue to have extremely serious concerns.

The bishops start by affirming that all people are welcome at church and celebrating the diversity of the body of Christ. Those are things that every evangelical Christian would want to endorse enthusiastically. Our astonishment at God’s amazing grace, that embraces even a sinner like me, drives us to want others to share in that too.

However, this guidance is highly problematic for a number of reasons …”

– Church Society’s Lee Gatiss examines the newly released guidance from the Church of England.

North West Network December 2018

The latest issue of North West Network, the newsletter of the Diocese of Northwest Australia, is now available for download from their website. (1.1MB PDF file.)

Be encouraged, and be encouraged to pray!

Nexus19 Conference set for March 25

Tony Payne explains why the planned date for Nexus19 has been changed to March 25th.

More details will come soon.

‘Men Have Forgotten God’: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s 1983 Templeton Address

To mark the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The National Review has republished an article adapted from his 1983 Templeton Address.

Among his remarks are these words –

“Within the philosophical system of Marx and Lenin, and at the heart of their psychology, hatred of God is the principal driving force, more fundamental than all their political and economic pretensions.

Militant atheism is not merely incidental or marginal to Communist policy; it is not a side effect, but the central pivot. To achieve its diabolical ends, Communism needs to control a population devoid of religious and national feeling, and this entails the destruction of faith and nationhood. …”

– Read it all.

Photo: US Library of Congress, via The National Review.

‘Nobody wants to expel gay kids’

John Howard has blasted the “maddening” debate over religious freedoms in Australia …

“Nobody wants to expel gay kids and to my knowledge it’s not happening. I mean, this is the greatest red herring imaginable…”

– former Prime Minister John Howard, in The Australian. (Subscription.) ABC photo.

Partnering and Planting – A very Anglican activity of Gafcon Ireland!

“What a wonderful visit and encouragement to receive from incoming Secretary General of the global Gafcon movement! Gafcon Ireland was privileged to receive him at the annual two-day residential attended by over 50 church leaders in his first visit to a Gafcon branch since his election. …” – Here’s a report via the GAFCON website.

On choosing a Christmas diet

“Here is a scary question: in the average day, how much time do you spend thinking about food? As Christmas looms, most of us spend even more time than usual thinking about menus. Who and what will you serve this festive season? There’s endless inspiration to fill our thoughts on TV, Facebook feeds and as we chat to others.

We happily spend hours considering what to feed our bodies, but how much time do we spend thinking about what we are feeding to our souls?…”

– What will you feed yourself? Alice Brown reminds us what we need. At the ACR.

How to Evangelise Friends Identifying as LGBTQ

Rosaria Butterfield shares some ideas on sharing Christ’s love.

At the Gospel Coalition, (Link via Tim Challies.)

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