Pray with us for Afghanistan

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has called for prayer for the troubled nation of Afghanistan.

In a video issued today, he addressed the situation after the withdrawal of western forces and prayed for the nation, its people, especially the women facing persecution and repression and Christian churches.

He also prayed for Australian defence personnel who had served in that land, saying “for soldiers who returned from there bearing the scars of war, and their families, these have been days of anger, grief and disbelief.”

See the video from the Archbishop, and download the prayer written by the Rev Mark Charleston at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Bethel, Jesus, and Dove Dung

“Bethel Church in Redding, California, is becoming increasingly influential amongst churches in my own city of Sydney. This is partly due to its promotion by Hillsong and also because of its influential music label. So I’ve set myself the task of reading through some of Bethel’s books in order to understand their theology.

The first book I’ve chosen is The Physics of Heaven: Exploring God’s Mysteries of Sound, Light, Energy, Vibrations, and Quantum Physics … The contributors to the book are associated in various ways with Bethel Church, and there are key contributions by Bill and Beni Johnson (senior pastors of the church).

Before I read the book, I was hoping to find something positive to be able to say. Anything. But I could find nothing. In short, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I found this book extremely disturbing (especially one part of it).”

– Lionel Windsor is very disappointed, to say the least.

Learn why at Forget the Channel. This is an important review and is well worth reading.

Lockdown brings us to our knees

“Prayer is everywhere, and not just for the pandemic. Extended periods of isolation at home have meant that people, stripped of a busy life of commuting, events and travel, are putting prayer at the forefront of their day. …

Last week the Archbishop and bishops organised regional meetings of leaders of churches across the Diocese to pray for our locked-down communities.

Archbishop Raffel is also joining other church and community leaders in a special prayer event in Wednesday, 18 Aug (click here to register on zoom). The group, organised by Family Voice, includes former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, and former Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones. …

On twitter, the Archbishop also called for urgent prayer for the nation of Afghanistan, especially for vulnerable people, after the takeover by the Taliban.”

– Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Afghan Pastors Ask for Prayer

“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” (Heb 13:3)

As Taliban forces have swallowed up Afghanistan and even now the capital city of Kabul, pastors in the country have been emailing and messaging me over the last few days, even hours, anxious for prayer.

– Here’s a very timely post at 9Marks. Please use it to inform your prayers.

(Kabul scene: 9Marks.)

Can you help The Wandering Bookseller?

Many of our readers will be familiar with The Wandering Bookseller run by Karl Grice and his team at Katoomba.

Many of us have benefitted from their expertise and their wonderful range of books over the years, and here’s an opportunity for you to help them.

They write:

It’s been a hard couple of years…

We’ve had staff sickness, bushfires and floods—

And that was all before the pandemic!

We’re now at a point where we’ve had 18 months of uncertainty: event cancellations, border closures, import restrictions and lockdowns.

We know that Covid won’t last forever, and we want to continue partnering with you in ministry for years to come.

Can you help?

Please be encouraged to see their website and consider how you could help.

Prayer for Goma diocese

Today’s prayer request from GAFCON –

“Six weeks ago, we prayed for the portable Bible schools in Goma diocese, DR Congo. Joseph Rusangiza reports from the Archdeaconry of Binza. They recently had a graduation ceremony, and 42 evangelists were presented with their certificate.

We prayed that each may have a Bible and the Lord provided for this. However, the supply of Bibles is nearly finished. Please continue to pray that each evangelist may have his or her own Bible.”

Sunday morning encouragement

With thanks to Emu Music.

Annual Moore College Lectures 2021 now available online

The Annual Moore College Lectures for 2021 have just concluded.

The Rev Dr David Höhne, Academic Dean of the College, spoke on the topic, “In Him All Things Hold Together: The Triune God and The Choosing Self”.

If you missed seeing the livestream, all the lectures (plus the handouts) are now available from the College.

Pet carers can leave lockdown to do their job, but not a priest to tend his flock

“I’m not the only person struggling through this pandemic. I’m also not the only person feeling anxious. But as a devout Maronite Catholic, I can’t help but notice that people of faith aren’t getting the spiritual support they need to get through this. And no, I’m not talking about packing churches with large congregations. …”

– Ann-Marie Boumerhe, lawyer and director of Maronites on Mission, writes this opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Should Christians accept the COVID-19 vaccine?

In an updated piece at SydneyAnglicans.net, Dr. Megan Best addresses the question “Should Christians accept the COVID-19 vaccine?”.

Read and share.

Image: Dr Best with Chase Kuhn and Dominic Steele on The Pastor’s Heart in August 2020.

Review: ‘Christians’ by Greg Sheridan

Journalist and author Greg Sheridan has just released a new book titled ‘Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World’. He opens with this explanation of why he wrote it:

This book is about the compelling, dramatic, gripping characters you meet in the New Testament. Above all, it is the search for Jesus. It seeks to meet him directly, in the New Testament, and in history, and to meet him indirectly through his friends, both his first friends, and some of his friends today…”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Akos Balogh reviews Greg Sheridan’s new book, Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World.

The book is available from The Wandering Bookseller.

Spiritual CBT

“We’re often encouraged in our culture to speak ‘your truth’. Apparently, it’s no longer enough to just speak the truth – the truth is now highly personal! And as well as being personal, your truth can even change or develop over time… in fact it can be as changeable as you like and no one is allowed to argue with it. Allegedly. This idea (rightly) sits uneasily with Christians because we know there are truths about God, and the world, and ourselves, and Jesus, and eternity, that are true in the traditional sense, no matter who is telling it.

As Christians, then, the truth orients our truth. So what’s your truth?

I’m asking because there’s something else that our culture is becoming more familiar with…”

– At The Australian Church Record, Bronwyn Windsor talks about feelings – and what the Bible tells us.

Expository Preaching Trust expands

David Cook writes:

“I am delighted to let you know that Janet Riley is to join the Trust as an encourager, especially of women’s groups, one day per week in 2022. …

Janet joined the Faculty at SMBC as Dean of Women and Lecturer in Greek in 2008 where she had involvement in the College’s preaching groups, encouraging students by critiquing sermons. Janet is one of the most insightful critiquers of sermons I know.

I am delighted that Janet is joining us to encourage preachers, she will be involved with some of the existing ‘Lather and Shave’ preaching groups and will establish a Preaching Club for women. …”

– Read David’s announcement here.

The Swanson diocese

In October 2019, Joshua Bovis, Vicar of St John The Evangelist in Tamworth, wrote this opinion-piece for the Anglican Ink website.

It’s particularly relevant in the light of yesterday’s pastoral letter from the Bishop of Newcastle to clergy in that diocese.

Joshua shares something of his own experiences of the Newcastle Diocese from 2009 to 2013, the time during which he was a postulant, ordinand, deacon, and priest:

“At their recent Synod this weekend, the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle passed two bills to enable clergy to bless what God in His Word deems to be sinful, to bless what the Bible says is an expression of an anti-God state of mind (see Romans 1:18ff), to declare holy what God states keeps people out of the Kingdom of God, and redefined the doctrine of marriage. This move mirrors that of a similar proposal passed by Wangaratta diocese in Victoria. …

I am very saddened by this. For it was was in the Newcastle Diocese that I was ordained to the diaconate and to the priesthood. It was a very moving experience. (I am the man in the chasuble that is is almost all white).

It was very powerful hearing the exhortation to both in my public and private ministry oppose and set aside teaching that is contrary to God’s Word, to be told to encourage and build up the body of Christ, to preach the Word of God, lead God’s people in prayer, declare God’s forgiveness and blessing. Also the reminder to pastor after the pattern of Christ the great Shepherd, to lead the people of God as a servant of Christ; to love and serve the people with whom you work, caring alike for young and old, rich and poor, weak and strong; to studying the Scriptures wholeheartedly, reflecting with God’s people upon their meaning, so that my ministry and life may be shaped by Christ.

I was reminded of how great a treasure has been placed in my care and that I will be called to give an account before Jesus Christ.

It was in the Newcastle Diocese that I openly declared my conviction that the Holy Scriptures contains all doctrine necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and declared by God’s grace determination and intention and desire to instruct from these Scriptures the people committed to my care, teaching nothing as essential to salvation which cannot be demonstrated from the Scriptures. …”

– Read it all at Anglican Ink, and do note the questions asked. How might you answer if they were asked of you?

(As Albert Mohler has warned many times, “Every Christian and every Christian ministry will come to a reckoning – we must all decide here and now where we stand. Will we pivot or will we hold fast to faithfulness and the hope of the gospel?”)

Photos: Joshua Bovis.

Bishop of Newcastle “Lifts Ban on Same-Sex Blessings”

“In a move that can only serve to push the Anglican Church of Australia into much deeper crisis, the Bishop of Newcastle Peter Stuart has written a Pastoral Letter where he signals his approval of clergy conducting a blessing of couples married in a same-sex marriage.

In his familiar style, Stuart does not explicitly state the change of conditions but his meaning has been clearly understood by its recipients …”

– David Ould reports on the Pastoral Letter from Bishop Peter Stuart to the Clergy of the Diocese of Newcastle dated 9 August 2021.

Related:

Gafcon Australia moves ahead — plans for new Australian diocese – 19 July 2021.

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