How a man reading the Bible revolutionised my Bible reading
“For most of the time I have been a Christian, talking about personal Bible reading has made me uneasy.
I usually regarded people who talked about their deep quiet times (often early in the morning) as spiritual skites. That was simply jealousy, because most of my attempts at quiet times could be likened to the Wright brothers’ experiments with flight. A lot of effort, airborne for a short time, then a crash.
Weirdly enough, it was a combination of the pandemic and technology that came to my rescue. …”
– Anglican Media Sydney’s Russell Powell shares some great encouragement for you.
How the Bible makes sense of modern life and culture – with Christopher Watkin
From Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart:
“How does the Bible’s unfolding story makes sense of modern life and culture?
Christopher Watkin, who lectures in Philosophy at Monash University, has a new book out that paints a picture of a Biblical Theological worldview and interacts well along the way with all the major thinkers of the age.
Chris has done us pastors a significant service here.
One of my friends has called it the most helpful book for those of us in pastoral ministry since Don Carson’s late 1990s contribution, The Gagging of God. …”
‘Amazing Grace…’
“A close source pointed me to an article by Marylynn Rouse in Christian Heritage London, about the 250th anniversary of Amazing Grace. She comments, ‘It’s not often that a pop song in the charts can claim to have been around for 250 years. John Newton’s hymn Amazing Grace featured in hit parades all over the world in the 1960s and 70s, but was written for New Year’s Day 1773. …”
– John Mason writes at The Anglican Connection.
Before you watch Harry & Meghan
“The age of the internet accelerates the pace of rumour spreading from the old school gossip magazines and water coolers. Twitter and Netflix are the latest machines for globalising gossip. My secret today can be the topic of public scrutiny tomorrow.
The thing is, by watching and reading and gossiping, we’re leaping into a carefully managed trap. We’re suckers for a good juicy story about a family imploding. And what’s bigger than that family being our King and Princes? …”
– Murray Campbell has some thoughts on the story almost everyone is discussing.
Evangelism in Tough Times?
His topic: “Evangelism in Tough Times”.
Looking at our context in Australia, he argues –
- These are not tough times.
- The has been no substantial change, and
- The difficulty evangelism faces is seduction and persecution.
It’s a challenging talk and is very much worth your time. Good to share too.
Recorded at Moore College, 22 November 2022.
Bishop of Tasmania’s Training Event 2022
From the Diocese of Tasmania:
“On 17 and 24 September, over 500 Anglicans from across Tasmania gathered in Hobart and Launceston to attend the annual Bishop’s Training Event.
In its 6th year, it was our biggest year yet, and we enjoyed encouragements from Bishop Richard and Wei-Han Kuan (the State Director of CMS Victoria). We are making the videos of the keynotes available and you can watch them below.”
Pope Benedict XVI — His Life and Legacy
“According to Benedict, the evangelical understanding of the church is a ‘new concept’ whereby the church is only a community summoned by the Word. Benedict looked at evangelicals with a mixture of spiritual curiosity and Roman perplexity.
Benedict did have a high view of Scripture, and his last books were focused on the life of Jesus according to the historical accounts of the Gospels. Yet we must understand his true position. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Leonardo De Chirico reflects on the life of Pope Benedict.
See also:
Remembering Benedict XVI – Carl Trueman at WORLD.
“A deeply learned theologian rather than a philosopher, Benedict made signal contributions to thinking about the nature of the secular world. Indeed, though many of his most significant intellectual contributions predate his papacy (2005-2013), the accuracy of so many of his observations and analyses has given his work a mantic quality.”
Why Religion will Return to the West
David Robertson writes:
This is an important article by Greg Sheridan – which we republish with permission. Please do read the whole article – but this quote stuck out for me –
“Christianity was just as weird to the sophisticated first-century Graeco-Roman civilisation of the Mediterranean as it is to the most disillusioned sophisticate of today.Happily for contemporary Christians, they have a readily accessible account of how the first Christians spread the gospel in a hostile, alien and comprehensively pagan culture. It’s a primary source, uniquely immediate and reliable, and still in print.It is found in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament, and in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It’s worth reading these two short books – only 50 pages between them – straight through, as they offer a gripping, vivid picture of the first Christians. …”
Photo: Greg Sheridan, Foreign Editor, The Australian.
Amazing Grace shown to sinners like us
Two hundred and fifty years ago today, the hymn Amazing Grace was first sung. The Rev. John Newton wrote it to accompany his sermon on 1 Chronicles 17:16-17 on New Year’s morning 1773.
At the time, Newton can have had no idea of what a blessing that hymn would be to millions.
There’s no better way to begin a new year than by remembering God’s grace shown to us in Christ, to bless God, and to tell others of him.
JohnNewton.org has resources linked from their front page.
Update: Marylynn Rouse, Director of the John Newton Project, has contributed this piece just published in The Times.
(What is the good news Newton knew? Glad you asked.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…