How not to lose heart in Ministry — Ed Loane

The Rev Dr Ed Loane gave the occasional address at the 2024 Moore College Graduation on March 26th and the College has just made his talk available.

Ed spoke from 2 Corinthians 4 on ‘How not to lose heart in ministry’.

– Watch or listen here.

And read about the graduation at the Moore College website.

A Response to the Primates Meeting in Rome

Archbishop Dr. Laurent Mbanda, Chairman of the Gafcon Primates Council, has released this response, 6 May 2024:

“To my dear Anglican brothers and sisters contending for the faith once delivered to the saints,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Last week, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 32 Primates of the Anglican Communion gathered in Rome to meet with one another and to hold a private audience with Pope Francis. In their Communiqué, published on May 2, they highlighted the pope’s admonition to them to “embrace our disagreements without fear” and issued their own call “to mutual respect and accompaniment with one another.” They also expressed their own renewed commitment to “make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

As the Communiqué itself acknowledges, however, multiple Anglican Primates did not attend the gathering. To be specific, 12 primates did not attend this meeting in Rome, which means that those who did attend represented 30 of the 42 recognized provinces of the Anglican Communion. Such numbers are misleading, however, since the Primates of the three largest Anglican provinces (Nigeria, Uganda, and South Sudan) were among those absent. Those Primates who did attend represent a minority, perhaps 30%, of active Anglicans worldwide. The Communiqué makes no mention of how unrepresentative a gathering this meeting was, nor does it explain the reason that multiple Primates declined the invitation to participate.

The truth is that most of those who refused to attend are leaders of Gafcon and the Global South, and our absence was not accidental, but intentional. Though we do pray for the unity and health of the Anglican Communion, we chose not to attend because, as last year’s Kigali Statement made clear, the current divisions within the Anglican Communion are neither minimal nor new. These divisions have arisen from more than 25 years of “repeated departures from the authority of God’s Word” that, despite the persistent warnings given by the majority of Anglican Primates, have continued unabated.

We know how dear the unity of the church is to the heart of our Lord. For it is he who prays to his Father that we might be one, even as he and the Father are one (John 17:21). At the same time, we also recognize that such unity is not simply a matter of institutional belonging or cultivating attitudes of “mutual respect.” The unity of the Father and the Son consists in a harmony of will and mind, of mission and message (John 8:16-18, 10:37-38, 12:49-50, 17:25-26). Jesus came speaking the word of his Father and he wanted us to be sanctified in the truth of that word (John 17:17). It is only as we agree on the truth and authority of Scripture, therefore, that we can be one as Jesus prayed.

It is unfortunate when the orthodox remnant within the Anglican Communion are portrayed as the source of disunity. To the contrary, as Bishop J.C. Ryle once said,

If people separate themselves from teaching which is positively false and unscriptural, they ought to be praised rather than reproved. In such cases separation is a virtue rather than a sin…He is the schismatic who causes the schism…Unity which is obtained by the sacrifice of truth is worth nothing. It is not unity that pleases God.

The proposals made by the Anglican Primates at the Rome meeting, which consist of minor revisions to the description of the Anglican Communion and modifications to its existing structures, will do nothing to mend the torn fabric of our Communion. Nothing apart from a return to the Lord through deep repentance and renunciation of false teaching by erring provinces will suffice. To quote the Kigali Statement once more, “without repentance this tear cannot be mended.”

In Christ, I am your servant,

The Most Rev. Dr. Laurent Mbanda
Chairman of the Gafcon Primates Council
Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda
Bishop of Gasabo.”

Also at the Gafcon website.

Related:

The Kigali Commitment – GAFCON IV, 21 April 2023. (PDF file)

Save the date for Anglican Aid’s 2024 Conference

From Anglican Aid in Sydney:

“We are thrilled to announce that Anglican Aid’s 2024 one-day conference will take place on Saturday 31 August at Moore College.

After the success of last year’s ‘Social Justice Reframed’ event, we will once again gather with 200 thoughtful Christians to consider the intersection of Christian aid, development, and the gospel.

This year’s international guest speaker is Bishop Mwita Akiri, Anglican Aid’s partner in the Diocese of Tarime, Tanzania and Chairman of GAFCON Tanzania. …”

– Read more here.

The End of the Church of Scotland?

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Here’s a very sobering analysis of the state of the Church of Scotland. (13 minutes, from Ready to Harvest on YouTube.)

It’s a reminder of what happens when a denomination tries to be just like the culture around it – and ends up with nothing to offer.

Working Together so More People Meet Jesus

“We believe that knowing Jesus changes everything. He alone can deal with our sins and failures. He is our saviour who rescued us and our friend who loves us. He is our Lord who graciously and powerfully rules all things. He is the source of our hope in life and in death. He is living and active and he is coming again as judge of all. Why wouldn’t we want other people to meet Jesus?

Across Australia a campaign is unfolding this year so that many more people might have the opportunity to meet Jesus. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Murray Capill reports on a recent gathering in Melbourne.

Related:

Australia: Meet Jesus! — Richard Chin and Rory Shiner.

TGC announces new list of ‘Best Commentaries’

“In the spirit of Don Carson’s New Testament Commentary Survey, TGC Council members, staff, and expert writers have worked together to compile an annotated list of the best commentaries on each Bible book.

This project leverages the collective wisdom of scholars and church leaders who have devoted years to training the next generation in biblical scholarship and expositional preaching. Our goal has been to serve you – pastors, ministry leaders, and laypeople in local churches – by pointing you to the best resources available. …”

– A helpful resource from The Gospel Coalition.

(Many of our readers will think of other commentaries which are worthy of inclusion, but this list is a good start.)

Inside the ‘Compelled to Resist’ movement in the Church of England – with Charlie Skrine

“Charlie Skrine, the senior minister of All Souls Langham Place London, says his church (and other evangelical churches in the UK) are in a world of pain at the moment over the growing split in the Church of England.

Mr Skrine, who is speaking at the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion Conference in Sydney, says All Souls is united in its commitment to biblical teaching on sexual ethics, but divided on what the best response should be.

He says a third of All Souls members are wanting to leave the Church of England now, a third want to stay and fight (never leave), and a further third are confused. …”

– Watch or listen here.

And do pray for our brothers and sisters in the Church of England as they consider what must be done.

Justin Welby left Spinning

Comment from Anglican Futures:

“The Primates Meeting has been wonderful,” declared the Archbishop of Canterbury in the official Press Release.

But his face at the Press Conference suggested that it had also been exhausting, which might explain why he appeared to struggle to give coherent answers when it came to some pretty simple questions. …

– Read here.

Wanted: First Minister of Scotland. Christians need not apply

“Before announcing that she was withdrawing from the race to be Scotland’s First Minister, Kate Forbes was given a taste of the opposition she would have faced.

Writing in the Times on Tuesday, Edinburgh-based Kenny Farquharson expressed the respectable middle-class progressive liberal view that whoever becomes the next First Minister, it couldn’t be a Bible-believing Christian. …”

– At The Conservative Woman, Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, comments on the war against Christian believers in Scottish public life.

See also –

David Robertson: Persecuting Kate Forbes – A Response to Kenny Farquharson.

“After the demise of Humza Yousaf as Scottish First Minister, with perverse predictability the witch-hunt amongst Scotland’s wokeratti is on again. It’s time for the ‘Anyone but Kate’ campaign. It appears as though having a Muslim First Minister is something to be celebrated. Having a Scottish Christian Presbyterian is something to be feared, sneered at and viciously mocked. …”

Photo via Scottish Parliament.

Moore College Open Week

The next Moore College Open Week is coming up – a great opportunity to learn about the College – especially if you are considering study.

John Anderson speaks with Albert Mohler on the US election

Thinking about international affairs, culture wars, and US politics with John Anderson and Albert Mohler. Plenty of food for prayer.

Four Reasons to Preach the Psalms as a Book

“Since the 1980s, scholarship has devoted serious attention to the shape of the Psalter. While viewing the Psalms as a book has not filtered into popular consciousness yet, pastors and preachers may have discovered this argument in recent commentaries, such as James M. Hamilton’s excellent volumes.

Preaching the Psalter as a book might at first seem like a difficult task, but it’s well worth it. Here are four reasons why. …”

– At 9Marks, Davy Ellison in Northen Ireland points to a helpful way of reading (and preaching) the Psalms.

Saving ‘The Quiet Time’

Joshua Bovis at St. John’s Tamworth shares this message he wrote for his parish newsletter. We hope you will find it an encouragement to read and pray:

Saving ‘The Quiet Time’

I was introduced to the practice known as ‘The Quiet Time’ not long after I became a Christian. As someone whom has not been given the gift of silence by our Heavenly Father, (still working at it), quiet times were not often practiced. Turns out ‘The Quiet Time’ refers to the practice of spending time alone with God in prayer and in His Word. Yet over time, I had noticed that although the term ‘quiet time’ does not appear in the Holy Scriptures, these two seemingly benign words on their own often engender enormous guilt in the Christian’s life.

Of course, we all know (and should know) that time with God in prayer and His Word is vital, and we are all cognisant of the blessings and benefits that will entail.

Yet I have met so many of God’s people when I ask them how they are going when it comes to prayer and the Word, a common response is one of discouragement and guilt, with the added embellishments such as:

“I don’t know what to read”; “I cannot seem to get into the rhythm”; “I run out of things to pray for”; and there is the big one,

“I don’t have the time!”

Being an Anglican vicar, the context of which I asked this question is an Anglican one. Yet what I find interesting and rather sad is that so many Christians (who attend Anglican churches) are unaware of a practice that I have found to be so helpful in my own life, and that is the practice known as The Daily Office.

So what is the Daily Office? 

The Daily Office or Divine Office, to put it simply, is a time during the day where Christians pray and read the Bible.

It is based on the ancient practice of prescribed daily times of prayer. The name comes from the Latin officium divinum meaning “divine office” or “divine duty.” Although it seems that liturgy is not in vogue or used by many parishes, the Prayer Book has a daily service in the morning and evening for this very purpose, (in fact did you know that the Book of Common Prayer prescribes this practice for clergy?) These services are accompanied by daily Scripture readings which include a reading from the Psalms, Old Testament, the New Testament, and a Gospel reading. The Daily Office includes prayers for morning and evening. 

The late J.I Packer stated:

“None of us will ever find a better pattern for private prayer and Bible-reading anywhere than that offered by the Prayer Book’s own daily offices.”

God’s people who struggle with their ‘quiet times’ need to struggle no longer, there is a great resource available to be used, if only they were made aware of it.

I was first introduced to the Daily Office when I was an ordination candidate in the Newcastle Diocese. Although I was an Anglican Christian, I had not even heard of this practice let alone engaged it in. So at first I found it to be foreign, dull, repetitive and pedestrian. But after doing it every morning and every evening with my supervising Rector, I realised that my prayer life and Bible reading was changing.  My relationship with my Heavenly Father was deepening. No longer was I dependent on how I felt on any given day when it came to pray. Time was no longer an issue as it was a scheduled non-negotiable part of my day.

Many years ago at a Clergy Conference in another diocese I heard it said that human beings are repetitive. Think about the hand you use when you talk on your mobile phone. Have you ever tried using your other hand? Or your other ear? It feels wrong doesn’t it? It is the same when you brush your teeth with your other hand. It feels wrong. With exceptions of course, generally there is no biological reason why we cannot use the phone in the alternate hand/ear. It is because we are creatures of habit. We all have rituals, and routines, and a place where we put things (as the saying goes, “a place for everything and everything in its place).

This is why I find the Daily Office such a helpful thing. It gives me the rhythm and routine that I am made for and at the same time makes prayer and the word part of that rhythm and routine.

The  Daily Office is also helpful in that sooner or later when the day will come when you will not be able to pray in your own strength. On that day the liturgy will pray for you.  There have been times and are times when I simply did not and do not have the words to pray.

What do you need?

• A set time – this way, the Daily Office will become part of your routine, your life rhythm, and before you know it will become a time that you look forward to.

• A place – your study,  the chapel in your church, or somewhere nice and quiet, indoors or outdoors.

• A Bible – For me I use the ESV. It has been my norm for ages.

• A Prayer Book – for me it is mainly the BCP 2019 , though for years I used the original and  best (BCP 1662).

• A Smartphone or iPad – this may seem like a weird thing to recommend but along with the BCP 2019, ACNA (The Anglican Church in North America) has produced an excellent App called The Daily Office. I find this app to be brilliant. It contains the Morning and Evening Prayer Services with the Collects (special prayer for the week) for every day of the year. It even has what is known as Compline (which is a service one uses before lights out for the night It even has a Midday Prayer (which I love to do each day). The Bible Translation is from the ESV (which is what we use here at St John’s) and the Psalter are the Miles Coverdale Version, which utilises English beautifully.

Anything else?

No. That is it. Just go for it. Take your time, enjoy God enjoy his Word, and abide with Christ. You may be sceptical, you be tempted to think what I think about the sport section in the Sydney Morning Herald, “Oh how dull”, but if you are struggling with your quiet times, it is certainly worth giving the Daily Office a go. Up until recently Anglican Christians have been doing it for a very long time. And before you know it, the next time your Vicar or anyone else asks you, “How is your quiet time going”?, you can smile and give an answer that is encouraging (and will give cause to give thanks and praise to God!)

The White House declaration of Transgender Day of Visibility backfires

“You can’t make this up. Late last week the White House released a statement from President Biden proclaiming March 31, Easter Sunday, as the 2024 Transgender Day of Visibility. …

An explosion of controversy quickly ensued …”

– Albert Mohler observes that ‘official’ attempts to promote the transgender movement in the US are meeting with resistance.

How to get your church fired up for evangelism

“Evangelism is tough. Of course, you know that already. Telling people about Jesus presents a series of challenges and difficulties for Christian people.

Yet when it comes to evangelism, that’s not the most difficult thing. No, that title well and truly falls to ‘being responsible for trying to get other Christians to actually do it’. Studies from the United States indicate that although nearly 90% of professing evangelical Christians believe evangelism is something they should do, roughly the same proportion of them don’t do it. …”

– Dave Jensen writes with encouragement at The Australian Church Record.

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