Proposed Misinformation Disinformation Bill
It may be that you are unaware of the Australian Government’s Communication Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024.
Public comment on the bill (unless the time is extended) closes tonight.
From The Australian Christian Lobby:
“Where the government should be safeguarding the free speech of Australians, it will instead require social media to control our public discourse. From public health to politics to the economy and ideology, how this bill defines harm will determine what you are allowed to say online.
Remember, this isn’t just about protecting our rights; this is about our ability to speak truth in love – unpopular but true messages that challenge what society has accepted, messages that reveal God’s goodness. Christians have many things to say about a range of issues, and when it comes from a place of grace and truth, it’s helpful for society. Our message are not, as the government would dictate, ‘harmful’ nor ‘leading to ‘serious harm’. …”
– Read their whole post and the accompanying PDF file.
Phillip Jensen on The national soul – 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Phillip Jensen spoke at Moore College chapel last Friday.
He turns to one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament, 1 Timothy 2:1-7.
Do take the time to watch – and share the link with others in your church.
– Watch here.
Christian sexual ethics and the abuse of adolescents: Lessons from the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle
“I encourage everyone interested in law and religion issues to read this challenging piece published on the Australian Broadcasting Commission website from Emeritus Professor Patrick Parkinson: “Christian sexual ethics and the abuse of adolescents: Lessons from the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle” (24 September 2024). …”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster commends some important, but sobering, reading.
(Image: Assoc. Professor Neil Foster speaks at a Diocese of Sydney Safe Ministry training event.)
Writing an Article
“Here is some advice from an editor who does not quite fit E.B. White’s double-sided definition: ‘An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.’
What follows is just some thoughts about escaping the desire to write terribly.
Your aim is to write an article for your monthly parish paper, or for AP, or for your local newspaper, or even for your own website. The length might be about 1000 words. How do you go about it? J. I. Packer called himself ‘an accidental author’. He was never taught how to do it. He was asked to do it, and he kept doing it. …”
A Cloud of Witnesses: Australian Anglicans in Tanzania
Coming up at Moore College:
“The Letter to the Hebrews encourages us with the account of the great cloud of witnesses in the Old Testament – people who lived by faith looking forward to Jesus.
The Moore College Archives encourage us with some of the witness of people of more modern times who have stepped out in faith looking to Jesus as they went to serve God in Tanzania. How do they encourage and challenge us today? What shaped their faith? What shaped their passions? What were their aims in mission? How do they ‘strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees’?
Speaker – Rev Dr Colin Reed, former CMS missionary.
Colin Reed grew up in Africa. He has served with CMS as a missionary in Tanzania (along with his wife Wendy), on staff of the NSW & ACT Branch, and as Principal of St Andrew’s Hall. Over many years, Colin has studied and written on the history of the Church in East Africa. …”
– Details and registration (free!) at the College website.
Service of Thanksgiving for Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith
A Service of Thanksgiving for Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith was held at St Andrew the Great in Cambridge late last night (Friday 27 September 2024) Australian time. The service was led by the Rev Alasdair Paine and the Rev Giles Walter was the preacher.
It was recorded and is now available on YouTube.
See the website for the Order of Service.
When does old age start?
“There probably comes a time when we are too old to serve the Lord; when old age starts. But when does old age start? I distinctly remember turning 60 and being embarrassed. Embarrassed because 60 seemed so old, and by definition in this throw-away society; ready for the scrap heap, useless. But I still ran an electronics business that supported 20 odd families so maybe I was still useful and old age had not yet started for me. Slowly that feeling of embarrassment disappeared.
When I was 70, I sold the business but I was not yet free to join the proverbial grey nomads touring around Australia or cruising the seven seas. I still had 2 years left of my term as Chairman of the Board of Elders of a big church. A big church as in 8 ministers, 7 congregations in 3 languages plus a bi-lingual one, in 2 locations. Old age still had not started……
Finally, at the age of 73 that was all over, free at last! What would God have me to do now? …”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, Jim Kuswadi has some encouragement to serve the Lord, whatever your age.
Lessons from Mark Dever’s 30 Years at Capitol Hill Baptist Church
“September 25, 2024, marks the 30th anniversary of Dever’s installation as senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) in Washington, DC.
What lessons are there to glean from a ministry that has spanned three decades and influenced thousands? One answer comes from a response Dever gave in a pastoral candidate interview with the congregation in November 1993. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Caleb Morell, an assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, shares this encouragement for pastors and churches.
Photo: Mark Dever at the 2019 Nexus Conference in Sydney.
Highlights from the Seoul Statement at Lausanne 2024
“Just before the opening ceremony of the Fourth Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization—a gathering of more than 5,000 church leaders from around the world—the Seoul Statement was released. Each time the Lausanne Congress has met, a document has been published: the Lausanne Covenant in 1974, the Manila Manifesto in 1989, and the Cape Town Commitment in 2010.
The Seoul Statement builds on the good work of those previous documents while addressing several challenges facing the church today. The preface reiterates the need for urgency in evangelism and calls for the church to ‘nurture the faith and discipleship’ of believers by responding biblically to ‘trending social values and to distortions of the gospel, which have threatened to erode the sincere faith of Christians and to destroy the unity and fellowship of the church of the Lord Jesus.’
The 13,000+ word document seeks to give voice to the call of this Congress: Let the church declare and display Christ together! The Statement is worth reading as a whole, but here are some highlights. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Trevin Wax shares some highlights from the Seoul Statement at Lausanne 2024.
Moore College Open Events — Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September 2024
Know someone interested in studying at Moore College?
There are open events on Friday and Saturday of this week.
Preaching illustrations to win Muslims — with Samuel Green
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“How to preach to build confidence so members want to invite Islamic friends and workmates to church and better educate our Christians for conversations with Muslim friends.
What topics might we address? How to best engage with the authority and authorship of the Bible vs the Qur’an, plus Jesus and Muhammed, the Trinity, Incarnation, Sin and human nature, Judgement and Salvation.
Sam Green works for the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students and is the author of ‘Where to start with Islam.’”
“We have Indigenous churches that are struggling… we have a responsibility”
“ ‘We need to have a structured plan to Indigenous ministries, otherwise we will never have a genuine effect in the Diocese… my dream is that not only will we impact this Diocese, we will impact this nation.’
With those words, the leader of Macarthur Indigenous Church, the Rev Michael Duckett, urged Sydney’s Anglican Synod to support the appointment of the first Director of Indigenous Ministry. …”
– Russell Powell reports from Sydney Synod.
Gideon Ilechukwu – Planting a Diocese from Scratch — Global Anglican Podcast
From Gafcon:
“Meet the Venerable Gideon Ilechukwu, who is about to become Gafcon’s newest bishop, and who will soon lead Gafcon’s newest diocese.
Thirteen years ago, he planted a church in Manchester, England, which has now grown to 39 churches with 52 ministers… and on October 15 we will form this fellowship into a diocese called ‘Anglican Missionary Congregations (AMC) Europe’, which he will lead as bishop.
General Secretary Paul Donison speaks with Gideon, as he shares with us how he planted this diocese from scratch, and how Gafcon provided vital support and resources for gospel mission throughout the UK and Europe.”
– Listen here.
Evangelism encouragement from Bishop Dudley Foord
Bishop Dudley Foord spoke to the ACL’s 1988 Annual General Meeting.
The topic he chose was “Reaching Out In Difficult Situations”.
While many things have changed since 1988, the need for men and women to hear the gospel and be saved has not. Be encouraged and challenged. In our Resources section.
Bathurst Synod 2024 Presidential Address
Bishop Mark Calder this morning delivered his Presidential Address to the Synod of the Diocese of Bathurst. Click the image above to watch.
Or read the text (PDF file).
“I only have one agenda.
His name is Jesus.
I want everyone in our churches to know Jesus, love Jesus, trust Jesus, serve Jesus and share Jesus.
And I want everyone not currently in our churches to hear of Jesus, turn to Jesus, revel in Jesus as Saviour and serve Jesus as Lord.
I was elected by the Bishop’s election board in 2019 for that agenda.
The board made it clear that they wanted change. Not just any change, but Gospel-shaped, Jesus- focused change.
Of course, I am not suggesting that Jesus wasn’t on the agenda prior to my appointment. However, the reality of the prior years, is that there were many other distressing and distracting issues which needed to be addressed.
I have now been here five years, and under our ordinances, I have three more.
So I want to share with you five lessons I’ve learnt in five years and three prayers I will continue praying in my last three years. …”
– Whether you watch or read, be encouraged to share the link to this page so that others can pray, and help in other ways.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…