From Obscurity to Influence: The Legacy of A. W. Pink

“Few figures in modern Reformed history are as paradoxical – or as vital – as Arthur W. Pink. During his lifetime (1886–1952), Pink lived largely in obscurity, often isolated and out of step with the ecclesiastical landscape of his day. Yet after his death, his writings sparked a widespread retrieval of historic Calvinism across the English-speaking world. His works, particularly The Sovereignty of God, still nourish those who hunger for robust, God-centred theology.

One hundred years ago this year, in 1925, Pink arrived in Australia, pastoring briefly in Sydney before retreating into the quieter, itinerant years of his life. His sojourn here, though short, lasting only three years, reminds us that his theological voice was already crossing continents long before it found wider acclaim.

Pink’s theological influence is hard to overstate. …”

– At AP, the Presbyterian journal, Brett Lee-Price has this reminder of A. W. Pink.

Photo via The Banner of Truth.

Remembering Anzac Day — What is it we’re remembering?

From Phillip Jensen:

“For Australians, Anzac Day is the great national day. But what is it we’re remembering? And should we celebrate Anzac Day? In particular, should Christians be remembering or celebrating a military battle of the First World War? Does Anzac Day glorify war? Is it an alternative religion for Australians?

I hope you will enjoy our discussion as Peter and I try and grapple with the history and purpose of Anzac Day observances.”

– Listen to the latest Two Ways News podcast with Peter and Phillip Jensen.

A hymn for Easter Day 1775

Two hundred and fifty years ago, John Newton wrote this hymn for Easter Day 1775 –

Glorious things of thee are spoken – See the details at JohnNewton.org.

For more, see this article by Marylynn Rouse, CEO of The John Newton Project:

“The River Ouse meanders peacefully behind the church of St Peter and St Paul in Olney, Buckinghamshire. It bids a pleasant walk along its river banks as swans glide gracefully by while a watchful heron keeps an eye on a troop of Canada geese on the opposite side of the bank. This tranquil scene was the refuge of the local minister, newly ordained, who fled there in a state of panic.

Before coming to Olney the Reverend John Newton had published six sermons. He had just preached from the last one! A friend explained many years later, ‘he thought he had told them his whole stock, and was considerably depressed.’

Newton himself recalled: ‘I was walking one afternoon by the side of the River Ouse. I asked myself, How long has this river run? Many hundred years before I was born, and will certainly run many years after I am gone. Who supplies the fountain from whence this river comes? God. Is not the fund for my sermons equally inexhaustible?—the word of God. Yes, surely. I have never been afraid of running out since that time.’…”

– Published at Evangelicals Now (requires a free subscription).

Images with thanks to Marylynn Rouse.

Theology in the Margins – Donald Robinson Library Lecture with Mark Earngey

A fascinating and fun Donald Robinson Library Lecture from Moore College a few weeks ago:

“In Theology in the Margins, Mark Earngey, Head of Church History, will be considering how the notes and drawings in the margins of the personal Bibles of the English Reformers can encourage us today to grow our understanding and outworking of God’s word.

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s prayer for the second Sunday in Advent asks God to help us read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the holy Scriptures.

Christians today may be familiar with reading the Bible and learning from God’s Word. But what was the significance of physically marking God’s Word?

This lecture will illuminate how and why some of the English Reformers engaged with their own personal Bibles and will draw some conclusions for modern readers of the Bible who may want to learn from the models provided by our sixteenth-century forebears.”

– Watch and be encouraged.

“We can have confidence as we read these accounts” — Easter message from Tyndale House

Peter Williams, Principal of Tyndale House in Cambridge, shares this Easter message.

Giving thanks for Campus Bible Study — 50 years on

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Today we review the 50 year impact of The University of New South Wales’ Campus Bible Study on Christian ministries across Australia and around the world – in raising up gospel workers, sending missionaries, planting churches and in Christian publishing.

Former Anglican Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen led the ministry for thirty years till 2005.  Since then Paul Grimmond and Carl Matthei have been senior chaplains.

Alan Stewart started studying at the University of New South Wales just two years after Phillip Jensen arrived as Anglican Chaplain. Alan was saved by Jesus in 1979 and went on to assist in the ministry, before becoming CEO of Anglican Youthworks, Bishop of Wollongong, head of Church Planting for Sydney Anglicans and then national director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.

Tony Payne and Tracey Gowing started as undergraduates a few years after Alan.  Tony went on to run the influential Christian publishing house Matthias Media, while Tracey led the Christian ministry at  Cumberland College Christian Group before returning to UNSW as a senior staff member at Campus Bible Study.”

– Watch or listen here.

100 Ministry stories — Peter Jensen interviews Lloyd Bennett

From Moore Theological College:

“Former Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, sits down with Lloyd Bennett – pastor, chaplain, and Moore College graduate.

Lloyd shares how he came to know Christ, his journey into ministry, and the ways God used his time at Moore to shape a lifetime of faithful service. From classrooms to chaplaincy, his story is one of God’s grace and guidance every step of the way.”

– This is a most encouraging interview. Watch or listen here.

Peter Williams on eighty years of Tyndale House

In the latest Tyndale House podcast, Principal Peter Williams speaks about the origins of Tyndale House in Cambridge, founded 80 years ago, in 1945.

Along the way, he mentions many people with whom our readers will be familiar.

“Dr Peter J. Williams, Principal of Tyndale House, walks us through the history of Tyndale House. Starting with the initial conversations about creating an institution for evangelical biblical scholarship that took place in the late 1930s, through to the new library building project starting in 2025.”

An encouraging and illuminating 33 minutes.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

In 2013, Phillip Jensen wrote about “St. Patrick – The Irish Evangelical” –

“St Patrick’s Day is a Saint’s day. There is nothing wrong with celebrating saint’s days, though there is nothing particularly right either. As our Apostle says: ‘One man esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind’ (Romans 14:5). …

Legendary stories make it hard to know the truth about early saints. …

However, the problems of saints and saint’s days should not stand in the way of remembering, with gratitude, those whom God has used in the past to spread the gospel and contribute to the welfare of the world.”

Exploring and Celebrating the Nicene Creed

“This year is the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, which is an important part of our liturgy for a number of our services, in particular for the Eucharist. We encourage you to mark this year by devoting some time to focussing on the creed, both personally and as a congregation. …”

– The Ministry Development Committee of the Diocese of Ballarat is seeking to help church members think about what they mean when they say the Nicene Creed on Sundays.

Related:

Credo Magazine feature: 1700 Years after Nicaea. – January 2025.

Ten archaeological facts to increase confidence in the Old Testament — Hans Kristensen

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“There are claims – and you hear them every so often – that archeology has disproved this story or that in the Bible, and claims from this or that scholar of particularly late dating of different bible books.

How do we as evangelical pastors react/respond/answer those claims?

Hans Kristensen is senior pastor of Marsfield Community Church in Sydney and is studying archaeology.

He suggests that there are 10 major archaeological finds that help us to increase our confidence in the Old Testament…”

– Fascinating.  Watch or listen here.

Richard Johnson’s Address to the Inhabitants of New South Wales

 

This Australia Day, give thanks for the Rev. Richard Johnson, Chaplain to the First Fleet and first Chaplain to the Colony of New South Wales.

In 1792, Johnson wrote a tract designed to be distributed widely in the Colony. He gives his reasons for doing so:

“My Beloved,

I do not think it necessary to make an apology for putting this Address into your hands; or to enter into a long detail of the reasons which induced me to write it.

One reason may suffice. I find I cannot express my regard for you, so often, or so fully, as I wish, in any other way.

On our first arrival in this distant part of the world, and for some time afterwards, our numbers were comparatively small; and while they resided nearly upon one spot, I could not only preach to them on the Lord’s day, but also converse with them, and admonish them, more privately.

But since that period, we have gradually increased in number every year (notwithstanding the great mortality we have sometimes known) by the multitudes that have been sent hither after us. The colony already begins to spread, and will probably spread more and more every year, both by new settlements formed in different places under the crown, and by a number of individuals continually becoming settlers. Thus the extent of what I call my parish, and consequently of my parochial duty, is enlarging daily. On the other hand, my health is not so good, nor my constitution so strong, as formerly. And therefore I feel it impracticable, and impossible for me, either to preach, or to converse with you so freely, as my inclination and affection would prompt me to do.

I have therefore thought it might be proper for me, and I hope it may prove useful to you, to write such an address as I now present you with…”

Johnson’s warm pastoral tone, and his urgent call to trust Christ and to turn from sin, are clearly evident in this Address.

Download An Address to The Inhabitants of The Colonies Established in New South Wales and Norfolk Island as a PDF file here.

(Photo: Richard Johnson’s Address – copy held by Moore College.)

Indigenous Australians and the Christian Gospel – with Michael Duckett

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“As we approach ‘Aboriginal Sunday’ (19 January) we focus on the progress of the gospel among the indigenous in Australia.

What are the cultural changes and what openness to Jesus Christ among Indigenous Australians?

Where are we seeing growth? What are the roadblocks and opportunities for the growth of the gospel among the indigenous communities? How much has to do with the soil.  How much has to do with things that we can change?

Michael Duckett leads the Anglican Indigenous Ministry at Macarthur/Campbelltown in the far south west of Sydney and Chairs the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Ministry Committee.”

– Watch or listen here. Food for your prayers!

Related:

William Cooper – Wikipedia article.

1700 Years after Nicaea — Credo Magazine

A new issue of Credo magazine is out, with a focus on the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity:

“Without the doctrine of the Trinity we have no Christianity. So, something is fundamentally wrong when countless churchgoers and churches today never say the Nicene Creed together on a Sunday morning. In fact, some have never heard of the Nicene Creed at all.

The year 2025 is the anniversary of the Nicene Creed, meaning this year is a strategic opportunity for pastors everywhere to put the creed back in the church where it belongs. In this new issue of Credo Magazine, we explain why the creed should not only inform the doctrine of the church but its worship, pervading its liturgy. No longer can the church afford to go without that creed which brings us into fellowship with the communion of the saints and summons us into communion with the holy Trinity. …”

– Worth reflecting on the first three sentences – and reading through some of the articles in this issue.

From the first featured article, A Map to Organise Wonder:

“The Nicene Creed, written in 325 years then ratified and expanded in 381 at the Council of Constantinople, represents a doctrinal map seeking to organize the greatest Wonder within all the cosmos: the Triune God. It is not a replacement for the Wonder itself but helps pilgrims on the journey towards the Celestial City. The Creed prompts us to marvel at True Wonder as we progressively encounter his beauty before reaching him in glory. Thus, without the Nicene Creed, Christians are in danger of being lost in a sea of doctrinal and moral confusion. Whether evangelical Christians recite the Creed in gathered worship or not, we are indebted to the theological luminaries of the fourth century. To jettison the Creed is like disabling a GPS in an unknown territory.”

After 150 years of Christian compassion Leprosy is nearly defeated

“In November, people from nearly thirty countries gathered in New Delhi for the 150th anniversary of The Leprosy Mission. they thanked God for amazing progress in treating the disease and committed to strive for a world without leprosy by 2035. A world without leprosy is within sight. With improved preventative medication, diagnostic tests, and even vaccines, the tools and knowledge needed to end leprosy are in our grasp.

‘It was a marvellous time of celebrating the progress we’ve made, but also longing to finish the job,’ said Greg Clarke, the CEO of The Leprosy Mission Australia (TLMA).…”

– This article by Anne Lim at The Gospel Coalition Australia is a great encouragement. It’s also a reminder of the key work of Australian doctors such as Grace Warren.

Photo: Dr Grace Warren meeting Diana, Princess of Wales, Anandaban Hospital, Nepal, 1993. From Leprosy Mission Australia.

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