Ready to give an answer

“Though we’re reading mixed signals from Parliament, let there be no mixed signals from the church. Though we hear rumours in Canberra of deferrals, reneging and equivocation … is our word our word? Are we ready to give an answer, even if that makes us unpopular with people we love?…”

– Presbyterian Moderator-General John P Wilson encourages Christians to be clear about what they believe, and to speak with gentleness and respect.

Enemies of Christianity declaring new war on religion

“Christians, prepare for persecution. Open your eyes and choose stronger leaders for the dark days.

I am not a Christian, but I am amazed that your bishops and ministers are not warning you of what is already breaking over your heads. …”

– Andrew Bolt writes in The Herald-Sun. (Subscription.) Image: Sky News.

I was born in a free country

“Media release July 28 2017 in response to complaints accepted by the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner.

Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Sarah Bolt has informed me that she has accepted a complaint against my church, in part for things that I wrote on my blog in 2011 in defence of marriage.

No one is forced to read my writings, it is the mere fact of their existence that may prove to be unlawful.

I bear no ill-will whatsoever towards the complainant. I am however bemused that a Christian pastor can be called to account before a government tribunal for expressing Christian teaching about marriage. …”

– Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Hobart, Campbell Markum, responds publicly to correspondence from the Tasmanian ‘Anti-Discrimination Commissioner’. Read it all.

Fundamental shifts in the Church of England General Synod

“The decisions taken in the February and July 2017 sessions of the General Synod crossed a line never before reached.

Its failure to take note of the definition of marriage as that between ‘one man and one woman in lifelong commitment’, and its embrace of key LGBT agenda (banning so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for unwanted same-sex attraction, liturgy to mark a person’s gender transition) has caused serious consternation, anger and anxiety in the Church of England, and beyond.

It was the scale of defeat of orthodoxy in the July sessions that is most shocking. …”

– At the GAFCON website, Dr. Chik Kaw Tan, a 12-year veteran of General Synod, shares his reflections on the significant shifts which have taken place, and possible consequences.

The Agonising Ordeal of Eugene Peterson — You might be next

“Was he against it, before he was for it? Is he really against it now?

The ordeal experienced last week by popular author Eugene Peterson was agonizing to observe, largely self-inflicted, and virtually inevitable. You should pay close attention to it, for you might very well be next. …”

– Albert Mohler draws some sobering lessons.

General Synod July 2017: Five steps away from Biblical Christianity

“In the space of four days, the General Synod of the Church of England have, in effect, rejected the doctrines of creation, the fall, the incarnation, and our need for conversion and sanctification.”

– Susie Leafe, Director of Reform, sums up the rolling tragedy of the Church of England General Synod. At The American Anglican Council.

Blessed be the egoistic individuals

“In the litany of words about the census the core issue has been avoided — the almost certain link between the generational decline in the Christian faith as guide to the common good and the collapsing relationship between the people and the political system.

The reality is staring us in the face. Yet it cannot be spoken, cannot be entertained, cannot be discussed because there is no greater heresy and no more offensive ­notion than that the loss of Christian faith might have a downside. …”

– In today’s edition of The Weekend Australian, Editor-at-Large Paul Kelly has a thoughtful piece on what has happened, and is happening, to western culture. (Paywalled or in the print edition.)

Birth certificate alteration for a married person?

“A recent decision of the United Nations Human Rights Committee has ruled that the Australian government is in breach of its human rights obligations, by not providing for a person who has “transitioned” from male to female, to have their birth certificate amended. The reason that this request has been refused is that the person, “G”, was married to a woman, and NSW law does not allow the birth certificate of a married person to be amended.

In my view this provision of NSW law is perfectly sensible (given that Australia does not recognise same sex marriage), and I have to say that I think the UNHRC has got this wrong. …”

– Read why at Law & Religion Australia.

‘Pyne’s boast: The plan revealed’

“Christopher Pyne bragged to his Left-wing faction that we might get same-sex marriage ‘sooner than everyone thinks’.

As he said on Friday:

One of those we’ve got to deliver before too long is marriage equality in this country… We’re going to get it. I think it might even be sooner than everyone thinks. And your friends in Canberra are working on that outcome.

Sure enough:

Two Liberal MPs have been secretly working on a plan to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia as soon as August, with a draft copy of the laws well advanced and consultation with advocates under way. …”

– from The Herald Sun. (Photo: pyneonline.com.au.)

Meet the new ‘twicer’: The irregular regular

“I came across an interesting expression recently: the twicer. From what I understand, ‘the twicer’ used to refer to the person who went to church twice a day (think of the days of morning and evening prayer). It then began to refer to the nominal churchgoer who would attend twice a year, the ‘Christmas and Easter’ Christian.

When I heard the phrase recently, it was used to refer to the committed churchgoer. That is, to describe a regular churchgoer—who attends church just twice a month on average. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Mike Leite points to Biblical encouragement to meet more often then every-so-often.

Bishop of Los Angeles ‘caught between a rock and a hard place’

“The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, has landed himself in a difficult spot. As detailed in this earlier post, he entered into a contract in 2015 to sell the property of St. James the Great in Newport Beach to a developer for a price of $15 million, without bothering to inform its parishioners beforehand. When the congregation and its vicar protested, he changed the locks and kicked them out. …”

– A S Haley, ‘The Anglican Curmudgeon” comments on the latest in the saga of the Bishop of Los Angeles and his desire to sell the property of a resistant parish.

(Photo: Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles.)

Justin Welby and ‘Agreeing to Disagree’

“Last week, the Scottish Episcopal Church voted to alter that church’s Canon on Marriage, to remove the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman. …

In the light of this long-anticipated rejection of Jesus’s word, the Bible, as the supreme authority over the church, GAFCON have announced that they will be consecrating Canon Andy Lines as a missionary bishop for Europe, including Scotland. Andy is a man of unimpeachable integrity, godliness, and clarity of teaching whose episcopal leadership will be welcomed by all those Scots who have been marginalised by their leaders, and by those outside the Church of England who wish still to remain Anglican in their doctrine and polity. …

In response to this, Archbishop Justin Welby wrote to the Primates of the Anglican Communion …

In his letter, Archbishop Welby sadly seems far more concerned about “cross-border interventions” than with the schismatic and heretical teaching which has infiltrated the Episcopal Church in Scotland (and elsewhere) and emptied churches in the process…”

– Read the full article by Church Society Director, Dr. Lee Gatiss.

Be sure to also read the linked article from Crossway, “Can we agree to disagree?”, by Dr Martin Davie (PDF file) –

“There has been much talk lately of ‘agreeing to disagree’ on the issues of human sexuality in the church. In this article, I shall introduce three categories into which we can place matters on which there is disagreement within the church:

  • matters which are adiaphora
  • matters which are not adiaphora and on which the church cannot simply live with disagreement, and
  • matters which are not adiaphora and on which the church can live with disagreement.

Having introduced these categories, I shall conclude by asking which category the issue of human sexuality fits into.”

Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.

Evangelicalism in one lifetime: A conversation with Os Guinness

In a fascinating interview, Albert Mohler speaks with Os Guinness.

Photo via The Gospel Coalition, where Trevin Wax also spoke with Os.

World Environment Day – ‘Connect with nature’

“The message today for International Environment Day is ‘connect with nature’ and this is what Jesus constantly advised his followers to do. …

Take off your shoes to listen to the voice of God in nature, hear the cry of the earth…”

– Published by the Anglican Communion News Service. Mystical environmentalism has replaced the gospel and evangelism in far too many Anglican churches.

Margaret Court vs Sensible Evangelicals

“Margaret Court’s mistaken assumption, from what I can see, is that she talks to the world as if it should know better. It doesn’t and can’t, not because it doesn’t know better, but because it doesn’t know the one who is better – the Lord Jesus. …”

– In a long and thoughtful article, Stephen McAlpine in Perth considers the huge shift which has occurred in our culture, and how Christians can respond.

(h/t Tim Challies. Photo: Victory Life Centre.)

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