As good as it gets

“‘This is as good as it gets’ the man assured me. I was initially shocked, but then deeply saddened by his statement. It was an astonishing statement but there was no doubting the sincerity with which he was speaking.

It was the night before the Commonwealth Day Service in the Cathedral. Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Edward were all to be present. …”

– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen writes in his weekly column.
(Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.)

The day I took Matthias Media’s money to the casino

“I was in the precinct of Sydney’s main casino on Saturday, and, with the full knowledge and approval of several of my Matthias Media colleagues, I trotted off to the casino with $140 of MM’s money in my pocket…”

– At The Briefing, Ian Carmichael reflects on what he saw.
(Photo: Matthias Media.)

Two holes in our Theological leadership

“With the announcement of Dr John Woodhouse’s retirement, two of the most significant positions in Sydney Diocese will now need to be filled in 2013.

The new Archbishop of Sydney will have the responsibility to maintain the character of the Diocese, especially through his power to make appointments. Since Moore College provides the people appointed, the Principal steers an institution that creates the Diocese.

Both positions require theological acuity and a determination to ensure that Sydney’s long and strong evangelical heritage continues on into the future…”

– The Editorial from the just-released issue 1905 of The Australian Church Record, June, 2012. Read the editorial here. Download the current issue here.

Same-Sex Marriage ‘makes a lot of sense’

“Same-sex marriage makes sense if you assume that the individual is the center of the universe, that God—if he exists—is there to make us happy, and that our choices are not grounded in a nature created by God but in arbitrary self-construction…”

– Michael Horton’s piece at The White Horse Inn is well worth reading. (h/t Tim Challies.)

What I say is who I am!

“When a lot of our time is spent within the Christian community, or when we talk about Christian things with fellow-believers rather than non-believers, we easily get used to what we sound like and it just sounds normal. To us, the words we say mean what we know they mean. But for others, the words we use may be giving a very different signal…”

– Greg Anderson, Head of the Missions Department at Moore College, appeals to Christians to think about how we communicate.

The Working Mother

“If you want to divide a church, cause a rift in a family, ruin a dinner party, and bring hatred upon yourself – raise the issue of working mothers. Few subjects create more heat and antagonism than this one. There are not many more sacred cows, nor more strident voices bullying opposition into silence, than this topic.

So most people keep their wisdom to themselves. And woe-betide any man who cares to venture an opinion. He is not a mother, does not understand, has a vested interest in having somebody to stay at home and serve his needs and never adequately shares the housework, so has no right to speak. Thus, with nervous fingers I approach the keyboard, remembering that there is not much difference between a brave man and a fool…”

– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen approaches a hot topic in his weekly column.

Evolution’s End? President Obama calls for Same-Sex Marriage

“Is President Obama’s “evolution” on same sex marriage finally complete? His call for the legalization of same-sex marriage yesterday is an historic and tragic milestone. An incumbent President of the United States has now called for a transformation of civilization’s central institution. And yet, no observer of this president could be surprised. The arrival of this announcement was only a matter of time…”

– Dr Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, looks at the unsurprising announcement from the American President.

Related: New York Times story.

Getting the name right: revisionism

“By and large you don’t get too many Jehovah’s Witnesses knocking on doors on the campus of a conservative evangelical theological college like ours. When they do, the odds are that the first question is, ‘What do you think is wrong with the world?’

It’s a searching question because it makes you try and boil down all your misgivings into as small a phrase as possible, preferably even a single word. It makes you focus. The short-hand answer is ‘sin’, and put less technically perhaps something like, ‘We have all loved ourselves at the expense of our love of God and of our neighbours.’

In a similar vein, Anglicans at the moment have to answer the question, ‘What do you think is wrong with the Anglican church worldwide?’ Because there’s a pretty widespread agreement something is. And while it is right to answer that question in terms of sin and a disordered love of self, it is also helpful to try and be a bit more specific…”

– Dr Mike Ovey at Oak Hill College in London reflects on last week’s address by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala at the FCA Leaders Conference.

You Have to Get Religion to Get Religion

“Charles (Chuck) Colson got religion, but those people who haven’t got it, do not get it. They keep missing the point of his imprisonment as they retell his story. Sometimes they even get the chronology wrong – and in this case the chronology is important.

Chuck wasn’t converted in gaol, but beforehand. In fact he was gaoled because he was converted. Not that he was a martyr; persecuted and imprisoned for his faith. He went to gaol as a criminal because he had ‘got religion’. If he had not got religion he most likely would never have gone to gaol. …”

– Phillip Jensen’s weekly column tells the real story behind Chuck Colson’s imprisonment.

Gambling is not a numbers game

“I applaud Mr. Wilkie for his efforts in championing poker machine reform amidst broken promises from the Federal Government.

However, the fact that this issue is only on the agenda because Mr. Wilkie holds a controlling vote demonstrates a sad state of affairs. The Government should repent of its opportunism…”

– The Bishop of Tasmania calls for a radical change in politics.

Long to reign over us

“It is characteristic of the Queen that, on the eve of her jubilee year, she should address the Commonwealth not by drawing attention to herself, but by preaching the Gospel in her annual Christmas broadcast. She has done this before, most notably at the turn of the millennium, but never as clearly as last year, when she spoke quite directly about human sin, the forgiving power of Christ and the need for each of us to be born again.”

– In his Editorial for Churchman Spring 2012, Gerald Bray writes about Queen Elizabeth II and her legacy. (PDF.)

Anzac Day: Damien Parer

“Last time I was in Canberra I visited the National Film and Sound Archives. While there one particular exhibit caught my attention. It featured the first Australian Academy Award winning film … ‘Kakoda Frontline’.

The film images are now iconic. The ‘diggers’ fighting their way across the steep, mountainous terrain, hampered by dense jungle, continuous rain storms, river crossings but ever by their sides helping; sometimes carrying the wounded are the New Guinea natives, the legendary ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’. It was little wonder the film won an Academy Award…”

– BCA Missioner Rod Oldfield on King Island shares an ANZAC Day reflection.
(h/t Bishop John Harrower.)

QandA — or Question Un-answered?

“Were you disappointed by the Dawkins/Pell debate? You’re not alone – all Christians I know, were unhappy. Not because our ‘gladiator’ lost the contest to the atheist ‘gladiator’, but because he seemed to lose the plot and mangle the gospel…”

– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen comments on the recent episode of ABC TV’s Q&A.

The deep limitations of digital church

“There is something good, healthy, and Great Commission-minded about the eager use of new communication technologies.  …

At the same time, there are dangers. … Christ clearly intends for his people to be gathered together into congregations. The fellowship of the saints is a vital means of grace for the disciple of Christ.”

– Albert Mohler warns against ‘doing church’ on the Internet.

In a similar vein, Carl Trueman has been writing about ‘multi-site’ churches –

Multisite, the Poker Tell and the Importance of Presence
“Presence is important. In a world where it is easy to simulate presence, even visible presence as by television, webcam or skype, it remains the case that actually being in the immediate physical proximity of somebody is important…”

No life in the Moon but is that necessarily a problem?
“Moments after finishing my piece on the importance of presence for Ref21, a reader emailed me a link to a quite bizarre story: Olympic organisers in London had apparently been hoping to have Keith Moon play at this year’s opening ceremony…”

Folk Religion…?

“Do we imagine that if we pray longer or with more people that God will be more likely to hear our prayers? Do we imagine that reading the Bible with others will automatically produce Christian maturity? Do we imagine that if we preach a certain way, the church will automatically grow?”

– Greg Anderson, Head of the Missions Department at Moore College, asks if Christians might easily embrace a form of folk religion.

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