Reading Ephesians (Ephesians 6:21–24)

“Paul’s closing greeting in Ephesians is a good opportunity to summarise what the letter is all about and to remember why it’s worth reading and reflecting on it.”

– Our thanks to ACL Council member Lionel Windsor for a challenging and edifying series reflecting on the Letter to the Ephesians. Here is the last instalment.

How long, Lord, must we call for help?

“In light of the recent Australian bushfires, we perhaps cannot be blamed for asking, Why is God allowing such a thing to happen? How can God turn a blind eye to the devastation that has come as a result of these fires – the loss of property, animals, even human life? Why doesn’t God do something about it? Why does God allow so many to needlessly suffer?

It is these kinds of questions that the prophet Habakkuk also struggled with, roughly six hundred years before Christ. …”

– Ben George writes at The Australian Church Record.

Sporting brain snaps

“When you read this I will be winging my way to Melbourne for part of a holiday.

Why Melbourne? Well we don’t have the Australian Open Tennis in Armidale.  We don’t have the rich celebrity temper tantrum, racket smashers from around the world in Armidale. We just have the normal temper tantrum racket smashers and club throwers of our local region. I think it will be interesting to see how the great ones of the sporting world do it. I am not planning to take any tips from them, however I might just be embarrassed and perversely entertained by them…”

– Diocese of Armidale’s Bishop Rick Lewers shares some challenges about anger.

World Watch List 2020

Open Doors has released its World Watch List for 2020.

Fuel for prayer.

Spiritual Formation: the rise of a tradition

“Spiritual formation” seems to be an innocuous phrase, for Christians; a good thing to do, what we would want for ourselves and others. It is in use in general church circles, and in more formal literature. In particular, if one investigates developments concerning theological education, it is very clear that spiritual formation is what theological education should be about. …

“Spiritual formation” seems a reasonable thing for Christians to do, but what exactly does it mean, and why is it seen as the main purpose of theological education? …

– Church Society has published some excerpts from an article by Kirsty Birkett in the current issue of Churchman.

The ACR speaks with Jane Tooher about the Priscilla and Aquila Conference

The Australian Church Record recently spoke with Jane Tooher, Director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre at Moore College, about the upcoming P&A Conference for 2020.

Read the interview here.

On Preaching, the Supper, and the Unity of the Church

“Recently, the well-known pastor and author Francis Chan made some alarming comments about preaching, the Lord’s Supper, and the unity of the church.

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman chats with Mark Dever, Bobby Jamieson, and Mark Feather about Chan’s comments in particular and the topics of preaching, the Supper, and unity more generally.”

– Listen here.

Sound an Alarm: Gender Activism is about to silence us

“The Victorian government intends to pass a law very soon that may see ordinary citizens imprisoned if they speak up against the chemical, psychological and physical mutilation of confused adolescents. …”

– Retired Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Stuart Lindsay, writes this opinion piece in Quadrant.

Should we trade in Funerals for “Celebrations of Life”?

“Over the last decade of serving the local church, I’ve noticed a trend: people don’t like thinking about death. In every conceivable way, we dismiss, ignore, and refuse to acknowledge our mortality. In the words of the blues artist, Albert King, ‘Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.’

Nobody wants to die and nobody wants to think about death…”

– At 9Marks, Jason Hill considers a question many Sydney Anglican ministers also confront.

Prayer: the heart of evangelism (Ephesians 6:17–20)

“One of the best things we can pray for is that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will go out to the world, both through us and through others.”

– Lionel Windsor nears the end of Ephesians and comes to a key passage.

(Photo: GAFCON.)

Abuse in the marriages of ministry leaders

“This week on the Pastor’s Heart, we address the complex issue of domestic abuse within the relationships of ministry leaders.”

Dominic Steele speaks with Jenni Woodhouse, pastoral care coordinator for the Church Missionary Society NSW & ACT, and previously chaplain for the Sydney Anglican Church’s Professional Standards Unit.

The Recruitment Problem

“While I was training at Moore Theological College (2012- 2015) the constant rhetoric was that the Sydney Anglican Diocese was oversupplied with full-time gospel workers. We were warned from the very beginning of the need to be creative in funding our own Sydney Anglican positions if we were to stay in Sydney.

From one perspective, this was a great win for the Kingdom! It forced many people to consider full-time gospel ministry outside Sydney and caused those who wanted to stay in Sydney to consider the cost of staying. …”

– The Australian Church Record has republished this article by Mike Leite in the ACR’s Journal for Summer 2019.

Photo: Moore College, 1956.

GAFCON ‘Life up your hearts’ devotions continued

GAFCON has been continuing to publish “Lift up your hearts“, a devotional which began in Advent.

See all that have been published here.

Patient leadership required

“What has become of our culture that we, who are sown into the fabric of the culture, have become so impatient? The computer, by comparison with the old typewriter, is quick. But when I turned it on just now, the time this piece of genius took to awake from its slumber had me impatiently complaining. …”

– Bishop Rick Lewers of the Diocese of Armidale writes his regular column. Very timely.

‘The Anglican Church of Canada extinction event’

“Recent attendance statistics from the Anglican Church of Canada predict that it will cease to exist by 2040. …

The new Primate, Linda Nicholls, sees this as a ‘wake-up call’ and asks, ‘what might need to be tried’ to reverse the decline? I would be tempted to suggest ‘Christianity’ if I thought it would fall on any but deaf ears. …”

– In Canada, The Anglican Samizdat comments on responses to the Anglican Church of Canada’s attendance forecast. It’s no laughing matter.

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