Jesus is God with us

Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies has released his Christmas Message for 2019 – in both text and video formats.

It would be ideal to play at services on Christmas Day – and to feature it on your church website.

Rejoice that He is with us

“Emmanuel is, for me, one of the most precious words in the New Testament.

The Greek word is a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase, meaning “God with us”. Although only occurring once in Matthew 1:23, where it is a translation of the Hebrew phrase that appears in Isaiah 7:14 and 8:8, it is rich in meaning and has become regularly associated with both Advent and Christmas carols. Jesus is our Emmanuel (or Immanuel to reflect the original Hebrew).”

– Archbishop Glenn Davies shares this Christmas reflection. At SydneyAnglicans.net.

Conversation between former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson and Journalist Melanie Phillips removed from YouTube

[Update, Tuesday 17 December: The video appears to have been reinstated.]

Former Australian Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson has been continuing to post his Conversations series on his website, johnanderson.net.au.

There, he explains his motivation. In part, he says:

“Increasingly in Australia our famous commitment to a fair go for all, mateship, and rubbing along with people who have different views, seem to be under threat.

It often seems to me that the old adage, ‘I may disagree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,’ is giving way to a notion which says, ‘if you dare disagree with me I’ll do whatever it takes to silence you.’

The good policy that Australia desperately needs now will not come out of a bad or silenced debate, which is the inevitable outcome of a loss of respect for other people and the views that they hold.“ (emphasis added)

On Friday (13 December), he published his latest Conversation, this one with Melanie Phillips, Journalist, Author and Broadcaster. Today (Monday 16 December), the video of the conversation has been “removed for violating YouTube’s Terms of Service”.

In a message to subscribers, John Anderson says,

“We are currently trying to determine if taking down the video was an honest mistake and are working to have it reinstated as soon as possible. We’ll let you know if and when it is available to view again.

In the meantime you can listen to the discussion on podcast at these links: iTunes, Spotify.“

Book Review of ‘God’s Good Design’ (2nd edition)

“All too often modern Christian teaching on the place of men and women in the church is in the context of argument and debate.

Fundamentally, the debate between those who would call themselves complementarian and those would call themselves egalitarian. However, even within those who hold a complementarian position there is debate between those who would disagree about where lines should be drawn. While this can’t be helped it can lead to some unfortunate consequences. Most notably we can deal ‘fast and loose’ with the text of the Scriptures, overstating arguments to support ‘our position’.

This is where Claire Smith’s ‘God’s Good Design’, first released in 2012 and now in its second edition has proven such a valuable resource. …”

– At Equal But Different, Phil and Victoria Colgan review the second edition of ‘God’s Good Design – What the Bible really says about Men and Women’ by Claire Smith.

Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning – latest 9Marks Journal

The latest 9Marks Journal focusses on the issue of Complementarianism.

It’s available here.

From this issue: Rosaria Butterfield, How Psalm 113 Changed My Life –

“Pastor Ken Smith told us to open our Psalters to Psalm 113A in The Book of Psalms for Singing.

I jumped in with mouth open wide.

But before I realized what was coming out of my mouth, I sang the last lines of the psalm and implicated myself into what I believed then was hateful patriarchy and institutionalized misogyny. …”

The gospel and fatherhood (Ephesians 6:4)

Fathers: Do you sometimes wish your children were born with an instruction manual? Being a dad is a big responsibility. Paul here provides valuable direction.

– Read or listen at Forget the Channel, as Lionel Windsor helps unpack Ephesians 6:4.

Second draft of Religious Discrimination Package released

“The Commonwealth Government has released a second version of its draft legislation dealing with religious discrimination issues, for further comment before it is formally introduced into the Federal Parliament in the New Year. There are a number of important changes from the previous drafts which in my view make it a much better package of amendments. But there are areas for improvement…”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Associate Professor Neil Foster, shares his response to the updated draft legislation.

Australian Church Record Summer 2019 Journal

Grab your copy of The Australian Church Record Summer 2019 Journal, with these topics covered:

How to respond to Santa?

“Giving and receiving presents is one way in which we teach children how to love people, but if this is all outsourced to Santa, they don’t have any reason to be grateful, nor any opportunity to give. …”

– At Church Society’s blog, posted back in January, Michael Hayden shares some thoughts about Santa and Christmas.

Paul the Apostle does children’s ministry (Ephesians 6:1–3)

Children’s ministry is important. Paul’s short instruction to children is deeply soaked in theology, biblical theology, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lionel Windsor turns to an neglected part of Ephesians chapter 6.

1 Kings by John Woodhouse: A review by Hank Lee

“What is your favourite book of the Bible?”, I remember somebody asking John Woodhouse during chapel at Moore College, where he was Principal during my time as a student, to which he replied with a grin, “It’s the one that I’m reading right now. I often find that the book of the Bible I happen to be reading at the time is the most important and brilliant book of all.”

Well, John Woodhouse has an uncanny ability to so illuminate the depths of the text that the book that he is reading becomes not only his favourite, but your favourite also. In his most recent commentary, John invites his readers to join him and the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:5) in the experience of having your breath taken away by the treasures and wisdom of the gospel (foreshadowed) in the Book of 1 Kings. …

– At The Australian Church Record, Hank Lee reviews John Woodhouse’s commentary on 1 Kings.

Published by Crossway, the book is available from The Wandering Bookseller and Reformers.

Christmas videos from Speak Life


Speak Life in the UK has released three videos for Christmas 2019.

One of them is a response to this year’s Christmas ad produced for the John Lewis department store chain.

“Our Christmas videos are free to use for all churches and individuals.”

Freedom of religion vs Freedom of Expression

From Assoc. Professor Neil Foster, at Law and Religion Australia:

“I presented a paper at a continuing legal education seminar entitled ‘Freedom of Religion vs Freedom of Expression: Critical Legal Issues’. A copy can be downloaded here. And yes, it mentions issues raised by the case of Mr Israel Folau!”

The gospel and marriage part 2: Husbands (Ephesians 5:25–33)

“The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches husbands to take initiative to love and give themselves to their wives. This radical teaching involves both actions and attitudes. …”

– At Forget the Channel, Lionel Windsor reaches the challenging exhortations for husband in Ephesian 5.

Sharing the Good News in a World of Fake News

“How do Christians move forward in sharing our faith in this environment of fake news, bad news and a general mistrust of claims of truth?”

That’s a question many of us are asking ourselves, and it was the question St. John’s Vancouver, a church in the Anglican Network in Canada, posed to the entire congregation.

“I think every Christian who lives in the West has the sense right now that we are sailing in uncharted waters culturally,” Rev. Canon David Short, the rector of St. John’s, said. “The idea that there might be some sort of truth out there, we [people in our culture] don’t like that idea. And I think the affect for us as Christians has been uncertainty…and some of us, I think, have been silenced.” …

– The Anglican Church in North America points to a helpful initiative at St. John’s Vancouver.

← Previous Page — Next Page →