Five Ways to Pray for Sri Lanka — Ajith Fernando
“While it may seem foolish to spend time praying when there is a crisis around us, this is the most powerful thing God’s people can do in a national crisis (2 Kings 19). We need to mobilize individual and corporate prayer among Christians. …”
– At Desiring God, Ajith Fernando shares five ways to pray for Sri Lanka.
The prisoner lifts his eyes
“Are you a victim?
A few years ago, we discovered someone had stolen the number plate from the front of our car. When we called the police, they told us they were running an official campaign focusing on vehicle-related crime, and so they had certain procedures they had to follow. They sent an officer to meet with us in our home.
When the officer arrived, he asked us to show him the scene of the crime (the street outside). He sat down at our dining table to interview us about the details of the incident (it didn’t take long).
At the end of the interview, with an admirably straight face, he fulfilled his official responsibilities by asking us if we would like to access their program for victim support. …”
– Encouragement from chapter 3 of the Letter to the Ephesians – via Dr. Lionel Windsor. (You can also listen at that link.)
Israel Folau and Three Myths of a Changing Society
“As Australians celebrate Easter, I want to assert, as a Christian, that because of his love, Jesus died and rose again to bear the sin and judgement of we sinners who deserve his condemnation. So, with all Christians, in obedience to our Saviour, I would call on all to repent and find forgiveness while they may.
However, I write this article not as a Christian but as an Australian citizen and lifetime rugby supporter, who happens to be a Christian, seeking what I see as the good of society. Furthermore, I am writing simply on the basis of public media information, without knowing the full details of Israel Folau’s employment.
As a Christian, I don’t expect the Government or anybody to defend me, or my preaching of the gospel. They crucified my Lord and I am not to be surprised by any hostility towards his people. But as an Australian rugby supporter, I do think it is in the best interest of everybody to identify the issues behind this present imbroglio and do something about them, in order to protect our society and the game of rugby. …”
– Phillip Jensen, former Dean of Sydney, has published this opinion-piece on his website.
It’s time to break free from the Algorithm-Driven Life
“A recent story from Wired helpfully explains the latest batch of changes Facebook has made to its algorithm – the algorithm that sorts through the billions of available articles, photographs, and videos to determine the few we will actually see as we scroll our news feeds. …
Before we go any farther, we need to consider the fact that what we see on Facebook – and Twitter and Instagram and Google News and Apple News and … – is determined by algorithms, formulas carefully coded to spread some content and to suppress others. We rarely have access to complete collections of information anymore. Rather, algorithms pre-sort it for us.”
– Tim Challies looks at the benefits and dangers of algorithms, and he suggests a solution.
Related:
Subscribe to the Anglican Church League’s RSS feed. (Your browser may ask you which news reader you want to use.)
Jesus and the Moon Landing — Easter Message 2019
“The leader of Australia’s largest Anglican Diocese, the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, has recalled the Moon Landing and its 50th anniversary, in his Easter Message this year.
Celebrations are being prepared for July when NASA will lead the anniversary of Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 team landing on the surface of the Moon in 1969. …”
– Read the media release and watch the video from Archbishop Davies.
Great for sharing – and you could embed the video on your website.
There’s also a media release.
Looking for a church this Easter?
In support of Billy Vunipola
“Dear Sir,
I am not a Rugby fan, but I wish to protest at your treatment of Billy Vunipola. Mr Vunipola has done nothing wrong, other than express his Christian beliefs in support of another Christian believer. …”
– Anglican Mainstream has published this Letter from a South Yorkshire Rector to the Rugby Football Union and the Saracens Rugby Club.
Background:
Billy Vunipola: England number eight given formal warning by RFU – BBC News.
“The 26-year-old number eight liked the post by Folau and called for people to ‘live their lives how God intended’. Vunipola, who has also been warned by his club Saracens, has been ‘reminded of his responsibilities’ by the RFU. …”
See also:
Israel Folau to challenge Rugby Australia’s breach notice over social media post – ABC News.
When talking about hell… – Murray Campbell.
Reflections on the Israel Folau affair
“Celebrity rugby player Israel Folau is in a complicated legal position. He shared a ‘meme’ on social media site Instagram recently, the text of which was: ‘Warning: Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolators: Hell Awaits You – Repent! Only Jesus Saves.’
To this he added his own personal comment: ‘Those that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to him.’ …
His remarks were not well-received by many members of the public, and in particular by the peak bodies in rugby. …”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster offers some comments on the latest news relating to Israel Folau.
ACR Journal Winter 2019 now out
The Australian Church Record’s ACR Journal for Winter 2019 is just out.
“This issue is packed with articles about ministry: being ordained to the ministry, training for ministry, ministry in the Bathurst diocese, and ministry across the Southern Hemisphere.
As well as these ministry insights, Nathan Walter recounts what exactly was decided concerning the remarriage of divorced people at last year’s Synod.”
The 2019 Federal Election and Religious Freedom issues
Freedom for Faith Executive Director Michael Kellahan writes,
“The long awaited election has been called for 18 May. …
All the parties voice a commitment to religious freedom. What we need to know though is how this stated commitment will find expression at law. We have written to the parties asking a series of specific questions which will help you understand their positions heading into the election. We will publish a table of their responses.”
This article from Freedom for Faith board member Professor Patrick Parkinson discusses the key religious freedom issues. “Religious Freedom after Ruddock”:
“With the federal election campaign just around the corner, it would be understandable if people of faith were confused about the stance the major political parties take on religious issues, particularly given the differing responses of these parties to the Ruddock Report on religious freedom, which was completed in May 2018.”
Religious Free Speech after Ruddock
Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia writes:
“I am presenting a paper at the ‘Religious Freedom After Ruddock’ conference being held at the University of Queensland on Saturday April 6.
The paper is “‘Religious Free Speech After Ruddock: Implications for Blasphemy and Religious Vilification Laws’.”
The Puzzle of Secularism
“…the funny thing is that I, and all my generation, could have sworn that puritanism was a church disease. With the decline of church influence, then the old stiff and bossy rectitude would collapse. And, indeed, it has, if we are talking about Christian concerns about alcohol, gambling, pornography, promiscuity and the like.
But the tolerant society we were promised by secularists has not emerged – far from it. It is just that a new set of commandments, inspired by autonomy and an optimistic individualistic anthropology, has arrived with a vengeance.”
– Church Society has published on its website an excerpt from Archbishop Peter Jensen’s editorial in the latest issue of Churchman. (Peter is now the Editor of Churchman.)
In defence of Lent
“It was Ash Wednesday when I first preached at our church’s Wednesday service. And truth be told, I’d never given Lent much thought before.
So what were my options? Should I ignore it? Call them all popish fiends? Or should I try to articulate a Reformed, Anglican understanding of the season?
Well, I aimed to do the latter, and here is how I tried. …”
– ACL Council member Dan McKinlay writes at The Australian Church Record.
(Image from the 1552 Prayer Book.)
Good Friday – not just good, but glorious
“Childhood impressions linger, don’t they? I’m so grateful for (most of) them. My earliest memory of 1950s church life is full of happy thoughts, good people and full Sundays. Sunday mornings, afternoons and evenings – there was always something engaging and purposeful to do (yes, Sunday afternoons: Christian Endeavour).
As helpful as all that was, there are someone boyhood memories that need tweaking or straightening out later.
Each year, our evangelical Baptist church gave huge attention to Palm Sunday, followed five days later by a much more sombre Friday morning service. Even without specific instruction, this pattern taught me to celebrate the joy of Palm Sunday but to tone it down on Good Friday. This was the order of things, from glory to gloom: after the glory of the triumphal march into Jerusalem we must move to the gloom of the Cross. Which prompted, of course, that perennial childhood question: “Dad, why is Good Friday good? Isn’t it bad, what they did to Jesus?”
Reflecting on this glory to gloom transition, I now wonder if it needs correction. …”
– Presbyterian Moderator-General, John P Wilson, reflects on why Good Friday is glorious.
Love for a full life
“Life in three words doesn’t sound like much of a life unless the words are faith, hope and love. Big words for a full life.
Woodstock was in 1969 and I was 11 and still sent to Sunday School by parents who prided themselves on being good rather than being thankful for being forgiven. It was one year off the 70’s and one year off my teenage rampages which were tame by comparison to those of teens today. It was the era of music and for so many of us, love.
Of course Woodstock was more than a concert on a farm hill. It proved to be a revolution for a world bent in on itself. …”
– Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers writes about love.
30 Days of Prayer 2019
The 2019 Australian edition of the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World booklet is now available for order from OM Australia.
“Ramadan [May 6 – June 4, 2019], a key month of religious observation on the Islamic calendar, gives us, the Body of Christ, a prayer focus for compassion, understanding and respect for our Muslim neighbours, in the hope that they will be touched by God.
30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World booklet is a great practical guide to help Christians engage. The booklet is a collection of articles, photos and prayer points from around the world. It will help you pray for Muslim families and learn more about them as you pray.”
– Details here.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…