Bigoted Quackery?

“Let me be the first to engage in some bigoted quackery and talk conversion.

That is to quote Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who has announced plans to ban so-called ‘LGBT conversion therapy.’

Speaking on Sunday at Melbourne’s Midsumma Pride March, Andrews vigorously criticised the idea that someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity can be changed, calling it ‘a most personal form of torture, a cruel practice that perpetuates the idea that LGBTI people are in some way broken.’

‘We will drag these practices out of the dark ages and into the brightest of lights.’

Then he called it ‘bigoted quackery’ – see my opening remark.

This is at first bewildering for the average Christian reader if only because few have ever heard of something called ‘LGBT conversion therapy.’ It’s a term invented by them, not us.

So, we are left to ask what it means. …

The Human Rights Law Centre and La Trobe University … report condemns the ‘insidious practice’ of churches having a ‘welcoming but not affirming’ policy akin to the adage, ‘love the sinner but not the sin.’…”

– The Australian Christian Lobby’s Martyn Iles unpacks some of the challenges facing Christians in Victoria, and across Australia.

Visible and invisible

“The distinction between the Church visible and invisible was coined by Luther and Zwingli in the sixteenth century, and was much used by all the Reformers, our own included.

The wording of Article XIX (“The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men…”) implies this distinction, and it was in fact basic to all Anglican thinking about the church for more than a century after the Reformation. …“

– The Australian Church Record has republished this 1962 article by Dr. J. I. Packer.

Nexus19 on Monday 25th March — for constructive encouragement in evangelism

The Nexus Conference for 2019 is coming up at Carlingford on Monday 25th March.

For those who can’t be there in person, the event will be livestreamed to sites across Australia.

Read more about the conference – and let Canon Phil Colgan (who also spoke on this topic at the 2018 ACL Synod Dinner) encourage you to keep the proclamation of the saving gospel of Jesus front and centre.

Anglican Aid Prayer Diary 2019

Sydney parishes will have received copies of The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid Prayer Diary for 2019.

If you find it more convenient to download as a PDF file to your device, for use on the go, you can get a copy here – or read it online.

If you use the free PrayerMate app, you can subscribe to the Anglican Aid feed.

The Pilgrim’s Progress — free audiobook for February 2019

ChristianAudio’s free audiobook for February 2019 is The Pilgrim’s Progress.

This version is read by Nadia May. It runs for 10 hours and 10 minutes.

The evangelistic conversation

“Evangelistic conversations can be tough. Really tough. They can be so tough and discouraging that, after having a few, many people give up and never try again.

However, there are things we can do to allow a tough situation to become enjoyable – and more importantly, effective.

So, what’s a good way to engage in an evangelistic conversation? …”

– Here’s some encouragement from Dave Jensen at GoThereFor.com.

The Cross — Why did Jesus die?

“Why did Jesus die?

This series is entirely given over to exploring answers to that question. It’s an odd question to ask in some ways. What sort of question are we asking?

It could, of course, be a medical question. History tells us Jesus died by crucifixion, but a coronial inquest might want to go into exactly how crucifixion brings about someone’s demise. Was exposure, or asphyxiation, or heart failure the actual cause of Jesus death? Jesus did after all die with unusual speed. A death by crucifixion often took days; for Jesus it was a mere six hours. There’s something here worth exploring.

Historians, on the other hand, are interested in the historical causes of Jesus death.

A historian might ask whether the claim that Jesus died by crucifixion is historically plausible. The French atheist Michel Onfray claimed several years ago that the Romans didn’t crucify Jews at this period in history, and therefore the claim that Jesus died by crucifixion was historically suspect. Onfray’s claim is a little perplexing, given the preponderance of evidence for first century Roman executions of Jews. Still, it is a claim that could be asked and answered in good faith by historical method.

Historians might also be interested in the political question. On which charges, and under who’s authority, and through the action which historical actors, was Jesus crucified?

These are all questions to which we may return. Christian theology is not easily partitioned off from history, politics, or even biology. But the primary purpose of this series is to address a different question, the theological question. What was God doing in the death of Jesus? …”

– Rory Shiner begins a six-part series at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Paul: in his own words (Ephesians 1:1a)

“Who do you think Paul is? He is, after all, one of the most influential – and therefore talked-about – figures in the history of Western civilisation.

There are plenty of opinions floating around about who he is and what he’s like. …”

– At Forget The Channel, Dr. Lionel Windsor introduces us to the real Paul.

NSW CMS Summer School 2019 — audio talks available

If you missed some of Gary Millar’s talks (or those by Simon Gillham) at CMS NSW & ACT Summer School – or if you want to listen again – they are now available.

Related: Dominic Steele spoke with Gary Millar at Katoomba for The Pastor’s Heart.

Changing bodies? A Christian understanding of gender confusion

“From bathroom laws to birth certificates, transgender rights often occupy the headlines.

While we listen to these highly charged political conversations happening in the public sphere, there are also people in our churches who are personally experiencing transgender feelings. This can be difficult and confusing to respond to as a Christian, and it’s something that the church is only recently learning to respond to.

As Christians it’s important that we give thought to these issues. I hope this article will give a framework for doing this, and that together we can work out how to best love our brothers and sisters who are struggling with gender confusion.…”

– At The Australian Church Record, suggests a framework so that together, we can work out how to best love our brothers and sisters who are struggling with gender confusion.

‘The Most Reverend The Primate and Patriarch of The Southern Hemisphere’

‘The Most Reverend The Primate and Patriarch of The Southern Hemisphere’ – that’s how John Newton addressed Richard Johnson, Chaplain to the First Fleet and the fledgling colony of New South Wales.

Marylynn Rouse, at The John Newton Project, just in time for Australia Day, has posted a number of letters and new material relating to Richard Johnson – including letters to him from John Newton.

Richard Johnson:

“In the evening of the 23rd September 1786, I was asked by a friend, if I had got the spirit of a missionary, or, if I wished to go abroad. I smiled, and replied – No – I had no inclination or thoughts of ever leaving my native country.

On the 30th of the same month, I received a letter from another friend, informing me that a colony was going to be established in New Holland, or New Zealand – that a chaplain was wanted – that application had been made to him, to know whether he knew of any proper person for and willing to undertake such an arduous work – and that if I chose to accept of, he could secure me the appointment. …”

See what’s new at The John Newton Project.

See also: Richard Johnson – First Chaplain to Australia.

Pink is for Death

“Pink has become the colour of death. When a baby girl came into the world, friends gave gifts of pink shoes or a pink outfit. It may be a social convention, but does that matter? Pink was the colour for girls. Like so much else, another insidious social movement has replaced something good with the representation of evil.

Last night in Manhattan, the skyline changed to a pinkish glow, as New York State celebrated the passing of a law which will enable the killing of babies up until birth. …”

– Murray Campbell in Melbourne adds his voice to the outrage, but reminds us what Christians must not neglect.

Yesterday New York signed off on Toxic Humanity

“Forget toxic masculinity. Don’t even mention toxic femininity. Yesterday’s move by the New York legislature to enshrine abortion up to full term in New York State is a prime example of one thing: toxic humanity.

But more than that. The true toxicity is not in the signing of the legislation, but in the unadulterated celebrating of it. …”

— Stephen McAlpine writes with sadness of celebrations in New York.

For Australia Day: Analysing popular stereotypes on the foundation of Christianity in Australia

In 2015, Associate Professor Stuart Piggin gave this fascinating address at a gathering to commemorate the First Christian Service in Australia.

The event, in Richard Johnson Square on 3rd February, was close to where the Rev. Richard Johnson conducted the first Christian service in the Colony, on 3rd February 1788.

With Dr. Piggin’s permission, we published this at the time. We think it is well worth reading again.

“The preacher at that service, held under a ‘great tree’, beginning at 10 o’clock on 3 February 1788, a hot midsummer’s day, was the Rev Richard Johnson, Australia’s –

  • first minister,
  • first educator,
  • first carer for orphans,
  • first carer for aboriginal children.

With all those firsts, he was quite a pioneer – and John Newton, author of the much loved hymn ‘Amazing grace’, who recommended Johnson to MP William Wilberforce who recommended him to PM William Pitt, bestowed on Richard Johnson the title, ‘Patriarch of the Southern Hemisphere’, that is, if you will, founding father of the Christian movement in Australia.

Now, since this was the site of the first school house, it is surely fair to put a question to you. Here is the question:

If Newton gave Johnson the title ‘Patriarch of the Southern Hemisphere’, what title did the Eora people, the Aboriginal people who lived in the Sydney Basin, give Richard Johnson?

Well, class, I don’t see a forest of hands of those keen to answer the question. But I ask it to make a point. The basic question asked by the organisers of this event is:

‘Does our heritage matter?’ What they really mean is ‘does our Christian heritage matter?’

Well surely we must know what our Christian heritage is before we can decide if it matters. But I doubt if we have ever found what our Christian heritage is – we are in great danger of losing it before we ever find it. Nobody has ever told us.

Has anyone ever told us what title the Eora people gave Richard Johnson? I will tell you at the end of this address, but my point is that there are parts of our Christian heritage we just don’t know because no-one has ever told us.

Then there are other matters which we think we do know. We have been told them so often they have become stereotypes.

But maybe they are false stereotypes.…”

Do read the whole address. (PDF file.) Photos courtesy Ramon Williams, Worldwide Photos.

Related:

Richard Johnson’s Address To The Inhabitants Of The Colonies (PDF file).

See also:

John Anderson’s Conversations: Featuring Associate Professor Stuart Piggin (June 2018). Take the time to watch.

and

The Fountain of Public Prosperity – Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740–1914, published by Monash University Publishing.

Why consider gender and the local church?

“God’s creation of human beings as male and female is a gift; gender is one of the gifts God uses to mature believers and build his kingdom. It has been great to consider this more and to think through ways we can encourage and challenge women and men to use their gender for God’s glory. …”

– The Australian Church Record speaks with Jane Tooher about the thinking behind, and the ministry of, Moore College’s Priscilla and Aquila Centre.

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