“White” on the new black-list

“A popular wedding magazine called ‘White’ has announced today that it is closing down. The reason? The Christian publishers had been asked to carry articles featuring same sex weddings, and had politely declined to do so.

The backlash on social media led to a number of advertisers withdrawing their custom, and some customers refusing to buy the magazine any more. In this post I want to comment on the legal issues around this incident, and another episode highlighted in the press today.

A report in The Australian today notes the close of White magazine, and also the other episode involving someone in the ‘wedding industry’:

Christian wedding photographer Jason Tey was taken to the West Australian Equal Opportunity Commission after he agreed to photograph the children of a same-sex couple but disclosed a conflict of belief, in case they felt more comfortable hiring someone else. …”

– Associate Professor Neil Foster comments on a story in today’s The Weekend Australian.

Review: They Shall See His Face

“You may never have heard of Amy Oxley Wilkinson (1868–1949), although it’s possible you know of her great grandfather, Rowland Hassall – one of the first missionaries to come to Australia after fleeing trouble in Tahiti – or his son Thomas, who started the first Sunday School in Australia at Parramatta in 1813, and went on to be an Anglican minister in the rural south of Sydney, who earned himself the moniker ‘the galloping parson’ for visiting his far-flung flock on horseback.

If not them, you will surely know of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, chaplain, missionary and farmer, whose eldest daughter Anne married Thomas. Amy was their granddaughter, the eighth child of John Norton Oxley and Harriet Jane Hassall…”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Dr. Claire Smith reviews They Shall See His Face, by Linda and Robert Banks. It’s about the most widely known female Australian missionary in China and the West in the early 20th century.

The book is available from a number of retailers, including from The Wandering Bookseller.

Reformed Preaching by Joel Beeke

Reformers Bookshop in Stanmore has Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God’s Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People by Joel Beeke on special until November 17th.

Review of ‘American Gospel’

“The haunting question left with me after watching this documentary was: why is it so easy for Christians to overlook Jesus? …

The first phase of the documentary highlights the dangers of an approach to life which assumes we are good enough for God. …

But we discover that this is not the final destination of the documentary, but merely the opening gambit. After this sweeping introduction to the less culturally specific sins of moralism, or perhaps nominalism, which focus on self-righteousness, the real agenda of the film is unveiled: how Americans have come to believe in and preach the prosperity Gospel. The editing is genius …

The documentary is great viewing and would be useful as an event at a church or in small group.”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Ridley College’s Rhys Bezzant reviews “American Gospel”.

A Greater Peace

“Sergeant Philip Ball is an Australian soldier buried in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery in France.

He was 21 years old when he was killed in action on 28 March 1918. He was a brave soldier, who was awarded the Military Medal in July 1917.

After the war his parents chose an unusual epitaph for his headstone in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery:

I FOUGHT AND DIED IN THE GREAT WAR
THE WAR TO END ALL WARS,
HAVE I DIED IN VAIN?

I have not found a similar inscription in the thousands of epitaphs I have collected from Australian war graves of the First World War. But it is a question that challenges any reader …”

– Moore College Historian Dr. Colin Bale writes at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Related: Bells to ring for Armistice Centenary – SydneyAnglicans.net.

GAFCON Fuel for Prayer — 8th November 2018 update

Here are the latest praise and prayer points from GAFCON.

How to Pray about Your Life

“Our lives and ministries are often combinations: encouragements and discouragements, joys and frustrations, pleasures and pains, successes and failures, sanctification and sin, health and sickness, abundance and want, joys and suffering, support and opposition.

This may be the case in our personal or family life; in our own ministry; in the immediate context of our ministry; or in the broader context of our ministry.

Negotiating all this complexity requires wisdom, patience, and hope. It requires godly contentment and godly discontentment. I often think of Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer …”

– Encouragement from Peter Adam, at the Gospel Coalition Australia.

Real freedoms will end the broken chain of exemptions

“Bad legislation is made in a rush. But when it comes to religious freedom we already have bad legislation and there seems to be no urgency to fix it properly – just a rush to create more. …

Let’s be very clear, before you read any further. Anglican schools in Sydney do not expel students for being gay and do not sack teachers for being gay. It is an absurd proposition and it strikes at the very heart of our faith, that all people are created in God’s image and valued in his sight and in our schools.”

– SydneyAnglicans.net has published the full text of Archbishop Glenn Davies’ open letter in The Australian of 6th November 2018.

Do take the time to read it – and share it widely.

Real Faith

“The simple goal of evangelism is for people to believe in Jesus and be saved. This is our mission.

Whether it is through our personal relationships, large-scale events, evangelistic courses or the regular preaching of the word on Sunday—we want to see people come to faith in Christ and remain in Him.

But if we want people to come to faith, we must first be clear on what real faith is. We may have gathered a crowd or filled a church, but have we made real disciples with real faith? Real evangelism must seek real faith. …”

– Tom Habib writes in the most recent issue of The Australian Church Record’s Journal.

Is religion good for children?

“Religion in Ireland is currently under strong and persistent criticism from liberal commentators.

One frequently heard criticism is that it is seriously wrong to “indoctrinate” young children in religious dogma …”

– The Irish Times carries this article on the results of a secular study.

Related: When your child sins, Good News! – Reformation 21.

“Too often, parents respond to their child’s sin by focusing on how our child is letting them down. They make it clear that the child is failing to live up to the family standard of righteousness. Such an approach fails to clarify God’s standard of righteousness and fails to pave the way for clarity about the good news of salvation. …”

The History of the English Standard Version

A most encouraging ten minute video from Crossway. Take the time to watch, and give thanks.

Life in Four Stages — free eBook from Albert Mohler, today only

In exchange for your name and e-mail address, Albert Mohler is offering a free copy of his eBook, Life in Four Stages: A Biblical Celebration of Childhood, Youth, Adulthood, and Age, as a PDF file.

“Scripture teaches us that God has fashioned each stage of life with precious glory. That’s why we are summoned to not only recognise the stages of life, but to live in them as God intended for his glory.”

The Pastor and Pornography — 9Marks Journal

“Why would 9Marks devote an issue of the 9Marks Journal to the topic of pornography and the pastor? Because it’s an increasingly common sin, and its commonality tempts us to downplay its destructive power in our marriages and ministries. We want you to take it seriously if you’re not, and to have the tools to help others fight if you are.

Think of how much ink Paul spilled on sexual sin in his letter to the Corinthian church. He took it seriously. So should we. …”

– Download the latest 9Marks Journal here.

Why the Church doesn’t need any more coffee bars

“When I walk into church I am not paying attention to the décor. I don’t want to smell freshly brewed coffee in the lobby. I don’t want to see a trendy pastor on the platform. I don’t care about the graphics or the props on the platform. I am hurting in a way that is almost indescribable.

Since my husband died, my days are spent working full time. My nights are spent homeschooling and taking care of two young children. I don’t have shared duties with a spouse anymore so everything is on my plate. When I go to church I desperately want to hear the Word of God. …”

– This article, by Kimberli Lira, published by Premier Christianity last year, is a sharp reminder of what’s most important, but so easily forgotten. (link via Gary Ware.)

John Stott on Same-sex Relationships – review

“Churches have been slow to get thoroughly informed about this whole area until recently, despite the battles raging in the Anglican Communion about it. Give people this book to read; it’s super, and will do them good!”

– Wallace Benn reviews Sean Doherty’s revised and expanded edition of John Stott’s writing on this subject for Churchman.

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