Abortion, Canada, and the relentless wave of Authoritarian Secularism

“I love taking Claude (family greyhound) for an early morning walk through the streets of Parkdale and Mentone, and to listen to the Bible as we go. Today in the Psalms, I was struck by Psalm 8:2, which says,

‘Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.’

Afterward, I was catching up on the news and heard a report about a recent announcement by Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Organisations applying for Government funding for the Canadian Summer Jobs program, must now sign an attestation that they support abortion. …”

– Murray Campbell in Melbourne looks at the Canadian example as a foretaste of what Christians in Australia can expect.

Alasdair Paine to visit Australia

Alasdair Paine, the vicar of St. Andrew the Great in Cambridge, is visiting Oz in March to expound Philippians at two conferences for Pastors:

On 6-8 March is speaking at the Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, and 13-15 March at the Sydney Missionary and Bible College. David Cook and David Jones are also speaking at the conferences.

(Prior to ministry training at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, Alasdair studied geography at Trinity College in Cambridge and was Head of Geography at Eton. While in Sydney, he will speak to young geographers at the Scots College.)

GAFCON YouTube channel

From the GAFCON Communications Team:

“We are delighted to announce the launch of a Gafcon YouTube channel to keep people like you more informed and better equipped to stand up for uncompromised biblical truth.

There are 17 videos posted currently and we will be adding more regularly. Please take a moment to have a look.

You’ll find yourself both more aware of what’s happening – and encouraged by the words of people like you who are coming together to stand for the Bible and preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ.”

12 Ways your Phone is Changing You

The Audiobook of Tony Reinke’s, “12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You” is the free audiobook from Christian Audio for January 2018.

The text, as a PDF file, is also available as a free download from Desiring God. Check it out.

Related: Why I Pray With an App – Tim Challies explains why he uses Prayer Mate.

Good Grief!

“Grief is a fault line. It opens us up. It exposes us. But it doesn’t just do this emotionally; it does so theologically.

If you want to know a person’s true theology, speak to them when they are grieving. There you will discover what they hope in; how they cope; what makes sense of their world.

As a listener to those grieving, I became acutely aware that grief is never something we feel prepared for, but a season in which we must be prepared. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Moore College’s Chase Kuhn calls us to have a biblical understanding of death and grief.

Moralism is not the Gospel (but many Christians think it is)

“One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. ‘I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel,’ Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits. …

This warning from the Apostle Paul, expressed in the language of the Apostle’s shock and grief, is addressed not only to the church in Galatia, but to every congregation in every age. In our own day — and in our own churches — we desperately need to hear and to heed this warning.”

– Albert Mohler writes on perhaps the greatest danger to genuine Christianity in our time.

Giving thanks for Dr. Broughton Knox — 24 years on

Former Principal of Moore College, Dr. David Broughton Knox, departed this earthly life twenty-four years ago, on January 14th 1994.

This is a good time to pause, remember, and to thank our heavenly Father for DBK.

To learn more, see also:

1. The Sermon preached by Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane at the funeral in St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney.

2. David Broughton Knox – What we owe to him – by Archbishop Donald Robinson.

3. Broughton Knox: servant of Christ Jesus – by Dr. Mark Thompson, May 2017.

“We have now come to lay him to rest with great sorrow for a loss we can ill afford. But we thank God upon every remembrance of a good and faithful servant.” – Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane.

(Photo with thanks to George Whitefield Theological College.)

Ministry amongst staff wives and women on staff — Janet Taylor

During this morning’s sermon on Colossians 3:18 – 4:1 at the NSW/ACT CMS Summer School, Richard Chin made reference to some talks given by Janet Taylor.

As part of the Priscilla and Aquila Conference 2017, “A ministry that builds the church”, Janet spoke about “Ministry amongst staff wives and women on staff”. Very encouraging. You can watch her talk at this link.

See also: Investing in Marriage 2016 at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.

(The 2018 Priscilla and Aquila Conference is coming up on February 5th – and standard registration is available for a few more days.)

Advice to a Young Preacher – from Peter Adam

“I preached my first sermon in 1967 to a congregation of three people, having had no instruction and no training. I have been learning how to preach ever since.

Here is my advice for those who are starting out in their preaching ministry. …”

– Some great advice from Peter Adam – published at Tabletalk.

(Image from a St. Helen’s Bishopsgate video.)

The Anti-Christ Message of Steve Chalke

“As I was preparing to preach on Romans 4 for this morning I was struck by these words from verse three – “What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” I read in the commentaries the emphasis on the fact that Paul regarded the whole of the bible as Scripture.

As I looked forward to proclaiming that this morning I then read this from Steve Chalke ““The Bible is a library and not a book – that’s what the Bible literally means… the church over time has come to regard as sacred. It reflects the moral values and consciousness of each author”.

I cannot describe the feeling of despair, anger and hurt that overwhelmed me.  Jesus Christ has given us his Gospel and this Baptist preacher (much to the disgust of most Baptists I know) was directly attacking the Christ of Scripture (the only Christ that exists!).

So I tweeted a response and what disturbed me almost as much was the somewhat nonchalant attitude of some Christians who basically argued that Chalke was old hat and irrelevant.  I beg to disagree – his anti-Christ message causes havoc and is being widely heard. …”

– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson writes about his response to Steve Chalke’s message.

Thinking Theologically about Various issues

Phillipjensen.com has posted a number of Q & A style videos with Phillip Jensen.

They are intended, in the first instance, for Persian-speaking congregations, but are in English.

Check them out at this page (click the heading to reveal the list) – or see them at www.phillipjensen.com, where they are currently on the main page.

Why we’re using The Word One to One

“We continue to enjoy using Christianity Explored and now Life Explored at our church, but we’re finding that it is increasingly difficult for people to make it every week.

Moreover, people are starting considerably further back, such that we’re finding it’s only they finish the course they are really ready to start it! Some of the fruit we’ve seen in recent years has come from people doing two, even three courses.

That’s why as a church we have been excited to use and promote The Word One to One. We have found it to be a wonderful resource for a number of reasons.

First, it gives Christians a vision. The name says it all – let’s open up the Word one to one with someone!

Secondly, it gives Christians confidence in the Word.

Here is a resource which is the Word of God (John’s gospel) in an accessible form, with questions and answers on the text to help you and the person you’re reading it with understand the meaning. It requires no expertise and no preparation – just the courage to say to a friend, ‘would you be interested in reading John’s gospel together?‘…”

– Something encouraging from the Anglican Communion News Service: Robin Weekes at Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon, shares why his church uses The Word One to One.

Collected writings of Mike Ovey to be launched 18 January

The Goldilocks Zone, collected writings of dearly missed Mike Ovey, will be launched at Oak Hill College in London on Thursday 18th January 2018.

Once it’s available, we’ll add a link for ordering.

Reading Ephesians and Colossians after Supersessionism

“The New Testament letters of Ephesians and Colossians are full of great truths about the gospel of Christ. But that’s not all. They’re also, equally, full of great truths about the missionary preaching of the gospel of Christ. The apostle Paul wants his readers to grasp the implications of the early gospel-preaching mission—a mission that began among God’s ancient people Israel, and expanded to the nations round about.

That means these letters need to be understood in terms of a biblical-theological missionary dynamic between Jews and Gentiles. In these letters, Paul assumes a certain distinction between Jews and Gentiles. Yet it’s not a distinction that causes separation and hostility. Rather, it’s a positive distinction that serves a missionary purpose. …

The book is designed for people with some theological training: i.e. pastors and theological students. If the technical-sounding title doesn’t grab you, or if you’ve never even heard of ‘supersessionism’, that’s OK.”

– Read about Dr Lionel Windsor’s new book at Forget the Channel.

Book Review: All That Is in God by James Dolezal

“Thousands of theological books are published every year, and it can be difficult to know which among these books deserve our time and attention.

Dolezal’s book is one of those books that deserves attention. It is an important work. …”

– At Tabletalk, Dr. Keith Mathison reviews All That Is in God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism by James E. Dolezal.

Justin Taylor also thinks the book is something you ought to read –

“As a blogger I get sent a lot of books. Sorry to say, I throw away some of them, shelve most of them, and read only a few of them. Most of the books actually look halfway decent, but there just isn’t time to read everything that comes my way. So when Reformation Heritage Books asked me this summer if I wanted an advance copy of James Dolezal’s All That Is In God, I said ‘sure,’ not expecting much to come of it.

Turns out this is a really important book. …”

Places where you can buy the book.

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