Integrity Theft

“Early this year I was cleaned out.

Wallet, phone and keys, all gone in a flash. I’m not crying victim. I dropped my guard, turned my back and took my eye off the ball for no more than a few seconds. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, David Mansfield warns of the ever-present danger of Integrity Theft.

Luther and his most important impact

“On 31 October 1517, in a small provincial university town, an Augustinian monk who served as a professor in the university, nailed a document to a church door. And it started a revolution.

Today, 500 years later and on the other side of the world, that unexceptional act — there would have been lots of notices on that door, since it was the unofficial notice board for the university — still captures the imagination. …”

– At Theological Theology, Dr Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore Theological College, has published a slightly extended version of an address delivered at the opening of the Luther exhibition at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney on Tuesday 8 August, 2017.

John Anderson on what’s happening in Australia over the same-sex marriage plebiscite

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson spoke about his very real concerns for Australia – on ABC News.

Well worth watching – on YouTube. (9’30”.)

Moore College School of Theology 2017

“This year’s School of Theology sees members of the Faculty joined by visiting scholars as we celebrate the legacy of the Reformation and its significance 500 years on.

Lectures are open to all students and the public and will run over two days on Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th September at Moore College. …”

– Read about this year’s Moore College School of Theology.

Note that early bird rates end Friday 11th August.

Religious Freedom protections in new same sex marriage proposals: too few, too narrow

“The debate over same sex marriage in Australia has been re-ignited by news that some members of the federal governing Liberal/National Party (LNP) coalition are proposing, contrary to their party’s policy, to introduce legislation in Federal Parliament this coming week to redefine marriage to extend it to same sex couples.

In particular, press reports today indicate that a new Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 will be introduced, one feature of which is that it contains legislative protections for religious freedom, designed to encourage support of the legislation by believers.

In my view the protections to be provided, if press reports about the proposal are accurate, are far too few and far too narrow, and the proposal cannot be seen as providing adequate protection for this fundamental human right. …”

– Here is an important and very current contribution by Associate Professor Neil Foster, at Law and Religion Australia.

See also: Liberal MPs urged to “keep their promise” regarding a Plebiscite.

Chinese whispers at the ABC

“A media fracas broke out this past week over Julia Baird’s reports on the ABC about links between Christian teachings and domestic violence against women.

My personal experiences as an Anglican pastor resonated with much that Baird reported. She made valuable points about the impact of particular Christian teachings and Bible verses on some women, such as the injunction in St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians for wives to ‘submit’ to their husbands. I did not see her work as an attack on Christianity.

However Baird’s findings, which included harrowing interviews with victims of abuse, were overshadowed by disputes about a report she gave of American research findings concerning the connection between Christian faith and domestic abuse.…”

– At The Spectator Australia, Mark Durie in Melbourne looks at the ‘chain of evidence’ relied on in the ABC reports.

Also see Faith, family, violence and the ABC’s smears – Mark Powell.

“Since Baird’s article and the subsequent piece on 7:30, I have followed up on all the academic sources that she references. It really wasn’t that hard since there was only one. However, in that sole reference, a footnote led me to a number of other works. …”

The Slippery Slope and the Jesus Box

“In the late-20th century and early 21st century, the slippery slope has tended to begin over the issue of women’s ordination.

The reason for this is not because there is something especially nefarious about women being ordained, but because this is the point of maximum cultural outrage at which progressives have tended to capitulate. …”

– Sobering words from Rick Phillips at Reformation21.

Moore College Sunday resources

Moore College has released a couple of videos you might be able to use in conjunction with Moore College Sunday (nominally this Sunday, 6th August).

Moore College – A Light for your path.

Moore College Overview Video.

Lots of other resources here.

From The Principal’s message at the link above:

“We must never lose our sense of dependence upon God and his grace towards us.

Without his sustaining and guiding providence Moore College would go the way of many others before it – drifting from the word of God, blending into the world of the secular academy, losing touch with the gospel mission that alone justifies its existence.

Our need and our vulnerability are well-known to God. We must be aware of them too. That, as much as anything else, is a stimulus to prayer.”

The Mythical Middle


“It has not worked. It cannot work. It will not work.

I mean the idea that we will be able to find a middle ground, where we will be able to be quietly or relatively conservative, while allowing for a denominational variety which blesses sexual relations outside the bonds of traditional marriage.

The present tactic of those looking for a change is to say that there is a middle way…”

– Archbishop Peter Jensen examines the idea that you can hold a ‘middle ground’ position when the Bible’s teaching is clear. At the GAFCON General Secretary’s blog.

The Bible: Is it Relevant? Is it True? Would it matter if it wasn’t?

“How can a book drawn up over centuries, but all long since, by people in and around Palestine, have any real significance for people like you and me who live in this mad age of rush, atom bombs and duodenal ulcers?

Let us approach this question via another question I am sometimes asked, ‘Is the Bible true ?’

And this second question leads me to pose a third, ‘Does it matter?’ For indeed to many people is almost an axiom that it does not matter, since it is quite possible to get on with the serious business of living in blissful unawareness of its teachings. …”

– The Australian Church Record has republished this 1955 article from Leon Morris.

Intercession

“How should we pray for our leaders, for God’s people, for the nations and for people in need?  Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 sets out principles for us.”

– John Mason writes at Anglican Connection. Especially relevant in Australia this next week.

Here’s a reminder why prayer for leaders is important: Same-sex marriage: Malcolm Turnbull calls Liberal MPs to special meeting to debate party position. – ABC News.

Four stages of ‘evangelical’ affirmation of gay marriage

“I have noticed a pretty consistent progression among those who eventually embrace gay marriage. …

It usually takes some time to move from number 2 to number 3. McLaren and the Hatmakers both took four years to make that transition. But the transition from 3 to 4 can sometimes happen very rapidly. My observation, however, is that anyone who makes it to 3 eventually makes it to 4 also.”

– Denny Burk, Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, shares what he has seen among those who call themselves ‘evangelicals’ in the USA.

Why next week’s Liberal Party showdown on Marriage as a proxy for the soul of our nation

“A glance at today’s headlines shows that same-sex marriage is tearing our political class apart. For an issue that doesn’t even register as a concern with the average punter – it is number 16 on the priority list for the left-leaning GetUp! supporters – it is dominating politics. …”

– The Australian Christian Lobby’s Lyle Shelton calls for prayer for Australia and its political leaders.

[Note: The Australian Christian Lobby and the Anglican Church League are not related. We just happen to have the same initials.]

Ready to give an answer

“Though we’re reading mixed signals from Parliament, let there be no mixed signals from the church. Though we hear rumours in Canberra of deferrals, reneging and equivocation … is our word our word? Are we ready to give an answer, even if that makes us unpopular with people we love?…”

– Presbyterian Moderator-General John P Wilson encourages Christians to be clear about what they believe, and to speak with gentleness and respect.

Reflections on the 50th anniversary of my Diving Accident

Joni Eareckson Tada reflects on the the Lord’s faithfulness, these fifty years, since she had her diving accident.

At The Gospel Coalition.

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