The Heavens Declare

Overnight (Monday night, Australian time), millions of people across North America will have witnessed a total eclipse of the Sun.

Such events are a reminder to us of far greater realities:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” – Psalm 19:1.

and

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” – Psalm 8.

Photo: This total solar eclipse was viewed across south-eastern Australia on 23 October 1976.

Things that hinder and sins that entangle – with Dominic Steele

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Dominic Steele speaks to our hearts today as we engage in the battle of the Christian life. We get a call today to perseverance and resilience.

Dominic addresses, not just pastors, but young and old; healthy and unfit; wealthy and poor; busy and quiet; husbands, singles, divorcees and widowers; fertile and infertile, straight or experiencing same sex attraction; or struggling in addictions. …”

– Watch or listen here.

Food, glorious food for the soul

“We live in a busy age where the temptation is more and more to be disconnected as we live our lives. Look around eating establishments outside the home and it is very common to see headphones cutting off conversation, and to see eyes glued to screens even among people seated at the same table.

The same kind of thing can creep into the family mealtime. What’s more, with the kind of schedules many of us have, the mealtime can be inconvenient, rushed and detached. Many spend their meal times around screens (common or individual) with very little opportunity for the kind of fellowship that sharing a meal can and should provide. …”

– The latest Ministry Matters newsletter from CCAANZ (the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand) is all about food.

Bishop Jay Behan (pictured) writes on “Breaking bread together – The power of the family table”.

There’s also an article on how CCAANZ churches are using food to share the gospel.

Preaching Paul’s Letters

“As a Spurgeon fan I can recall many of his quotes at will, and one of them is, ‘No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching…’

This would be most relevant in preaching from the Old Testament, where we (should) use our Biblical theology skills, and preach Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old testament text. …

Far too often, nearly always, I hear sermons on the epistles, where the main application, is ‘Be like Paul.’ where Paul is the hero of the passage.

I’m suggesting, that this isn’t handling any passage from Paul’s epistles well…”

– Jim Mobbs writes to encourage preachers – at The Expository Preaching Trust.

If you want to know how and why sex is dividing the church, read this book

“If you want to know how and why sex is dividing the church, read this book.

It begins by showing how sexual identity has become the beating heart of how most Westerners understand themselves and their place in our world. This helps explain why our culture has clashed with the traditional teaching of the church on sex.

Yet, not all Christians agree on how to respond to this strange new world …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Jodie McNeill highlights a new book by Mark Durie in Melbourne.

Read more – and see where you can get the book – at Mark Durie’s blog on Substack –

“The focus is on Australian churches, but the principles are the same all over. This book is about several things. It’s about what it means to be human. It’s about how churches are structured and how they can divide. It about combatting religious illiteracy. It’s about the law and freedom of religion. It’s about the future of Christianity.”

“The Areopagite” by Bruce Smith

The Areopagite

I’m restless
and have been ever since
that itinerant preacher
spoke his lines
on Mars Hill.
He campaigned on God
and righteousness
and capped it all
with talk of resurrection.
At the time
we mostly laughed
and dismissed him
as a fool,
but his words had power
and I’ve not been able
to forget them.

Dionysius says he’s glad
the preacher came;
it’s changed his life, he says.
I can believe it,
it’s changed mine, too.
Resurrection from the dead,
like he spoke of,
in Jerusalem or Athens or anywhere,
must change everything.
I can certainly vouch for Dionysius
and Damaris, too, for that matter
(and there are others);
they are different
since the preacher came,
markedly different.

We’ve never been able
to make sense of dying.
It’s the one experience
we don’t handle well
and everything else
is affected by it.
We philosophise and protest
and try our religions,
but we make no progress.
We have nothing to go on,
nothing or no one we can point to
and say “There, beyond all doubt,
is the answer –
that’s what life’s about.”
But that’s exactly what the preacher offered –
he gave us an event, a happening,
something we could put our hands on,
and we just laughed at him.

Yet they call us
Neophiliacs – lovers of novelty!
It’s not true.
We only love what’s new
if it doesn’t threaten
too much change,
at least that’s my problem.
Dionysius says we are the fools,
not the preacher.
He’s probably right.

The Areopagite, by the Rev. Bruce Smith. © 1984, from his collection of poems “I’ll Not Pretend”. Used with the kind permission of Bruce’s family.
Photo: Ramon Williams, Worldwide Photos.

A refection, of course, on Acts 17:16-34.

A Philosophically ‘Enlightened’ Easter

“The Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) famously declared that the resurrection of Jesus did not happen.

His logic was simple: the resurrection is a miracle, and miracles cannot happen, and therefore miracles do not happen, and the resurrection did not happen.

However, his logic was simply flawed. …”

– David Burke, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, shares this Easter message.

Dead to sin and alive to God in Christ

Romans 6:6-11

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

– ESV.

God’s Gift

“Have you considered the legacy you would like to leave? I’m not speaking here of a material legacy for your family but a legacy or gift for the benefit of others.

Writing in The Weekend Australian (March 16-17, 2024), Nicki Gemmell spoke of ‘the ultimate sacrifice’ of Alexei Navalny, the late ‘Russian opposition leader whose sacrifice was driven by a deep love of his country and of his compatriots’. ‘We’re not used to heroes in real life anymore,’ she wrote.

In commenting on Navalny’s life most commentators miss the point that his sense of suffering, even his willingness to lay down his life in the cause of human rights, arose from his Christian faith – something he came to profess in his adult years. Navalny’s heroism echoed in a small way the greatest sacrifice the world has ever known – that of Jesus, the Son of God.

Come with me to the Gospel of John. …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason turns to Scripture to show us God’s extraordinary gift. Good reading this Good Friday.

Hearts for pastors’ kids – with James Galea

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“We explore the delicate dynamics of faith, family, and identity in the world of church leadership.

As pastors most of all we want our kids to love Jesus. And yet Barnabas Piper says so often pastors kids are messed up.

What are the unique experiences, joys and challenges of being pastors kids? And how can we better parent as pastors?

There are issues of awareness, assumptions and expectations. Plus confusion about identity.

This episode isn’t just about the challenges; it’s also a treasure trove of wisdom for Pastors kids themselves. Whether you’re feeling the weight of a congregation’s gaze or struggling to carve out your own identity.

We discuss the power of parental apologies and the healing they can bring.

James Galea grew up as a pastor’s kid in Western Sydney and now leads the ministry team at Freshwater Anglican Church on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.”

– Watch or listen here.

Don’t give up on physical Bibles

“Last year, when my son went to college, I gave him one of my most precious earthly belongings—the Bible I used from the time I was in high school until I was almost 50 years old.

That Bible went through at least two rebindings, and most of its pages were creased, tattered, or coffee-stained. A few pages were even partially torn. It held almost three decades of markings and notes made from sermons, Bible studies, and personal devotions. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition (US), Chris Polski has some simple encouragement.

Praying for the Royal family?

God’s word calls us to pray – 1 Timothy 2:1-4

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – ESV.

Image: Facebook post from the Church of England.

More issues with the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia:

“I am happy to present a guest post today from Associate Professor Mark Fowler, raising more issues of concern from a religious freedom perspective with the recently released proposed Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024.

Dr Mark Fowler is Principal, Fowler Charity Law, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame, School of Law, Sydney and an External Fellow at the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law, University of Queensland. …”

– Read it here.

No agreement on ‘least-worst’ laws

“More than a half a decade before the NSW government brought on its ‘Conversion Practices’ bill being debated this week, the Sydney Anglican Church expressed its opposition to harmful ‘conversion therapies’. It had become apparent from the testimony of survivors that some groups, including Christian faith groups, have employed harmful practices in an attempt to change or suppress feelings of attraction to the same sex, or gender dysphoria.

Our decision to speak out came in 2018, before the move to legislate against such practices across Australia. Since then, such legislation has moved beyond these now rare and bizarre practices and in some jurisdictions encroaches unnecessarily and ominously into areas of orthodox religious belief and ordinary faith practices including teaching and preaching, prayer, conversation and mutual encouragement.

There have been comments that churches and faith groups have been consulted and are happy with the bill now on the table. This is not the case. …”

While grateful for the government’s engagement with faith communities on legislation, the Archbishop concludes that,

“What we have ended up with is a ‘least worst’ version of such legislation compared to some other Australian jurisdictions but cannot be regarded by biblical Christian churches as representing good law.”

– The Daily Telegraph has today published this op-ed by Archbishop Kanishka Raffel – and SydneyAnglicans.net has a copy.

Good to read and share – and do pray for the Members of Parliament as the proposed legislation is scheduled to be debated today.

Remembering Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

On 21 March 1556, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer died at the stake in Oxford.

Learn about this towering figure of the English Reformation:

In 1989, Canon Allan Blanch wrote this appreciation of Archbishop Cranmer for ACL News.

In 2001, ACL News interviewed Dr. Ashley Null, recognised expert on Cranmer.

Further reading:

Masters Of The English Reformation by Marcus Loane (published 1954) is an excellent introduction to the English Reformation and five key figures: Bilney, Tyndale, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer.

Portrait of Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke. (This is a re-post.)

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