Anglican Communion News Service smears GAFCON and manipulates Archbishop of Canterbury

“You’d think, wouldn’t you, that you could trust the news reports which emanate from the official Office of the Worldwide Anglican Communion.

You’d hope, wouldn’t you, that the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) might issue factual statements of reliable and verifiable truth, as all good reporting should be, instead of tinted opinion with a tainted political agenda, as all journalism so often is. …”

– “Archbishop Cranmer” takes a close look at a story promulgated by the Anglican Communion News Service.

Related: ‘Archbishop Welby “taken aback” by Las Vegas prayer criticism’ – ACNS.

Review of NT discrimination law — guest blog

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes,

“The Northern Territory government has released a discussion paper called Modernisation of the Anti-Discrimination Act (Sept 2017). It invites comments by 3 December 2017. You can almost get the tone of the paper from the title! After all, who in this fast-changing age could oppose anything called “modernisation”? But there are a number of concerning recommendations and comments made from the law and religion perspective, and there are some real doubts whether the proposals properly reflect religious freedom principles.

My colleague Dr Alex Deagon from QUT has graciously provided a guest blog post in which he outlines his comments on two major concerns with the proposals to amend the Act. Those who are interested in the interaction of discrimination law and religious freedom should find them very helpful, and may wish to make their own comments in response to the discussion paper. There are other controversial proposals in the paper which may be the subject of future posts. …”

– Read it all at Law and Religion Australia.

“The Conversation” and impacts of same sex marriage

“Two pieces in the Australian online forum ‘The Conversation’ today make misleading statements about the possible impacts of the recognition of same-sex marriage in Australia, and warrant some response.

One article suggests that there is no doubt that churches will still be able to decline to solemnise same-sex marriages. The other is a ‘fact check’ on assertions about the mandatory nature of ‘safe schools‘ programs following such a change. In my view both pieces are likely to mislead. …”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Associate Professor Neil Foster responds to two articles published in The Conversation today. (The first article was also republished by the ABC.)

Reformation talks from the Presbyterian Church of Australia

It’s Reformation 500 month – October 2017 – and the Presbyterian Church of Australia has released three downloadable videos you could watch for your own benefit, or in Bible Study groups.

“The Presbyterian Church of Australia offers this package of three church history videos to assist your church – particularly in its small-group ministries – to help celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses, and the subsequent Protestant Reformation … 31 October 1517.

There are three consecutive video sessions (each lasting about 50 min) followed by suggested discussion questions. Ideally, they’ll be of most benefit during the last two weeks of October and the first of November, but they’ll be available for as long as they are being used. …”

– from Moderator-General John P Wilson.

  1. Martin Luther – (1) the struggle in his heart: Romans 1:7-17.
  2. Martin Luther – (2) the struggle against his church: 2 Timothy 3:10-17.
  3. John Calvin – developing the church’s theology: Acts 2:38-47; 1 Timothy 3:14-16.

Principles of Complementarian Ministry

“This is the outline for a brief presentation I gave at the MTS Mission Minded conference On 1 Oct 2017. The presentation was part of an elective panel discussion with Jane Tooher (director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre at Moore College), Phil Wheeler (director of Evangelism and New Churches) and myself, titled ‘Complementarian Ministry in Light of Eternity’.”

– ACL Vice President Dr Lionel Windsor shares this resource you may find helpful.

The Reformation and your church

“It’s the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and right now there’s no shortage of material being published on the topic. Why might this 9Marks Journal possibly add to the pile?

We asked our contributors to consider the Reformation’s relevance specifically to the local church and the pastor. Why should pastors care? Take a look at D. A. Carson’s piece. What does it have to do with expositional preaching, evangelism, church discipline, church authority more broadly, the ordinances, even pastoral counselling? There are articles on each of these topics, too…”

– Download the latest 9Marks Journal, in a variety of formats. Many encouraging articles.

Our Strong Right Arm

“Have you ever noticed how naturally we take pride in our own achievement and rejoice in what our own strong right arm has been able to perform?

In matters religious, just as in all others, the tendency is for us to put the emphasis on what we ourselves do. …”

– Leon Morris, from the vaults of The Australian Church Record, October 27, 1955.

Faithfulness to Christ against the odds: the Anglican Communion and the global sexual revolution

“Global Anglican leaders will gather to meet in Canterbury in early October for a summit meeting. Most of them come from contexts where the Anglican church is continuing to teach and promote the biblical Gospel of repentance and faith in Christ for salvation, and the historic Christian understanding of sexuality and marriage. A few Provinces, with most of the wealth and power, are dominated by a leadership wanting to promote a different form of Christianity that is more acceptable to the secular West.

The last Primates meeting, in Canterbury January 2016, only made these divisions clearer. The majority of Primates resolved then to work together to continue the important work of the Anglican Communion, but required TEC to withdraw from full involvement, as they had violated the ‘bonds of affection’ by continuing to pursue their revisionist agenda, of which acceptance of same sex marriage was the latest example. But the TEC leadership, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion Office, interpreted things very differently. …

Primates from the Global South and their advisors due to attend the meeting in Canterbury should not be in any doubt that the ground has shifted since the fruitless efforts of years gone by to discipline TEC for their revisionist actions which have torn the fabric of the Communion. …”

— The Rev. Andrew Symes at Anglican Mainstream makes clear what next week’s Primates gathering in Canterbury is about.

Please do pray for the Primates, especially that they will be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Photo: The 2016 Primates meeting.)

‘No need to speculate’

Freedom for Faith, have published this video featuring Professor Iain Benson, an expert in religious freedom.

He speaks about the Canadian experience.

Other videos are being posted on the Freedom for Faith website.

Humanity’s value and dignity

“Have you ever thought about one of the underlying assumptions behind almost every Hollywood thriller?

It is the value of human life.

Basically, because we value human life, the hero will bend over backwards to ensure that the nerve gas isn’t released into the city’s gas supply or stop the nuclear warhead from being detonated.

These movies would be pretty short if the hero simply did a cost-benefit analysis and concluded that it would be simply too expensive to save the city. No, the underlying assumption is that human life is precious. …”

— Moore College’s Dr Peter Orr reminds us why human life is valuable, when so many around us think otherwise. At SydneyAnglicans.net.

Moore College Open Day on Saturday October 28

The next Moore College Open Day is set for Saturday October 28.

“The day includes a sample lecture from one of our faculty, a campus tour and plenty of opportunities for questions. You are welcome to drop in at any point during the day, lunch is provided at 12 noon.”

– Details from Moore College.

Have we domesticated service?

“A few times every year in our church we have ‘welcome suppers’ for people who are new to our church.  During those times we talk about the things that define us and invite people to come on board.  On each occasion we open up various passages of Scripture to talk about different aspects of church life and one passage we always look at is Mark 10:42-45 …”

– Phil Colgan, Rector of St. George North, wants us to truly understand the gospel of grace. At The Australian Church Record.

The Purpose of Humanity

“When we know our purpose it has far reaching implications for all that we do and give ourselves to.

Purpose doesn’t determine what I can or can’t do, but it will tell me what I ought to be doing. For instance, a scalpel can have very great or terrible uses depending on whether it is acting in line with its purpose. Similarly, an athlete can forgo all kinds of luxuries, not because they are ‘wrong’ but because they do not fit with their purpose.

So then when it comes to the actions and plans of humanity, discerning the ‘purpose statement’ is of infinite importance. …”

– Sam Manchester, Head of Communications at St Helen’s Bishopsgate, addresses a question few people ask, and to which fewer heed God’s answer. At The Australian Church Record.

Hypocrisy

“Hypocrisy just makes us mad doesn’t it?

Politicians speaking of tightened belts, while endorsing payments for themselves. There is the hypocrisy of some media figures speaking of truth and objectivity, while at the same time advancing a personal or political agenda with inaccurate or selective reporting.

There is the hypocrisy of some doctors supposedly committed to the Hippocratic Oath, while at the same time advocating killing. It makes us mad when we see examples of Police who are supposed to be guardians, caught in corruption or carelessness… and then there are examples of hypocritical clergy, preaching and standing for morality while living out the worst kinds of immorality.

Hypocrisy rightly makes us angry. We hate hypocrites. Hypocrisy makes us cynical. Hypocrisy makes us distrustful. I hate the hypocrisy that I see in those others around me, and the damage that it does… but there is a kind that I hate even more. …”

– Dean of Armidale, Chris Brennan, offers hope for hypocrites.
(Earlier, we incorrectly attributed this to the Bishop. Our apologies.)

My self-help Bible?

“The self-help industry is flourishing. Isn’t that ironic?

The industry is built on the premise that all you need for happiness, success, and contentment is within you, yet it peddles self-improvement programs as the key to becoming a better you. The endless supply and demand for the latest life changing-book betrays the fact they never actually deliver the transformation we long for.

The question is, have we taken on a self-help approach to reading the Bible? …”

– Ruth Schroeter, Associate Minister at St Andrew’s Cathedral, writes in The Australian Church Record. (Photo courtesy St. Andrew’s Cathedral.)

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