Reformation Public Lecture — Graham Cole — The legacy of the Reformation through the eyes of J.C. Ryle
Dr Graham Cole spoke at Moore College on July 19th, about The legacy of the Reformation through the eyes of J.C. Ryle. Most encouraging.
The message lives on
“Mr Eternity could never have imagined he would have crowds of Sydney-siders remembering him 50 years after his death, but that’s what happened at St Andrew’s Cathedral on Sunday.
But then again, he wouldn’t have imagined he would prompt city authorities to emblazon Eternity in fireworks on the Harbour Bridge at the turn of the century, either.
Arthur Stace was an alcoholic converted during the Great Depression, who then went on to devote his life to reminding people of Eternity by writing the word in perfect copperplate on Sydney Streets.…”
– Russell Powell reports on the tribute to Arthur Stace, “Mr. Eternity”, last Sunday at the Cathedral. (Photo of Arthur Stace courtesy HammondCare.)
See also this report from Eternity News, and these related posts.
Enemies of Christianity declaring new war on religion
“Christians, prepare for persecution. Open your eyes and choose stronger leaders for the dark days.
I am not a Christian, but I am amazed that your bishops and ministers are not warning you of what is already breaking over your heads. …”
– Andrew Bolt writes in The Herald-Sun. (Subscription.) Image: Sky News.
I was born in a free country
“Media release July 28 2017 in response to complaints accepted by the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner.
Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Sarah Bolt has informed me that she has accepted a complaint against my church, in part for things that I wrote on my blog in 2011 in defence of marriage.
No one is forced to read my writings, it is the mere fact of their existence that may prove to be unlawful.
I bear no ill-will whatsoever towards the complainant. I am however bemused that a Christian pastor can be called to account before a government tribunal for expressing Christian teaching about marriage. …”
– Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Hobart, Campbell Markum, responds publicly to correspondence from the Tasmanian ‘Anti-Discrimination Commissioner’. Read it all.
Nathan Tasker sings Eternity
From Nathan Tasker’s album “Home” (iTunes), the single “Eternity (What we were made for)”.
Related:
Eternity: How Arthur Stace’s handwritten chalk message became a symbol of Sydney – Sun-Herald.
From here to Eternity: Arthur Stace in his own words
In 1964, 79 year-old Arthur Stace was interviewed on Sydney radio about why he wrote “Eternity”.
We’ve transcribed the brief segment. (A few words are unclear.)
Presenter: [One of ] the things that strikes a visitor to Sydney, and indeed many other towns right throughout New South Wales, is the fact that someone has been there before, in writing “Eternity” on the footpaths, on walls, almost anywhere, in very fine handwriting, and in yellow chalk.
For Monitor, Jim Waugh found Mr Arthur Stace, who writes “Eternity” and asked him, “Why?”. Read more
Colin Buchanan sings about Mr Eternity
“Award-winning musician Colin Buchanan will perform a special tribute tomorrow to the man who emblazoned Sydney and Melbourne with ‘Eternity’.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Arthur Stace, Buchanan wrote Eternity (Arthur Stace).
During a 10:30am commemorative service tomorrow for Stace at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, Buchanan will perform the song – which you can listen to below. …”
– Listen at Eternity newspaper.
Societas 2017
Moore College’s annual student magazine publication, Societas, is now available.
Always a good read!
‘Mr Eternity’ remembered at Hammondville
“This month will mark 50 years since the death of Arthur Stace at Hammondville. Internationally recognised as ‘Mr Eternity’, Stace spent 30 years anonymously writing the word ‘Eternity’ across the streets of Sydney. …
After spending more than three decades writing Eternity on footpaths (500,000 times) – with initial inspiration coming in a sermon by Baptist evangelist John Ridley – Arthur Stace spent his final years as an aged care resident at Hammondville before dying of a stroke on July 30, 1967.”
– Story from HammondCare.
We understand that HammondCare’s David Martin will be on Open House on Hope 103.2FM this Sunday evening.
Related:
Cathedral to remember ‘Mr Eternity’, Arthur Stace, this Sunday.
The Eternity waterfall after 40 years.
(Photo: Arthur as the Emergency depot Manager at the Hammond Hotel Chippendale, 1930s. Courtesy HammondCare, used with permission. © HammondCare.)
Report on the Anglican Connection Conference, Dallas, 13-15 June 2017
“ ‘A dog’s breakfast’. During a recent conversation in the UK, a casual observer used that phrase to describe to me the Anglican Church in the United States of America.
The fracture in the global Anglican Communion is most acute in the States, where the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) has been set up as a parallel Anglican province, bringing together the various Anglican groups that have been forming over the last twenty years or so – such as the Nigerian based, Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). However, the gospel clarity of the 16th century English Reformers – expressed in the Thirty-Nine Articles and the 1552 Prayer Book – is not yet found in North American Anglican structures. This is why the formation of the Anglican Connection is important.
Initiated by John Mason, among others, the Anglican Connection works outside the formal structures of the Anglican Church. It is an affiliation of like-minded gospel-focused ministers and church leaders who are committed to making disciples of Christ and whose ministry is grounded in the Scriptures and framed by the riches of the English Reformation. …”
– At The Australian Church Record, Stephen Tong reports on last month’s Anglican Connection Conference in Dallas.
(We understand that recordings of the talks will be available within days, and we’ll post a link when they are online.)
Music for the Church: Mark Dever interviews Keith Getty
“Mark Dever recently sat down with hymn writer and musician Keith Getty to talk about his hymn-writing, the effects of technology on church music, and more.”
– An interesting and encouraging interview, as well as insights on how Mark Dever picks songs.
Listen at the 9Marks website.
Cathedral to remember “Mr. Eternity” Arthur Stace, 50 years on
This Sunday (30th July) marks the 50th anniversary of the homecalling of Arthur Stace, the man who wrote “Eternity” on the streets of Sydney from 1932 until 1966.
He died at Hammondville Nursing Home on the evening of Sunday 30th July 1967.
On Sunday, Arthur Stace will be remembered at a special service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral at 10:30am.
Why did he write “Eternity” right across our city? What happened to change him from a life of alcohol and crime and hopelessness? Was he a mystic or a loner? This Sunday, hear the wonderful news he discovered, and understand what drove this humble Sydney icon.
Photo of Arthur Stace by Les Nixon, via Ramon Williams, used by permission. Taken at Burton Street Tabernacle, 27 December 1952. Right hand photo: the Eternity memorial in Town Hall Arcade.
Related: The Eternity waterfall after 40 years – 12th July 2017.
Reformation Preaching and the Modern Mind — Annual Moore College Lectures 2017
“The Annual Moore College Lectures will be given by Carl Trueman, a well-known church historian who has written extensively on reformation themes.”
– Beginning 3rd August. Details from the College.
The Banner of Truth Trust turns 60
“Iain Murray is 86 years old. Sixty years ago today, along with Jack Cullum and Sidney Norton, officially founded Banner of Truth, the Reformed-evangelical publisher that began out of Westminster Chapel in London in 1957.…”
– A cause for thanksgiving. Justin Taylor marks the anniversary. (Picture: Iain Murray.)
Fundamental shifts in the Church of England General Synod
“The decisions taken in the February and July 2017 sessions of the General Synod crossed a line never before reached.
Its failure to take note of the definition of marriage as that between ‘one man and one woman in lifelong commitment’, and its embrace of key LGBT agenda (banning so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for unwanted same-sex attraction, liturgy to mark a person’s gender transition) has caused serious consternation, anger and anxiety in the Church of England, and beyond.
It was the scale of defeat of orthodoxy in the July sessions that is most shocking. …”
– At the GAFCON website, Dr. Chik Kaw Tan, a 12-year veteran of General Synod, shares his reflections on the significant shifts which have taken place, and possible consequences.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…