Face 2016 with Prayer
“We live in a disturbing, unsettled world. This year we will face a Federal election in Australia and the possibility, if the Coalition is returned, of a national plebiscite on the nature of marriage…”
– Amid all the challenges 2016 will bring, Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook calls Christians to prayer.
AP scores a hit with scoop on ISIS’ destruction of Iraqi monastery
“Certainly, journalists can’t do enough to explain what’s up with this orgy of monument desecration that ISIS and Al Qaeda enjoy doing. But there’s a deeper issue here…”
– Julia Duin at Get Religion looks at coverage of the destruction of the 1400 year old St. Elijah’s Monastery of Mosul monastery. (Image: CCTV.)
‘ISIS destroys Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery’
“Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press confirm what church leaders and Middle East preservationists had feared: The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a field of rubble … St. Elijah’s Monastery stood as a place of worship for 1,400 years…”
– Report from Fox News.
Change, or Die Out — Dr Andrew Cameron
“The Western world is rapidly changing. And this brings with it many challenges, particularly for Christians. So to get a better handle on these changes, I’ve started interviewing a number of Christian leaders.
What follows is an edited version of an interview I did with the Reverend Dr Andrew Cameron, who is the Director of St Marks Theological Centre, in Canberra, Australia…”
– from Akos Balogh.
Priscilla & Aquila Centre Annual Conference 2016
The Priscilla & Aquila Centre Annual Conference is coming up on Monday 1st February. Moore College Principal, Mark Thompson is speaking – and there’ll be a number of electives.
The theme? “The Christian and Submission”.
Registration for the conference closes January 22.
The scandal of Biblical illiteracy
“Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products of churches that marginalize biblical knowledge. Bible teaching now often accounts for only a diminishing fraction of the local congregation’s time and attention…”
– Albert Mohler addresses a scandal which is not confined to the USA.
‘Primates reaffirm teaching on marriage’ — encouragements and concerns
“In the immediate aftermath of the gathering of Anglican Primates last week, what are we to make of it all? … Some of the initial headlines suggested that all will be well for the Church, but a closer analysis shows that there are some real concerns going forward, as well as some encouragements…”
– Anglican Mainstream’s Rev. Andrew Symes comments on the outcomes of the Primates’ Meeting.
Amidst some real encouragements, he turns to the apologies which have been voiced by some –
“While part of the Church’s role is to encourage love of neighbour and pastoral care of all people, its Gospel witness is compromised if it suggests that it is saying sorry to people whose feelings have been hurt by the clear teaching of the Bible and basic principles of Christian discipleship.”
What they’re saying about Moore College
Here are four brief videos, with clips from Gerald Bray, Michael Horton and Kevin Vanhoozer, sharing their impressions of Moore College.
Especially useful to pass on to anyone considering studying at Moore.
Another three videos below:
Wedding venue owners fined for declining same sex wedding
“In the latest in what seems like a long series of religious freedom cases involving Christian small business owners in the ‘wedding industry’, a New York couple, the Giffords, have been fined $13,000 for declining to make their venue available for a same sex wedding ceremony, and a New York State appeal court has now upheld the verdict…”
– in his latest post at Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster (Associate Professor in Law, Newcastle Law School) looks at a ‘religious freedom’ case in the USA, and similar cases in Australia.
A Response to the Primates Gathering 2016 Statement — Canon Phil Ashey
The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey:
“I am writing from Canterbury, England, where the staff of the American Anglican Council has been on site assisting Archbishop Foley Beach and the GAFCON Primates in their witness at the Primates gathering this week. There is a saying about the fog of war: when it descends, there is often confusion and disorientation in the midst of the fight. Here, it would certainly be fair to say that situations changed on a daily, if not hourly basis. In the fog of war, rarely are battles decisive. More often, they turn out to be one step among many in a long and costly road to victory. Read more
‘On the Death of the Anglican Communion’
“My prediction about the sun setting on the breakup of the Anglican Communion is coming true, even as I write before the final session of the primates gathered at Canterbury.
Enough has leaked from the gathering to be able to form a picture of what went on. The Archbishop of Canterbury and his staff had tried to direct the progress of the group’s deliberations by resorting to a standby from ++Justin Welby’s corporate days: the RAND-developed group facilitation mechanism known as the ‘Delphi Technique’…”
– The Anglican Curmudgeon, A. S. Haley, gives his take on the washup of the gathering in Canterbury. (There is one more day of meetings scheduled, with a press conference scheduled for 1500BST Friday / 0200AEDT Saturday).
The days ahead will give some clarity, however the Statement issued this morning by GAFCON Chairman Eliud Wabukala and General Secretary Peter Jensen is worth re-reading.
Getting to know the new Dean of Sydney
Kanishka Raffel has now begun as the Dean of Sydney – he will be installed as Dean on Thursday 4th February, at 7:00pm.
David Ould took the opportunity to speak with Kanishka at last week’s CMS Summer School at Katoomba (at which Kanishka spoke).
Topics in the conversation include:
- Leading mission and church growth in Perth
- Thoughts about leading mission as Dean of Sydney
- Preaching Acts
- Welcoming immigrants
- Challenges for Western Christianity
- His background in Buddhism, Sri Lankan family, and his conversion to Christ.
Please be encouraged to pray for Kanishka in his new role.
Also, Kanishka will be speaking at Nexus 16 on Monday 23rd May at Village Church Annandale.
Do we need to Contextualise our Preaching?
Do we need to Contextualise our Preaching?
In the latest Preaching Matters video from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, William Taylor addresses that question.
He argues that we need better communication, rather than contextualisation, because the gospel is relevant in every culture and context. Very helpful, as always.
There’s a great quote from Broughton Knox’s book “Everlasting God”.
J. I. Packer’s rare Puritan library digitised and available online
In one of the sad attempts to deal with faithful, Bible-believing clergy, in 2008, the then Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster issued a ‘notice of presumption of abandonment of the exercise of ministry’ to Dr J.I. Packer, and others.
As well as being a much-loved and respected theologian and preacher, Dr. Packer is a foremost Puritan historian.
“The John Richard Allison Library in Vancouver—which hosts the joint collections of Regent College and Carey Theological College—has now made available their entire rare Puritan collection to be read online for free. What a gift of modern technology to help us recover these gifts from the church of the past.
There are currently 80 Puritan authors in their collection, many of whose works were digitized from J. I. Packer’s private library.”
– Justin Taylor at the Gospel Coalition has a list of the titles and links to the digitised versions.
‘Day 2 – The facade begins to crumble’
“As we reported yesterday, all the GAFCON and some Global South (GS) Primates declined to attend Communion in the morning.
We have little details of discussions during the day but the most dramatic moment was evensong at 5.30pm when it very quickly became apparent that a large number of Primates were missing, not even attending as they had done on Monday…”
– At StandFirm, David Ould has some reports on the Primates’ meeting, Day 2. Please be very much in prayer for all involved.
“Dear Prayer Supporters,
The discussions at Canterbury are at a crucial stage and we know that God is sovereign, hence we ask you to pray with us:
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
We turn once more to you in faith,
Interceding for the Primates of the Anglican Communion as they meet in Canterbury.
Please use their endeavors to hallow your great name;
May your kingdom come;
May your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Uphold your word in the church we pray, so guiding us to live godly and obedient lives, not compromising with this world, but holding forth the gospel of salvation without fear,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AmenYours in Christ Service
Peter Jensen
GAFCON General Secretary.”
Update: Evening of Day 3 (Wednesday), UK time.
(Photo: Canterbury Cathedral via Primates2016.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…