Bring lasting hope
Through their Lasting Hope Appeal, CMS Australia is seeking the help of its supporters to bring lasting hope to Buddhist Asia.
To sustain their work, they are praying to reach their $1.5 million goal by the June 30th deadline!
Trouble ahead for U.S. Churches?
“The problem is that with this decision, the not-Supreme-and-not-a-court has set the stage for a monumental conflict between two constitutional rights: the right to exercise one’s religion under the First Amendment, and the right to marry (which soon will have to be extended to polygamy and polyandry, since there are no limiting principles to the new “right” just discovered).
And the worst part is that the only umpires for this impending conflict will be: you guessed it — unelected lawyers in black robes.
What may come as news to some is that the United States has been there before — and the results were not pretty…”
– Christian lawyer A S Haley comments.
Related: American Tragedy: Now Gird Up Your Loins.
“… this will turn out to be the greatest American tragedy for the civil liberties of persons of faith, for the cause of sexual purity… and for the lives of persons struggling with same-sex attraction…”
D A Carson on the US Supreme Court decision
On Desiring God’s Ask Pastor John podcast, Tony Reinke asked Prof. D. A. Carson for his response to the US Supreme Court same-sex marriage decision.
Runs for 18 minutes. Worth listening.
Responses to US Supreme Court same-sex marriage decision
“The threat to religious liberty represented by this decision is clear, present, and inevitable.
Assurances to the contrary, the majority in this decision has placed every religious institution in legal jeopardy if that institution intends to uphold its theological convictions limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman. This threat is extended to every religious citizen or congregation that would uphold the convictions held by believers for millennia.”
– Read it all – at the SBTS website.
Russell Moore also has wise words in this video. via Justin Taylor.
“This is not the time for Christians to panic. We have a God who is sovereign. The Supreme Court can do many things, but the Supreme Court cannot get Jesus Christ back into the grave.”
David Robertson at the Spring Senior Ministers Conference
David Robertson (Minister at St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee) spoke at the recent Spring Senior Ministers Conference in the UK.
His talk, and a following Q&A, (each >60 mins) have been posted on the Proclamation Trust website. Most encouraging, especially for those involved in full time ministry.
The ‘No Compromise’ tour
An upcoming series of concerts featuring the music of Keith Green will help support the ministry of The Bush Church Aid Society around Australia.
Download the flier (PDF) and links to buy tickets via the BCA website.
GoThereFor.com 2.0 now live
The new GoThereFor.com from Matthias Media was launched last night, with lots of resources available, and they’re offering a free trial sign-up.
(“Sign up for a free trial by June 30 and receive an exclusive free ebook, Can we talk about Islam? by Tony Payne.”)
Here’s what ACL Council member Dr. Lionel Windsor says about it:
“I’m thinking GoThereFor.com is a bit like Netflix, but better.
It’s like Netflix because – a simple subscription gives you access to lots of content.
It’s better because – the content is all excellent quality, the subscription is cheaper, and subscriptions help people in the developing world to access resources for making disciples who wouldn’t otherwise be able to.”
Reckless Abandon by the Sea
“This week marks the 150th anniversary of Hudson Taylor’s Brighton Beach experience – one of the seminal events of the Gospel’s advance in China and in the history of missions…”
– Tim Keesee marks a significant anniversary – with the hope of stirring hearts today.
Update: Tim Keesee has a guest post at Challies.com –
“One of my favorite quotes from Hudson Taylor, the very quotable pioneer missionary to China is ‘There are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.’ Taylor knew about impossible…” – read it all here.
The Heresy of Racial Superiority
“In 1995, on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention, the denomination publicly repented of its roots in the defense of slavery.
In 2015, far more is required of us. It is not enough to repent of slavery. We must repent and seek to confront and remove every strain of racial superiority that remains and seek with all our strength to be the kind of churches of which Jesus would be proud — the kind of churches that will look like the marriage supper of the Lamb…”
– Albert Mohler looks at the history of his own denomination – and college.
Expositional Preaching – new 9Marks Journal
The latest 9Marks Journal is out. It’s on expositional (otherwise called expository) preaching.
Welcome to Upsy Down Town
“Fifty years ago the Christian world view was accepted as the norm by most of the western world. Twenty years ago it was tolerated as the view of some.
Today, in Upsy Down Town, if you want to stand for the Christian way of thinking on almost any ethical issue, expect to be swimming against the tide…”
– Stephen Rockwell, who teaches at George Whitefield College in Cape Town, writes about how to live in Upsy Down Town.
Pray through Ramadan
As the month of Ramadan begins, Christians around the world are being urged to pray for their Muslim friends and neighbours, that they may hear the saving news of Jesus Christ and to put their trust in him.
Open Doors is one of several organisations providing prayer resources. Another is 30 Days Australia.
Who counts as an extremist?
“Shortly after the last general election, prime minister David Cameron said that the UK had been a ‘passively tolerant society’ for too long. ‘Passively tolerant’, he says, is a society in which people were told ‘as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone’.
This is rather odd…”
– Oak Hill Principal Mike Ovey considers some ominous proposals in the UK.
Did you forget the Cross?
At the recent NEXUS Conference, Chris Braga gave a very helpful 18 minute exhortation.
Does your church or Christian organisation explicitly speak of the Cross of Christ and what it means?
Or is it assumed?
Encouragement: It’s not too long – watch the video in your Parish Council meetings, committee meetings, home groups, staff meetings – at GoThereFor.com.
Related: Mission Minded.
Two Ways Ministries launch (updated with video)
When Phillip Jensen resigned as Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral at the end of 2014, it wasn’t so that he could retire.
His new venture, Two Ways Ministries, was launched at Moore College on Saturday 30th May, with the help of a large group of friends.
The tag line of Two Ways Ministries is “Preaching the gospel by teaching the Bible”. Phillip explains that his aim is to promote the strong connection between faithful exposition of the Bible and preaching the gospel. He, and a few consultants, aim to model evangelistic preaching from the Bible. As well, he plans to continue recruiting and training young preachers, and writing.
Watch or listen:
Richard Chin asks Phillip Jensen about the new ministry. (video)
Two Ways Ministry and book launch – Phil Colgan. (video)
Phillip spoke on 2 Timothy 4:5, “Do the Work of an Evangelist” (video) or audio only.
The ministry was launched with prayer.
As well, a book of 20 essays in honour of Phillip – Let the Word do the Work – was also launched by The Australian Church Record.
The offices of Two Ways Ministries are inside Moore Theological College and can be contacted here.
Please do pray for this new ministry, at the same time giving thanks for tools such as Two Ways to Live – which has been such a blessing to so many over the years.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…