The Best Possible Gift — the case for theological education
“Theological education is a costly business. Whether you are raising your own support, or whether it’s being funded by the church, it’s expensive to be trained for ministry. There’s a personal cost, too. Giving several years of your life to theological education is sacrificial. …
This short film looks at the case for theological training and features short interviews with people who are currently in training or who are now doing ministry in a wide range of contexts in the UK and Ireland…”
– A new resource from Oak Hill College in London.
A mind soaked with Scripture: Samuel Marsden
“Marsden was probably born in 1765 and grew up in the Yorkshire area of England. …
Whatever led to Marsden’s call to ministry is not known but the financial means came through the Elland Society – a group of evangelical clergy who met to support one another and who began to fund suitable young men who were considering the ministry.
Marsden trained in Cambridge, being influenced by older men such as William Romaine, John Newton, Rowland Hill, William Wilberforce and his mentor Charles Simeon. … He cut short his theological studies when the invitation came to become the assistant chaplain in New South Wales…”
– Tomorrow marks 200 years since Samuel Marsden preached the first Christian sermon in New Zealand. Bible Society Australia has this article from Simon Manchester.
Related: “Hundreds of people are expected to gather at the small Northland beach of Oihi on Christmas day to commemorate the first Christian service on New Zealand whenua.” – Radio New Zealand.
The REAP Journal — to help you read God’s Word
Growing Faith (part of Youthworks) have just released an new Adult Edition of their REAp Journal.
From the blurb:
“If you’re training to be an athlete or concert pianist, you’ll no doubt have a daily workout or regime to get you to your goal. So, how do you train to be godly? By devoting yourself to the word of God and being disciplined in allocating time to its study and meditation!
Sounds difficult? It doesn’t have to be! This REAP Journal will help you to reach your spiritual goals with an easy-to-use format and a daily Bible Reading Program to keep you on track.
REAP stands for Read, Explore, Apply and Pray and is designed to make reading the Bible easy as a part of everyday life. There’s a version for Adults, Youth and Kids, with similar daily passages across all versions (with special consideration for each demographic), meaning that families can learn together just as easy as individuals can.”
– You can get it here. (Youth edition, Kids’ edition.)
Christmas messages 2014
It’s time for Christian leaders to release their Christmas messages.
Please pray that all will speak clearly and plainly of the saving gospel of Christ.
We’ll post messages as we find them (in no particular order).
- Archbishop Philip Freier, Melbourne.
- Bishop Trevor Edwards, Vicar General, Canberra & Goulburn.
- Bishop Ian Lambert, Bishop to the Australian Defence Force.
- Bishop Bill Ray, North Queensland.
- Bishop John Harrower, Tasmania.
- Archbishop Glenn Davies, Sydney.
O Christmas Tree
This year’s Christmas video from Revival in the UK is out. It’s a little quirky – yet has an excellent message. Watch and share.
Previous videos:
Christmas in Dark Place.
Santa vs. Jesus.
A unique salvation
“Article 18 of the Church of England’s 39 Articles must surely qualify as one of the most culturally unpopular of Anglicanism’s core beliefs.
Even the title is enough to upset contemporary sensitivities: ‘Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ.’…”
– At Church Society’s blog, Simon Scott draws our attention back to Article 18, official teaching of the Anglican Church.
Related: The Thirty Nine Articles.
Wise Judgements
“For many years biblical scholars have baulked at the idea that Jesus was a transcendent figure and have busied themselves redefining him in humanistic terms.
Is this due to the ‘secular’ spirit of the age that airbrushes the Almighty from the public square?
For a period in early the twentieth century some thought there was little we could know about Jesus, for example, in 1934 Rudolph Bultmann declared, ‘We can now know almost nothing about the life and personality of Jesus’. The pendulum has swung back so that in 1985 Ed. Sanders could say, ‘We can know pretty well what Jesus was out to accomplish… we can know a lot about what he said…’.”
– New Testament scholar Bishop Paul Barnett has published some fascinating work he’s been doing on the judgements of Jesus.
‘Logic on Fire’ trailer
At The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor shares the trailer for a forthcoming film, “Logic On Fire: the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones”.
First woman Bishop in the Church of England
“Downing Street have today announced that the new Bishop of Stockport – and the first woman bishop in the Church of England – will be the Revd Libby Lane, currently Vicar of St Peter’s, Hale, and St Elizabeth’s, Ashley.
As Bishop of Stockport she will serve as a suffragan (assistant) bishop in the Diocese of Chester. She will be consecrated as the 8th Bishop of Stockport at a ceremony at York Minster on Monday 26 January 2015…”
– from The Church of England. Video message from the bishop-designate.
Related: Writing as an outsider to Anglicanism, Jeremy Walker at Reformation21 asks if evangelical Anglicans need to make a stand.
George Whitefield @ 300
“Today, three hundred years ago, on December 16, 1714, was born the man Martyn Lloyd-Jones said was ‘beyond any question, the greatest English preacher who has ever lived”. The great Bishop J. C. Ryle had said, ‘No Englishman … dead or alive, has ever equalled him.’…”
– Sandy Grant at The Briefing gives thanks for George Whitefield – and also provides some links to learn more.
Related:
Church Society has a lecture by Lee Gatiss which some of the opposition Whitefield faced, and puts it into its 18th century context.
Hear the audio of the talks given at the Whitefield Symposium at George Whitefield College in Cape Town in August 2014. (You may need to scroll down in the list of audio files.)
Moses without the Supernatural
“What is missing is the very point of the Exodus in biblical history and theology. What is missing is the truth that God acted in history in faithfulness to the covenant he had made with Abraham, rescuing Israel from captivity in Egypt.”
– Thinking of seeing Exodus: Gods and Kings? Albert Mohler has a review.
Christmas mission, Christmas transmission
“For years I’ve been wrestling with how we might ever attract non-Christians to willingly engage with media that communicates the gospel. And then it hit me. The one time non-Christians do want to engage with the Christian message is at Christmas – and there’s no starker example of this than the church carol service. But there’s more. Each Christmas I’ve also heard media channels such as Classic FM playing lots of carols amongst their regular programming, even taking requests for carols!
How interesting that the Christmas story is being broadcast on secular media, to a Christmas-hungry audience. And so after years of wondering, an idea was born – Christmas Carols Radio…”
– Ben Vane, studying at Oak Hill College in London, had a great idea.
Check out Christmas Carols Radio and pass on the URL to your friends in time for Christmas.
[We first posted this link in October. Now’s the time to mention the site to your friends!]
Naive?
“The Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent remarks are once again somewhat puzzling. One question that comes to mind is whether he really believes this statement that he made: ‘I could see circumstances in which there could be people moving apart and then coming back together.’ …
The problem with looking at tertiary issues is they are often the result of more basic disagreements which in the final analysis have far more leverage on the Anglican Communion. It is my contention that the authority of Holy Scripture as noted in 2 Timothy 3:16 and the person and work of Jesus Christ are actually the primary points of disagreement, though the so-called progressive wing of the Anglican Communion, and indeed the leadership of much of the Western church will not acknowledge it. …
If Archbishop Justin Welby actually thinks that the tertiary issues ARE the issues and in the fullness of time we can all come back together, forgetting the punishment that the Episcopal Church inflicted on those members who chose to depart, and all drink tea and sing Kumbaya together, he is at best naive.”
– Bishop David C. Anderson, President and Chairman of the American Anglican Council, writes in his weekly commentary.
Vinegrowers
Vinegrowers have a new website, complete with some articles to help us see the need for a disciple-making culture in our churches.
“Vinegrowers has seized on a vital biblical truth that’s too easily forgotten in the busyness and distraction of modern ministry life: the heart of Christian growth is God’s people speaking God’s word in the power of God’s Spirit.”
– Dr Lionel Windsor.
To Give Knowledge of Salvation to His People: A Christmas Mandate for Christian Ministry
“So many moments of our lives pass with almost no sense of significance. The twenty four hours in a day fade into the memory of the seven days of the week, then the thirty-odd days of a month, and then months into years. The years pass into the mist of memory.
But certain moments, certain days stand out in vivid contrast. These are occasions of bright and lasting memory — births, deaths, family reunions, and Christmases. Add to those moments like this, a commencement ceremony. There is something even more special about this ceremony, however, for this is the graduation of those called to Christian ministry, and this ceremony comes fast upon Christmas…”
– from Albert Mohler’s commencement address to be preached later today at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. (If you’re keen, the commencement ceremony will be live-streamed at 10:00 a.m. US EST Friday December12 – the same as 4:00am AEDT Saturday December 13.)
Related:
If you haven’t seen it, last year Southern Seminary gave thanks for 20 years of leadership of Albert Mohler in this 25-minute video. Worth watching – not just for the interesting history, but also a reminder of the value and importance of keeping a theological college faithful to the gospel.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…