Charles Simeon and his enduring influence on Australia
This year’s Moore College Library Day looks at the influence of Charles Simeon. It’s on Saturday 23rd May. Read the details and register for the day.
Is Christianity dying?
“Bible Belt near-Christianity is teetering. I say let it fall.
For much of the twentieth century, especially in the South and parts of the Midwest, one had to at least claim to be a Christian to be ‘normal.’ During the Cold War, that meant distinguishing oneself from atheistic Communism. At other times, it has meant seeing churchgoing as a way to be seen as a good parent, a good neighbor, and a regular person.
It took courage to be an atheist, because explicit unbelief meant social marginalization. Rising rates of secularization, along with individualism, means that those days are over—and good riddance to them.…”
– Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention responds to a recent study on church attendance in the USA. (h/t Justin Taylor.)
Related: Back in 2000, Peter Jensen (then Principal of Moore College) spoke at the ACL Synod Dinner and made these observations about Sydney –
“The 1950s saw large church and Sunday School attendances. The churches seemed to be flourishing. But an acute observer would have been very worried even then. The Christianity of the people was not evangelical. It was a sort of ‘common Christianity’, a ‘lowest common denominator’ Christianity. It had a strong moral emphasis; Christianity was about behaviour not belief; parents sent their children to Sunday School in the hope that they would grow up decent citizens rather than committed Christians. To be born once was enough; to be born again was excessive. The ranks of church-goers were swollen with the unsaved. The real religion was materialism.”
– Read it all in the ACL News of March 2001 – PDF file. (Text-only version here.)
Schools, Scripture and Book Banning in NSW
“There has been quite some concern in Christian circles in my home State of NSW over the last few days, over bureaucratic action to ‘ban’ some books from being used in Special Religious Education classes.
While events are still unfolding (the relevant Department has so far made no general public comment on the matter, which seems to be promised for the coming week), it seems worthwhile to set some of this dispute in legal context…”
– Neil Foster shares some much-needed background to SRE in schools at Law & Religion Australia.
Thank God for William Tyndale
Potted history from Adam Ford.
Thank God for William Tyndale.
Watch NEXUS 2015
The NEXUS 2015 Conference was held today at Ryde, in Sydney. If you missed it, you can watch the recording of the livestream thanks to the organisers.
Simon Manchester, Mark Thompson and Phil Colgan were this year’s main speakers. Very encouraging and worthwhile.
The video begins with Dominic Steele interviewing some of the attendees. The first talk (Simon Manchester on Galatians 6) starts at 64 minutes in.
The Forgotten God
The latest Credo Magazine is out and available for download:
“Looking back on the first half of the twentieth century, H. Richard Niebuhr famously described liberal Christianity’s understanding of the gospel like this: ‘A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.’ …
For many people today, Bible stories having to do with divine wrath, anger, or jealousy are embarrassing. And yet, no matter how uncomfortable they make you feel, it is nearly impossible to get through a book (sometimes a chapter!) of the Bible without coming face to face with these forgotten attributes of God.”
Will the American Church be a new Smyrna?
“As Christians brace for official oppression in America, Jesus’ words to Smyrna offer a great hope. Primarily, Jesus declares his sovereignty over such tribulation.”
– Rick Phillips at Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina, writes this reflection at Reformation21.
John Woodhouse on 1 Kings 1 and the Servant King
Former Moore College Principal, Dr. John Woodhouse, was back at college this week, and preached in Chapel for the first time since he retired.
Hear the sermon on 1 Kings 1:1-10 and the Servant King. Most challenging and encouraging.
NEXUS 2015 registration last days
It’s less than a week to this year’s NEXUS Conference – at St. Anne’s Ryde on Monday 11th May.
More than a feeling … but the feeling still counts
“Recently I asked a group of young people to jot down the world’s take on romantic relationships. There were no surprises in their responses: ‘Get into a relationship if it feels good and get out of it when it is no longer fun’; ‘It doesn’t have to last, it just has to be fun for both parties’; ‘Do what feels right for you’; ‘It’s about feeling’.
These answers capture so much of our culture. We love experiences. Our feelings really matter. Freedom and fulfilment are found in expressing our desires – having as few boundaries and restraints as possible as long as we don’t hurt anyone else. We are awash with a focus upon ourselves. As another of my respondents put it, sex and relationships are ‘about me’…”
– Positive insights on marriage from Dr. Keith Condie, Dean of Students at Moore College.
Gospel Coalition 2015 conference audio
The Gospel Coalition’s 2015 National Conference was held April 13-15, and audio files of all the talks and workshops are now available.
Plenty of encouraging and challenging talks to hear.
Last on the list of files, John Yates II and John Yates III speak on “The Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What relevance does it have to today’s contemporary worship?”. [John III spoke at NSW CMS Summer School this year.]
“More and more pastors and church leaders are discovering the remarkable contribution Thomas Cranmer made to us all through his Book of Common Prayer.
This Reformation martyr’s understanding of what matters in worship is reverberating more and more through the evangelical community all around the world. The genius of Reformation Anglicanism is found in Cranmer’s timeless insights into the human heart and our motivations for Christian service.”
The Clarity of Scripture
Moore College Principal Mark Thompson was interviewed by Michael Horton on The White Horse Inn broadcast earlier this month. The topic: The Clarity of Scripture.
“Does the incredible variety of Christian denominations and interpretive traditions imply that the Scriptures themselves are unclear? How can we know what the Bible really says if there are so many different interpretations of it? ”
You can listen here. Most encouraging.
Mark’s book, A Clear and Present Word – The clarity of Scripture, (New Studies in Biblical Theology 21) was published by Apollos / InterVarsity Press in 2006.
Paul in Rome in the Sixties
“The book of Acts indicates that Paul was under ‘house arrest’ in Rome, most probably between 60-62.
Luke’s text suggests that Paul was then released, something First Timothy and Titus also imply.
Second Timothy, written from Rome, however indicates that Paul was soon to face execution. Presumably, this execution was at the decision of Nero Caesar following the Great Fire in 64.”
– Confused about the Apostle Paul’s final years in Rome? Read this fascinating new article by Bishop Paul Barnett to understand better what was going on.
Tip: You may want to first read his earlier piece, ‘Paul lived in Rome two whole years’. The Mysterious Ending of Luke-Acts.
Nepal appeal launched by Anglican Aid
“Anglican Aid has joined other agencies in launching an appeal for victims of the Nepal earthquake.
A huge quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck the mountain Kingdom on April 25th…”
– Read the latest from INF and CMS via this story at SydneyAnglicans.net – and there’s a donation form for the Nepal Emergency Appeal here.
For background, here’s a message from Global Recordings Network Nepal Director, Surendra Shrestha”
“We need your special prayer because we have no water supply at all, no electricity and food starting to get shortage. No shop is open and even if there is open, no supplies there. We need God to intervene in this situation to provide all this need during this time. We don’t know what to do, we are in very confused situation. We all are nervous and nothing coming in our mind except pray. All around us looks like war zone. Some of the village is 95 percent destroyed. In one village call Barpak there were 1200 houses and only four of them are standing. The results are still coming in and earthquake is still on and off [aftershocks].”
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends
“100 years ago an Aussie Padre by the name of Andrew Gillison, serving in the 14th Battalion, found himself heading for Gallipoli.
At first, the chaplains were ordered to stay on ship and care for the wounded, but Andrew was not the kind of Christian man to stay where it was safe when others were in need…”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…