Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Christian cartoonist Adam Ford (Adam4d) offers this primer on the religion of many westerners.

(These concepts will be familiar to listeners to Mike Horton’s White Horse Inn.)

Winter (heart) warmers

“Last month saw our annual Autumn Ministers conference, the audio from which is now online. Vaughan Roberts’ opening and closing expositions from Revelation encouraged and challenged us in our ministry.”

Listen to both expositions here.

Vanishing Church? Latest 9Marks Journal

The latest 9Marks Journal has been released. The theme: Vanishing Church? Seeking the Right Perspective as Opposition Grows.

Download it as a PDF file.

Challenge and Choice — Australian Anglican Schools Today

“The book Challenge and Choice – Australian Anglican Schools Today by Dr Ruth Edwards was launched in Brisbane on Wednesday 3 December.

The work represents a significant attempt to not only survey the history of these religious schools but to map something of the future that lies before this sector.”

– See the story from the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn.

A Church that sues itself?

“The highly litigious Episcopal Church in the United States of America (“ECUSA”) has settled a lawsuit with itself, according to a press release from its rump group (which cannot legally be called a “diocese”) in South Carolina.

Shall we run that one by our eyes again? ECUSA has settled a lawsuit which it brought against itself…”

– AS Haley (The Anglican Curmudgeon) looks at the latest legal twists and turns in The Episcopal Church.

Hold lightly to this world: Anne Bradstreet

“God has given us many Christian brothers and sisters throughout history whom we can benefit from, and whom we do benefit from. They teach, challenge, and comfort us largely through the ministry of writing that lives on many years after they have died. These writings include books, sermons, tracts, songs, letters, and poetry. Many of these men and women are well known, but others are less so. One of our lesser known sisters is Anne Bradstreet.

Anne Bradstreet (nee Dudley) was born in 1612 and died in 1672…”

– Never heard of Anne Bradstreet? Now’s a good time to learn, thanks to Jane Tooher, Director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre at Moore College.

Prayer in the English Reformation

In the latest issue of Credo magazine (h/t Tim Challies), Gerald Bray contributes part 1 of an essay on Prayer in the English Reformation.

Take the time to read it – it starts on page 24 of the 13MB PDF file linked from this page. (Image: Moore College.)

Preaching Matters: Charlie Skrine and contextualisation

In the latest Preaching Matters from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, Charlie Skrine thinks through Acts 17 and contextualisation. Encouraging and helpful.

Watch it here.

Themelios Vol 39 No 3 (November 2014)

The latest issue of the academic journal Themelios is now available from The Gospel Coalition. As always, a wealth of material, including book reviews. (h/t Andy Naselli.)

A new devotional book by John Piper for Advent 2014

John Piper’s new devotional book for Advent 2014 is now available here as a free PDF download.

Update: An audio version is this month’s free download from Christian Audio.

Grace Abounding — Tim Keesee on John Bunyan

“Bunyan’s book has blessed the world, but in Bedford, little remains from his life and long imprisonment…”

– Tim Keesee of Frontline Missions reflects briefly on the occasion of John Bunyan’s birthday.

Lotteries, Divorce and Australian Church History

“At Moore College, each year the Bachelor of Divinity fourth year students have the opportunity to research and write a 6,000 word essay in Church History on some aspect of evangelicalism in Australia or Britain (post-1600).

The Church History Department first launched the online journal Integrity last year in order to share some of the quality essays written by our students with a broader audience.”

The 140 page second volume is well worth downloading from the Moore College website. Here are the papers in Volume 2 –

The Unexpected Chaplain: Henry Fulton and Early Colonial Evangelicalism. – Tom Melbourne.
The Response of the Anglican Dioceses of Perth and Sydney to the Introduction of State Lotteries from 1920 to 1945. – Cameron Howard.
A survey of the Federal Methodist Inland Mission and an account of the ministry of the Rev Keith Lachlan Doust. – Katherine Cole.
An Analysis of the Reasons for the Opposition in Tasmania in the 1850s of the Rev Dr Henry Fry and other Evangelical Anglican Clergy to their Bishop, Dr Francis Nixon. – Sam Gough.
An Assessment of the Contribution of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney to the Debate on the Introduction of ‘No-Fault Divorce’ in the Family Law Act (1975). – Mark Wormell.

Do you proclaim the gospel on Sundays?

“How do our church meetings proclaim the gospel story? Of course we want all our words to point to Christ. But what about the shape of the gathering, the liturgy?

If the famous dictum, ‘the medium is the message,’ carries any truth then we would do well to reflect not only on the words spoken, but also the structures and shapes to our times together. How do our church meetings proclaim the gospel story?…”

– On the Church Society blog, John Percival quotes from an article by Graham O’Brien in Churchman.

Related: Paul Helm reflects on a church service he attended recently at an Abbey.

“I was at a service at an Abbey last Sunday, an unfamiliar venue for me. When I am at a service in an strange place, such as the service in this gaunt but undoubtedly beautiful building, being a visitor I tend to try to adopt the outlook of a visitor. What impression does what goes on in the great venues of English religion give to someone, who, like me on this occasion, joins the service as a one-off?”

Saying yes and no: a Briefing farewell

“I’m an avid reader, and social media brings an endless flood of articles my way—often very interesting, sometimes useful, occasionally mind-changing! So with that flood it’s hard to be sure, but I think the article that’s had the single biggest impact on my life and ministry was not published in The Briefing magazine. But that article by Ben Patterson explains why The Briefing has had more influence in shaping my Christian mind (and hopefully practice) than any book has ever done — apart from the Bible!…”