Chappo’s 20%

“When I first started preaching I was given a series of videos by the Australian evangelist John Chapman (now in glory) on how to prepare a sermon. Anyone who has heard Chappo will know that he was a great communicator of the gospel and that a central strength of his preaching was his tremendous clarity and simplicity. …”

– At the Proclamation Trust, Jonathan Griffiths shares some advice from Chappo.

David Peterson interviewed on ‘Encountering God Together’

Books at a Glance (the subscription Christian-book-summary service) interviewed David Peterson on his book “Encountering God Together”.

Read the interview here.

CMS annual appeal 2014

The Church Missionary Society is holding its annual appeal. You can donate here.

Appeal video here.

The evil be ever mingled with the good

“‘In the visible church, the evil be ever mingled with the good.’

This is a phrase which comes from Article 26 of the Thirty-nine Articles – which considers the ‘unworthiness of the ministers, which hinders not the effect of the sacraments.’

… But the throwaway line about the presence of evil within the visible church of Christ is what grabbed my attention.…”

– For Church Society’s Formulary Friday, Simon Scott sees the application for today’s church. Related: The Thirty-Nine Articles.

‘One of the finest Biblical commentaries’

Job: The Wisdom of the Cross – a new Commentary by Christopher Ash – is receiving an enthusiastic reception.

“This is one of the finest Biblical commentaries I have had the privilege to read, and certainly the best I know on the wonderful but perplexing book of Job.” writes John Woodhouse.

Other reactions at Between Two Worlds.

‘When we get it wrong’ — Southern Cross

“Some months ago, the team at Southern Cross started planning to do a cover story on prayer.

They say everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it. With prayer, we don’t talk much about it and do it even less (myself included).

Article complete, we went about trying to illustrate it. It seemed ‘knee fitness’ might be catchy and contemporary. Because we don’t have the funds to stage our own photography, we used a stock image of a woman in fitness gear.

In an effort to focus on the knees to make the theme work, the cover unhelpfully drew attention to other parts of her body and cut off her head, depersonalising the image.

Let me be clear. This was a mistake. With the best of intentions we actually did the opposite of what we were trying to do. …”

– Russell Powell, CEO of Anglican Media Sydney, issues an apology. An exemplary way for Christians to respond.

And you can now download the updated version of Southern Cross – with lots of great content – here as a 5.3MB PDF file.

One-to-One Bible Reading

“There is something to be said for evangelism strategies and discipleship programs. My guess is that most churches have some way to introduce unbelievers to the Christian faith and to mature those who are new to the faith. I would guess as well that most churches keep an eye on the various new offerings, looking for what is original, what is interesting, what promises results.

But what if we’ve made it all too complicated? What if both evangelism and discipleship can be as simple as reading the Bible?”

– Tim Challies looks at One-to-One Bible Reading by David Helm.

Committed to actually reading the Bible?

In an article at SydneyAnglicans.net, Archbishop Glenn Davies observes,

“It is a strange phenomenon that we Sydney Anglicans, who are so devoted to our commitment to the teaching of the Bible, do not appear to be as devoted to our personal reading of the Bible…”

– Read his article, and then check out these resources –

Two-Year reading plan from The Gospel Coalition.
Many other Bible-reading resources via Justin Taylor.
For the Love of God – Online version. Printed volumes.
Reap Journal from Anglican Youthworks.
Matthias Media resources.
YouVersion Bible apps.

Lasting hope — at Munguishi Bible College

To help promote their Lasting Hope appeal, CMS Australia has posted several videos you could use in church or in small groups. The latest video features testimony from the Rev Nicholaus Charles, who has been studying at Munguishi Bible College in Tanzania.

There are also an encouragement from Archbishop Glenn Davies, and other recent videos here. Take the time to see them.

Emotional Preaching — Andrew Sach

In the latest ‘Preaching Matters’ from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, Andrew Sach speaks about preaching on a passage which is truly horrible.

Permanence before experience — the wisdom of marriage

“Rightly understood, marriage is all about permanence. In a world of transitory experiences, events, and commitments, marriage is intransigent. It simply is what it is – a permanent commitment made by a man and a woman who commit themselves to live faithfully unto one another until the parting of death. …”

– Albert Mohler writes at Southern Seminary’s blog on the wisdom of marriage.

Why Creeds?

“In every major service in the Prayer Book, the congregation recite one of three Creeds, helpfully laid out for us in Article VIII: ‘Of the Three Creeds’.

The Three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius’s Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture. …”

– At Church Society’s blog, Mark Smith writes to encourage saying of the Creeds.

Asylum seekers

“I don’t want to be too controversial in this column but I think the time has come to write something about asylum seekers…”

– Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook challenges not only the government but also the churches and individual Christians in his latest (29 May 2014) Pastoral Letter.

(Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)