The 1933 Election
The Australian Church Record takes a look back at one of the key Archbishop’s elections – that of Howard West Kilvinton Mowll in 1933.
Oak Hill Commentary magazine — Summer 2013
The latest issue of Oak Hill’s magazine is available for download.
What’s So Great about the Doctrines of Grace? — free eBook
“During the month of July, Reformation Trust is giving away the eBook edition of Richard Phillips’ What’s So Great about the Doctrines of Grace.” – might be worth checking out.
Seminar audio files from the 2013 EMA
From Adrian Reynolds at the Proclamation Trust –
“The audio of seminars from the 2013 EMA [Evangelical Ministers Assembly in London] is now available to download for free here.”
The Archbishop’s Election: A Political Process
“As people have spoken of my involvement in the election of our next Archbishop I thought it may be helpful for friends, especially those on synod, to understand how I view the election of Sydney’s Archbishop. …”
– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen writes the first of several articles designed to help Synod members think through the issues behind the election of a new Archbishop.
Related:
“The ACL confirms its longstanding practice of not promoting a preferred candidate for the Archbishop’s election.” – February 2013.
Prayer suggestions (PDF file).
Archbishop-in-waiting – profile from Southern Cross, July 2013.
Packer: Playing the Numbers Game
“I have found that churches, pastors, seminaries, and parachurch agencies throughout North America are mostly playing the numbers game—that is, defining success in terms of numbers of heads counted or added to those that were there before…”
– J. I Packer, via Justin Taylor.
Mark toolkit – last two instalments
If you’ve been following the videos of Andrew Sach and his Mark Toolkit, the last two video files are now available. These are part of the video resources from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, and are ideal for all who teach or who lead Bible studies.
The Archbishop of Canterbury on a coming royal birth
“When this baby is old, it will be the 22nd Century. Yet he or she will be able to tell children about a great grandmother… who served in the Second World War.
By then, the 1940s will be as far away as the Crimean War and the charge of the Light Brigade is today.”
– Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby reflects on the hope a new baby brings. In Mail Online.
“Epic mini-series” coming to Australia
It’s been announced that the US “epic mini-series”, The Bible, will be screened on the Nine Network from next week. Perhaps 100 million people saw it in the US earlier this year.
It was produced by Mark Burnett (Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, The Voice) and his wife, actress Roma Downey (starred in Touched by an Angel).
It’s a great opportunity to get the Bible into your conversations.
However, before it screens, it’s probably important to get some background.
See this article by Andy Naselli – “Three reasons I don’t enthusiastically recommend the ‘The Bible’ miniseries”. Being aware of that can help us to discuss what it portrays, and encourage our friends to read the Bible for themselves.
The Bible Society of Australia will be following the mini-series as part of their ‘Daily Bible’ email service, from Tuesday 16 July. (Image: Bible Society.)
Retirements and Beginnings
“As I write this article I am preparing to give what will most likely be my last Mid Year Conference Talk. It is a sad moment for me.
This has been a week of retirements. On Thursday my brother Peter officially retired as the Archbishop of Sydney. With him the Chancellor of the Diocese Acting Judge Peter Johns has also retired…”
– Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, reflects on the changing of the guard.
Ten Passages for Pastors to Memorise
“Here’s one way to cool down warm up during a sizzling hot freezing July: ice-cold memorization to warm your heart.
Grab an iced tea a hot chocolate, find some air-conditioned cozy warm space, and put these ten passages to memory. You’ll never regret any extended time given to memorizing God’s word — especially when it’s the passages that come up again and again as particularly useful in the Christian life and in ministering to others.”
– from Desiring God (more or less).
How to pray for God’s work
How is your prayer for the Archbishop’s election going?
Dick Lucas preached from 1 Kings 18 at The Tron Church in Glasgow last month. He reminded his hearers that first of all, we must pray that the Lord will be known, and that hearts be turned back to him – a crucial prayer for Glasgow, and a crucial prayer for Sydney. Hear or see his sermon at The Tron’s website. (It starts 38 minutes into the video.) Most edifying.
It’s also a good reminder to continue to pray for the saints in the Tron, for all of these reasons.
‘The New Theist’
“When, during a conversation in a swank hotel lobby in Manhattan, I mentioned to Richard Dawkins that I was working on a story about William Lane Craig, the muscles in his face clenched. …”
– from a story on William Lane Craig in The Chronical Review. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Related: Dr. William Lane Craig and Prof. Lawrence Krauss will be debating in Sydney on Tuesday 13th August.
Moore College Library Day — 27 July
Some think of him as “the flogging parson”, but across the Tasman, he is remembered as “The Apostle to New Zealand” and a missionary statesman. In January 1814, the Rev. Samuel Marsden brought the good news of Christ to the Bay of Islands.
As the Bicentenary approaches, Moore College’s 2013 Library Day will focus on the start of Marsden’s mission.
Update: College Principal Mark Thompson adds:
“Come to the 2013 Moore College Library Day and hear of the real Marsden and his lifelong passion to see the lost won for Christ.”
“In a few week’s time there will be a celebration of Samuel Marsden and particularly his involvement with the earliest Christian mission to New Zealand two hundred years ago this year. He will be the subject of a day conference at Moore College on Saturday 27 July. I must confess this is an aspect of the great man’s life of which I was blissfully unaware until recently.
Marsden is sometimes misunderstood and his enormous positive contribution to the cause of Christ in Australia and New Zealand overshadowed by such less than flattering epithets as ‘the flogging parson’.
Come to the 2013 Moore College Library Day and hear of the real Marsden and his lifelong passion to see the lost won for Christ. Hear too of his ceaseless efforts to overturn one of the most horrendous miscarriages of justice in those early years. Here was a man of integrity and courage who sought above all else to diligently serve his Lord.
Details of the Library Day can be found on this advertisement. See you there!”
Resources for pastors — on same sex attraction
Adrian Reynolds’ blog, The Proclaimer, at The Proclamation Trust has links to some resources mentioned at the Evangelical Ministers Assembly last week.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…