St. Helen’s Training: Bible Overview
St. Helen’s Bishopsgate has posted two new videos in its ‘St Helen’s Training’ series.
These begin an overview of the Bible.
“Our People Die Well” — John Wesley
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7
“Who are your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you? Most of us have many. In our childhood we may have been privileged to have parents who taught us God’s word, or there were Sunday school teachers or youth fellowship leaders at our church, or ISCF/Crusader teachers at school. For many it has been the pastor of our church, or the Bible study leader. During the lifetime of a Christian we usually have a range of leaders, who teach us God’s word. There are some people whose leadership stretches well beyond personal ministry to affect whole communities with their teaching of God’s word.
They speak at conventions, write books and articles, and travel to speak at evangelistic gatherings and church conferences. They become well known to the community as a whole, as they influence the culture of church life. And as we consider the outcome of the lives of those who lead us personally, we also remember and consider the lives of these more public leaders.
Recently I have been caused to remember and consider two such men, as they came to the end of their earthly life to be welcomed into the presence of the Lord of eternity …”
– Phillip Jensen reflects on the ‘outcome of the way of life’ of Geoff Fletcher and Dudley Foord, as models for all who hope in Christ.
An Overview of the Anglican Communion Today – From Communion to Coalition
A presentation by Vinay Samuel, last Monday 16th September, at St. Mark’s Battersea Rise in London, to a pre-GAFCON 2 meeting –
“The Anglican Communion as it exists today is not a single communion – it is more a collection of coalitions.
The centre (Lambeth) has no meaning in defining the Communion. Archbishop Justin Welby has inherited a broken communion he cannot heal. The role of Lambeth has enormously diminished. The instruments of communion as the governing centre are irrelevant for dealing with communion matters. People will not accept a communion that promotes things that are heretical. Instead of Lambeth legitimation we need mutual legitimation. This leads to coalitions. …”
– Read it all at Anglican Mainstream. More on the meeting from Andrew Symes.
Can Evangelical Chaplains serve God and Country? — The Crisis Arrives
“The repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, coupled with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, set the stage for this crisis. The full normalization of same-sex relationships within the U.S. military is part of the unprecedented moral revolution that is now reshaping American culture at virtually every level.
The crisis in the chaplaincy arrived with these developments. The presenting issue is clear: Can a chaplain committed to historic biblical Christianity remain in military service? Does the normalization of homosexuality require that all members of the military, including chaplains, join the moral revolution, even if doing so requires them to abandon their biblical convictions? …”
– Albert Mohler looks at an issue which will not stay confined to the US military chaplaincy.
Related: ‘Gay head priest shows how far Canadian military has come’
Acting the Miracle — free eBook from Crossway and Desiring God
The soon-to-be-published Acting the Miracle – God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification – edited by David Mathis and John Piper, is available as a free eBook from Desiring God.
via Andy Naselli.
The Puritans: John Bunyan
“John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress and undoubtedly the most famous of all Puritans, was born on November 28, 1628 in Bedfordshire, England. His father was a brazier (a brass worker) and it was intention that his son would take over the family business. …”
– In his latest post on The Puritans, Tim Challies introduces the author of Pilgrim’s Progress.
Related: Kel Richards introduces Pilgrims Progress in the introduction to his Aussie adaptation of the story (sadly now out of print).
How then shall we Tweet?
The Australian Church Record announces it will aim to help “fend off the keyboard cowards and take on the trolls” in upcoming posts encouraging godly conduct on social media.
“In the coming months … We will be publishing ten pieces of honest biblical wisdom for the social media circus.”
CMS Summer School 2014 Promo Video
CMS has uploaded a 55 second video you can use to promote the 2014 Summer School at Katoomba.
And don’t forget – families are asked to apply online by 16th September.
David Platt interviews Mark Dever on Evangelism and Discipleship
A 50-minute interview in 8 parts – via The Gospel Coalition.
Sermons from the 2013 Presbyterian General Assembly of Australia
The Sermons from the Presbyterian General Assembly of Australia 2013 (just concluded) are now available to hear and download.
All encouraging and challenging, including –
- David Jones (the immediate past Moderator-General) “Why are we here?”
- David Cook (new Moderator-General) “The Apostolic Pattern”, Acts 20.
- David Burge (Minister at Walcha) “The Christian’s Boast and Works”, Galatians.
- Ligon Duncan (from Jackson, Mississippi), three expositions.
Take the time to listen, and to pray for our Presbyterian brothers and sisters around the country, as they, too, seek to reach men and women with the gospel.
(Photo: David Cook.)
9Marks Journal — Evangelism. Part 1
“What does it mean to think through evangelism in a church-centered way?”
That’s the theme of the latest 9Marks Journal (September–October 2013), just released in several formats, for your edification.
Bad news and Good news in the Church of England
“First, the bad news. There are more examples of heresy in the hierarchy…”
– Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream writes for the American Anglican Council’s International Update.
Ten ways Gay activists shifted culture
“Whether you are a proponent of same-sex marriage, homosexuality or not, you have to respect the way gay activists have fundamentally transformed American society in one generation.
The plans and strategies of gay activism and how they went from being an oppressed minority to an elite protected status in mainstream culture is written in a book called After the Ball [published in 1990]…”
– from Charisma News.
What a Muslim teaches us
“Back in 1981, Christian hearts thrilled to see a mainstream popular film treat Christian conscience positively. The film was Chariots of Fire and the Christian conscience was that of Eric Liddell, the man who refused to run in the Olympics on a Sunday. It was just so different to see a man of genuine faith presented in a film as a hero instead of a moral failure or a narrow-minded hypocrite. …”
– Phillip Jensen writes in his weekly column “From the Dean”.
Religious freedom in America today — Bp David Anderson
“Sometimes, the battle you or I or some other Christian might face touches directly on our freedom of religion, and attempts to infringe or deny that to us because the exercise of our religion somehow offends someone else. At other times our freedom of speech is infringed or denied when what we say from a Biblical perspective is prohibited, punished or marginalized with the label of ‘hate speech.’ …”
– Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, takes a quick survey of recent challenges to religious freedom in the USA.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…