Why I am still a Christian
“It was a long time ago. I had become dissatisfied with my life’s direction and that of the friends in my social circle. In my early twenties I began to attend a church and thankfully found the minister’s message and the congregation’s welcome deeply encouraging. I began for the first time to read the Bible.
One day I attended a lunch hour service in St Andrew’s Cathedral where the speaker, Dr Howard Guinness spoke on John 6.37. …”
– Bishop Paul Barnett shares some encouraging words of personal testimony.
Thoughts on Sexuality and Gender
John Richardson in the UK has been thinking theologically about sexuality and gender in the context of the current push for ‘same-sex marriage’.
It’s worth taking some time to read his latest posts at The Ugley Vicar.
Kel Richards’ tribute to George Beverly Shea on 2CH Sunday night
We hear that Kel Richards will be presenting a tribute to the late George Beverly Shea on his program, “Nightsong with Kel Richards” on Sydney’s Radio 2CH, between 8.00 and 9.00pm tonight, Sunday, 21st April, 2013.
(h/t Ramon Williams.)
Packer’s testimony to the reality of weakness
Dr J I Packer speaks about his experience of weakness in this short video to introduce his forthcoming book on 2 Corinthians, Weakness Is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength.
h/t Justin Taylor.
If Dead Men don’t Rise
Almost 2,000 years ago, a Christian named Paul wrote a letter to a group of people in Corinth, a city in Greece.
People in that city had at one time been enthusiastic about the Christian faith, but had then begun to have some second thoughts. They had written a letter to Paul to ask something like, “You told us that this man Jesus died and then came back to life. We’re pretty sure you don’t actually expect us to believe that a man was dead and then alive again. That must have been some kind of a metaphor or a moral, right?”
– Tim Challies takes a look at 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 and the implications of believing the Resurrection didn’t actually happen.
Tips for studying Acts
Here are some helpful tips from Don Carson – via Unlocking the Bible. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Don’t allow Prayer to be edged out
“Once upon a time I used to be part of a Bible study group. We’d spend most of our time studying the Bible together. The problem was we often spent so long looking at the Bible and talking together that we rarely allowed much time to pray.
So we changed the name to Prayer and Bible groups. And you know what? Prayer was still frequently edged out by everything else. I wonder if your experience has been much the same…”
– Dave McDonald calls us to actually pray. In practice. As Sydney Anglicans look to elect a new Archbishop in August, and to a united mission campaign in 2014, let’s not neglect to bring these matters before our heavenly Father.
Leadership as Stewardship — Part 1
“Christians are rightly and necessary concerned about leadership, but many Christians seem to aim no higher than secular standards and visions of leadership.
We can learn a great deal from the secular world and its studies of leadership and its practices, but the last thing the church needs is warmed over business theories decorated with Christian language …”
– Albert Mohler has posted the first excerpt from his recent book on leadership.
The Parable(s) of the Lost Sheep
Dr Barry Newman continues to blog about well-known Bible passages, and he’s just finished writing on The Parable(s) of the Lost Sheep. Helpful for preachers and anyone wanting to tease out the meaning of Scripture.
“The parable of the lost sheep, that wonderful story told to so many Sunday School children over the centuries, is not as innocent and lovely as it might first appear. …
The parable is recorded in two of the Gospels: Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:3-7.”
Download his series as a PDF file here.
Moore College Open Events 2013
Open Nights 2013
27th May and 26th August
Open Weeks 2013
27th May – 31st May
26th August – 30th August
Open Day 2013
28th September
See all the details at the College website.
A hole in History the shape of an empty tomb
We missed seeing this earlier – but Ian Palmer, the new Bishop of Bathurst, has written this Easter message in the April edition of 3D, the newspaper of the dioceses of Canberra & Goulburn, Bathurst, and Riverina. (Page 14 in this PDF file.)
It’s also a good reminder to pray for him and for Christian ministry in rural areas —
“Almost 40 years ago, in July 1973, Liz and I were in a bank in London when four armed men burst in.
We found ourselves lying on the floor fearfully eyeing the man standing over us with a shotgun, while his companions smashed their way into the tellers’ area and stole money from behind the desk and the safes.
It was a terrifying experience and although we eventually got out unharmed, all these years later the details remain vivid and the emotions powerful. Read more
Watch Me
“Using audio from Don Carson, this short video challenges us from the Bible how we must be sharing our lives, opening up the Bible and changing generations as we point them to Jesus.”
– Be encouraged to watch and share. From 10 of those. h/t Tim Challies.
We care for the mother and the unborn child
“In my distress at the draconian draft Tasmanian Abortion legislation, I cannot help but come back to basic statements of our wider communities’ commitments to humanity in all its seasons…”
– Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower is appalled by proposed changes to Tasmanian legislation which, he says, eliminate “any concept of legal protections for an unborn child, even in situations irrelevant to termination, such as acts of negligence or assault that result in prenatal death”.
He is urging Tasmanian Christians to make submissions by 5:00pm tomorrow (Friday 5 April 2013).
The Spirit of ANZAC
“I think it was at the end or just after the end of the First World War an Army Chaplain expressed his fear that ANZAC Day had the potential to be an alternative religion to Christianity. It seems to me that that he was both right and wrong.…”
– In an article on the Defence Anglicans website, Geoff Webb, Principal Anglican Chaplain to the Army, thinks Christians can find links to the gospel in ANZAC Day.
Have we forgotten about Prayer?
Gary Millar, Principal of Queensland Theological College in Brisbane, makes a painful observation:
“…while it’s true that there has been a significant resurgence of biblical preaching, I’m not sure this trend has been accompanied by a resurgence in praying — and especially not prayer about preaching.
Gradually, we seem to be losing sight of the fact that God uses weak and sinful people, and that he uses them only by grace. …”
– at The Gospel Coalition.
(Gary is co-author of the new book on preaching, Saving Eutychus.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…