A Biblical Response to Transgender Theory

From The Gospel Coalition –

“If gender is constructed, it can be deconstructed. If we built it, we can tear it down.

Now you know why some activists have been so determined to convince us that gender is something we assign, rather than something we receive. If we assign it, then we can reassign it as we wish. We don’t receive our bodies. We can remake our bodies.

No doubt you’ve observed the rise of transgender theory in Western culture. It’s the denial that the sexed body reveals and determines the gendered self. That’s the helpful summary we find in the excellent new book The Body God Gives: A Biblical Response to Transgender Theory, written by Rob Smith.”

– Hear Rob Smith interviewed by Colin Hansen. Programme starts 2 minutes into the audio file.

A very helpful insight into the whole field of research and debate.

How to revolutionise your church towards a 5% conversion target

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“How to turn around evangelistic stagnation in your church — or how to start pursuing a 5% goal?

Across Australian Evangelicalism there is a bold goal — growing our churches by 5% per year through conversion growth.

But some pastors are asking:  “We haven’t seen anyone become a Christian here in years… where do we even start?”

We talk:

• Should we even have an evangelism target?
• What are the theological issues?
• How do you start when conversions have been rare?
• What cultural changes actually make a difference?
• Funnels, programs and “conversion engines.”
• And how to build momentum with stories, prayer and team alignment.

Three pastors who are right at the beginning of the journey, Brett Middleton (St Luke’s Miranda), Ben Molyneux (St Faith’s Narrabeen) and Dan Au (Cornerstone Kogarah) — We set an evangelism target – Now what?”

– Watch or listen here.

The Question for Joggers: Why are you Running?

From Phillip Jensen:

“Last week’s episode of Two Ways News was very dark and gloomy.

This week, we are looking at the same passage, but turning our attention to the light of salvation that is caught in the rainbow covenant of God as we read of the saving of Noah and his family.”

– Hear Peter and Phillip Jensen in (theological) conversation at Two Ways News.

Among other things, Peter shares what happened the day he came to Christ – as well as the topic of Billy Graham’s sermon. Phillip recalls that same day.

More importantly, Peter appeals to everyone listening to take the opportunity to repent today – before it is too late.

Related:

Two Ways to Live – the choice we all face.

When the Lights Came On: An Appreciation of Graeme Goldsworthy

Scott Polender in the USA writes to share his deep appreciation for Graeme Goldsworthy and his unfolding of Biblical Theology:

“Many of us can remember the moment when the lights came on. We were already believers, familiar with the stories, the commandments, and the promises, but suddenly everything connected. The many pieces of Scripture formed a single picture centered on Jesus Christ. It was nothing less than a revolution in how we saw the Bible and, in a sense, how we saw everything else. Once the story, like a jigsaw puzzle, lay in pieces, all edges and fragments. Then someone flipped the box over, and the picture on the package brought it all together. Once you’ve seen it, you can’t go back. …

For many years, Graeme Goldsworthy taught Old Testament, Biblical Theology, and Hermeneutics at Moore Theological College in Sydney. Building on the foundations laid by Broughton Knox and Donald Robinson, and working alongside contemporaries such as William Dumbrell and Barry Webb, he gave biblical theology a distinctive voice and a reach that stretched across the globe.

In the years since his retirement, he has continued to write, mentor younger pastors and Christians, and to preach and lecture.”

– Read the whole article at Christ Over All.

Very encouraging, and a good opportunity to recommend Graeme Goldsworthy’s books to a new generation.

Related:

Graeme Goldsworthy on Biblical Theology – with Nancy Guthrie, podcast at The Gospel Coalition.

Base photo: Graeme Goldsworthy speaking at City On A Hill Brisbane, February 2018.

Living and Speaking of Christ in a Secular Age

From Moore College:

“If you have ever felt like your life is a set of non-overlapping bubbles, work here, sport there, church on Sundays, neighbours somewhere else, you are not alone. Josh and Susannah Apieczonek reflected that this kind of compartmentalisation has become sadly normal in Western life. It is not how we were made to live, but it has quietly shaped how we see the world. This is one reason many Christians feel held back from sharing the gospel: our worlds rarely intersect, our schedules are full, and our instincts are shaped by a culture that prizes the here and now over the eternal. …”

– Sarah Bingham shares highlights from a talk by Josh & Susannah Apieczonek.

She explains,

“Josh and Susannah Apieczonek have long been connected to Moore College. Josh, now the incoming Head of Mission and Lecturer in Mission, completed a Bachelor of Divinity and Diploma of Ministry in 2004, and Susannah studied at the College in 2008. Before moving to France, Josh taught Christian Studies and served as a chaplain at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, Sydney.

Together, they have spent the past decade serving with CMS in Lyon, France, in student and church ministry, particularly among university students and in church planting. …”

– Read it all here.

J. C. Ryle, “the Prince of Tract Writers”

“John Charles Ryle (1816–1900) was one of the most popular theological writers of the Victorian period, and the most prominent evangelical clergyman in the Church of England.

His ministry almost exactly spanned the reign of Queen Victoria – he was converted to Christ in 1837, just a few months after the young Queen’s accession to the British throne, and died at the dawn of the new century in 1900, just a few months before the monarch’s own death. …”

– Crossway has published this article adapted from Andrew Atherstone’s Ryle on the Christian Life: Growing in Grace. 

Reflecting Christ’s Love

“Here at Moore, we want to be as helpful as we can in preparing students who are married to love their spouses well and to invest in their marriages—for the good of their families and for the good of the church. This love needs to be nurtured and informed.

While this is true for every marriage, there are some additional pressures, expectations and joys that come to married couples in Christian ministry. …”

– Simon and Margie Gillham share how important it is to support married couples among the student body at Moore College.

The World Awash with Sin and Judgement

From Phillip Jensen:

“After the genealogy of Genesis 5, we have finally left Adam and Eve. But then as we merge into chapter 6, we find Adam’s baleful influence dominating the landscape.

This week’s episode of Two Ways News does not seek to answer the many questions people ask about the flood, but to pay attention to the central message of sin and judgement.

Your temptation may now be to skip this episode, but that is because of sin and judgement! So as the old hymn has it, ‘yield not to temptation’.”

– Hear Phillip and Peter Jensen at Two Ways News.

The “eye-opener” of disability

“When you see provisions for people with disability at your church, do you ever put yourself in the shoes of the person who will use them?

Or do you just assume that the hearing loop has a practical set-up for visitors, the news sheets and overheads can be read by everyone, and no-stairs access into the church means that those with physical impairments can get around easily? …”

– Very helpful article by Judy Adamson at SydneyAnglicans.net – with practical suggestions.

How to Present Your Sermon Really Well

“Like every skill worth doing, good preaching requires sustained study, effort, practice, self-evaluation, and a determination to improve and master the skill.

Good delivery must come not as a replacement for, but as the culmination of the certain basic convictions about preaching:

That preaching is central to Christian worship, growth, and evangelism;

That preaching must be Christ-focussed;

That the preacher must be a godly Christian growing in Christ;

That the sermon must expository and carefully prepared. …”

– Agree or disagree with details, Campbell Markham writes to encourage and help preachers do what is vitally important. At AP.

Related:

The Preacher Responding To Criticism – Bob Thomas writes at The Expository Preaching Trust…

“Criticism of our preaching falls into three categories: ‘mindless’ criticism and therefore not worth worrying about except to try graciously to correct; negative criticism but worth swallowing our pride, taking notice of and responding to; and positive criticism, so thankfully received as it spurs us on to greater endeavour.”

How God works in our hearts

“God works in many ways to bring His people to Himself.

Sometimes He works over a long period of time, such as with those people who grow up in a Christian home, where ‘Christ is the Head of the house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener at every conversation’. They’ve been dedicated to God as covenant children and day by day, year by year, they grow into Christ.

Sometimes God brings people to Himself with a sudden flash of enlightenment, as with Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.

Sometimes God brings people to Himself by bringing them to their senses in the far country, as with the Prodigal Son who went through a troubled and strugglesome journey.

Often He brings them to Himself after ongoing prayer for them by His people.

But all these ways have much in common, as Paul sets before us in Ephesians 3.14-20. …”

– Bob Thomas shares this encouragement at AP, the Presbyterian journal.

Anglican Heroes: J. C. Ryle — Church Society podcast

From Church Society:

“Andrew Atherstone talks to Ros Clarke about the life, ministry and legacy of J. C. Ryle, the first Bishop of Liverpool.”

– Listen here.

Related:

His Sermons Roused a Sleeping Church – article by John Piper.

Evangelical Religion — Bishop J.C. Ryle.

Why were our Reformers burned? — Bishop J.C. Ryle (republished by Church Society in 2017).

Church music in a culture obsessed with self expression – with Alanna Glover

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“What does healthy, joyful, word-shaped congregational singing look like in a culture obsessed with self-expression?

We are shaped more than we realise by the culture around us. And today one of the most powerful cultural forces pressing on our churches is expressive individualism — the idea that the authentic self must be expressed and affirmed.

But what happens when this cultural air we breathe seeps into our church music? When sincerity becomes more important than truth, when the band is excellent yet the congregation is silent, and when singing shifts from ‘we proclaim Christ together’ to ‘I express what I feel’?

If we do not address this, we risk disengaged congregations, weakened church identity and a missed opportunity for deep spiritual formation that comes as we sing God’s word to one another.

Alanna Glover — longtime church music leader, former member of Garage Hymnal, ten years with Emu Music, songwriter, trainer and theologian — has just completed significant research on expressive individualism and congregational singing in evangelical churches.”

– Watch here. (Emphasis added.)

Seeing God at Work — Unearthing genealogical treasure

From Phillip Jensen:

“This week in Two Ways News, we continue the theme of family. Having dealt with the family of Cain in chapter 4, we turn to the new family of Adam. In this family, God’s word enables us to see the Lord’s plans for salvation, hinted at in Genesis 3:15 and worked out in Noah.

We don’t often have sermons on genealogies, but hopefully this episode will help us see their importance.”

– hear the latest podcast with Peter and Phillip Jensen at Two Ways News.

Moore College Style Guide: Music Video

A bit of fun from the 2025 Moore College Review and Dr. Lionel Windsor.

Even if it’s not your style, you might learn something!

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