The English Reformers on ministry and worship

“The English Reformers faced a formidable task when they began the work of revising the ideas of ministry and worship in the Church. …

In view of the fact that the Reformation is so often regarded as a purely political or social upheaval it is necessary to emphasise that it was essentially a movement inspired by the Bible.”

– Church Society has reprinted the 1992 Churchman article “The Teaching of the English Reformers on Ministry and Worship” by Edgar Dowse. It’s available here in PDF format.

A Portrait in his Actions: Thomas Moore of Liverpool

(Re-posted.) Moore College lecturer, Rev Dr Peter Bolt, is launching Part 1 of his biography of Moore College benefactor, Thomas Moore, during the Liverpool Bicentenary celebrations next month.

The book will be launched by the Governor of NSW, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC, CVO, on Monday 22 November, 5pm at the Liverpool City Library.  Everyone welcome.

More info and order form from the Moore College website.

Dr Megan Best’s Synod speech on the Euthanasia motion

In the ongoing debate on Euthanasia, Dr Megan Best’s speech at Sydney Synod last month is well worth reading and circulating.

“I speak as a palliative care doctor. Palliative care is specialty care for terminally ill patients.

Our state and federal parliaments have been asked to consider changing the law to allow euthanasia. We are told that 85% of Australians support such a change. I believe that what this shows us may not be so much how many people support euthanasia, so much as the fact that many people don’t actually know what it is.

Having discussed euthanasia on talkback radio many times over the years, I have come to realise that misconceptions are rife amongst the general public. Confusion abounds regarding what the legalisation of euthanasia means. But first we need to know what euthanasia is not…”

Read Dr Best’s full speech here (PDF file).

The text of the motion to which she was speaking can be seen on pages 1 and 2 of the Business paper for October 19 2010 (PDF).

Stuart Townend on Corporate Worship — notes

On Friday, songwriter Stuart Townend gave a seminar on Corporate Worship at Oak Hill College in London.

Mike Gilbart-Smith (Twynholm Baptist Church, Fulham) has shared his very helpful notes from the seminar at his blog, Loving Church.

Don Carson’s evangelistic talks in Melbourne

Don Carson spoke evangelistically in Melbourne in August.

The “Christ-Expo” was part of the celebrations of Ridley College’s Centenary. The audio files of Dr Carson’s talks are available on the Ridley website:

Monday: How can we see God?
Tuesday: How can we start over again?
Wednesday: How can God Have a Son?
Thursday: How to get the Best Bread in the World
Friday: How can I believe Jesus Rose from the Dead?

He also spoke at St. Alfred’s Blackburn North on Suffering: a theological response.

Audio: Reformation Conference with Stephen Nichols

Last weekend, at the Omaha Bible Church in Nebraska, Stephen Nichols spoke at their Reformation Bible Conference.

All the audio files have been posted here, thanks to Erik Raymond. Total 67MB. Or links to individual talks below:

The Road to Worms: Jan Hus, Martin Luther, and Sola Scripture
Wittenberg: The Life of Luther and Commitment to the Church
Flossenburg: Martin Luther to Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Cross and Discipleship
Marks of the True Church with Question & Answer
Sunday morning sermon: Spare Everything But the Word

History comes alive. Great to pass on to members of your church while memories of Reformation Sunday are fresh.

Christians responding to suffering

Over the last week, Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, has been sharing the insights of some friends on the topic of Christians responding to suffering. See his blog – Imaginary Diocese.

Don’t Waste Your Life — free audiobook

The free audiobook for November 2010 from Christian Audio is John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life. Narrated by Lloyd James.

Grab it here. (175MB mp3)

God displays his wisdom — through the church!

John Piper spoke at the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town a week or so ago – on Ephesians 3 and the breathtaking wisdom of God.

It’s worth watching his full talk. See it via The Proclamation Trust website.

Defence Sunday & Remembrance Day 2010

Sunday November 7th (the Sunday closest to Remembrance Day) is ‘Defence Sunday‘ and prayer is requested for Defence Force Personnel and the Chaplains who minister to them.

The Defence Anglicans website has some useful resources, including Bible readings, prayers and music which could be used in church – as well as a Powerpoint presentation shown at General Synod.

Facts and Questions for the Southern Cone HOB and Standing Committee

“The House of Bishops of the Anglican province of the Southern Cone will be meeting this weekend to discuss a variety of matters.  Among them will be the unprecedented action by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, purportedly on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Communion, asking Bishop Tito Zavala of Chile to withdraw from the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order.”

– Canon Phil Ashey, from the American Anglican Council, urges prayer for Archbishop Greg Venables and friends in the Southern Cone this weekend.

Luther’s Stand

“Luther understood what was at stake.

He mentioned to a friend in advance, ‘Unless I am restrained by force or the emperor rescinds his invitation, I will enter Worms under the banner of Christ against the gates of hell…. I have had my Palm Sunday. Is all this pomp merely a temptation or is it also a sign of the passion to come?’

In just over 24 hours Luther would receive the answer to his question.”

– While this weekend is the anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses to the castle church door in 1517, it led to his crucial stand at the Diet of Worms in April 1521. Chris Castaldo has written a gripping account of the events.

(Chris serves at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. h/t Tim Challies.)

Cracks at the top — ECUSA’s ‘Constitutional Crisis’

“Now that we have the reports from the third and final day of the meeting in Salt Lake City of ECUSA’s Executive Council, we are finally able to fill in the picture of what is going on among the Church’s elected and appointed officials. The picture is neither pretty nor reassuring.…

We find out that in approving a reduced budget for 2011, the Council approved the Church taking out a new loan of up to $60,000,000, and securing its note by mortgaging its headquarters at 815 Second Avenue, as well as by pledging unrestricted endowment funds…”

– A S Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon, pieces together what’s been happening in the Episcopal Church’s halls of power. (Image courtesy St. Paul’s Church, Ventura, CA.)

Do not be afraid

“It is amazing, once you are alerted to it, how often the brief encouragement ‘Do not be afraid’ occurs in Scripture. Often in the context there seems very good reason to be afraid. There might seem no way out. The opposition arrayed against you might seem overwhelming. The virulence and persistence with which you are opposed may be a very real cause for terror. And then the words come, ‘do not be afraid’. …”

– Read Mark Thompson’s encouraging words at Theological Theology.

Carl Trueman on the 95 Theses — for Reformation Day

“This Sunday is Halloween. But more importantly, it’s Reformation Day—when the church celebrates and commemorates October 31, 1517.

It was on this day (a Saturday) that a 33-year-old theology professor at Wittenberg University walked over to the Castle Church in Wittenberg and nailed a paper of 95 theses to the door, hoping to spark an academic discussion about their contents. In God’s providence and unbeknownst to anyone else that day, it would become a key event in igniting the Reformation.”

– Justin Taylor asks Carl Trueman about Martin Luther’s 95 Theses – at Between Two Worlds.

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