Permanence before Experience — The wisdom of Marriage

In the current Southern Cross Newspaper (March 2010 – available in Sydney churches from this Sunday), Jeremy Halcrow writes about cohabitation versus marriage (page 13).

On the same topic, Albert Mohler writes, “many young adults … do not know that what they are actually doing is undoing marriage”.

J I Packer blows the whistle

Dr J I Packer:

“In the sixteenth and seventeen centuries, the Reformers – the Puritans – the evangelicals, seemed to know their Bible backwards. They could quote it, appropriately, and apply it, in relation to just anything that came up in conversation. We simply aren’t like that. And yet we think we’re being loyal to the Reformational heritage. I want to blow the whistle here.”

On this week’s White Horse Inn broadcast (‘Grounded in the Gospel’, February 28 2010), J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett, discuss their soon-to-be-published book Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old Fashioned Way.

The challenge to us is – Are we actually catechising the people in our churches?

Worth listening, and then prayerfully considering what to do. (Image: Anglican TV.)

Why I am Orthodox

Would you call yourself ‘Orthodox’? Rhys Bezzant, at Ridley College in Melbourne explains why he insists on using that label for himself –

“I am an Orthodox Christian. In a place like Melbourne, calling myself Orthodox could of course easily be misunderstood: people might think I mean Greek or Russian or Serbian Orthodox. Calling myself Orthodox is however more than tracing an ecclesiological line back to Eastern Europe.  Read more

Recycled lies in time for Easter

ACL President Mark Thompson writes –

“We’ve become quite used to sensationalist denials of central Christian truths at Easter…

No surprise then that Philip Pullman should time the release of his new book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2010) for Easter this year. …

Christians have absolutely no need to be concerned that these suggestions are being rehearsed yet again. The recent historical work of Richard Bauckham, Paul Barnett and John Dickson all demonstrate that the evidence moves entirely in the opposite direction…”

– Read Mark’s full post about the same old tired assertions.

Wired for Intimacy

Tim Challies reviews Wired for Intimacy.

“Much has been written in recent years about pornography. But new to store shelves is a book that is different from all the others, at least all of the other books targeted at a Christian audience. William Struthers’ Wired for Intimacy looks not primarily to the heart but to the brain. He shows how the male brain is hard-wired for intimacy and relationships and how pornography affects the male brain…

Wired for Intimacy is a book we need. With pornography increasingly reaching epidemic proportions, this book helps us understand it at a whole new level. And it calls us to deal with human sexuality in a way that acknowledges all of its dimensions—moral, ethical, psychological, spiritual and physical. I give Wired for Intimacy my highest recommendation.”

– The book is not widely available in Australia just yet, but Moore Books has some copies for $22.95.

Related:
Review by Albert Mohler.
‘Anti porn posters and DVDs’ – Eternity newspaper on the coming poster campaign from Outreach Media.

When will Gay Couples be able to take vows in the Church of England?

“Events in England this week have underlined the wisdom of envisaging an alternative focus of leadership for the Anglican Communion. As regular readers of these articles will know, I believe that the current Archbishop of Canterbury is promoting an illusory unity which accommodates false teaching and endangers the whole Communion.

But there is another reason for calling into question the role of Canterbury and the Lambeth institutions which is not so much to do with Rowan Williams himself, but with the relentless erosion of orthodox faith in the Church of England by the deeply secularized culture of the liberal establishment…”

– Charles Raven writes at SPREAD. (Photo: Church of England.)

Depth and Weight: Augustine’s Sermon Illustration

“Augustine suggests that Paul is like a loving father who breaks open the nuts for his children to eat—his teaching is the nut cracker that unlocks scripture’s mysteries. Augustine’s appreciation of Scripture’s depth was the foundation of his theological approach to sermon illustration…”

– In this article from Churchman, Spring 2008, republished online by Church Society, Peter Sanlon argues that preachers need to be a lot more thoughtful in their sermon illustrations. Worth reading (PDF file).

Albert Mohler: Developing a Christian response to Islam

Last week, Dr Albert Mohler spoke at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky, on ‘Developing a Christian Response to the Challenge of Islam’.

The very helpful and informative 71 minute talk is available from the iTunes Sojourn Church podcast – link here. (Photo by Chuck Heeke, h/t Justin Taylor.)

Backwards Christian Soldiers

“The cause for biblical Christianity took a backward step in the General Synod of the Church of England this past week, or rather exposed itself as having already departed from biblical truth and practice. The General Synod passed a motion awarding pensions to civil partners of deceased clergy…”

– Bishop Glenn Davies writes at SydneyAnglicans.net

Don’t let the facts…

“Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.” So goes the old saying. In Sunday’s Sun-Herald, Simon Webster writes –

“A vicar has sparked outrage in Britain by distributing a pamphlet urging women to do as their husbands tell them. Reports could not confirm whether he got his wife to deliver them for him. … Not to avoid members of the media – they would have been the least of his worries – but to steer clear of Mrs MacLeay. God only knows how she reacted when she read her husband’s musings.”

It would have been relatively easy to go to the St Nicholas’ website to hear the ‘offending’ sermons or to read this (which was posted a week ago) – The Rector of St. Nicholas’, Angus MacLeay, writes:

“On a different point another strand of headlines speak of the Rector telling women to be silent and of a leaflet written by him being distributed around the congregation in January. The reality is that I have written no leaflets, nothing has been distributed and no-one has ever told women to be silent.”

It’s worth reading both the article and the letter in their entirety, and then listening to the sermons (31 January and 14 February 2010).

And if this comes up in conversation, it’s a good opportunity to speak about the Lord Jesus, as Mark Oden does at the start of the first sermon.

Shock! Horror! Church Believes The Bible!

“At the heart of all the press coverage is the very ordinary fact that at St Nicholas Sevenoaks, as in many other evangelical churches up and down the country, we engage in an expository preaching ministry which requires both preacher and people to engage humbly with God’s word, the Bible.”

– Angus MacLeay, Rector of St Nicholas’ Sevenoaks, writes about the fuss in the UK media last week over some sermons on marriage. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)

Building Healthy Churches: 9 Marks in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Last week, Mark Dever, Mike Gilbart-Smith and Colin Adams (who runs Unashamed Workman), spoke at the 9Marks Conference in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.

The audio has been posted online and will be there for 60 days.

Last weekend, Mark Dever spoke at another 9Marks conference – this one in Scotland. That audio is now online on the website of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh.

Falling on Deaf Ears?

“In many churches, there is almost no public reading of the Word of God. Worship is filled with music, but congregations seem disinterested in listening to the reading of the Bible.”

– Albert Mohler reflects on why so many congregations in the US aren’t all that interested in hearing the Bible.

Could the same be said for your church?

Take a hammer to your downloads!

Over at the Fervr website, Tim Yap has some godly advice for youth – though there are many adults who should hear it too.

“Let’s keep it simple: downloading ‘free’ stuff from the internet which is supposed to cost money, whether it be music, movies or games, is against the law.”

Encouragement from Psalm 41

Allan Blanch, an Emeritus Vice-president of the ACL, and who served as Rector in the parishes of Broadway, Beecroft and St. Philip’s York Street, recently preached at St. Paul’s Lithgow on Psalm 41.

Most edifying. Listen here.

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