Gerald Bray on the 39 Articles

ACL President Mark Thompson is encouraged at the new attention being given to the Articles –

“Gerald Bray has provided a brilliant resource for the study of authentic, biblical and evangelical, Anglicanism. His recently published study of the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Faith we Confess: An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles (London: Latimer Trust, 2009) should be included on the reading lists of every Anglican theological college.”

(Articles? What Articles? You’ll find them at the back of the Prayer Book – and here.)

Order your copy of the book – or read the Introduction – from Latimer Trust.

Bishop John Harrower on ‘anger at happy clappers’

“A front page article in our State’s major newspaper today illustrates some of the challenges of following Jesus in today’s Tasmania. Newspaper article here, Anger at ‘happy clappers’.”

– Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower on the challenge of making Christ known in Tassie.

(This is a good reminder to uphold in prayer Bishop Harrower, and all who belong to Christ in Tasmania.)

Sermon preparation help

At his Gospel Coalition blog, Kevin DeYoung has been sharing some helpful thoughts on sermon preparation. Part 1, Part 2.

Church statistics: not many dead

“Still, it is worth remembering, as one looks at these dull graphs, that there are on any Sunday at least 100 people in an Anglican church for every member of the National Secular Society.”

– At The Guardian, Andrew Brown tries to put in perspective the latest figures form the Church of England.

The Wonder of Words

“Put simply, then, the question of the importance of words to the Christian church is a question of theology, not methodology: to marginalise preaching in our church life and outreach is to marginalise words; and to marginalise words will inevitably involve marginalising the Word himself.”

– Thabiti Anyabwile quotes from Carl Trueman as he ponders the wonder of how God speaks to us.

Related: Propositional Revelation, the Only Revelation – by D.B. Knox.

Ignorance or historical censorship?

“In teaching about William Cowper to groups of people under the age of 30, I have tried to place him in his historical context.

To my amazement, I have discovered an almost complete lack of knowledge of colonial history.

The names and events of governors Arthur, Bligh or Macquarie, or issues like emancipation, or the exploration of the continent – the crossing of the Blue Mountains, the inland explorers or the journeys of Matthew Flinders – or even the gold rushes, were basically unknown…”

– Phillip Jensen writes about the importance of history. (Also at SydneyAnglicans.net)

Encouragement and example in Evangelism

What is the gospel?

In characteristic style, Chappo gets straight to the point –

“It does not focus upon us, not should it draw attention to us. It focusses on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what the gospel is about. The gospel is not about us. The gospel is not even about us and our needs. It not even about us and our needs and those being met in Christ. It is none of those!

The gospel is about Jesus Christ our Lord. That is the gospel. I’m not talking about how you engage people in listening to the gospel – you might do that in a hundred and one different ways. But when I have gospelled you, it is about the Lord Jesus Christ that I have spoken from beginning to end.

It is about him. OK?”

– from a talk given in the UK in 2004. (See the last link on this page – “The Training an Evangelist Needs – 2 Cor 4v5”.)

While you’re there, read about the very exciting A Passion for Life initiative – “a [UK] nationwide initiative that is drawing together local evangelical churches to plan a fantastic variety of missional initiatives culminating in Easter 2010”.

And see their terrific collection of videos — a selection of testimonies and apologetics.

Talking about Mary

“You would have to be living on another planet not to notice the avalanche of publicity about Mary MacKillop at the moment. …

However, when talking with people from a Catholic background, rather than raising … concerns straight away, it would be better to take another approach. …”

– Mark Gilbert makes some helpful suggestions on how to start a conversation with your Romans Catholic friends – at SydneyAnglicans.net.

How will they hear without a preacher?

“Preaching has fallen on hard times. So suggests a report out of Durham University’s College of Preachers. The British university’s CODEC research center, which aims to explore ‘the interfaces between the Bible, the digital environment and contemporary culture,’ conducted the study to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the College of Preachers. The report is not very encouraging…”

– from Al Mohler’s latest column.

Biblical Baptism revisited

Barry Newman picks up the theme of Baptism in the latest posts on his blog –

“Over September 1 to September 13 2009 I created a series of blogs on the subject entitled “Biblical Baptism”. The material has been discussed by various people in different venues and I have tried to listen carefully to the comments made. What follows is an attempt to further contribute to the debate…”

– Read Barry’s blog here.

Find the Bible boring?

John Piper has some words of exhortation in this video excerpt from a sermon on Philippians 2:14-16.

(Or see the whole thing.)

Air Conditioning Hell: How Liberalism happens

Tempted to be embarrassed by the biblical doctrine of hell?

“Though some lampoon the stereotypical “hell-fire and brimstone” preaching of an older evangelical generation, the fact is that most church members may never have heard a sermon on hell — even in an evangelical congregation. Has hell gone dormant among evangelicals as well?

Interestingly, the doctrine of hell serves very well as a test case for the slide into theological liberalism. The pattern of this slide looks something like this…”

– Read this article by Al Mohler in the current 9Marks eJournal. (Photo: Together for the Gospel.)

What’s happening to InterVarsity?

Take the time to read this important piece by J. Mack Stiles. It’s a strong reminder for churches and parachurch organisations to remain crystal clear on the gospel —

“For the better part of 30 years I have been a ‘company man.’ My life has been devoted to student ministry through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as a campus staff worker. All four of my books are published by IVP. The eleven Urbana missions conferences I attended shaped my life as a student and as a staff worker. … I love IV, and I long for its success. …

But, as Phillip Jensen says, the generation that assumes the gospel is the generation most responsible for the loss of the gospel.”

Read it here – from the current 9Marks eJournal.

Preaching without notes

“I’m a convert to preaching without any notes.

I know it’s not for everyone, but I reckon more preachers could do it if they wanted to.

I’ve preached evangelistically without notes for years, by memorising certain talks that I knew I would get to repeat many times. But I’ve not thought it ‘worth it’ to preach all the time without notes. Until now. …”

– At Read Better, Preach Better, Moore College’s Con Campbell shares his experience in preaching without notes.

Notes from the Future: Evangelical Liberalism in the UK

“The Lord Jesus called me into his kingdom in April 1974 in a Baptist church in Southampton, England. He had blessed me with a Christian family, and my conversion was very much a humble acceptance in my heart of truths I had long known in my head. Then, almost immediately after my conversion, I found myself (as a 15 year old) having to resist liberal theology from my fellow pupils at school, and even more so from my teachers.

I’ve used the word ‘liberal,’ though it felt very different from the liberalism I now see and sense…”

– Mike Ovey, Principal of Oak Hill College in London, writes in the current 9Marks eJournal. (Photo © Richard Hanson.)

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