Sacred cows
“It is dangerous to shoot sacred cows. We all get upset, irrationally and emotionally when something we hold as precious is attacked. The more irrational our attachment the more anger is engendered when our favourite bovine is assailed. …”
– Phillip Jensen writes for the Cathedral newsletter.
Charges to a young Minister
In January, Dick Lucas preached at the institution of Robin Sydserff at St Catherine’s Argyle in the Church of Scotland. He preached on 2 Timothy 2:1-7.
Hear Dick’s sermon – it is a 7MB mp3 file (direct link) and runs for 28 minutes.
h/t Faith by Hearing. (Photo: St.Catharine’s Argyle.)
Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism
In three talks Lee Gatiss looks at the crisis which hit American Presbyterianism in the 1920s and 30s. The conservative hero of that struggle was J. Gresham Machen, whose Christianity and Liberalism remains a classic.
What does Machen’s battle with liberalism have to teach us today in a church still ravaged by liberalism and those who tolerate it?
– Hear the talks at The Theologian. See also an extract “When a Theological College Goes Wrong”, from Lee’s book on the topic.
(Image of J. Gresham Machen: The Theologian.)
Using the Online ESV to Listen
“As long as we are drawing your attention to the ESV Study Bible Online, let me tell you one of the uses I make of it that you might not think of. …”
– John Piper shares a helpful idea in his blog.
An Anglican Prayer Book (2008) reviewed
“For evangelicals in the Church of England who are not familiar with the history of The Episcopal Church, the more conservative of the denomination’s evangelicals succeeded from the church in the 1870s due to the growth and increased influence of Tractarianism in the church and the incipient Catholic doctrines of the 1789 Book of Common Prayer. Those who remained in The Episcopal Church became Broad Church liberals. By 1900 evangelicalism had disappeared from The Episcopal Church. Anglo-Catholicism and Broad Church liberalism became the dominant theological streams in The Episcopal Church. …”
– Robin G. Jordan, who runs the blog Anglicans Ablaze, critiques and outlines the history of An Anglican Prayer Book (2008) prepared for the AMiA.
From the current issue of Cross†Way – published by Church Society. A valuable insight into the situation in the USA. Download the article as a PDF file (direct link).
The 1928 Prayer Book
Why are we running an article on the 1928 Prayer Book now? A new ‘orthodox’ province has been established in North America (only a day ago as I write). It has set out in a provisional constitution its doctrinal position but has not adopted any formal liturgies. The Jerusalem Declaration from GAFCON affirms the 1662 Book of Common Prayer but in the United States in particular the traditional prayer book before the 1970s was their 1928 book. That book is not the same as the English 1928 book, a matter that has caused considerable confusion in some discussions, but nevertheless it is also not the 1662 book. …
– David Phillips, General Secretary of Church Society, writes in the current issue of Cross†Way and the article is available as a PDF file (direct link).
Dever interviews Carson on Books
Last December, 9 Marks published online the first part of an interview by Mark Dever with Don Carson.
In the second part of the interview, just published, focusses on some of the books Don has written. It runs for 56 minutes and is available here at 9Marks.
The Anglican Covenant: A House on Sand
“As the March 9th deadline approaches for Provincial responses to the Covenant Design Group, an odd but telling paradox is emerging; in order to stabilise the Anglican Communion, it seems essential that the Covenant’s biblical foundations should be weak. …”
– Charles Raven at SPREAD writes on the proposed Anglican Covenant.
Carl Jung and the Gnostic Reconciliation of Gender Opposites
Ed Hird, Rector of St. Simon’s Church in North Vancouver (ANiC), gave this address at the CWiPPTHINK 09 conference in San Diego earlier this month. –
“Leanne Payne wrote an unforgettable book in 1995 entitled ‘Crisis in Masculinity’. We live in an age where equality is equated with sameness, where men and women are deeply confused about their gender identity, about what really is authentic male and authentic female. I believe that this Gnostic Reconciliation of Gender Opposites, this gender-blending about authentic maleness and femaleness, is the direct result of our culture’s embracing of the Jungian agenda. …”
– Read Ed’s talk (PDF file – direct link) at the St. Simon’s website.
Connecting with families via DVD
One of the ways in which Sydney parishes are seeking to connect with their communities is through a DVD being produced by Colin Buchanan. (Colin and his friend Nudge made an appearance at The Big Day In.) The aim is to offer it to as many families as possible. It will be available from March 18th.
Churches participating in Connect09 have until next Friday (February 27 – the deadline has been extended a week) to place their orders. The DVDs which are heavily subsidised to allow them to be given away. Please pray for this effort.
Biblical requirements for Presbyters
“In writing to both Timothy and Titus the Apostle Paul sets out qualifications and standards expected of those to be presbyters. …
What is immediately striking from the person described by Paul in both places is the almost total lack of ability. Only two abilities are required, and these are not accidental. …”
– Church Society has published online their booklet on what ought to be expected of Christian leaders.
Responding to the fires
“Every morning I wake up and it’s okay—until, with a dull thud, it comes back to me: image after image of people who died in the fires; rows of army tents with homeless people staying in them; entire communities that have been wiped out; my friend whose parents lost their house; a family known to me who died in their car in their driveway; a 12-year-old girl, badly burned, whose parents and sister died.
How do we respond to a tragedy like this?…”
– Jean Williams in Melbourne writes at The Sola Panel. Will your church be observing the National Day of Mourning on Sunday?
‘As Darwin turns 200, Jefferts Schori the scientist reflects’
“Jefferts Schori’s supporters say her unique background has invigorated her church and brought fresh insights into age-old problems. …
Jefferts Schori said science informs everything from how she interprets the Bible to her views on homosexuality — two subjects that now embroil her church and the larger Anglican Communion.”
– Article from Episcopal Life Online. (Photo © 2009 Episcopal Life Online.)
Of Fire and Flu
My grandfather died of the flu. He was a man in his prime of life with a large family of young children. Within a few days he was dead.
Usually influenza is of greatest danger to young children or the elderly. However the so-called “Spanish flu” was notorious for its attack on healthy young adults.
Most Australians today have never heard of “the Spanish flu”. It was a great pandemic that spread across the world at the end of the First World War – killing more people than the war did. …
– The Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, writes for the St. Andrew’s Cathedral newsletter.
Is the liberal tide in the Church of England beginning to ebb?
In contrast to the bad natured meeting of July last year, this week’s General Synod of the Church of England has passed off not only peacefully, but also with a significant step forward for those who want to see the Church of England recover its confidence in the gospel. A motion by lay member Paul Eddy affirming the uniqueness of Christ was agreed with 283 votes in favour and only 8 against.
Its significance was not lost on journalist Ruth Gledhill of the London Times who was quick to claim, under the headline ‘Anglicans called on to convert non-Christian believers’, that ‘The established Church of England put decades of liberal-inspired political correctness behind it in a move that led one bishop to condemn in anger the “evangelistic rants”.’ …
– Charles Raven writes at Anglican SPREAD. (Photo: C of E website.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…