Can Conservative Evangelicals and Traditional Anglo-Catholics really work together?
In 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, the Apostle Paul asked some searching questions of believers who wanted to take their new-found freedom in Christ too far:
For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?
Right now, a lot of people are asking the same question about any possible cooperation between Conservative Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics over the issues of women bishops and, to a lesser but still significant extent, same-sex relationships and their effect on the global Anglican Communion…
– Conservative Evangelical John Richardson gave this Address to the Annual Meeting of the Lincoln branch of Forward in Faith yesterday.
The most important issues in this election
Where is your trust in this world? Where is your allegiance? John Piper speaks very helpfully on what’s really important as the US elections loom.
It’s a 4 minute video at Desiring God.
Designing for Christmas
Christmas is not far off – how will your church advertise what’s on?
There’s the Create Conference on November 15.
And as well, Phil Campbell at Mitchelton Presbyterian Church in Brisbane, shares his church’s Carols flier – and other good ideas – at Design4Church.
The key doctrine of Justification
Mike Reeves chats with John Piper about the subject of justification – for the UCCF’s Theology Network.
There’s a very helpful stress on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
It’s a 17MB mp3 download – from this page.
The Manifesto of the Reformation
The Manifesto of the Reformation
Luther vs. Erasmus on Free Will
The clash between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus over the issue of free will is “one of the most famous exchanges in western intellectual history”…
Read the article by Lee Gatiss (editor of The Theologian) via the PDF file here (direct link).
Reformation Day
It’s Reformation Day, and over at the Sola Panel, Sandy Grant has posted links to some useful resources.
See also our post from earlier this week.
Traditions Old and New
In the Reformation the leaders of the day had to work out what to change and what to retain. With some things it was easy, because the need to change screamed out. But falling for the temptation to change everything led to some terrible follies and abuses.
It was the wisdom of Thomas Cranmer, which guided the Church of England through the Reformation changes. He did not accomplish all that he wanted to do. However, in 1549 he laid down some principles upon which he was working…
– Phillip Jensen wrote in last weekend’s Cathedral newsletter.
True Woman conference audio online
Audio and text files of the talks given at the 2008 True Woman Conference, held in the Chicago area earlier this month, are now online.
Speakers include Mary Kassian, Joni Eareckson Tada and John Piper.
The talks are available at True Woman.
How others see us: What’s up Down Under?
“The recent decision of the Diocesan Synod of Sydney, in the Anglican Church of Australia, to allow the administration of Holy Communion—i.e., the celebration of the Eucharist—by deacons and eventually laity seems outlandish to many overseas Anglicans. It makes considerably more sense within the context of Australian Anglicanism, which has a very different history than The Episcopal Church (TEC) and its various offshoots (I will get to that later). Australian Anglicanism is exceptionally diverse as a result of that history, and its diversity has led the Anglican Church of Australia to adopt a unique pattern of organization.
Just as some Episcopalians are frustrated when other Anglicans cannot understand TEC’s particular form of synodical governance, so I expect Australians feel when outsiders try to apply their own context to matters Down Under. I write the following as an American outsider, but one who has long been fascinated enough by the local variations on the common Anglican theme to make a study of them. (I hope that any Australians who read this will take the trouble to correct my inevitable mistakes by commenting below.)…”
– A thoughtful piece by Dale Rye in Covenant. (Photo: Covenant.)
Hat tip: Anglican Mainstream.
‘Christless Christianity’ reviewed
“I am not arguing in this book that we have arrived at Christless Christianity,” says Horton, “but that we are well on our way. … My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for ‘relevant’ quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms; God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshipped and trusted…”
– Tim Challies reviews the new book by Michael Horton.
The Badder the Bad…
Over the weekend I read Michael Horton’s new book Christless Christianity. I greatly enjoyed reading it (despite chapters that were slightly longer than my attention span) and found that it gave me a lot to think about. A few days earlier I had read a new book by Rick Warren, The Purpose of Christmas. What a contrast there was between the two of them…
– Tim Challies writes at Challies.com.
What’s really at stake in the gay marriage debate?
“The activists promoting the normalization of homosexuality have been tremendously successful in their efforts. The mainstream media, the educational elites, and various culture shapers have pushed this cause.
Today, on the average college or university campus, homosexuality is not considered to be a major moral issue…”
– In part 4 of his series ‘What’s really at stake in the Gay marriage debate?’, Al Mohler writes about the ideological struggle for recognition of ‘gay marriage’.
See also part 1, part 2 and part 3. (Photo: Together for the Gospel.)
Martin Luther at study
On October 31, 1517, German monk and theologian Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
In this free audio download from Christian Audio, John Piper speaks on the discovery that Martin Luther made 491 years ago – that God speaks to us in his Word.
How should pastors today go about their ministry? Piper draws us back to God’s word – the Bible.
The 36MB mp3 file runs for 1 hour 19 minutes – to get it, start at this page.
(You will need to create an account if you don’t have one and go through the check-out process, but the file is free of charge.)
Voting for generations of children and their right to live
“What would you think if a politician said ‘I’m not pro-rape, I’m simply prochoice about rape. And though I would not choose to rape a woman, I believe that every man should be free to rape a woman if that is his personal choice.’ And what would you do if that politician promised the rape lobby that if he is elected president, the ‘first thing I would do’ is to sign legislation that would invalidate all the state laws that restrict rape in any way?…”
– Randy Alcorn writes persuasively about choices facing voters in the US election.
Terrific Gospelling idea
Here’s a reminder about an event coming up this week –
St. Philip’s Church in the Sydney CBD is modelling a great idea for outreach. Later this month they are hosting a public reading of Mark’s Gospel over two lunch hours.
The purpose is to provide Christians who work and shop in the City with an opportunity to bring their non-Christian friends and work colleagues to hear about Jesus from the Scriptures. Read more
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…