Mr Facing Both Ways

“In his book The Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan refers to a character called ‘Mr Facing Both Ways.’

As I reflected on the events of the past year and where they have left the Church of England it struck me that Bunyan’s name for this character is also an apt description of the current position of the Church of England.

On the one hand, the Church of England officially continues to adhere to (a) the traditional Christian doctrine of marriage and sexual ethics, and (b) the traditional Christian doctrine that  visible holiness of life should be required of Christian ministers.

On the other hand, since 17 December  last year it has contradicted (a) in terms of its liturgical practice. Furthermore, it seems certain that action by the House of Bishops will mean that in the coming year the Church of England will contradict traditional Christian doctrine further in area (a) and will also contradict it in area (b) as well. …”

– Martin Davie looks at the current situation in the Church of England and suggests how orthodox Evangelicals should respond.

Living in Love, Faith and Reconciliation: an exercise in bait and switch

“Last week, the lead bishops for Living in Love and Faith process, Rt Revd Helen-Ann Hartley and Rt Revd Martyn Snow set out some of their thinking in a comment piece for the Church Times – Living in Love, Faith and Reconciliation.

‘We are at a crossroads: either we have reached the point of separation, accepting that different views cannot co-exist within the same Church, or we must shift the debate to the question how we live well with difference. We believe firmly in the latter approach, and, therefore, we are issuing a call for reconciliation and bridge-building.’

Their attempt to ‘reset’ the debate will rest on a number of commitments, which will be brought to General Synod for discussion in February. They have yet to be published – but for once the devil will not be in the detail – but in their purpose and underlying premise …”

– This opinion piece at Anglican Futures looks at where ‘reconciliation and bridge-building’ is likely to lead.

And it is yet another reminder to pray for wisdom for faithful believers in the Church of England.

Representing Jesus to our grandkids

“For many people today, there is a lot of life left after retirement. Many years ago, when I began work, the union representative told me that our superannuation scheme for men was based on retirement at 65 and death at 67½! Now, the life expectancy for men is 81 and 85 for women. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Paul Whiting introduces us to an important book – one especially important for grandparents.

Bridging Secular Wisdom and the Christian Mission: A Dialogue on Growth, Change, and Spiritual Transformation – with Archie Poulos

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“What can we learn from recent secular literature about the practice of Christian pastoral leadership?

Head of Ministry at Sydney’s Moore Theological College Archie Poulos looks at how the ‘The Infinite Game’ concept, popularized by Simon Sinek, can be applied to ministry.  Sinek explores the consequences of short and long term thinking in business and life. Long term success is more likely when an infinite perspective is taken.

Then we examine Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal’s book ‘The Human Element: Overcoming the resistance that awaits new ideas.’

Archie considers the emotional and psychological hurdles (inertia, effort, emotion, and reactance) that congregations face when change is suggested.

We look back to ‘After the Ball’ by Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, a 1989 secular play book for effecting LGBTI societal acceptance.  Archie suggests there are lessons from aspects of that strategy for Christian mission.

Plus Archie talks about what impressed him about Andrew Heard’s soon to be released book ‘Growth and Change – The danger and necessity of a passion for church growth.”

– Watch or listen here.

Richard Johnson — Chaplain under fire

This Australia Day, it’s worth remembering how the gospel was received when it was preached in Sydney Town –

“One observation about the past is especially instructive for Christians of any age: faithful witness is often met with hostile opposition. It would be a mistake to conceive of some halcyon days in the past when the whole of society was motivated by the Christian faith and gospel proclamation went unopposed.

The Constantinian form of Christianity, which permeated the Western world over the past millennium, never truly embraced those who sought to be faithful witnesses. This is cer­tainly true of Australia’s first ordained minis­ter, Richard Johnson, who arrived in Sydney as chaplain to the colony of New South Wales with the First Fleet in 1788. …”

– Steve Tong wrote this for The Australian Church Record last year.

Related:

An Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies – Richard Johnson (PDF file)

Pray (Don’t Play) Politics

“For many today, politics takes up far too much of our spiritual hard drive. It’s become an obsession.

Praying to the King of kings (on behalf of our president, senators, and other government officials) helps to reorder our hearts.. …”

– You don’t need to be following the U.S. election cycle to benefit from this encouragement from Brandon Cooper at The Gospel Coalition.

See also:

“…the task of the Christian is not first to understand prayer, though may be a very good thing, and not first to solve prayer, which I suspect is an impossible thing. Rather, the Christian is to pray, knowing that part of the beauty of prayer is that even if we aren’t confident in how prayer works, we can have confidence in the one who tells us to pray. Even if we haven’t resolved the dilemmas and solved the mysteries, we can trust the one who issues the command and who insists that he hears and responds to our prayers. Our task, our calling, and our joyful duty is to pray.”

– It’s Okay To Just Pray – Tim Challies.

Growth and change – with Andrew Heard

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“‘Many of the ways we are running our churches and ministries and many of the ways we are exercising leadership within our churches, has become a significant hindrance to the growth of the church.’

Andrew Heard’s about to be released book Growth and Change will be the ‘must read’ book for pastors for 2024.

In his opening preface Gospel Coalition founder  DA Carson – says ‘I am usually loath to proclaim that such and such a book is the best in its field … but if there is one book that happily serves as the exception to the rule, Heard’s book is it.’…”

– Watch or listen here.

Three Lessons from 234 Pastors’ Libraries

“One of the most common assumptions about pastors throughout church history is that they are men of books – that reading is central to a pastor’s ministry. If you walk into your pastor’s office – he might even call it his ‘study’ – it will almost surely be full of books (2 Tim. 4:13).

But it wasn’t always this way. From our perch in 2023, we easily forget how significant the introduction of the printing press was to the history of the church. Prior to its invention, books were rare, usually only owned by wealthy men and women or tucked away in a monastery. Hardly any ordinary Europeans would have owned more than one book prior to 1450. …”

– At 9Marks, Forrest Strickland shares three lessons from history.

Post-Restoration Reformed Anglicans

Church Society’s Lee Gatiss shares some history about Post-Restoration Reformed Anglicans –

“The ejection of many of the Puritans from the Church of England in 1662 was not the end of the story for Puritanism, for Reformed theology, or for the gospel in the established church.

This lecture looks at a common tendentious reading of church history and by examining the lives and teaching of three significant Anglicans in the later Stuart period …”

– See it at Church Society.

The T. B. Joshua Story points to a problem in many churches

“The recent expose by the BBC on the late prophet T. B. Joshua is heart rending.

The reports and eyewitness accounts point to what is without a doubt a massive tragedy on many levels. To witness someone in authority in a church be able to perpetuate so much abuse for so long with complete impunity makes your blood boil. To see the lives of so many people scarred, perhaps for the rest of their lives, cuts to the heart. It puts on full display the ugliness of sin or evil and its power to hide and grow. It should make us all long ever more eagerly for the day of our Lord’s return to judge every lawbreaker and to make all things new.

However, to my mind, one of the greatest tragedies from this saga is that countless similar scandals have happened before in the African church. More so, they’re almost certainly going to happen again. Soon. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Africa, Oyewole Akande in Lagos (pictured) speaks of a problem which is not always confined to Africa.

2024 Armidale Preaching Conference

Here’s a great resource for friends within striking distance of Armidale – The Expository Preaching Trust is holding a Preaching Conference on May 6 and 7 2024.

– Details from the Trust and also from the Diocese of Armidale.

Launch 2024 bookings close this weekend

Phillip Jensen writes (15th January) –

“Next Sunday, 21 January, is the deadline for your budding uni students to register for Launch Camp. That means they have 6 days left.

Launch 2024 is filling up quickly now that the deadline is close and our Launch leaders are looking forward to welcoming many school leavers this year!”

“Launch is the camp for school leavers keen to live for Jesus. It is where you will

29th January – 1st February 2024, Stanwell Tops.”

– Be encouraged to share the link and to pray for those attending.

10 books to add to your Summer reading list

From SydneyAnglicans.net:

“The days are long, the breeze is cool, we’ve got a good book and we’re lounging by the pool. Sounds like a perfect summer day to me!

Here’s a short list of great books from the past 12 months that are worth stashing into your suitcase this season, as reviewed by our team and invited guest writers. …”

– See the list here.

Remembering Broughton Knox after 30 years

David Broughton Knox, Principal of Moore College 1959–1985, was called home 30 years ago, on January 14th 1994.

Who was Broughton Knox? Take the time to read these two tributes:

Sir Marcus Loane, Archbishop of Sydney 1966 – 1982, preached at his funeral at St. Andrew’s Cathedral:

“There were many strands in Broughton’s complex make-up as husband and father, teacher and friend. But all who knew him know that his life was ruled by a profound faith in God. That life was to span just a shade over seventy seven years from the time of his birth. And they were years crowded with quiet achievement as well as moments of high drama.

It was a life rich in friendship, in world-wide contacts, and in special fields of service. And it has left a mark for God that will endure in and beyond his own generation. …”

And Donald Robinson, Archbishop of Sydney 1982–1993, wrote a tribute for ACL News in 1994:

“It is no doubt too soon to estimate Broughton’s full contribution to the Australian Church. We can note something of its character, its thrust, and its scope, and we can voice our gratitude where we have personally been its beneficiaries.

Broughton was a theological person, whose mind and heart was focussed on the living God as He has made himself known. …”

See also:

Broughton Knox: servant of Christ Jesus – Dr Mark Thompson, May 15, 2017.

The Legacy of David Broughton Knox – October 24th 2018.

Expository Preaching on the wane? — David Cook, August 20th 2020.

Man articles by D B Knox – at Matthias Media’s The Briefing website.

A quote from Dr Knox’s address at the Annual General Meeting of the Anglican Church League in July 1993:

“We mustn’t limit the gospel to the feudalism of the past. Our present territorial boundaries, like a diocese or a parish, are feudal. … where the gospel is needed to be preached, we ought to be preaching it.”

Shortly before he and Ailsa left to help establish George Whitefield College in Cape Town in 1989, he spoke at Moore College on “What is a Christian?” – and prefaced his address with some comments on what he hoped to do in South Africa. (While the Vimeo page has the date as 12/10/1980, the year is almost certainly 1988.)

Thanks to Moore College’s Donald Robinson Library for making this available.

William Ansdell Leech (1842-1895) and the Fresh Air League

“On 25 September 1890, in his parish of Bong Bong in the Southern Highlands of NSW, the Rev William Ansdell Leech, an Anglican clergyman, formed a Ministering Children’s League (MCL) group from which the NSW Fresh Air League (FAL) would arise.

Initially, the activity that gave rise to the FAL was Leech’s particular way of fulfilling the ideals of the MCL. It soon became apparent that providing holiday accommodation for poor children and families in a healthy mountainous environment was a ministry deserving of its own name. …”

– Paul Cooper, Research Fellow at Christ College, Sydney, provides another fascinating window in to the (not-so-distant) past at Philanthropists And Philanthropy In Australian Colonial History.

Image: colonialgivers.com

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