Processing disappointment in ministry

“How do we process disappointment in ministry? Personally as leaders and with our people?

What about when the church plant fails? Hans Kristensen planted Resolved Church in Newtown, and six years later closed it down.

If we try lots of things, many of them will fail.  But how do we know when to call time? And what part does ego play in all of this?”

– Watch or listen here.

Navigating change management in church – with Raj Gupta

From this week’s The Pastor’s Heart:

“How to navigate change management in church?

We want and need to make changes in our churches. But there are so many war stories of ‘church change resistance,’ where well meaning ministers have had relationships blow up in their faces when they attempted to bring about needed change.

Raj Gupta is the senior minister of St Paul’s in Carlingford in Sydney and a director with Moore College’s Center for Ministry Development and has insights for churches based on John Kotter’s Change Management Framework.”

– Watch or listen here.

How do we read the Bible differently as Followers of Jesus?

“The Christian attitude toward the Bible is part of Christian discipleship. To follow Jesus is to follow him in this too. Put simply, we want to have the same attitude toward the Bible as Jesus had.

We must not pit the authority of Jesus—or the power of the Holy Spirit, for that matter—against the teaching of Scripture. Jesus himself turned to the Scriptures as the final word: sufficiently clear, true, and powerful to make known the person and purposes of God, and to direct a faithful response to what God has done for us in his Son. ‘It is written,’ Jesus said. ‘What does the Scripture say?’ asked his faithful servant, the apostle Paul.…”

– Crossway has published this encouraging article by Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson.

It’s adapted from his just-released book, “The Doctrine of Scripture: An Introduction”. (It’s available to order from these booksellers.)

Freedom22 – National Conference 2022

It’s just a week to the Freedom for Faith: Freedom22 Conference in Parramatta:

“Religious Freedom in Australia has reached a crisis point.

The promised protections in the Federal Religious Discrimination Bill have been put on hold, and new State laws have removed several religious freedom rights from faith communities.

These new issues include unprecedented intrusions into prayer, unsympathetic treatment of conscience exemptions, reduced employment rights for religious schools, and a troubling surge in discrimination cases against Jewish, Muslim and other minority faith groups.

Will there be room for authentic expression of faith in Australia’s future?

Register for the Freedom22 National Conference on May 3 at Parramatta’s Park Royal Hotel to hear our distinguished speakers explain the content and consequences of these laws, as well as how we arrived at this cultural moment.

The Freedom22 speakers are:

Book via the Freedom for Faith website.

General Synod and comprehensive Anglicanism

“Some believe that the scriptures are quite clear in their condemnation of same-sex sexual activity and that the Church has no authority to act contrary to the clear teaching of the scriptures. Therefore marriage, in their understanding, must continue to be exclusively between one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others, for life.

Others believe that what’s at stake here is an important matter of justice and that LGBTI people should be fully included in the life of the Church and allowed to express their sexuality through life-long, faithful, monogamous relationships just as heterosexual people do. Other parts of the scriptures are cited in support of this view.

…

In Southern Queensland we have set as a key focus area promoting ‘comprehensive Anglican identity and purpose.’

This approach recognises that there will be different convictions, understandings and priorities among Anglicans. And it is likely that each of these perspectives includes insights into the truth.

This means that in order to comprehend the whole truth we need these various insights and perspectives to be present and engaged. …”

– Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Phillip Aspinall writes about the upcoming General Synod to be held next month on the Gold Coast – and the range of theological convictions on the question of the blessing of same-sex marriages.

How ‘comprehensive’ can Anglicans be? Worth considering:

From Article 20 of The Thirty Nine Articles:

“… it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same…”

Photo: Anglican Focus.

Tasmania Celebration with Will Graham — May 2022

From the Diocese of Tasmania –

“The Tasmania Celebration with Will Graham is coming up in Hobart on 21 May and in Launceston from 27-29 May 2022.

Since 1950, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has held Crusades all across the globe for one purpose: to proclaim God’s love to people who need Jesus Christ. Today, Will Graham Celebrations continue this life-changing mission. …”

Weakness is good for you – with Matt Fuller

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Senior Minister of Christ Church Mayfair, in the centre of London, Matt Fuller describes standing up in front of his church, saying he couldn’t cope and being told by his elders that he needed to take time off.”

– Watch or listen here.

On The Prosperity Gospel — 9Marks

From the latest 9Marks Pastors Talk –

“The prosperity gospel is wicked. It leads people on a path toward destruction. It lures people into a false sense of security. At the same time, the temptation to believe a version of this prosperity gospel lies in all of our hearts and minds.

We need to be equipped to call out this false gospel both in our lives and in the lives of our friends and family.

That’s why Sean DeMars and Mike McKinley wrote Health, Wealth, and the Real Gospel. They’re burdened to expose the errors of the prosperity gospel while upholding the beautiful purity of the real gospel.”

The religion of self-worship

“Steve Chalke of the Oasis Trust, and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, have with others written this in a letter to the Prime Minister:

To be Trans is to enter a sacred journey of becoming whole: precious, honoured, and loved, by yourself, by others and by God.

In one sentence this brings into the open what a good deal of the LGBT+ movement has become: it is now a sacred quest, an agenda no longer driven science, common sense, or simple compassion; but by a transcendental vision, a desire for mystical fulfilment and a metaphysical belief in unseen realities. This is, more than anything else, a religion.

But it is not Christian religion. …”

– Matthew Roberts at The Critic looks at the worldview behind a recent letter that’s been making news in the UK.

Photo: Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

See also:

‘To Be Trans is to Enter a Sacred Journey of Becoming Whole’: A Former Archbishop of Canterbury and the Liberal Enthusiasm for Transgender Ideology – Albert Mohler’s Briefing for Thursday 14 April 2022. See Part 3:

“This is a public statement made by someone who had held major public responsibility in an historic Christian Church, and he basically here is offering a theology that is directly contrary to scripture and he is doing so believing that the message that he is bringing will lead to human happiness, wholeness, and flourishing.”

and

Why the Christian argument for a ban on transgender conversion therapy fails. – Anglican theologian Martin Davie.

“I very much regret having to disagree with Archbishop Rowan Williams. He is someone whom I deeply respect and from whose writings I have learned an enormous amount. However, as part of my responsibility as a theologian, I feel that I need to say publicly that I disagree with the Christian argument for a ban on transgender conversion therapy put forward by Archbishop Williams and thirteen other Christian writers in their recent open letter to the Prime Minister. What they say in the letter is deeply misleading and they completely fail to make a convincing Christian case for such a ban. …”

The Truth of Jesus: John Anderson speaks with Phillip Jensen

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia John Anderson has interviewed many interesting people over the last few years.

With Easter upon us, he speaks with Phillip Jensen, Bible Teacher and Evangelist.

Fascinating interview. Encouraging to watch and great to share.

It’s available at johnanderson.net.au – and also on YouTube where a timeline of topics discussed is posted underneath the video.

“Easter in a minute” – from the Bishop of Bathurst

Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder has released this one-minute Easter message for 2022.

Watch and share widely.

Also, Bishop Calder has posted several Easter service and sermon videos. If you’re unable to get to church this Easter, you’ll find them a great encouragement.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s Easter Message 2022

Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel has released this Easter Message for 2022.

Watch and share widely.

It’s ideal to download and play in church, or to post on church websites!

Thanks to Russell Powell at Anglican Media Sydney for the video and the transcript.

Image: Anglican Media Sydney.

Holy Week Message from Archbishop Foley Beach

“We do not pray to a God who is aloof. We pray to a God who knows what it is to suffer pain, who through the suffering of the Cross made the way of life and peace and has not abandoned us to our suffering. …”

Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, and Chairman of GAFCON, Dr. Foley Beach has released his Easter message – Read it all here.

The Challenge of Feminism

Equal but Different has republished two articles by Dr Claire Smith on “The Challenge of Feminism” –

Part 1 – Should We Call Ourselves Feminists?

Part 2 – God’s Better Solutions.

Centre for Christian Living — Commanding the heart: Lust

Coming up on Wednesday 4th May, Marshall Ballantine-Jones and Dani Treweek are speaking at the next Centre for Christian Living event at Moore College.

Attend in person or watch online.

Details here.

← Previous Page — Next Page →