John 1 from Around the World!

As an encouragement, and as a reminder of our unity in Christ, members of Gafcon read John 1:1-18.

Bullying in churches — legal implications

From Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia –

“I was invited to give a presentation to ministers of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney earlier this year on the legal implications of bullying in churches.

The Diocese has kindly agreed that the presentation can be made more widely available. This links to the video and also has a link to a written paper to accompany the presentation.”

What do Anglicans Believe? – Review by Mark Thompson

The latest issue of Global Anglican (formerly Churchman) has been published by Church Society.

From Church Society:

In the last issue of The Global Anglican in 2020, editor Peter Jensen writes about True Forgiveness, a much talked-about but little-understood subject of critical importance to the gospel.

There are two articles on the subject of baptism. First, from Peter Nyende, “Prepared to Believe: The Evangelism of Preschoolers and Infant Baptism in African Anglican Churches” and second from Lee Gatiss on “The Anglican Doctrine of Infant Baptism”.

Stephen Noll considers the ecclesiology of an important figure in the Australian Anglican church in “Canonicity, Catholicity, Apostolicity: Archbishop Donald Robinson on the Church.”

We also have two review articles in this issue. Colin Reed reviews Bishop Mwita Akiri’s “Christianity in Central Tanzania: A Story of African Encounters and Initiatives in Ugogo and Ukaguru, 1876–1933” from the perspective of one who spent many years working and teaching in Tanzania.

While most of the content is only available to subscribers, Dr Mark Thompson’s review of the Anglican Communion document “What Do Anglicans Believe?” has been published for everyone to read.

“The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO), working with the Anglican Communion Office’s department of Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (TEAC), has produced a short 45-page study guide entitled What Do Anglicans Believe? (2020). It has been distributed widely, in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, with a particular focus on institutions providing theological education within the Anglican Communion.

It is presented as a working draft, with the goal of assisting readers in “deciding how doctrine in general, and specific doctrines, should play a more contextually authentic and inspiring role in our worship, mission and discipleship, and then resolving to make those changes” (p. 7). But it is seriously misleading and points us in the wrong directions.”

Read Mark Thompson’s probing review here. (PDF file.)

My Year in Books – Claire Smith

“For someone who spends much of their time sitting at a desk reading and writing, I am generally amazed at how few books I read cover to cover, and that I read for no other reason than I am interested to read them! ‘My Year in Books’ tends to be determined by the projects I’m working on that given year.

This year, for example, I was asked to review three books on the Bible’s teaching about men and women. Unfortunately, I could not recommend any of them, as I explain in the reviews I’ve written. But they did alert me to three trends in the ongoing discussion about the relationship and roles of men and women in marriage and ministry. …”

– Dr Claire Smith writes at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

The Spirit of Truth

“As I explained in my previous blogpost, ‘theological reflection’, a process of hearing God’s revelation not just in Scripture, but in human wisdom and the changing circumstances around us, has become very popular in the Church of England. It is often given justification from John 16:13. Even when not linked directly to theological reflection, this verse is taken as reason to expect devout Christians, in conscience, to come to new conclusions about life and doctrine that are different from the received view, perhaps even different from biblical teaching.

Is this what Jesus actually taught in John 16:13? …

Such an interpretation of John 16:13 in the Church of England is relatively new, but has a back story. In the background is the influence of John Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement. …”

– At Church Society, Kirsty Birkett continues her series responding to the Living in Love and Faith resources with an examination of John 16:13.

Release From a COVID Christmas

“The pre-covid, covid, and post-covid worlds have striking similarities: we are imprisoned in a world of sin, pain, and death …”

– Dr Peter Barnes, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, shares his 2020 Christmas message.

Albert Mohler speaks with Carl Trueman on ‘The Triumph of the Modern Self’

Albert Mohler speaks with Carl Trueman on Car’s new book, ‘The Triumph of the Modern Self’, in the latest edition of ‘Thinking in Public’.

Theological Reflection

“At the start of the Living in Love and Faith book, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York introduce what LLF is doing as ‘an Anglican method of theological reflection’ (p. viii).

It’s easy to hear this phrase ‘theological reflection’ and think it just means, say, ‘thinking about the world biblically’, or ‘applying theology to the world’. However ‘theological reflection’ is more than that: it is a specific method for doing theology, for discovering what God is saying to us now. If we are going to use it to come to a decision about doctrine, we should be sure that it is a correct way to come to conclusions about God.

‘Theological reflection’ is a relatively recent term. …”

– A very helpful clarification from Kirsten Birkett – at Church Society.

See also:

The Church of England’s guide to hearing God’s voice through the Bible, according to LLF – Andrew Symes at Anglican Mainstream.

Lawlessness Everywhere

“Our country is at a crucial crossing point. In the past, even though there were extraordinarily damaging disputes such as the Civil War, the country survived them by adhering to its founding fathers’ principle that ours was ‘a country of laws, not men.’ In other words, the Constitution was worth protecting at all costs, lest we descend into some form of tyranny — which, by definition, is government by man (or men), not by law.  The tyrant, not the Constitution, defines in that case what the law is.

As evidenced by the recent presidential election, it is now an open question whether ours may still be said to be a country of laws. This question is brought into sharpest focus by the recent lawsuit filed by the State of Texas in the United States Supreme Court …”

– For those praying for the outcome of the Presidential election (1 Timothy 2:1-6.), this background briefing by Christian lawyer A. S. Haley may be helpful in understanding the latest legal moves.

A Conversation with Bishop Julian Dobbs

Joshua Bovis, the Vicar of St. John the Evangelist in Tamworth, recently chatted with Bishop Julian Dobbs, Bishop of The Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, in the USA, on the theme of Advent.

“Knowing that Jesus will coming again greatly steadies us in this shaky world. One verse in 25 in the New Testament touches on the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke of it often. Paul called it ‘our blessed hope’. Peter called it ‘our living hope’. Running unmistakably through the Bible is the unshakeable conviction and insistence that the God who is working in history and who has already established his rule in Jesus Christ will one day bring history to a goal or climax in the Son of Man’s coming in glory. You can’t read the New Testament and be in any doubt about that.”

Joshua published the conversation for his church, and has also made it available for your encouragement. (PDF file)

And please do pray for the Armidale Election Synod, meeting this Saturday (12th December) to elect the next Bishop of Armidale.

Carl Trueman speaks about his book ‘The Sexual Revolution and the Rise of the Modern Self’

At Christ the Center’s podcast from Reformed Forum, Carl Trueman speaks about his new book, “The Sexual Revolution and the Rise of the Modern Self”.

“My aim is to explain how and why a certain notion of the self has come to dominate the culture of the West, why this self finds its most obvious manifestation in the transformation of sexual mores, and what the wider implications of this transformation are and may well be in the future.”

Listen here.

See also:

Review: ‘The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self’ by Carl Trueman.

Advent And The Social Dilemma

“Advent is God’s time out, his season set aside for us to have ears to hear and eyes to see; to recognize that Jesus Christ is coming—always coming—in every moment, in every encounter, if we are attentive. It’s time to prepare for the celebration of his “God-in-the-flesh” birth among us and to simultaneously become wide awake to his coming again. Advent is patience in a world of impatience.

Advent is also that season in which God has called us to slow down and wait on Jesus Christ with eager expectation and to not miss him.

But the algorithms that drive our cell phones and other instruments of social media have no capacity for slowing down.…”

– Canon Phil Ashey writes at The American Anglican Council.

NSW Covid-19 rules for churches from 7 Dec 2020

“The NSW Government has now released the text of the new more generous gathering rules which will apply from Monday 7 December, in the Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order (No 7) 2020 (“PHO7”).

The new rules are much more generous in allowing churches to gather – in short, most indoor church meetings will only be subject to a new ‘one person per 2 square metres’ rule, rather than a hard numerical cap. Restrictions as to outdoor gatherings have also been eased. …”

– Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia helpfully outlines the latest COVID-19 rules for churches in NSW.

When to take a stand

“From time to time, faithful Christians have been called on to take a stand for the gospel.

In the 1st century it was over circumcision and Gentile inclusion in the church.

In the 4th century it was over the nature of God and the divinity of Christ.

In the 16th century it was over the authority of Scripture and justification by faith.

In the 18th and 19th centuries it was over the possibility of miracles and the historical reliability of the Gospels.

And in the 21st century, it is over marriage, gender and sexuality. …”

– Tom Habib writes plainly at The Australian Church Record.

The Coming — a dramatic new Christmas video from Glen Scrivener and Speak Life.

This year’s Christmas video from Glen Scrivener and Speak Life has just been released. This ambitious production, an animation based on “The Coming” by R. S. Thomas, is sure to generate discussion.

Be sure to watch.

Plus

You could pray about ways of using this video for Christmas.

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