For the good of Others

“As we commence a new year in 2021, I am sure that many of us look forward to the suppression, if not elimination, of the Coronavirus which has threatened lives and livelihoods. We welcome the imminent distribution of some of the vaccines that have been developed and are currently in use in other parts of the world, and I am grateful for so many who have offered prayer each night at 1900hrs for COVID-19 research…”

– In his column in this month’s Southern Cross, Archbishop Glenn Davies uses COVID-19 as a lead-in to speak of the goodness of God’s Law.

Men Meeting the Challenge Conference 2021

This year’s Men Meeting the Challenge Conference is coming up on Saturday 27th March –

“This year’s conference will be held across 5 regional centres; Annandale, Hurstville Grove, Northmead, Rooty Hill and Oran Park.

The conference programme will consist of a mixture of talks that will be delivered either by live stream from another centre, or by speakers who are at the site and are speaking live face-to-face, providing a full day conference experience.”

– Details and registration here.

Collision of laws: the impact of Commonwealth law on the Victorian CSP law

“The Victorian  Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill 2020 (Vic) (which I will call the “CSP” law for short) passed the Upper House on 4 Feb, 2021. As I write it seems not to have yet received the Royal Assent and become an ‘Act’ but that will no doubt happen soon. The government has signalled that the legislation will not come into operation for another 12 months (see the final sentence in this article.)

My previous posts (see here for the most recent) have expressed grave concerns about the effect of the law on religious freedom and specifically on the freedom of parents and others to encourage children to live in accordance with Biblical standards of sexual behaviour. It is astonishing that the Bill was rushed through Parliament in the face of concerns also being expressed by the Law Institute of Victoria, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP). (See this excellent post from Murray Campbell noting these issues.)

There are, it seems, very few legal avenues available to challenge the many problems created by this law. But in this post I want to suggest one which may be available…”

– Associate Professor in Law Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.

Preaching the Pastoral Epistles

Lionel Windsor at Moore College has posted a one-hour audio seminar with principles and ideas for preaching the biblical books 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus (‘the Pastoral Epistles’).

Listen at Forget the Channel.

The Shepherds who are Sheep

“Speaking in real life terms, shepherds and sheep are independent entities. Sure, you might find them lurking in the same field, but whether from near or afar, you’d hardly confuse them. A shepherd is not a sheep and the four legged cud-chewer is clearly not a shepherd.

But in the stream of biblical thinking the same can’t quite be said.  Shepherds are sheep; and some of the sheep are shepherds.  The category of shepherd – a spiritual leader of the flock – is common parlance throughout the Bible (Ezekiel 34, Jeremiah 3:15, John 21:17, 1 Tim 3:1-2, 1 Peter 5:2, Hebrews 13:17). Christ is the Chief Shepherd and his under-shepherds assist him in sheep care (1 Peter 5:1-4).

Yet this is where the twist comes. The shepherd of Christ’s flock is also part of it. They are one of the sheep who has gone astray (Isaiah 53:6) and part of the number for which the Shepherd died (John 10:15). A man may play the role of a shepherd but he never departs his place in the flock. Like the rest, he exclaims with personal assurance: ‘the Lord is my shepherd’ (Psalm 23:1). …”

– At Unashamed Workman, Colin Adams writes to strengthen shepherds.

The Sign of the Cross in Baptism — Broughton Knox

“Why do Sydney Anglicans sign the forehead of children with the sign of the cross at their baptism?…”

– The Australian Church Record publishes two short articles by D. Broughton Knox on Baptism.

Photo: DBK at George Whitefield College in Capetown.

Discounted kindle version of Married for God

We understand the Kindle version of Christopher Ash’s book “Married for God: Making Your Marriage the Best It Can Be” is on special at Amazon until February 17.

Carl Trueman writes,

“I heartily recommend it as a book to read and also as a basis for framing and informing pastoral discussions with Christian couples who are looking toward marriage and want a realistic but encouraging picture of what to expect. A great book.”

Justification

Some encouragement:

“The voice that spells forgiveness will say: ‘You may go: you have been let off the penalty which your sin deserves.’

But the verdict which means acceptance [justification] will say: ‘You may come; you who are welcome to all my love and my presence.’“

– Sir Marcus Loane, quoted in John Stott, The Message of Romans.

Photo: Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane (centre) at Bishopscourt, December 1981. From the Sydney Diocesan Year Book, 1982.

From Bible to Sermon: 25 Steps

“Don’t be surprised if a sermon takes you a long time to prepare. Most of us take 8-10 hours. If you are starting to preach—or do so infrequently—it will take you longer. And one-off sermons take longer to prepare. …”

– The Gospel Coalition Australia publishes this helpful excerpt from Peter Adam’s short handbook: Local Church Training Program for Potential Preachers.

(Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

Why do we say things together in church?

“As a teenager, I was deeply impacted by a youth ministry that made a lot of hay out of throwing out traditional, churchy practices. We started a church service on couches and bean bags in the hall where we didn’t do anything like liturgy or set prayers.

I remain deeply grateful for this low-church experience, for I heard the gospel there with a freshness that was God’s gift. But in hindsight, I have mixed feelings about the excitement we felt at doing things differently. For while this stance did grab my attention, it also distanced me from good things…”

– At The Australian Church Record, Andrew Errington shares three ways that saying together “sentences from the Bible, psalms, creeds, and other prayers” can be a real help.

Love, grief and identity

“You learn a lot about what a person meant to you when they’re taken away. Separation magnifies all the intricate and beautiful nuances of what you had, and absence pries open memories that may have lain dormant for years. Songs, sights, smells. The faintest hint evokes a cascade of reminiscence. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Scott Millar has been sharing some very personal reflections on grief and the Christian. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

The truth about secularism – with Rory Shiner

“Christianity in Australia is in decline. The narrative is we had a few golden years at the start, where 96% of the population identified as Christian, but that has been on a gradual decline for decades.

But if that’s the case:

– Why does Christianity in Australia go up, not down, after Darwin?

– In Australia, why does it go up after WWII?

– If the Church was so strong in the middle ages, why was church attendance so sketchy then?

This week, Rory Shiner joins us to discuss the ways that modern understanding is wrong about secularism. Rory believes we’ve accepted a narrative that isn’t true, and are making massive pastoral and missional mistakes because of it. …”

– A challenging and encouraging episode of The Pastor’s Heart.

Continually trying to improve your prayer life?

“How is your prayer life going? Many of us feel this part of our faith lives could improve for a variety of reasons, but the Rev Stephen Shead says not all of these reasons are good. …”

– Here’s some encouragement for you, via SydneyAnglicans.net.

A conversation with Dr. Carl Trueman on the modern self and the sexual revolution

“Like all historical phenomena, the sexual revolution didn’t cause itself. It arose out of a set of cultural and social conditions that were already in place. For ideas like gay marriage or transgenderism to be acceptable and plausible in society, a whole host of other ideas must have already been given authority, become plausible, become accepted by that society.

The story in my book looks at how the ideas that made the sexual revolution plausible, even desirable, emerged in the West. …”

– Carl Trueman speaks about the topics covered by his new book (The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self) with Jason Thacker.

Also see these reviews of the book.

“I believe in the Holy Spirit”

“Two years ago, while preaching through Deuteronomy and the instruction given there for Israel’s calendar, I was convicted of the usefulness of having times in our church year, where we remember God’s great saving acts and rejoice before him—celebrating his kindness to us in Christ.

It would give a pattern to our year and make prominent what was core in our confession of Christ, and would help us remember, and not forget, that we are the Lord’s people, saved by His grace to live for Him.

We already celebrated Christmas and Easter. What would we add? It was a no brainer: Pentecost, the coming of the Spirit on the first disciples recorded in Acts 2; an event of fundamental importance to the individual and collective life of Jesus’ followers. …”

– Moore College graduate, and Minister at Bundoora Presbyterian Church in Melbourne, Neil Chambers, writes the next article in the series commissioned by The Gospel Coalition Australia on The Apostles’ Creed.

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