Men Meeting The Challenge Conference 2020
This year’s Men Meeting the Challenge Conference, not surprisingly, will be an online conference. Keynote speakers are Al Stewart and Ross Ciano.
From the organisers:
Why not join us at Men Meeting the Challenge this year, online, on Saturday 7 November 2020, for some real encouragement and inspiration. Gather a group of men today and go online at menforchrist.asn.au and register for a conference that will really make a difference!
And you can watch the promo video here.
The DC Mayor Doesn’t Get to Define Church
“Since the spring, Christian commentary on COVID-19 restrictions and church closures has focused on the authority of government. Do we as Christians believe the Bible gives Caesar the authority to ask churches to cease gathering in times of emergency?
That’s a conversation worth having. Yet an equally important theological question has quietly lurked in the shadows, which many Christians have missed: What is a church? More specifically, must the members of a church gather on a weekly basis to be a church?…”
– Jonathan Leeman writes at Christianity Today about the nature of “church”. It’s a good question to consider as we seek to encourage Christians to gather.
(Photo: Capitol Hill Baptist Church.)
@HomewithColin One-Off online show — Saturday night
The Gospel Coalition Australia is partnering with Colin Buchanan for a special one-off Saturday online @HomewithColin concert.
It will include a bunch of Colin’s Christian kid’s favourites – plus a few surprises!
@HomewithColin One-Off is streaming this Saturday 10th October, from 5:00 pm AEST on Colin’s Facebook Page.
MTS Recruit videos online
The videos from the MTS Recruit conference sessions the last few days are now available to watch.
Ray Galea and Phillip Jensen give the main addresses. Plenty of encouragement to consider gospel ministry.
Feel the Breeze
“In the past people used to curled up with a good book. Now the joy is curling up with your Kindle or iPad. Some people like to log in to video games, while for others it’s a good movie or just the TV. It’s hard to speak of these with joy because so often the content is less than joyful and can even be quite stressful.
I want to give a plug for some time in the sun, to walk the great outdoors. I want to give a plug for something more than your world hemmed in by four walls. …”
– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, writes with encouragement for you.
Lift up your hearts – GAFCON devotions – this month by Simon Manchester
Simon Manchester is contributing October 2020’s ‘Lift up your Hearts’ devotions for GAFCON. On the book of Deuteronomy.
And see the interview with Simon on the page linked above.
(Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Pastoring Through Political Turmoil — 9Marks Journal September 2020
“Ordinarily, the 9Marks Journals push in a theological direction. The last six issues, for instance, have covered the work of a pastor, gospel-centered preaching, complementarianism, the atonement, church membership, and Calvinism.
Yet you won’t be surprised to hear the number one question we’re hearing from pastors these days: how do we pastor through a season of political turmoil?
Hence, this issue of the Journal is devoted to pastoring through political turmoil. …”
– The latest 9Marks Journal is not only about US politics, and will be helpful for Australian pastors in navigating the huge social changes we face.
For example, there’s “How to hold your tongue about politics and thereby not split your church over things the Bible doesn’t talk about” – Part 1, and (more expansively) Part 2.
Southern Cross magazine for October 2020 now out
The latest Southern Cross magazine (October 2020) is now available for download, or reading online.
Features include:
• Christians and sport
• Getting back to church in Sydney
• Evangelism in COVID Melbourne
• The latest Ordinations
• Persecution of Chinese Christians by rewriting John 8
‘But Billy,’ you may ask…
“Andrew Blackwood was Chair of Practical Theology at Princeton and said of preaching, ‘These three remain, faith, hope and clarity, but the greatest of these is clarity!’
Billy Graham was one of the clearest preachers I have heard, I heard him preach for two weeks at his Sydney campaign in 1968. Dr. Graham would often stop and ask himself, ‘“But Billy,’ you may ask…” He would anticipate and answer the question on peoples’ minds.
Dialogical preaching which anticipates questions raised by the sermon is a very good friend of clarity in preaching. …”
– David Cook continues to encourage preachers at The Expository Preaching Trust.
Photo: Billy Graham and Archbishop Marcus Loane in Sydney, 1968. Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.
Luther: In Real Time
From Ligonier Ministties:
“It’s 1520. Martin Luther has been declared a heretic by Pope Leo X, and his books are being burned. How much longer before Luther himself is thrown into the fire?
Enter the dramatic story at the dawn of the Reformation. Each episode is released 500 years to the day after the events described, allowing you to walk in Luther’s footsteps from his heresy charges to his famous stand for God’s Word.
Hear, in Luther’s own words, what Protestants are protesting and why it still matters today.”
The Priestly Preacher
“Have you ever heard a preacher talk about hell, divine election or holy war as if they were talking about riding a bike or watching a game on TV? They appear to have no sense of the gravity or the offensiveness of what they are talking about.
It’s as if the preacher lives in a different world from their listeners – unaware or uninterested in the humanity and situation of their hearers.
It’s as if they haven’t realised that their congregants are 21st century Australians who have loved ones and work colleagues who are not Christians. …“
– Ray Galea with a challenge for preachers – at The Gospel Coalition Australia.
Something Better
Richard Coekin at Dundonald Church in London wants to encourage Christians to share their story.
The aim: “To resource the local church to reach the city with news of something better.”
Check out the “Something Better” website here.
John Anderson on Fatherhood and other matters
Former Leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson has been posting interviews and reflections on his website.
Most recently, he read on camera two op-eds on fatherhood which had been published in The Australian and Quadrant.
Related:
Christians in a Fragile Democracy: An Interview with John Anderson – from the Gospel Coalition Australia.
Rejoice in the Lord!
“I have been feasting on Philippians in recent months, meditating on Paul’s command to, ‘rejoice in the Lord’, found in 3:1 – and then intensified in 4:4: ‘rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice!’
Here are six reflections. …”
– Godly encouragement from Peter Adam at the Gospel Coalition Australia.
The gospel according to a 5-year-old
“When my kids were young, I had the idea to talk with them about the gospel over dinner so that we could discuss together about what it means for us to follow Jesus. (Dinnertimes were pretty crazy with three kids under ten and the usual debates over the necessity and place of vegetables in the created order, so it was an ambitious goal.)
My husband suggested that the best way to start might be to teach them the gospel outline Two Ways to Live and to make it super fun. …”
– Great advice for parents (and grandparents!) from Bronwyn Windsor at The Australian Church Record.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…