Child Safety and Religious Freedom

“The NSW Government is currently inviting comment on draft legislation entitled the Children’s Guardian Amendment (Child Safe Scheme) Bill 2020.

The legislation has been drawn up in response to the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and as well as governing “secular” agencies caring for children, it will mandate a new scheme for child protection covering “religious bodies” (see cl 8AA definition of “child safe organisation”, para (c)).

The Bill is generally a good idea, but I want to suggest one amendment which will be needed for it to properly protect religious freedom. …”

– Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.

Albert Mohler’s The Briefing — 21 January 2021

In his The Briefing for 21 January 2021, SBTS President Albert Mohler takes a close look at the image and the reality of the incoming US Administration.

It’s a preview of the huge cultural and moral shifts coming to the US – and certain to influence Australia.

What’s wrong with the world? Is there hope?

“Guilt, weakness, spiritual slavery, prejudice, arrogance, tribalism, conflict, war, victimhood, persecution, pain, suffering, futility, ignorance, lying, deceit, anger, theft, greed, pornography, sexual sin, darkness, fear, drunkenness, substance abuse, domestic abuse, workplace abuse, spiritual powers…

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he says many things about the problems we face in this world. He also gives us wonderful reasons to find life, hope and healing in Jesus Christ. Along the way, he provides practical teachings about how to respond and live together.

Here are some key reflections relating to the topic of what’s wrong with the world according to Ephesians in my series Lift Your Eyes: Reflections on Ephesians.”

– from Lionel Windsor at Moore College.

On How Pastors Should Prepare their People for Eternity

In the latest Pastors Talk podcast, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever chat about something more important than politics.

Challenging and encouraging. 25 minutes well spent. Do listen.

Listen here.

Mark also mentions the talk he gave at Together for the Gospel 2020 – The Accounting We Shall Give.

We can have Confidence

“Sennacherib ruled Assyria from the capital city of Nineveh, which was the largest city in the world at the time. He was formidable, ruthless, a military ruler bent on collecting nations.

Nebuchadnezzar II, the ruler of the Babylonian Empire, surpassed him. He made Babylon even larger and greater than Nineveh. Nothing like it had ever been seen.

Cyrus surpassed them both, creating the world’s largest empire through merciless force. When Cyrus’ vast army marched, the ground shook for miles. …”

– Ligonier Ministries’ Stephen Nichols writes with godly encouragement to Christians in a world of turmoil.

Image: Dr. Stephen Nichols from a Ligonier Ministries video.

Worldview and Christian mission

“I have a friend who was once a committed Buddhist. Wonderfully, he has come to know the Lord Jesus as his saviour. But he had a lot of questions.

The trouble was that his Christian friends kept answering questions he wasn’t asking. One of his big questions was, ‘How can you say God suffers?’ He was given lots of great answers explaining why people suffer – but he wasn’t confused about that. He knows people suffer. My friend couldn’t get his head around the idea that God might suffer on the cross. The reason this was such a big issue for him was because of his worldview. …”

– Dr David Williams, Director of development and training for CMS Australia at St Andrew’s Hall, spoke about worldviews at CMS Summer School.

SydneyAnglicans.net has published an edited version of his talk. Very helpful.

We Believe — The Story of the Apostles’ Creed

“The Augsburg Confession. The Helvetic Confession. The Gallican Confession. The Belgic Confession. The Westminster Confession and Catechism. The Second London Baptist Confession. The Canons of Dort.

What do these historic evangelical confessions have in common? Each of them has its roots in the Apostles’ Creed.

The Creed, also known as the Twelve Articles of Faith, expresses essential biblical doctrines that have been articulated, defended, and embraced for nearly two thousand years of church history. …”

– At Desiring God, Brian Hanson gives a helpful backgrounder to The Apostles’ Creed.

See also:

Andrew Moody’s series on The Apostles’ Creed at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Light at the End of the Tunnel — Mothers Union Sydney Seminar

Here’s information about this year’s Annual Mothers Union Sydney Seminar, coming up on Friday 26th February.

Victoria’s Conversion Practices Bill is as bad as they say it is

“The Bill creates a powerful set of bureaucratic mechanisms by which religious groups presenting the classic teachings of their faith may be subject to investigation and ‘re-education’ by human rights officers. It arguably makes the presentation of some aspects of Biblical teaching unlawful if the aim of that teaching is to encourage someone to follow that teaching in their own life.

Despite the appearance of addressing horrific and oppressive quasi-psychological procedures inflicted on young people, the Bill goes well beyond this laudable goal, and will make it unlawful to provide assistance in obeying the Bible to those who explicitly and with full understanding request such help. Enactment of this legislation would be a serious mistake. …”

– In an important post, Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia, takes a careful look at the Victorian legislation.

You are Not Your Own

“This set of resources has been produced by Church Society to help Christians learn about the Bible’s teaching on sex and marriage, particularly as the Church of England engages with the Living in Love and Faith material on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.

The seven topics in the series are designed to help Christians understand the Bible’s teaching on sex and marriage within a broader biblical context. …”

– Worth checking out.

Somewhat related: Colin Buchanan sings “You are not your own”.

Marriage has always been…?

“The purpose of this paper is to provide a short account of the development of marriage within the Christian faith.

It is sometimes argued that the presence of incidental changes to the practice of marriage throughout the history of the Christian church legitimises any kind of further change. It will be demonstrated that while aspects of Christian marriage have changed throughout history, the substance of the doctrine of marriage as a union between one man and one woman does not change. The reasons for the persistence of the core doctrine of marriage fundamentally relate to the Church’s continual effort to remain faithful to Holy Scripture…”

– At The Australian Church Record, Mark Earngey publishes what he wrote as part of the Diocese of Sydney submission to the recent Appellate Tribunal.

Lady Jane Grey: A Firm Faith

“Post tenebras spero lucem. After darkness, I hope for light. This phrase was reportedly etched with a pin onto a wall within the Tower of London shortly before 12 February 1554. The significance of these words arises, in part, because of their author: Jane Dudley, otherwise known as Lady Jane Grey, the so-called ‘Queen of Nine Days.’ She was England’s first female monarch, and her execution at age seventeen remains one of the most moving and mysterious episodes of English political and religious history.

These words are also significant because they were etched within the broader context of that great movement of God five hundred years ago, which we know as the Reformation. …”

– The Australian Church Record has published this excerpt from Mark Earngey’s short biography of Lady Jane Grey. Copies have been sent to Sydney Anglican Rectors, courtesy of the ACR.

Ministry Tip: Communicating Christ Clearly

“I think the most important thing that I have been taught in the whole area of Communicating Christ, was to know what you are aiming for, and be focussed on getting there.”

– In this short and to-the-point video, Dominic Steele encourages preachers to be focussed.

Handling the Bible in Love and Faith

“I want people to be convinced that the word of God is good. God is so generous, and his word saves and enriches and fulfils life. God will offer anyone the opportunity to approach him, unashamedly, in Christ. He will teach us all to let go of the old ways of hate, and separation, and disunity. His welcome is universal and unconditional. …”

– At Church Society, Kirsty Birkett continues her reflections on the approach to Scripture of the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith.

See also Lee Gatiss’ preview (last October) of Living in Love and Faith:

“The problem here is that we are never allowed to come to a settled mind on this, and it is repeatedly said that clergy are free to preach and teach the opposite of what the church has always believed.”

David Peterson’s Commentary on Romans republished

David Peterson shares,

“My commentary on Romans, which was published in 2017 by Holman in Nashville, has been republished by Lexham Press in Bellingham. They have picked up the whole series and renamed it Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary.

Everything remains the same, except that they have used a different type-face for headings in the text. It is really pleasing to have this series up and running again, because it is well conceived and its future was uncertain for some months.”

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