Creator, King and Country — The importance of the first five words
From Phillip Jensen:
Citizenship is a wonderful thing. To be part of something larger than yourself gives meaning purpose and identity. Peter and I grew up in the British Empire having been born before the granting of Australian citizenship. It was for the Empire that our parents and grandparents generation went to the world wars. Today that is almost unimaginable, for now people find their identity in being Australians.
However, when we read Genesis 1 we are confronted with a ruler who is over and above every empire and nation because he is the Creator of all things. In this episode of Two Ways News we look at the meaning and implications of the opening words of Genesis 1.
– Listen here.
Rob Smith: The body and the gendered self
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“As pastors we’re expressing leadership in our churches on gender and sexuality. We want to help our people think biblically – and yet with the culture moving so fast – it is an area that we feel ill equipped.
On today’s Pastor’s Heart we benefit from the hard work of Sydney Missionary and Bible College Theology and Ethics lecturer Rob Smith who has just published a reworked version of his PhD under the title ‘The body God gives’.
As transgender visibility reaches new heights, we explore its historical and philosophical roots, noting the pivotal cultural shifts since the ‘Transgender Tipping Point’ in 2013.
We outline the biblical stance on the sex and gender binary while engaging with contemporary philosophical debates.
We dissect the relationship between second-wave feminism and the transgender movement.
Our discussion ventures into the diverse theories surrounding sex and gender, distinguishing between non-trans, soft trans, hard trans, and queer perspectives.”
“Rob has done us a great service with this book.” – Dominic Steele.
“Hate speech” and religious freedom: Recent developments in Australia
“Recently there have been a number of legislative moves or proposals attempting to deal with issues around the area of ‘hate speech’. The term of course is problematic – we will try to unpack it shortly.
But the context, in Australia at least, is the shocking rise in the number of anti-semitic slogans and actual violence being seen in the last few months. Insults have been daubed on buildings and cars, fires lit at buildings associated with the Jewish community. And more recently…”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster looks at what is happening in terms of Federal, NSW and Victorian legislation.
Preaching Workshop 3-5 June 2025 — Expository Preaching Trust
At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook shares details of the Preaching Workshop coming up on 3-5 June at Drummoyne.
A valuable resource for preachers.
The reality of ministry – 2 Corinthians 4
Archie Poulos preached at Moore College’s chapel this morning.
From 2 Corinthians chapter 4, he spoke about The Reality of Ministry.
Pray for your enemies
“Friends in Christ, here are some words I would like you to consider learning off by heart:
‘But to you who are listening I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you.’ [Luke 6:27-28]
These are the words of the Lord Jesus. He spoke them particularly to his disciples, but also in the hearing of the large crowds who were following him.
And these are words for our times, our very divided and uncertain times …”
– Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney Sandy Grant was writing in last week’s Cathedral Newsletter.
ESV Bible Translation Update
From Crossway, publishers of the English Standard Version of the Bible:
“The ESV Translation Oversight Committee (TOC) is a standing committee of the Crossway Board of Directors. The purpose of the TOC is to carry forward the publication of the English Standard Version Bible translation and to preserve the ongoing accuracy and fidelity of the ESV Bible for this generation and generations to come.
The Stability and Future of the ESV
With this purpose in mind, we are committed to maintaining a faithful, stable, and standard ESV Bible text that will meet the reading, memorizing, preaching, and liturgical needs of Christians worldwide. It should be noted that Crossway does not plan to introduce frequent text updates, and it has been nearly ten years since the last update in 2016. …
In light of this commitment, the TOC met over the summer of 2024 to consider a limited number of changes to the ESV text. Briefly summarized, the committee made text changes to 36 Scripture passages involving 42 verses, resulting in a total of 68 word changes.”
Two Ways News Podcast — The Foundations of Genesis Part 2
The second episode of the 2025 series of Two Ways News Podcasts is now out, with Phillip and Peter Jensen. They continue on Genesis 1–11.
“We spent last time talking about the background ideas of how we come to read Genesis, but Peter, you said something about the nature of literature, and I’d like to follow you up more on the assumptions when you’re reading, because you talked about how you approach reading.”
Exploding pastoral leadership myths — with Craig Hamilton
On The Pastor’s Heart this week:
“What happens when a leader operates without a clear vision. And how poetic or concrete should a vision be?
How to organise things so the overall vision cascades down through every area of church life?
What should our pastoral approach be to innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards and the nos.
Biblical vision and Leadership vision: What is the difference? Why do people mangle Proverbs 29:18?
Plus infusing the church with vision, in a significant moment and especially via drip feed.
Craig Hamilton is senior pastor of Pitt Town Anglican Church and author of ‘Wisdom in Leadership.’ ”
Dave Moore on Why your church needs Healthy Teams
Matthias Media has recently published The Team Leader’s Handbook by Dave Moore at Hunter Bible Church.
The Australian Church Record speaks with Dave about his background, his ministry journey, and about the book.
Men Meeting the Challenge Conference 2025 – promo
Rory Shiner and Dave Jensen are speaking at this year’s Men Meeting the Challenge Conference.
Saturday 29th March.
Celebration of the 50th year of Campus Bible Study
Campus Bible Study at the University of NSW is turning 50!
“Over many years, God has been working through people at UNSW. The foundation of CBS is prayer and proclaiming the crucified and risen Christ as Lord of all. From CBS, God has raised many servants for Sydney, Australia and the world.
So, join past and present CBSers on campus to give thanks to God for his incredible kindness and faithfulness through CBS. We will look forward to the next 50 years (or until the Lord returns) of proclaiming Christ to future generations of university students.
Please join us and many others on Saturday 15th March 2025 at UNSW.”
– Details here.
Guess who’s coming to podcast?
“The former Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, has been joined by his brother, former Archbishop Peter Jensen, in a refashioning of the podcast Two Ways News.
The podcast was previously hosted by Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne. …
In the first episode of 2025, Mr Jensen introduces his brother Peter as the new co-host. “This year we’re looking at Genesis,” he says in the first episode. ‘Last year we worked our way through Romans and we just thought, well, the opening chapters of Genesis open up so many questions for us that it’ll be a great passage to have as the backbone of the year.’…”
– Russell Powell shares the news at SydneyAnglicans.net.
This podcast will be a real treat. Listen to the first episode for 2025, released today.
Image: Peter and Phillip at the 2023 King’s Birthday Conference at Moore Theological College.
Ten archaeological facts to increase confidence in the Old Testament — Hans Kristensen
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“There are claims – and you hear them every so often – that archeology has disproved this story or that in the Bible, and claims from this or that scholar of particularly late dating of different bible books.
How do we as evangelical pastors react/respond/answer those claims?
Hans Kristensen is senior pastor of Marsfield Community Church in Sydney and is studying archaeology.
He suggests that there are 10 major archaeological finds that help us to increase our confidence in the Old Testament…”
– Fascinating. Watch or listen here.
Book review: ‘Proclaiming Christ’
“The past two hundred years of human history has seen the rise of so-called ‘modern’ thinking, which has created unprecedented challenges for Christians around the world.
As it stands, our current society is underpinned by a subjective approach to truth – emotions determine worldviews; objective biblical standards are labelled extremist; and unalterable biological realities like one’s own gender are contested on the grounds of personal feelings. In turn, this subjectivity has accompanied religious pluralism, as no revelation from God can be considered objectively true, because nothing is objectively true.
Against this cultural backdrop, believers are constantly in need of reminders to keep preaching Christ crucified. As a compilation of Packer’s 1978 lectures at Moore Theological College on Common Objections Against Christianity, this book serves to do exactly that. …“
As we noted when Campbell Markham reviewed the book last year, as well as reading the book, you can watch Packer’s 1978 Moore College lectures – About an hour each:
Lecture 1 – We’ve a Story to Tell.
Lecture 2 – The man Christ Jesus.
Lecture 3 – He emptied himself: the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Lecture 4 – The wonderful exchange.
Lecture 5 – No other name: the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…