A Word for the Church of England — and all of us

The latest Carson Center Podcast from The Gospel Coalition is an address by Don Carson on 1 John 2:3-27, “Christian Obedience, Love, and Perseverance”.

It shows God’s word is every bit as relevant today as it was when it was written –

“John lived at a time when there were many competing religions and Christianity was just old enough to be losing its edge. You had now second- and third-generation Christians. Many people who had been around for a while had lost something of their first love, and others … new young Turks … were convinced that new rising theologies were far more attractive, far more convincing than the old stuff passed down by the has-beens.

At the same time, there was a great deal of pressure in the empire towards what we would call today philosophical pluralism. That is, you could believe anything you like, so long as you don’t say that your view is right and other views are wrong. That you must not say. Then, inevitably, there were some people who were very strong on picking up particular points and making them everything. …

In that context, John writes his epistle. What he tends to do is to gravitate towards the essentials of the faith and set up absolute boundaries. They are as striking, they are as definitive today as they were 2,000 years ago. In this passage I read, John articulates three contrasts: those who talk and those who perform, those who love the world and those who love the Father, and those who are antichrists and those who are Christians. He does not leave much room for anything in between. …”

– Listen – or read the transcript – here.

How do we diagnose complex problems within our church?

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“All the time in church there are unexpected things happening. We or someone else makes a decision to change something which then relationally or missionally impacts another area of church life that we didn’t expect. …

Whatever size your church is – the church system is complex, interdependent and interconnected.”

– Dominic Steele speaks with Greg Lee from Newcastle’s Hunter Bible Church.

Made in Our Image

Recently, on The Pastor’s Heart, Dominic Steele interviewed Stephen Driscoll about the coming AI tsunami.

Stephen’s book Made in Our Image, is now available from Matthias Media.

“Artificial intelligence is coming. And this tech revolution, perhaps more than any such revolution that’s gone before, will change the world. No life will be left untouched.

How do Christians navigate their way through these momentous changes? What does Christianity have to say about this brave new world? What will living for Jesus look like in a world where humans, made in God’s image, coexist with intelligent machines made in our image?

Author, pastor and self-confessed ‘tech realist’ Stephen Driscoll sets out to answer those questions with a deep dive into the intersection of faith and technology. Avoiding the extremes of both the tech worshippers and the ‘doomers’, Driscoll offers accessible and illuminating insights into the nature of AI, along with practical tips on how Christians might use this technology for good. Most of all, he shows how the deepest structures of biblical thought will equip Christians to live with AI.

This book is a must-read for tech-savvy optimists and sceptics alike.”

You can watch the promo video above – and order the book here.

A Theology of Reproductive Technology

“For the last few decades, Oliver O’Donovan’s Begotten or Made? has been difficult to find and expensive to buy. Thanks to the foresight of the Davenant Institute, an organization aimed at renewing the intellectual life of contemporary Protestantism, that’s no longer the case.

This ‘New Edition for the 21st Century,’ published some 38 years after the original, is now both readily available and affordable – at least on Kindle, and also in paperback for those in the U.S. and Canada. What’s more, it comes with a new introduction by Matthew Lee Anderson, which helpfully highlights the significance of the work, and a fresh afterword from O’Donovan himself.

Begotten or Made? is the published version of the London Lectures in Contemporary Christianity delivered by O’Donovan in 1983. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition, Rob Smith and Andrew Spencer provide an introduction to the second edition of “this increasingly important work”.

From the page for this book on Amazon, Carl Trueman writes:

“Though written decades ago, this little book by O’Donovan is a masterpiece and still one of the best reflections on what it means to be human in our modern world. It transformed my own thinking on key issues and deserves to be widely read by a new generation of theologians, philosophers, and pastors.”

Gospel ministry in winter

Bishop Jay Behan writes in the latest Ministry Matters of the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa NZ –

“Back in late 1996, my wife Jaimee and I moved to London for me to study. We had only been married a few months, so arriving in England was a time of great change in our lives. We had only been there a short time, and autumn was just starting to change to winter, when we found ourselves listening to a radio programme which described something else that was new to me: Seasonal Affective Disorder, with perhaps the most appropriate acronym of all time—SAD!

What was described was a significant change in mood and behaviour brought about by the change of season, particularly the change to winter. Seasonal Affective Disorder apparently caused “winter depression”, marked by low energy and generally feeling down as a lack of sunlight and increased time indoors took effect. I remember listening to the programme and not only completely rejecting this thing called ‘SAD’, but also ridiculing the English for making up things and not being able to cope with the cold and dark.

Needless to say, a few weeks into the English winter and after many days of no sunshine, not only did I believe in SAD; I was convinced it was the root of all the problems people living in the UK experienced!

As I write this, we in Aotearoa have arrived in winter, which seems an appropriate time to consider the way the winter season can affect life and ministry. …”

– Read the full newsletter here.

“ Winter may seem like a time to batten down the hatches, but it’s also a season ripe with evangelistic opportunities. As always this requires thought, intentionality, courage and clear-mindedness. But the best day for gospelling is today. God will give us opportunities we did not have yesterday and may not have tomorrow.”

Ministry families and adopting and foster care

This week on The Pastor’s Heart:

“How do you balance the instability and chaos of external ministry with adding a foster child or adopted child to a ministry family?

What are the implications of taking children in crisis into the ministry home? What motivates ministry families to become foster parents or to adopt? How do older children and the church respond?

Sarah and Mat Yeo serve at Hurstville Grove Anglican Church in Sydney.
Matt Wilcoxen pastors St John’s Darlinghurst in inner Sydney.”

– Watch or listen here.

Update:

See also “Creating a circle of support for foster children” – SydneyAnglicans.net.

The book on truth a government wanted to censor

“When the Rev Dr Lionel Windsor set out to write a book on the importance of objective truth in a post-truth world, he never imagined it would be so controversial that a significant overseas government would want to censor it.

Yet before Truth be Told even hit bookstore shelves, it was proving why it was so necessary. …”

– Recently, SydneyAnglicans.net featured Lionel Windsor’s book Truth Be Told. (It was also in the May-June Southern Cross magazine.)

For a promotion with a difference, you can now see the book’s (mostly true) Photo Tour.

Jesus’ Prayer: (1) Glorify

“Our prayers say a great deal about us. Are your prayers like that of AA Milne’s, Christopher Robin who, in the midst of his child-like bedtime prayers, prayed that God would bless his parents as well as himself?

Or do your prayers reflect the shape of the honest and humble yet bold petitionary prayers of people such as Moses, David and Daniel or the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples?

In John chapter 17 we read Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his arrest. It’s a prayer that tells us a great deal about him and his relationship with God the Father, his concern for his disciples, as well his concern for all his people throughout time.

Over three Wednesdays I’ll be touching on these three themes. …”

– John Mason begins a three-part reflection in his Word on Wednesday series  at The Anglican Connection.

Acting like men? – with Phillip Jensen, Craig Hamilton, Adrian Russell and Robin Kinstead

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“What is it to be #likeaman? There are not many places in the New Testament where men are spoken to specifically.

Today we are thinking about being a Christian man.

In the ESV and NASB the translation of 1 Corinthians 16:13 has ‘Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong’. (ESV)

But what does that mean? Dominic Steele put that question to panelists at the recent Men Meeting the challenge conference:

Adrian Russell, senior minister of Northmead Anglican Church.
Craig Hamilton, senior minister at Pitt town.
Robin Kinstead, senior minister of Figtree Anglican.
And Phillip Jensen who heads up Two Ways Ministries.”

– Watch or listen here.

Church Society Podcast: Kirsten Birkett on Class

From Church Society, an Australian looks at Class:

“In this week’s podcast, Lee Gatiss chats to Kirsten Birkett about her new book on class in the evangelical church in England. English evangelical churches are overwhelmingly middle-class – but why is the gospel of Christ not bringing in people from all walks of life? The issue of class is a challenge for all biblically-minded churches.”

– Very English – and yet, which people groups in Australia are not being reached with the gospel? And how can we reach them?

Alistair Begg on 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Fulfil your Ministry

At a Truth for Life conference for pastors last month, Alistair Begg spoke on 2 Timothy 4:1-8, “Fulfil Your Ministry”.

A great encouragement on a Monday morning, especially for pastors.

This link seems to default to an audio recording. If so, click on the toggle switch just above the Player window to Watch.

Preaching Mentoring

“Part of the ministry of the Expository Preaching Trust is to provide preaching mentors.

The Trust has five experienced preachers who offer mentoring on a regular, usually weekly, basis.

The mentor usually listens to the mentee’s Sunday sermon and then they reflect together on the sermon’s engagement with the Bible text and the people. …”

– Read about this extraordinarily gracious offer to preachers from The Expository Preaching Trust.

Related:

David Cook speaks with Mark Powell on Preaching, for the AP’s Australian Christian Life Podcast.

Really encouraging.

Strategies to increase the retention of the children of members

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“There are three different ways that the adult population of churches can grow:

  1. Adults being saved.
  2. Christians transferring from another congregation within your denomination of switching from another denomination.
  3. Children of members growing up in the church and taking on their parents faith for themselves.

Most evangelical churches – even growing churches – are underperforming in the first and third ways. …”

– At The Pastor’s Heart this week, Dominic Steele speaks with Al James from Sydney Anglican Youthworks.

Make the Main Thing the Main Thing on Sundays

“If everything in a church needs to change, where should a pastor start? I want to offer a convictional testimony for making the Bible the main course on Sunday. Every other change should follow. …”

– At 9Marks, Bret Capranica has encouragement for pastors.

Fact-Checking a popular story of Christian origins

“The latest book by bestselling author and controversial Australian feminist Clementine Ford is I Don’t: The Case Against Marriage (Allen & Unwin, 2023).

She wants this book to not only dissuade people from getting married but also ‘to end marriages’, because of the harm they bring to women.

This article isn’t about her main thesis, but the striking way she begins her case against marriage. The very first step Ford takes is to outline the history of Christianity and so discount the moral authority of the church. …”

– Robert Martin at Northcote Baptist Church in Melbourne does a spot of fact-checking for The Gospel Coalition Australia. This could be helpful if you have friends who are reading the book.

Related:

Who will champion marriage? – Marriage Foundation via Anglican Mainstream. The linked story includes some interesting charts.

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