Making it our aim to please God with entertainment
“When I was ten, my friend told me he’d seen a hilarious movie with his older brother, and that we should rent it to watch together.
The sheer fact that it was rated R was enough to convince me. So I asked my mum if she could rent the movie for me, with the convincing line that ‘my friends had watched it’. …”
– ACL Council member Mike Taylor has some godly advice about our entertainment. At GoThereFor.com.
Humanity & Hope in Genesis
“What is the diagnosis of Humanity in Genesis 5-11, and is there any sign of hope? What is God’s assessment of humanity’s state in the world? What hope do we have of building towards something lasting? How can reconciliation with God be achieved?
William Taylor and Mickey Mantle talk with Sam Manchester about these issues in this month’s Preaching Matters.”
– The latest instalment of Preaching Matters is out from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.
Australian Church Record, Spring 2017
The latest edition (No. 1918, Spring 2017) of The Australian Church Record is now available for download from their website.
This issue is packed with useful articles. For example, from Kirsten McKinlay:
“Now more than ever we need to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have—that the truth found in God’s word is not only still applicable and relevant, but also good.
I can say from my experience as a former student and wife of a current student that Moore College — this firmly complementarian institution — has been a guiding light in thinking hard about how to deal with the evil of domestic violence in light of God’s good design for men and women.”
Review of NT discrimination law — guest blog
Associate Professor Neil Foster writes,
“The Northern Territory government has released a discussion paper called Modernisation of the Anti-Discrimination Act (Sept 2017). It invites comments by 3 December 2017. You can almost get the tone of the paper from the title! After all, who in this fast-changing age could oppose anything called “modernisation”? But there are a number of concerning recommendations and comments made from the law and religion perspective, and there are some real doubts whether the proposals properly reflect religious freedom principles.
My colleague Dr Alex Deagon from QUT has graciously provided a guest blog post in which he outlines his comments on two major concerns with the proposals to amend the Act. Those who are interested in the interaction of discrimination law and religious freedom should find them very helpful, and may wish to make their own comments in response to the discussion paper. There are other controversial proposals in the paper which may be the subject of future posts. …”
– Read it all at Law and Religion Australia.
Reformation talks from the Presbyterian Church of Australia
It’s Reformation 500 month – October 2017 – and the Presbyterian Church of Australia has released three downloadable videos you could watch for your own benefit, or in Bible Study groups.
“The Presbyterian Church of Australia offers this package of three church history videos to assist your church – particularly in its small-group ministries – to help celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses, and the subsequent Protestant Reformation … 31 October 1517.
There are three consecutive video sessions (each lasting about 50 min) followed by suggested discussion questions. Ideally, they’ll be of most benefit during the last two weeks of October and the first of November, but they’ll be available for as long as they are being used. …”
– from Moderator-General John P Wilson.
- Martin Luther – (1) the struggle in his heart: Romans 1:7-17.
- Martin Luther – (2) the struggle against his church: 2 Timothy 3:10-17.
- John Calvin – developing the church’s theology: Acts 2:38-47; 1 Timothy 3:14-16.
Principles of Complementarian Ministry
“This is the outline for a brief presentation I gave at the MTS Mission Minded conference On 1 Oct 2017. The presentation was part of an elective panel discussion with Jane Tooher (director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre at Moore College), Phil Wheeler (director of Evangelism and New Churches) and myself, titled ‘Complementarian Ministry in Light of Eternity’.”
– ACL Vice President Dr Lionel Windsor shares this resource you may find helpful.
The Reformation and your church
“It’s the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and right now there’s no shortage of material being published on the topic. Why might this 9Marks Journal possibly add to the pile?
We asked our contributors to consider the Reformation’s relevance specifically to the local church and the pastor. Why should pastors care? Take a look at D. A. Carson’s piece. What does it have to do with expositional preaching, evangelism, church discipline, church authority more broadly, the ordinances, even pastoral counselling? There are articles on each of these topics, too…”
– Download the latest 9Marks Journal, in a variety of formats. Many encouraging articles.
‘No need to speculate’
Freedom for Faith, have published this video featuring Professor Iain Benson, an expert in religious freedom.
He speaks about the Canadian experience.
Other videos are being posted on the Freedom for Faith website.
Moore College Open Day on Saturday October 28
The next Moore College Open Day is set for Saturday October 28.
“The day includes a sample lecture from one of our faculty, a campus tour and plenty of opportunities for questions. You are welcome to drop in at any point during the day, lunch is provided at 12 noon.”
– Details from Moore College.
Have we domesticated service?
“A few times every year in our church we have ‘welcome suppers’ for people who are new to our church. During those times we talk about the things that define us and invite people to come on board. On each occasion we open up various passages of Scripture to talk about different aspects of church life and one passage we always look at is Mark 10:42-45 …”
– Phil Colgan, Rector of St. George North, wants us to truly understand the gospel of grace. At The Australian Church Record.
My self-help Bible?
“The self-help industry is flourishing. Isn’t that ironic?
The industry is built on the premise that all you need for happiness, success, and contentment is within you, yet it peddles self-improvement programs as the key to becoming a better you. The endless supply and demand for the latest life changing-book betrays the fact they never actually deliver the transformation we long for.
The question is, have we taken on a self-help approach to reading the Bible? …”
– Ruth Schroeter, Associate Minister at St Andrew’s Cathedral, writes in The Australian Church Record. (Photo courtesy St. Andrew’s Cathedral.)
Videos: Moore College School of Theology 2017: Celebrating the Reformation
Moore College has posted the videos from their 2017 School of Theology.
The theme was “Celebrating the Reformation”.
Evangelistic opposition: Are we up for it?
“I am all for avoiding unhelpful gender-sex-role stereotyping, but one fact that continues to amaze me is the almost universal incapacity of men to see stationary objects in the refrigerator. We can spot moving objects with great skill—for example, a flying football, or a fish near the surface of the water far up-stream—but faced with the challenge of locating the margarine we stare blindly before in desperation seeking the assistance of the most proximate female, who simply glances inside the fridge and hands it over.
I have read the book of Acts a lot over the years, and love it—the outreach, the growth of the church, the missionary journeys. I have even done a PhD on it. But recently, perhaps because of my familiarity with it, I had stopped seeing (at least, stopped properly appreciating) something that had been staring me in the face, and which I was very much aware of in days gone by.
The truth that I have re-noticed is the fact that gospel proclamation, no matter how it is carried out, will result in opposition! …”
– At GoThereFor.com, Stephen Liggins points out the obvious. But have you missed it too?
What is at the centre of God’s mission for the church?
The latest Preaching Matters from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate –
“What activities distract us from the central priority for which God sent His Son into the world? Denesh Divyanathan talks to Sam Manchester about these issues in this month’s Preaching Matters.”
– Most encouraging and timely.
Flowchart: Christians and same sex marriage
“This flowchart aims to show pathways people may take on this issue. … The diagram aims to tease out points of distinction, but is unable to display the breadth and complexity of this issue. Please prayerfully consider this topic, seeking advice from godly and wise Christians.”
– The team at St. Thomas’ North Sydney have published this flowchart as a “springboard for productive conversations”. See if you find it helpful.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…