See Him Face to Face
From Michael Morrow: “…as part of the Co-Mission network of churches in London I have produced a live worship album, called ’See Him Face to Face’.”
You can preview (and buy, if you wish) the album at Bandcamp. (Many will know Michael as the composer of This Life I Live.)
The heart of GAFCON
“At the heart of GAFCON is communion.
When I became Archbishop of Sydney in 2001, I had a lot to learn. Even though I had been ordained for over thirty years by then, had lived in England for three years and had been the Principal of a theological College with students from many places in the world, there was so much that I did not know.
Two of the many things I had to discover through experience may sound strange and you may wonder where I had been all my life. But I suspect that many of us are in the same position…”
– GAFCON General Secretary, Dr. Peter Jensen, on The heart of GAFCON.
The shocking, abysmal, and embarrassing failure of churches to Pray
“This Sunday, a vast majority of evangelical churches will gather for singing and preaching and reading Scripture and perhaps even a few baptisms and the Lord’s Supper. There will also be some praying.
In comparison to everything else, though, there will be just a little bit of prayer—a transition as a few musicians scurry off-stage, a quick ‘thank-you’ to God after collecting the offerings, a prayer for God’s Spirit to work on the hearers of the sermon.
All in all, you might pray for a few minutes, almost always as a passive observer. …”
– Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman talk about what passes for prayer in many church services. What should we be like? How can our church gatherings be more clearly examples of dependence on the Lord? A great encouragement to be more intentional in our praying.
Can we talk about same-sex marriage? videos
The talks from the recent ‘Can we talk about same-sex marriage?’ evening at Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living are now available to view online:
CCL Director Tony Payne introduces the topic.
Talk 1: Michael Kellahan – ‘Can we talk publicly about same-sex marriage?‘
Talk 2: Tony Payne – ‘Can we talk personally about same-sex marriage?‘
Freedom of Religion and Balancing Clauses in Discrimination Legislation
“An article of mine on “Freedom of Religion and Balancing Clauses in Discrimination Legislation” (2016) Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, doi: 10.1093/ojlr/rww045, has just become available. Those who are interested can download it from the Oxford website…”
– More helpful resources from Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia.
Societas 2016
This year’s Societas (the magazine of Moore College’s students) is now ready for your enjoyment and edification.
Download it (a 10MB PDF file) from the College website, or read it online.
Printed copies are also available.
It’s a great way to get a feel for what is happening at Moore College, and is a good resource for prayer.
Also from the College: Moore breaks boundaries of geography with its newest course.
“After 75 years of supporting lay ministry, Moore College is pleased to announce its first fully-accredited online course for laypeople, the Diploma of Biblical Theology (DBT). In development over the past few years the College will launch the DBT in Semester 1, 2017. …”
Church Society Conference 2016
Looking for some encouraging listening? From Church Society:
“The 2016 Church Society Conference was held in June at Oak Hill College, London, with the title of ‘Be Faithful! Remaining steadfast in the Church of England Today’.
The Prophetic Preaching of John Owen by Revd Dr Martyn Cowan (St. Antholin Lecture).
Faithful Teachers in an Age of Confusion by Revd Dr Mike Ovey.
Faithful Stewards in a Fickle World by Revd Dr Mark Pickles.
J.C. Ryle: A Faithful Anglican by Revd Dr Lee Gatiss.”
(Photo of Mike Ovey courtesy GAFCON.)
Legal implications of same sex marriage for Christian life and ministry
“I was privileged today to present a paper on issues from a Christian perspective raised by the possible introduction of same sex marriage – at a seminar on the topic held at the Lower Mountains Anglican Parish centre at Glenbrook. …”
– Neil Foster from Law and Religion Australia provides a link to the paper he gave.
Discipleship Training in the Gospels — Preaching Matters
The latest “Preaching Matters” from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate has just been released with a video from William Taylor:
“What is a Gospel, and what are the Gospel authors trying to do? Can you give us some examples of how the Gospels train us? How does the authors’ structure in the Gospels help us understand what true discipleship involves? What difference will this make to the structures and strategies in our churches?
In this month’s Preaching Matters, William describes the radical differences that follow in the way we do evangelism, preach, and disciple others.”
He asks some provocative questions about the way we do evangelism.
The old Absolution switcharoo
“Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
who in his great mercy
has promised forgiveness of sins
to all those who with heartfelt repentance and true faith turn to him:
have mercy on you,
pardon and deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,
and bring you to everlasting life,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In my earlier years as an evangelical, I would rankle when I heard the absolution delivered in this way. ‘Priestcraft!’ my mind would shout. ‘Say us! Are you not also a sinner needing forgiveness, O vicar? …”
– At Church Society’s blog, Tom Woolford has a point worth considering.
(Image: The Absolution from the AAPB, Lord’s Supper, First Order.)
Australian Church Record, Spring 2016
The latest issue of The Australian Church Record (Spring 2016) is now online.
From the article ‘One Man and One Woman’ by Kanishka Raffel –
“The Scriptures delight in human friendship and community. Our hyper-sexualised culture has almost forgotten about intimate non-sexual friendships. Relationships are essential for human flourishing, but marriage is not. But God’s plan and purpose in marriage … reflects his plan to bless individuals, families and society, and to display his faithfulness and love for his people in Christ.”
From the article ‘Church-Planting and Gospel Confidence’ by Simon Flinders –
“Paul’s primary strategy in seeking to make disciples was to proclaim the gospel, rather than to establish a church. That’s not to say he had no interest in the establishment of churches. Clearly he did. But it does tell us that establishing a church was not his first order of business.”
Download it from the ACR website. Direct link to the PDF file.
Chappo’s legacy lives on with Preaching Clinics
“John Chapman was a much loved and great evangelist and preacher not only in Sydney but around the world. He was also a champion of engaging expository preaching and the need to train preachers well. He regularly used to say ‘There is nothing in the world like good preaching. Mind you, there is nothing in the world like the opposite either!’ …
The Chapman Preaching Clinics are part of an integrated program to help preachers keep improving from the day they commence preaching until the end of their ministry.” – News from Moore College.
(Illustration from a Department of Evangelism videocassette cover, 1986.)
No Fool
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
– Jim Elliot.
Today, 8th October 2016, marks the 89th anniversary of Jim Elliot’s birth.
Findings from the New Atlantis Report on Sexuality and Gender
“I would like to draw your attention to one of the most important research events in recent history, and that is the publication in the Fall 2016 issue of the New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society, of a special report on sexuality and gender, subtitled, ‘Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences.’…
In this huge issue of the New Atlantis, Mayer and McHugh go right at what they considered to be the scientific basis behind the claims of the modern sexual and gender revolutionaries. The point of this research, however, and of the two authors, is not so much to make a moral point, but a scientific point. And in order to do so, they’ve looked at the major scientific claims of those who had presented the research on LGBT issues, and in particular issues of gender and sexuality.”
– Albert Mohler outlines some of the key findings of this landmark publication.
And for the relevant issue of New Atlantis, see: New Atlantis Number 50.
Sexual and gender identity issues from a Christian pastoral perspective
Dr. Mark Yarhouse, Psy.D. recently visited Sydney, as a guest of Liberty Christian Ministries.
While here, he sat down to speak with Archie Poulos at Moore College.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…