Can we talk about Same-Sex Marriage?
“Can we talk about Same-Sex Marriage?” is the topic for the next Centre for Christian Living event at Moore College.
“There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, says the Bible (Eccl 3:7). What time is it, then, when the subject of same-sex marriage comes up around the watercooler? Should Christians speak up on the topic—in our personal conversations, and in the public square? And if we do, how can we talk in a way that is loving, gracious and truthful?”
When: 7:30pm — 9:30pm, Wednesday 19th October.
Where: Moore College, 15 King Street, Newtown.
Speakers: Michael Kellahan and Tony Payne.
Book through the Centre for Christian Living.
‘Jesus & the Ten Gospels’ – New College Lectures with Dr Simon Gathercole
Dr Simon Gathercole is giving this year’s New College Lectures on September 20 and 22.
“Some of the most widely published challenges to the Christian faith today have come in the publicity surrounding the “apocryphal” Gospels not included in the Christian Bible.
The idea that there is nothing particularly special about the four New Testament Gospels has appeared in both the popular media and in Biblical scholarship, from references to the Gospel of Philip in the Da Vinci Code, to the publication by the Harvard Theological Review of the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” fragment.
These lectures will discuss the relevance of these Gospels outside of the Bible, comparing them with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”
– Free entry, but RSVP essential. Details from New College.
Homesick for heaven?
At The Next Level conference in Sydney, two weeks ago, Professor D A Carson spoke on Revelation 7:9-17 and the need to be ‘homesick for heaven’.
Sober, Christ-honouring, and very encouraging.
Reformation History Tour
From Moore College:
“In 2017, the Reverend Dr Michael Jensen, Rector of Darling Point Anglican Church, will be leading a tour of the key Reformation sites of Europe. The tour will run from 26 April to 12 May and is being organised by 316 Tours Faith Travel. The group will travel from Prague, through Germany and Switzerland, finishing in England.
Moore College MA (Theol) students can participate in this study tour as a component of the Reformation History Tour unit, lectured by Dr Ed Loane (Lecturer, Theology and Church History).”
– Interested? Details here.
Evidence–based debate about LGBT issues?
“If you all you know about gender and sexuality comes from reading headlines, it’s an open and shut case. …
So the nature of homosexuality and transsexualism is settled, incontrovertible, and beyond dispute? Yes, but only in newspapers, not in academia.
A landmark survey of decades of research by two eminent scholars working in the United States claims that many of these assertions are simply not supported by the weight of evidence in scholarly journals. …”
– Report from MercatorNet – with a link to ‘Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences’ – and an introductory video.
From the Archives: Evangelical Religion — by Bishop J.C. Ryle
“Since many religious disputes have arisen solely because there has been a lack of accurate definition, I am beginning this paper by explaining exactly what I mean by ‘Evangelical Religion’.
I want to consider that religion which is peculiar to those within the Church of England who are normally called “the Evangelical Party”. Whether we like it, or not; whether it is right or not, it must be agreed that there are varying schools of thought within the Church of England, with many divisions and shades of opinion even within the various parties. Here I am concerned with the unmistakable and undeniable tenets of the Evangelical school which, I maintain, are worth contending for…”
Bishop Ryle wrote these words in the 1870s, but they could just as well have been written yesterday.
His main headings:
WHAT EVANGELICAL RELIGION IS
WHAT EVANGELICAL RELIGION IS NOT
WHAT MAKES MUCH RELIGION APPEAR TO US NOT EVANGELICAL?
THE PRESENT DUTIES OF EVANGELICALS.
Read it in our Resources section.
The best foundation for long-term cross-cultural ministry
Simon Gillham, Head of the Department of Mission at Moore College, asks, “what kind of foundation prepares a person best for long-term cross-cultural ministry?”
See his thoughtful and encouraging answer at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Slip, slop, slap for sustainable sacrifice
“I keep hearing heartbreaking reports of burnout among Christian ministers.
Christopher Ash’s book Zeal without Burnout is a very short, but very good, biblical and pastoral reflection on the topic. He talks about his own experience of burnout, and includes lots of stories from others in Christian ministry.
He argues that we should be thinking in terms of “sustainable sacrifice,” i.e. “the sort of self-giving living that God enables me to go on giving day after day” (p. 26).
His chapter titles are nuggets of gold in and of themselves …”
– Lionel Windsor begins “a series of blog posts about how I try to put ‘sustainable sacrifice’ into effect on the ground”. Keep an eye on it at Forget the Channel.
Watch the Annual Moore College Lecture livestream tonight
If you couldn’t get to Moore College for the first evening of this year’s Annual Moore College Lectures, you can watch it from 8:00pm via the college’s livestream.
“Dr Paul Williamson is our speaker for this year’s Moore College Lectures on the topic of Death and the Life Heareafter. Join us to think through the big questions of death, heaven and hell, beginning with a public lecture on the evening of Friday 19 August, and continuing with 5 morning lectures from Monday 22 to Friday 26 August. This is a free event with no registration required.”
Deuteronomy: One Nation under God by George Athas
Here’s a new book to be released on 30th September 2016 by CEP, under their Aquila Press imprint –
“Deuteronomy is a daunting book for many readers of the Bible, yet it is arguably the ‘theological backbone’ of the Old Testament.
In this clear and insightful commentary, George Athas brings Deuteronomy to life for contemporary readers, and looks at how the ancient context helps us to better understand this book. He also explains the meaning of Deuteronomy for its original readers, traces the significance of the promises in Deuteronomy through Israel’s history to their ultimate fulfilment in Christ, and considers the enduring message of this extraordinary book for Christians today.”
If you’re keen, you can pre-order the book now!
“God made me for China” — Eric Liddell beyond Olympic glory
“Those who have seen Chariots of Fire well remember how it ends, with the magnificent and sentimental music of Sir Hubert Parry’s anthem ‘Jerusalem’ and William Blake’s famous words: ‘Bring me my Bow of burning gold; Bring me my Arrows of desire: Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold! Bring me my Chariot of fire!’
Then the screen fills with these words in text:
‘Eric Liddell, missionary, died in occupied China at the end of World War II. All of Scotland mourned.’
The end.
But in those few words was the real story of Eric Liddell…”
– Have your heart warmed to the true story of Eric Liddell – in this new post from Albert Mohler. (Photo: Wikipedia.)
Moore College to celebrate 500 years of the Reformation
Moore College will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with some key events.
It’s time to mark your diary!
Details at the College website.
Simon Manchester on Preparing to Preach
In the latest Preaching Matters from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, North Sydney’s Simon Manchester speaks about Preparing to Preach.
“What are the priorities we need to have in good preaching?
Preaching Matters welcomes Simon Manchester this month, asks him what his sermon preparation looks like, and he gives us some examples of why handling the text rightly is so crucial for good preaching. Simon talks to us about being sailors and divers, and preaching Jesus not just the Bible.”
Watch it here. Most encouraging.
A Sovereign Protector I have
“The book of Esther is another reminder that God is in control of all things, not just some things. God is well able to use peoples’ evil intentions to bring about His good purpose.
Joseph’s brothers; the evil Prime Minister of Persia, Haman; the weak Roman Governor of Palestine, Pontius Pilate; the able Jewish lobbyists, who demanded the death sentence for Jesus; and later the deacon Stephen, are all examples that the Sovereign Lord ‘rules the peoples justly and guides the nations of the earth’ (Psalm 67:4).”
– in his latest message, Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook calls believers to remember who is in control – the One to whom every knee will bow.
(Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Dick Lucas on What makes an excellent Bible teacher
Earlier this year, Nancy Guthrie spent an hour with Dick Lucas in London for her ‘Help me teach the Bible’ series.
She asks Dick about the early days of his ministry at St. Helen’s, about the Proclamation Trust, and then turns to the character of a Bible teacher, and the way Dick approaches a passage for preaching.
Strong encouragement for preachers, and for congregations.
Listen to the 56 minute conversation at The Gospel Coalition. (54MB mp3 file.)
(Photo: from a St. Helen’s Bishopsgate video.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…