William Taylor on preaching the early chapters of Genesis

William Taylor shares some observations on preaching through (or reading through) Genesis 1-11 – at St. Helen’s Preaching Matters.

New Priscilla and Aquila Centre website

The Priscilla and Aquila Centre at Moore College has a brand new website.

Check it out – including their Resource Centre.

From the Vault No. 4

Learning to speak Christian in an online world

“On March 17, I’ll be speaking at Moore College’s first Centre for Christian Living event for 2016. The topic: Learning to speak Christian in an online world. …

Christians need to be online – or at least some of us do. That’s because there are real people who spend a large part of their lives online, and these people need to hear (or read!) the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14). If we Christians aren’t there with them, they will not hear of Jesus. All they will hear is the “noise” – the endless frivolous chatter, and worse.

But – we need to be very serious about how we speak. That’s because God takes our speech incredibly seriously. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, for example, when he talks about living God’s way, much of the time he’s talking about the way we speak…”

– Lionel Windsor at Moore College previews an event coming up at The Centre for Christian Living.

Equipped to Preach the Word — A new resource by David Jackman

Here’s an exciting new (and free!) resource from the Proclamation Trust –

“Equipped to Preach the Word is a new resource we’ve put together as a series of videos and accompanying manuals to put resources into the hands of those who long, under God, to train up a new generation of faithful and effective Bible preachers.

Topics include: the nature and necessity of revelation, interpretation and application; apostolic priorities and practice; contemporary challenges in the culture and the church; careful reading and thoughtful analysis of Scripture; watching your life and doctrine; the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly.

This course helps you to train others to acquire and develop the necessary practical tools and skills to expound the Bible’s message.”

Why evangelistic courses are like a good joke

Stephen Liggins writes to encourage you to continue to run evangelistic courses.

Here’s why he reckons it’s worth it – at GoThereFor.

Preaching Christ in the Old Testament — Kevin DeYoung at Preaching Matters

Kevin DeYoung has been preaching at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, and took time out to address ‘Preaching Christ in the Old Testament’ for Preaching Matters.

Watch it here.

Word-Filled Women’s Ministry

“I think the greatest strength of Word-filled Women’s Ministry is that it takes the word of God seriously, and it takes the importance of women understanding and sharing God’s word with others seriously…”

– Jane Tooher writes at Equal But Different about the new book Word-filled Women’s Ministry from The Gospel Coalition.

The Blood of the Martyrs is Seed

At the Bethlehem 2016 Conference for Pastors last month, Dr Tim Keesee spoke on “The Blood of the Martyrs is Seed”, with profound reflections from 2 Corinthians 4.

Tim is, of course, the man behind the Dispatches from the Front videos and book.

“You can’t save your own life. You can only spend it. Spend it well.”

Sobering, mightily encouraging, and very much worth watching.

George Whitefield on the Homilies

“If I may be suffered to give my opinion, the dreadful ignorance as to the fundamentals of our holy religion, that almost everywhere abounds amongst the members of our established church, is chiefly owing to our neglect of preaching and putting into their hands the grand doctrines of the Reformation, contained in these Homilies and our other doctrinal articles.”

– Quoting George Whitefield, at the beginning of Lent Church Society introduces a series of daily extracts from The Homilies. Should be worth following.

Update: Here’s the first post – Edward VI’s preface to the “Book of Homilies”.

The Book of Numbers explained with illustrations

Here’s the latest from The Bible Project.

Very well done. (h/t Tim Challies.)

Churches offering sanctuary to asylum seekers — some context

“In a high-profile decision of the High Court of Australia yesterday, Plaintiff M68-2015 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2016] HCA 1 (3 February 2016), a 6-1 majority ruled that the Australian government is entitled to continue its policy of detaining certain asylum seekers off-shore in the Pacific nation of Nauru. …

Today a number of Christian churches went public with an offer of ‘sanctuary’ for those who are supposed to be returned.”

– What is ‘sanctuary’, and does it still apply in Australia today? Here’s some legal context from Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia.

“The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, says Anglicans and other Christians in Sydney are concerned by the prospect of 91 asylum seeker children being returned to Nauru following the recent High Court ruling…” – SydneyAnglicans.net

Armidale’s Anglican Bishop urges caution on calls to defy the law to safeguard refugees – ABC News 05 February 2016.

Facing a Task Unfinished

“Getty Music is inviting thousands of churches around the globe to sing the new hymn Facing a Task Unfinished together on Sunday, February 21st, 2016!

We will provide you with the sheet music and demonstration, all you need to do is register! …

First penned by China Inland Mission worker, Frank Houghton, at a time when persecution in China was at its height, ‘Facing a Task Unfinished’ has been a rally cry for missions in the Pacific Rim for many years.

In 1929, the Lord laid a vision on the heart of CIM leaders to see 200 new workers plunge into the darkness and share the light of Christ, knowing that it could well cost them their lives.

As he reflected on Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:14 to bear the torch of the Gospel to all the nations, his heart was broken for the people of China, and he wrote:

Facing a task unfinished, that drives us to our knees.
A need that, undiminished, rebukes our slothful ease.
We, who rejoice to know Thee, renew before Thy throne,
the solemn pledge we owe Thee to go and make Thee known.

By 1932, the last of the 200 missionaries had set sail for China to spread the good news of the Gospel. Since that time, the church of China has grown from an estimated 100,000 who claim Christ as their Lord to millions, and the Lord continues to work in great ways because of the faithfulness of those that gave their lives proclaiming that Jesus died and rose.

We are delighted to introduce this missions hymn to a new generation with the prayer it will be an anthem for rising up to face the unfinished task and going to all the world to proclaim salvation in Jesus’ name.”

– Read more here. h/t David Ould.

Secularisation and the Sexual Revolution: Evangelical Theology and the Cultural Crisis

“In the face of the sexual revolution the Christian church in the West now faces a set of challenges that exceeds anything it has experienced, of a similar magnitude, in the past. This is a revolution of ideas—one that is transforming the entire moral structure of meaning and life…”