Getting ready for the Plebiscite

“To guide your holiday reading and listening, here is a selection of resources for a sermon series on marriage in preparation for the possibility of an upcoming plebiscite…”

– David Cook provides a useful list of resources, plus the outline of a sermon series planned for the Chinese Presbyterian Church in Sydney. Very useful for ministers helping their congregations think through what the Bible says on these important issues.

(Photo: David & Maxine Cook. David is the Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.)

Things fall apart: Yeats’ sphinx and the need for spiritual warfare

“It is impossible to understand evil without a worldview which includes the reality of the spiritual. ‘Spiritual’ refers to unseen entities separate from human psychology, and ‘evil’ involves more than human sin…”

– Andrew Symes at Anglican Mainstream argues that Christians need a biblical worldview to understand what’s going on in the world.

Related resources:

Living with the Underworld – Matthias Media, Peter Bolt.
Spells, Sorcerers and Spirits – Latimer Trust, Kirsty Birkett.

Is Tim Keller down on Exegesis?

“It is unsurprising that when Timothy Keller brings out a book about preaching, lots of people will be eager to consume it.

Preaching: Communicating In An Age Of Skepticism has drawn some notable reviews of a positive nature, but it has also raised a few questions.”

– Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman asks Tim Keller some questions about his new book.

Instant library: 22 free eBooks from R.C. Sproul

From Ligonier Ministries:

“To further help Christians know what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it, and how to share it, in May 2013 we made the ebook editions of R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series free forever. We continue to publish new ebooks in this series and this year have added Can I Lose My Salvation? and What Is the Great Commission?”

– Find them – for Kindle or iOS – at this link.

Packer on Preaching

“When did you last hear a sermon that spent 50% of the time on application? J. I. Packer has insightfully analysed contemporary and historic approaches to preaching over his years as a pastor and scholar. In this featured article, drawn from the summer edition of Churchman, Benjamin Dean outlines Packer’s approach to preaching…”

– Today’s post on Church Society’s blog.

The visit of Dr Ryan Anderson

“Dr Ryan Anderson is the William E Simon Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in the USA and Founder and Editor of the online journal Public Discourse. Dr Anderson recently visited Australia … I attended his Sydney meeting held in the Strangers’ Dining Room at NSW Parliament House. …

Dr Anderson stressed the need to engage with our culture over the issue, saying that churches which had not done so in the US now regret their inactivity. Our pulpits, he said, are a place to inform congregations about what God says about marriage and they must not be silent.

I am a member of the pastoral staff of the Chinese Presbyterian Church in Sydney. At our recent staff retreat, we planned the preaching program for 2016. Unusually for a Chinese church we have dedicated three Sundays next year to preaching on what God says about marriage and sex. …

The need for Christians to engage their mind, to think clearly, faithfully and lovingly is always apparent but has never been greater.

In my next column I want to outline how we will preach the three week series and some useful resources to help preachers.

I urge you all to preach about this issue as a plebiscite/referendum is an imminent possibility and such a series on such a subject will always be helpful.”

– Presbyterian Moderator-General, David Cook, with an exhortation to all Christians, and especially to Pastors. (Image: St Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

The Word: One to One

The Word: One to One evangelistic resource is now available in Oz. The idea is simple:

“Many people are totally ignorant as to what the Bible really says. The Word One to One is a resource that helps you walk through John’s Gospel with your friends. As you turn over the pages with them they’ll see what the Bible says about who Jesus is, and what He came to do.”

Read about it at their website – and watch the video intro by Rico Tice.

Available locally from Matthias Media.

Redefining Sex & Marriage: talks available

At Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living, the topic discussed on Wednesday night was “Redefining Sex and Marriage: how to think, live and speak as Christians when the world heads in a different direction”.

Sandy Grant and Tony Payne both gave addresses, and there was a question time.

The event was fully booked out, so we are grateful that the talks have now been made available online.

Ashley Madison and the Death of Monogamy

“I wrote an essay on Ashley Madison as ‘Adultery Incorporated’ back in 2011, after Bloomberg Businessweek published a cover story on the business. Back then, it was clear that many people saw Ashley Madison as a joke. No one is laughing now…

Given the numbers involved, the exposures are likely to hit nearly every community, millions of families, countless churches, and just about every major corporation and institution…”

– Albert Mohler on the sobering story of Ashley Madison.

And Village Church in Annandale is offering hope to locals:

“Annandale has 455 Ashley Madison accounts according to the Sydney Morning Herald, which the newspaper describes as being 6.27% of the postcode …

If you are struggling, either you have hurt someone or been hurt, and you would like to see if it’s possible to fix things with God and your spouse then it’s possible we can help.”

8th Planned Parenthood video + resources

“C. S. Lewis once wrote in the preface to the Screwtape Letters,

The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.

He could have been writing about Planned Parenthood and StemExpress.

Today (August 25, 2015), The Center for Medical Progress released its eighth video using undercover footage exposing the reality of what goes on behind these closed clinical doors…”

– At The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor has a description of the video, plus some resources for healing.

A taste of life at Moore College

From Moore College: “Wondering what a theology student’s life looks like? Come along to our Open Events in August and September to find out!”

Open Night, Monday 31st August.
Open Week, Monday 31st August to Friday 4th September
Open Day, Saturday 26th September.

Details here.

Russell Moore on the Planned Parenthood videos

Last week, Russell Moore spoke of what he hopes will be the end result of the release of the Planned Parenthood expose videos.

And today the seventh video has been released – Justin Taylor has the link and related material – however, please be warned that the subject matter is distressing and sickening.