The Flesh and Bones of the Resurrection
“Now the first thing to affirm is that Jesus’ resurrection really was bodily. Thomas was able to observe and touch Jesus’ hands and side (Jn. 20:27). Jesus himself declared that he was ‘flesh and bones’ and not some ghost (Luke 24:39). Jesus was even able to eat (Luke 24:43). And lets not forget that the tomb itself was empty.
In a world that has always been sceptical about the resurrection this great truth must continue to be proclaimed.”
– The Australian Church Record publishes a second article on the significance of Easter.
What actually happened on Resurrection Day? A clear and simple account
“Many detractors of the Christian message claim that the four accounts of Jesus’ resurrection contain discrepancies that are irreconcilable and so fatal to the Gospels’ authenticity and truth. Contrary to these claims, the extraordinary events of that amazing day can be told in a clear and simple account.
It was Sunday, the 5th April AD 33, and the action began around dawn with exactly three women involved…”
– Dr. Peter Bolt explores what happened on Resurrection Day.
(Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Easter: It Really Happened! So What?
In the lead up to Easter, The Australian Church Record is sharing some encouragement from the Scriptures every few days. From the first article –
“When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, most contemporary Christian writing has been centred on its historicity. Preaching often tends to focus on the historical details and the fact that it really happened, rather than its meaning. As a result, the average pew sitter might have a robust apologetic in response to the historical claim of the resurrection, but be somewhat cloudy when it comes to its theological significance…”
Together for the Gospel Conference 2014
Talks from the 2014 Together for the Gospel conference have now been posted at their website. The theme is The Pastor and Evangelism.
Listen to or watch the talks here.
The Australian Church Record — April 2014
The latest issue of The Australian Church Record, April 2014 (No. 1913!) is now out.
From this edition –
Noah Starts a Deluge for Holy-Wood
“Russell Crowe plays a dark and troubled Noah, in a dark
and troubled film, whose special effects have earned it the description ‘Lord of the Rings meets Transformers’.”
The Danger of Mission Drift
“The danger of mission drift recently came to the fore on the international stage, with the public flip-flop of the American World Vision organisation concerning same-sex marriage. … But despite the significant hullabulloo, one of the key lessons of the sorry saga has been the danger of public Christianity drifting with the cultural tides of the day.”
Grab it from their website.
The Day Death Died — Cathedral Easter Convention 2014
This year’s Easter Convention at the Cathedral is a very worthwhile way to spend Good Friday afternoon.
Phillip Jensen and Mark Thompson are the speakers. Good Friday, 2:00 – 5:00pm. Early Bird Rate $15. ($20 after 13th April.)
See the promo video and book in here.
Christian events & conferences in Australia this year
Steve Kryger at Communicate Jesus has helpfully compiled a list of Christian events and conferences (most of them evangelical in their theology) in Australia during the remainder of 2014.
“Church of the Triune God” — a review
“…I’m thankful for the recent Church of the Triune God: a book in celebration of the teaching and passion of Robert Doyle, a lecturer from Moore Theological College. Edited by Michael Jensen, it’s a collection of excellent essays on the themes he was so captivated by throughout his teaching career: the Trinity and the church.”
– At The Briefing, Sam Freney reviews Church of the Triune God, published by Aquila Press.
(Authors include Mark Baddeley, Mark D Thompson, John McClean, Ashley Null, Peter G Bolt, Benjamin Dean, Rory Shiner, Andrew JB Cameron, Kanishka Raffel, Chew-Chern Morgan and Greg Anderson.)
Around the web — 6th April 2014
Here are a few items you may have missed this week –
- Inclusive, Safe, and Welcoming to All? – Stand to Reason on the termination of Mozilla’s CEO for supporting traditional marriage.
- Couple sentenced to death for ‘blasphemous’ text message in Pakistan – ABC News.
- Sympathy for the Devil – ‘Noah’ is no adaptation of Genesis.
- David Powlison, Director of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, visited Oak Hill College where he was interviewed about biblical counselling.
- Abp Welby: Anglican Communion sexuality decisions can mean African Christians suffer – ACNS.
Formulary Friday: Collecting our prayers
“The Prayer Book Collects are like precious, highly-polished jewels adorning a crown. They are the short prayers which ‘collect’ together particular concerns and themes expressed in the liturgy – and invariably combine clear and easily-memorable phrasing with a highly concentrated shot of sound doctrine.
…the Prayer Book Collects give us a very helpful model for composing our own prayers – whether in our personal prayer times, or in public worship.”
– for Formulary Friday at Church Society’s blog, Mark Smith looks at The Collects.
The real story of Noah
“The premiere of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah has sent some folk back to their Bibles to see if there was a whole bunch of details that they’d forgotten.
Apparently not. Where the Bible’s story has left some gaps, Mr Aronofsky has provided plenty of creative and speculative details. Rock monsters, stowaways and much, much more.
Do those additions help us understand the story more clearly? Well, if the original author thought that the point of the story could be made with the details provided, it would seem not.”
– Gary Ware (Mount Gambier Presbyterian) has written this piece for his local paper. Some good ideas you might be able to use this Easter.
Related: Noah: A No Holds Barred Review (h/t Tim Challies).
“The character of Noah in this movie is so far removed from his biblical counterpart that he’s absolutely unrecognizable. He’s a maniac who is an idolater, a warlock, a murdering psycho, and in reality has absolutely no idea what’s happening with the flood… Noah doesn’t preach righteousness and repentance for 100+ years (2 Peter 2:5), and the Noah in this movie is a violent butcher of a man, completely the opposite of how Genesis 6:8-13 portrays him.”
GWC’s Mark Dickson on Moore College
Mark Dickson, Principal of George Whitefield College, speaks about the significance of Moore College for the church in Africa and elsewhere.
Watch the 5 minute video. A cause for thanksgiving to God and a strong prompt for prayer for Moore College.
New Church Society website and blog
Church Society in the UK have just re-launched their website.
“Over the past few months, Church Society has been through a process of rebranding which has gone to the heart of who we are and what we do.”
As well as a new look, there’s now a blog with weekly features – the first one is Formulary Friday (“Every Friday, we consider an aspect of the formularies of the Church of England: that is, the 39 Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal.”).
As Church Society Director Lee Gatiss says, the need for theological clarity in the Church of England has never been greater.
– See it all here, and you can also subscribe to their RSS feed.
Advance your Preaching — Moore to host hands-on preaching day
“On April 8 Moore College will host the first of a regular series of hands-on days to help improve our skills in proclaiming the Word. Moore Emeritus Faculty member Dr David Peterson, author of the Pillar Commentary on Acts, will give us input on issues involved in preaching the Book of Acts. …”
– Read the details at the Moore College website – and book in to “Advancing your Preaching” here.
How real is ‘Heaven Is for Real’?
John Piper was asked about the “Heaven is for real” genre of books written by people who claim to have been to heaven.
Here his reply – 6 minutes here. (h/t Tim Challies.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…