Three Lessons from 234 Pastors’ Libraries

“One of the most common assumptions about pastors throughout church history is that they are men of books – that reading is central to a pastor’s ministry. If you walk into your pastor’s office – he might even call it his ‘study’ – it will almost surely be full of books (2 Tim. 4:13).

But it wasn’t always this way. From our perch in 2023, we easily forget how significant the introduction of the printing press was to the history of the church. Prior to its invention, books were rare, usually only owned by wealthy men and women or tucked away in a monastery. Hardly any ordinary Europeans would have owned more than one book prior to 1450. …”

– At 9Marks, Forrest Strickland shares three lessons from history.

The T. B. Joshua Story points to a problem in many churches

“The recent expose by the BBC on the late prophet T. B. Joshua is heart rending.

The reports and eyewitness accounts point to what is without a doubt a massive tragedy on many levels. To witness someone in authority in a church be able to perpetuate so much abuse for so long with complete impunity makes your blood boil. To see the lives of so many people scarred, perhaps for the rest of their lives, cuts to the heart. It puts on full display the ugliness of sin or evil and its power to hide and grow. It should make us all long ever more eagerly for the day of our Lord’s return to judge every lawbreaker and to make all things new.

However, to my mind, one of the greatest tragedies from this saga is that countless similar scandals have happened before in the African church. More so, they’re almost certainly going to happen again. Soon. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Africa, Oyewole Akande in Lagos (pictured) speaks of a problem which is not always confined to Africa.

2024 Armidale Preaching Conference

Here’s a great resource for friends within striking distance of Armidale – The Expository Preaching Trust is holding a Preaching Conference on May 6 and 7 2024.

– Details from the Trust and also from the Diocese of Armidale.

Launch 2024 bookings close this weekend

Phillip Jensen writes (15th January) –

“Next Sunday, 21 January, is the deadline for your budding uni students to register for Launch Camp. That means they have 6 days left.

Launch 2024 is filling up quickly now that the deadline is close and our Launch leaders are looking forward to welcoming many school leavers this year!”

“Launch is the camp for school leavers keen to live for Jesus. It is where you will

29th January – 1st February 2024, Stanwell Tops.”

– Be encouraged to share the link and to pray for those attending.

10 books to add to your Summer reading list

From SydneyAnglicans.net:

“The days are long, the breeze is cool, we’ve got a good book and we’re lounging by the pool. Sounds like a perfect summer day to me!

Here’s a short list of great books from the past 12 months that are worth stashing into your suitcase this season, as reviewed by our team and invited guest writers. …”

– See the list here.

What to do about threats and weaknesses – with David Rietveld

From the Pastor’s Heart at the start of their fourth year –

“The massive drop in church attendance is a crisis facing churches across the Western World and there are external pressures and internal weaknesses that need to be addressed at every level of the church. …

Even allowing for a covid factor, even assuming some sort of bounce back, these are figures that we should talk about.”

– An important topic. Watch or listen here.

See also:

After COVID: The Deepening Decline of the Church of England – The Living Church.

Anglican Aid’s 2024 Prayer Diary

Have you downloaded (or obtained a printed copy of) Anglican Aid’s 2024 Prayer Diary?

“[In 2023], we praised God for answering our prayers for the rain that broke the devastating three-year drought in East Africa. Times of drought and emergency certainly drive us to prayer, but Psalm 104 reminds us that God is the good creator and sustainer of our world.

It is always God who makes things grow to bring forth food from the earth. Paul reminds the Corinthian church that the same is true for growing churches. When Corinthian church members were falling into factions and arguing about which leader they were aligned with, Paul said, ‘I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow’ (1 Corinthians 3:6).

This is why prayer is so important. Whether it is a farming or water project, school or church, we rely on God for his good gifts that bring transformation, in his good timing.

Our 2024 Anglican Aid Prayer Diary contains 31 days of prayer points for a range of projects supported through Anglican Aid to deliver emergency aid and relief, training of church leaders, income generation, clean water, education, and more. All these projects are carried out by believers, and it is our hope that God will bring tremendous growth as we pray throughout 2024, strengthening churches and transforming communities to his glory.

Canon Tim Swan
CEO, Anglican Aid.”

– Download your copy here.

Prayer diary items are also available through PrayerMate.

Why You Should Attend Church (in Person) This Sunday

“Whether because of health concerns or simply out of preference for watching online in their pajamas, 30- to 49-year-old churchgoers now attend church far less often than before COVID. For some, gathering in person can feel risky or inconvenient.

No doubt online services can serve beloved homebound saints and sick members. There are valid reasons to miss church. And yet God’s Word insists individual Christians need congregational worship. …”

– While this article at The Gospel Coalition is written for a US readership, numbers are still down after COVID in many churches in Australia.

On Being a Heroic Man

“There is something deep inside a man’s heart that longs to be heroic.

I don’t know what little girls dream of, but I do know that little boys dream of carrying those girls out of a burning schoolhouse so they can be admired as strong and brave. Teenaged boys dream of fighting in a war not so much to blaze away at the enemy as to perform an act of heroism that will mark them as tough and noble and worthy of honor.

Though older men may no longer be prone to such fantasies, they, too, are drawn to heroism and are convinced that they would be equal to the challenge, that they would stand where others fall, that they would run forward when others run back. …”

– At the start of the year, Tim Challies shares some wisdom for men, urging patience and action.

Defining Moments: My Copernican Revolution (Ephesians 1)

Moore College’s Dr Lionel Windsor spoke at Auckland Evangelical Church on Sunday evening. His topic?:

“Defining Moments: My Copernican Revolution (Ephesians 1).”

– Listen here, and also see the slides.

Bathurst Diocese Prayer Diary 2024

Here’s a great resource to help you pray for the progress of the gospel in the Diocese of Bathurst.

Download your copy of the Bathurst Diocese Prayer Diary for 2024. (PDF file)

A New Year: Comfort and Joy…!

“With the many and varied changes around us – conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle-East and Africa, China’s aggressive acts, significant political and social divisions in the West, climate-change, gender issues, and the western disdain of Christianity – we might wonder about the future.

In the course of his ministry Jesus spoke of events that would unfold …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason helps put things in perspective.

Death Rehearsal

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)

“For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life. And 11:59 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death. …“

– John Piper shares these thoughts for the end of a year.

2024 Summer Prayer Diary

“Our summers are filled with camps, conferences and missions. People across greater Sydney are diving deep into God’s word and taking it out to those who need to hear it.

So we’ve put together a 10-day prayer diary featuring some of the great kingdom initiatives that could use our prayer.”

– A great resource from Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Photo: Sans Souci swimming baths, Summer 1957.

Evangelism in a post-Christian world – Dave Jensen

“How do we see Australia won for Christ? …

Firstly, we need to see and then remind each other that the biggest problem facing the people we know is that they are spiritually lost.

What that means is that no matter how they may present themselves to us, we must treat them with the greatest compassion possible – by telling them the gospel.”

– At the Moore College website, Dave Jensen has some real encouragement for you. A great article to recalibrate our thinking as we come to a new year.

(Emphasis added. Image courtesy Evangelism and New Churches.)

← Previous Page — Next Page →