The traumatic implications of artificial intelligence
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“Artificial Intelligence is an oncoming tsunami that will catch all of humanity off guard.
It is a change more like a wheel than a typewriter.
But what will this do to our sense of self?
Stephen Driscoll, in ‘Made in our Image – God, artificial intelligence and you’ says artificial intelligence may do great harm – giving more power to sinful people, governments or companies.
He says artificial intelligence will likely trend towards people pleasing – giving each of us what we want now/a sense of heaven now or it may become more debauched.
It may even become an existential threat to us – because EITHER it lacks a wise moral system OR it righteously opposes our sin.
Artificial intelligence will likely lure us into our own individual heavens and unbundled freedoms, but it won’t fix our souls.
Stephen Driscoll works in ministering to postgrads and academics at the Australian National University in Canberra as part of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students.”
Reality
“We have just come back from a few days on the Gold Coast, which has one of the largest film production studios in Australia.
One of our sons is filming a series for TV called, ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’. During our visit we went on set and saw the incredible expertise and equipment required to produce such a series.
The series is set in a place called Eden Vale in Washington DC and yet it was filmed in a little town called Canungra, Qld; the community hall, shops, the local park even the litter bins all had to be re labelled, ‘Eden Vale’. …”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook points us to what it real.
CityAlight — His Glory and My Good
Here’s a new video from CityAlight.
Hope25 Launch Video Pentecost 2024
Here’s a video to introduce Hope25.
You can learn more at the Hope25 website:
“Hope 25 is an opportunity for us to share the hope that we have in Jesus.
It is an intentional season of sharing hope in Jesus for every parish and community in the Australian Anglican Church.
We are asking each parish to commit to doing (at least) one thing to help share the hope that we have in Jesus during this season.
We aren’t going to tell you what to do, but we will provide resources and support so that each parish can act locally and contextually, sharing the hope we have in Jesus in a way that best fits your context. It may be that you have multiple different groups within your parish and a number of different events are needed to engage with those group. Or, you may choose to band together on one event, it is entirely up to each parish or community to choose.
Dates: Easter Day (April 20, 2025) to Pentecost Sunday (June 8, 2025)”
“The Coming of the Holy Spirit” book Q&A videos
Phillip Jensen’s book The Coming of the Holy Spirit has been a real blessing to many. Now there’s an extra resource you may find helpful. Phillip writes:
“We have now made a series of short videos answering the questions I’m most often asked about the book. …
It is so important that we carefully study why Jesus sent his Spirit. The confusion in the minds of many Christians about the work of the Holy Spirit is very sad and leads people into strange and unhelpful beliefs and practices.
I hope the book will be of use not only for you … but also for your conversations with others who may never have studied the Bible on this topic.”
It includes a strong suggestion on how you shouldn’t read the book.
The book is available from Matthias Media.
And the audiobook version is available from Audible.
‘The hardest talk I’ve ever given: Loving God’ – with Ray Galea
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“‘God wants all of me to love all of God all the time’ says Senior Pastor of Fellowship Dubai, Ray Galea.
We want our staff and leaders to live and serve in ministry out of an overflow of the love of God for them. Grasping this love properly lifts our service from duty to desire.
As pastors we are so committed and focused on encouraging our congregations to love God with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. But do we stop to consider that our own love for God might be the limiting factor?
The pastor’s love for God will be a limiting factor for the congregation’s love for God. If we do not truly have hearts for God, how could we possibly lead others to the same?…”
Armidale Preaching Conference Review
From The Expository Preaching Trust:
“On 6-7 May we held a fully subscribed Preaching Conference in St Peter’s Cathedral, Armidale.
The conference was sponsored by the Trust and co chaired by Rod Chiswell, the Bishop of Armidale, and David Cook of the Trust. …”
– Read here.
The church as our village
For Mother’s Day, SydneyAnglicans.net has published a version of a talk Jocelyn Loane gave the Mothers’ Union Sydney conference in March:
“During COVID lockdowns I started collecting memes about parenting to get the vibe of how the internet portrays being a mum.
I came across memes that played on the old African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. One said this: ‘They say it takes a village. I believe it also takes a vineyard’. Which might tell you something about how people found those months of home learning! …”
– Read it here.
The heavens declare the glory of God
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” – Psalm 19:1.
Photo: Aurora Australis as seen from Tasmania, 11 May 2024.
The risen Lord of life and ministry: A sermon on John 21
Moore College’s Lionel Windsor preached on John chapter 21 in the College chapel earlier this week.
Outline: John 21: A strange commissioning
1–3 The in-between time.
4–14 Trying to catch fish? – Jesus has it sorted.
15–17 Feeling a failure? – Jesus has just the job for you.
18–23 Suffering & out of control? Jesus knows all about it.
24–25 The things we really need to know.
Save the date for Anglican Aid’s 2024 Conference
From Anglican Aid in Sydney:
“We are thrilled to announce that Anglican Aid’s 2024 one-day conference will take place on Saturday 31 August at Moore College.
After the success of last year’s ‘Social Justice Reframed’ event, we will once again gather with 200 thoughtful Christians to consider the intersection of Christian aid, development, and the gospel.
This year’s international guest speaker is Bishop Mwita Akiri, Anglican Aid’s partner in the Diocese of Tarime, Tanzania and Chairman of GAFCON Tanzania. …”
TGC announces new list of ‘Best Commentaries’
“In the spirit of Don Carson’s New Testament Commentary Survey, TGC Council members, staff, and expert writers have worked together to compile an annotated list of the best commentaries on each Bible book.
This project leverages the collective wisdom of scholars and church leaders who have devoted years to training the next generation in biblical scholarship and expositional preaching. Our goal has been to serve you – pastors, ministry leaders, and laypeople in local churches – by pointing you to the best resources available. …”
– A helpful resource from The Gospel Coalition.
(Many of our readers will think of other commentaries which are worthy of inclusion, but this list is a good start.)
Four Reasons to Preach the Psalms as a Book
“Since the 1980s, scholarship has devoted serious attention to the shape of the Psalter. While viewing the Psalms as a book has not filtered into popular consciousness yet, pastors and preachers may have discovered this argument in recent commentaries, such as James M. Hamilton’s excellent volumes.
Preaching the Psalter as a book might at first seem like a difficult task, but it’s well worth it. Here are four reasons why. …”
– At 9Marks, Davy Ellison in Northen Ireland points to a helpful way of reading (and preaching) the Psalms.
Saving ‘The Quiet Time’
Joshua Bovis at St. John’s Tamworth shares this message he wrote for his parish newsletter. We hope you will find it an encouragement to read and pray:
Saving ‘The Quiet Time’
I was introduced to the practice known as ‘The Quiet Time’ not long after I became a Christian. As someone whom has not been given the gift of silence by our Heavenly Father, (still working at it), quiet times were not often practiced. Turns out ‘The Quiet Time’ refers to the practice of spending time alone with God in prayer and in His Word. Yet over time, I had noticed that although the term ‘quiet time’ does not appear in the Holy Scriptures, these two seemingly benign words on their own often engender enormous guilt in the Christian’s life.
Of course, we all know (and should know) that time with God in prayer and His Word is vital, and we are all cognisant of the blessings and benefits that will entail.
Yet I have met so many of God’s people when I ask them how they are going when it comes to prayer and the Word, a common response is one of discouragement and guilt, with the added embellishments such as:
“I don’t know what to read”; “I cannot seem to get into the rhythm”; “I run out of things to pray for”; and there is the big one,
“I don’t have the time!”
Being an Anglican vicar, the context of which I asked this question is an Anglican one. Yet what I find interesting and rather sad is that so many Christians (who attend Anglican churches) are unaware of a practice that I have found to be so helpful in my own life, and that is the practice known as The Daily Office.
So what is the Daily Office?
The Daily Office or Divine Office, to put it simply, is a time during the day where Christians pray and read the Bible.
It is based on the ancient practice of prescribed daily times of prayer. The name comes from the Latin officium divinum meaning “divine office” or “divine duty.” Although it seems that liturgy is not in vogue or used by many parishes, the Prayer Book has a daily service in the morning and evening for this very purpose, (in fact did you know that the Book of Common Prayer prescribes this practice for clergy?) These services are accompanied by daily Scripture readings which include a reading from the Psalms, Old Testament, the New Testament, and a Gospel reading. The Daily Office includes prayers for morning and evening.
The late J.I Packer stated:
“None of us will ever find a better pattern for private prayer and Bible-reading anywhere than that offered by the Prayer Book’s own daily offices.”
God’s people who struggle with their ‘quiet times’ need to struggle no longer, there is a great resource available to be used, if only they were made aware of it.
I was first introduced to the Daily Office when I was an ordination candidate in the Newcastle Diocese. Although I was an Anglican Christian, I had not even heard of this practice let alone engaged it in. So at first I found it to be foreign, dull, repetitive and pedestrian. But after doing it every morning and every evening with my supervising Rector, I realised that my prayer life and Bible reading was changing. My relationship with my Heavenly Father was deepening. No longer was I dependent on how I felt on any given day when it came to pray. Time was no longer an issue as it was a scheduled non-negotiable part of my day.
Many years ago at a Clergy Conference in another diocese I heard it said that human beings are repetitive. Think about the hand you use when you talk on your mobile phone. Have you ever tried using your other hand? Or your other ear? It feels wrong doesn’t it? It is the same when you brush your teeth with your other hand. It feels wrong. With exceptions of course, generally there is no biological reason why we cannot use the phone in the alternate hand/ear. It is because we are creatures of habit. We all have rituals, and routines, and a place where we put things (as the saying goes, “a place for everything and everything in its place).
This is why I find the Daily Office such a helpful thing. It gives me the rhythm and routine that I am made for and at the same time makes prayer and the word part of that rhythm and routine.
The Daily Office is also helpful in that sooner or later when the day will come when you will not be able to pray in your own strength. On that day the liturgy will pray for you. There have been times and are times when I simply did not and do not have the words to pray.
What do you need?
• A set time – this way, the Daily Office will become part of your routine, your life rhythm, and before you know it will become a time that you look forward to.
• A place – your study, the chapel in your church, or somewhere nice and quiet, indoors or outdoors.
• A Bible – For me I use the ESV. It has been my norm for ages.
• A Prayer Book – for me it is mainly the BCP 2019 , though for years I used the original and best (BCP 1662).
• A Smartphone or iPad – this may seem like a weird thing to recommend but along with the BCP 2019, ACNA (The Anglican Church in North America) has produced an excellent App called The Daily Office. I find this app to be brilliant. It contains the Morning and Evening Prayer Services with the Collects (special prayer for the week) for every day of the year. It even has what is known as Compline (which is a service one uses before lights out for the night It even has a Midday Prayer (which I love to do each day). The Bible Translation is from the ESV (which is what we use here at St John’s) and the Psalter are the Miles Coverdale Version, which utilises English beautifully.
Anything else?
No. That is it. Just go for it. Take your time, enjoy God enjoy his Word, and abide with Christ. You may be sceptical, you be tempted to think what I think about the sport section in the Sydney Morning Herald, “Oh how dull”, but if you are struggling with your quiet times, it is certainly worth giving the Daily Office a go. Up until recently Anglican Christians have been doing it for a very long time. And before you know it, the next time your Vicar or anyone else asks you, “How is your quiet time going”?, you can smile and give an answer that is encouraging (and will give cause to give thanks and praise to God!)
Update on the Wahroonga Preaching Conference
From The Expository Preaching Trust:
“The Preaching Conference at Wahroonga has been rescheduled for Monday – Tuesday, 9-10 September. The Conference is to be Co Chaired by Chris Edwards, the Bishop of North Sydney and David Cook of the Expository Preaching Trust.
Simon Manchester is the main speaker and there will be sermons by Mike Leite, Jim Mobbs and David Cook, all on the book of Acts.
The conference begins at 9:30 am on Monday the 9th at the Wahroonga Presbyterian Church, it will be held at the Anglican and Presbyterian churches in Wahroonga.
Cost is $50, fully catered and we are limited to 30 participants.
Preaching groups will be led by Simon Manchester, David Cook, Mike Leite, Jim Mobbs and Janet Riley.”
– See their website for details.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…