The pastor, the church and social media

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“What’s best practice for churches and Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok?

How does a pastor’s non Christian and Christian audience impact the way we use social media.

To what extent do potential church members decide to join/not join your church, based on your social media posts?

How can we shift internal church disagreements off social media, rather than airing disputes before unbelievers?”

Launch 2022 – spurring on our school-leavers – Reconfigured due to COVID

Phillip Jensen writes:

“Starting uni and continuing to live for Christ throughout uni is not a given for many young men and women. Launch is a great opportunity to help school leavers be cemented into the Christian network and gospel activities on their campus.

Launch 2022 is only two weeks away so could you pass on an invitation to your school-leavers and their parents?

With Covid continuing to impact people’s movements we’ve recreated Launch. It is no longer residential in Katoomba which increases covid safety, reduces cost and makes it even more accessible!”

See phillipjensen.com/events/launch for details and registration.

Aim to be Unremarkable

“Our culture operates according to the myth of the great person model of leadership. An extraordinarily gifted person is the solution to most problems. What every struggling organization needs is a great leader who, by virtue of extraordinary qualities, will be able to turn that organization around.

When imported into the church, we long for great leaders. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Canada, Darryl Dash reminds us what we really need in our churches.

$3, $5, $10 – books on special from Matthias Media

Matthias Media has a bunch of books on special at the moment.

“Sale ends Monday 31 January, unless a book sells out before then.”

Click this link to see what’s on offer.

Mothers Union Sydney Annual Seminar — For Such a Time as This

Mothers Union Sydney is holding its Annual Seminar on Friday 25th February.

The theme: For Such a Time as This.

Topics:

The God We Know – Jo Gibbs

Have I the right to be who I am? – Rob Smith

When Dreams are Broken in the family – Jenny Brown, author of Growing Yourself Up.

Details at the MU Sydney website.

Questions Women Asked — reviewed by Claire Smith

“Simonetta Carr’s new book, Questions Women Asked: Historical Issues, Timeless Answers covers a topic close to my heart: the contribution of women to the history of the church.

Even better, she seeks to do so using the women’s own voices—their letters, their books, their poems, their hymns, and their prayers. …“

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Dr Claire Smith takes a look at an encouraging new book.

The Global Anglican — Vol 135, issue 4

From Church Society:

“The latest edition of The Global Anglican, our quarterly theological journal, is now published. Issue 135/4 includes Peter Jensen’s editorial, ‘Where is the True Church?’ in which he examines the relationship between local churches, denominations and the true church of Christ.”

Discipled by Algorithms — Where is ‘Big Tech’ Leading You?

“My wife and I ask each other a routine question about technology — and it may not be what you expect. Yes, we ask if the other heard us, and we ask to put down the phone for a while during family time. We, like most families in the digital age, have a ways to go to instill better technology habits in our homes. But the most frequent question we ask each other is, Did you see this online?

While that may seem like an odd question to ask, it reveals a much deeper issue with technology, one we often fail to consider amid concerns about screen time, app limits, and Internet filters. …”

– At Desiring God, Jason Thacker raises some important questions.

Related:

12 Ways your Phone is Changing You.

Growing My Faith in the Face of Death

“I have spent a good part of my life talking with people about the role of faith in the face of imminent death. Since I became an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1975, I have sat at countless bedsides, and occasionally even watched someone take their final breath.

I recently wrote a small book, On Death, relating a lot of what I say to people in such times. But when, a little more than a month after that book was published, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I was still caught unprepared. …”

– Tim Keller, who in December shared that his cancer has progressed to ‘stage IV’, recently relinked to this article which he wrote for The Atlantic in March 2021.

And please do uphold Tim and his family in prayer.

See also:

Pastoring the city – Tim Keller on coming to Christ and learning to love the city – Part 1 of a December 2021 Q&A with Tim Keller by World Magazine.

“To make a long story very short, reading C.S. Lewis on pride helped me finally understand the depth of my sin as something that was not simply a matter of wrong behavior, but something profoundly wrong with my heart, identity, and outlook—and most of all, it was alienation from God. Underneath all the religiosity, I saw I was actually hostile to God. For the first time, I recognized the need for salvation by sheer grace. …”

Handling a hostile culture – Assessing how the Church is responding to shifting cultural pressures – Part 2 of December 2021 Q&A with Tim Keller by World Magazine.

“Every Sunday I preached, every meeting I taught, I took unpopular stands that went against the grain of center-city dwellers. I faced weekly—sometimes daily—opposition and hostility.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church is a conservative, evangelical church in secular, liberal Manhattan. Every single week I was telling people things that most considered absolutely outrageous, if not dangerous—Jesus is the only way to salvation; without believing in Him you are lost and going to hell; the Bible is true in every word and you must submit to it whether it fits your opinions or not; sex is only for a man and a woman in marriage; you should be radically generous with your money, and, if you are prosperous, you should adopt a modest lifestyle. And so on! …”

Rico Tice preaches at the St. Helen’s Insurance carol service

Yes, Christmas is over, but it is always wonderful to hear Christ preached.

Rico Tice spoke from Matthew 2:1-12 at the St. Helen’s Bishopsgate Insurance Carol Service in December 2021.

Be encouraged to likewise share the news of Christ.

Preserving preaching Christ – with Michael Stead

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“The whole concept of a tolerant society is being spun around.

Sydney Anglican Bishop Michael Stead says there are moves afoot to block Christians from being able to say that ‘Christ is the only way to heaven.’

It’s also being claimed by Equality Australia that to say ‘marriage is between a man and woman’ is an offensive statement.

Bishop Stead says he wants to protect moderately expressed statements of religious belief. …”

– This is a very big issue. Watch or listen here.

Priscilla & Aquila Conference 2022 — The one another commands

Peter Orr is the keynote speaker at the 2022 P&A Conference at Moore College on 31 January. (Also via livestream.)

Recently, The Australian Church Record asked P&A Director Jane Tooher what to expect. There’s a lot planned, including ten afternoon electives.

Christmas morning encouragement

With thanks to Emu Music.

The easiest conspiracy theory to debunk this Christmas

“Are you feeling a bit apprehensive about your conversations with family and friends this Christmas?

The restrictions and lockdowns of the last few years have helped to keep us safe physically, but they’ve also played a role in dividing us socially. The combination of physical isolation, fears for safety, and the overwhelming stream of digital information at our fingertips have opened us up to all sorts of problems…”

– Dreading talking about COVID or US politics over Christmas lunch?

Lionel and Bronwyn Windsor have a suggestion for you. At The Australian Church Record.

Submission to Parliamentary committee on the Religious Discrimination Bill

From Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia:

“The submission of Freedom for Faith to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the Religious Discrimination Bill is now available for download here. I prepared the submission with input from other board members.

Submissions to this committee can be made at their website here, but only until 5 pm Tuesday 21 December.

There is also a short survey that the Committee have released which it would be good for anyone concerned with religious freedom in Australia to fill in before that same deadline.”

Image: Diocese of Sydney. (Emphasis added.)

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