MTS Recruit videos online

The videos from the MTS Recruit conference sessions the last few days are now available to watch.

Ray Galea and Phillip Jensen give the main addresses. Plenty of encouragement to consider gospel ministry.

Feel the Breeze

“In the past people used to curled up with a good book. Now the joy is curling up with your Kindle or iPad. Some people like to log in to video games, while for others it’s a good movie or just the TV. It’s hard to speak of these with joy because so often the content is less than joyful and can even be quite stressful.

I want to give a plug for some time in the sun, to walk the great outdoors. I want to give a plug for something more than your world hemmed in by four walls. …”

– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, writes with encouragement for you.

Lift up your hearts – GAFCON devotions – this month by Simon Manchester

Simon Manchester is contributing October 2020’s ‘Lift up your Hearts’ devotions for GAFCON. On the book of Deuteronomy.

And see the interview with Simon on the page linked above.

(Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

Pastoring Through Political Turmoil — 9Marks Journal September 2020

“Ordinarily, the 9Marks Journals push in a theological direction. The last six issues, for instance, have covered the work of a pastor, gospel-centered preaching, complementarianism, the atonement, church membership, and Calvinism.

Yet you won’t be surprised to hear the number one question we’re hearing from pastors these days: how do we pastor through a season of political turmoil?

Hence, this issue of the Journal is devoted to pastoring through political turmoil. …”

– The latest 9Marks Journal is not only about US politics, and will be helpful for Australian pastors in navigating the huge social changes we face.

For example, there’s “How to hold your tongue about politics and thereby not split your church over things the Bible doesn’t talk about” – Part 1, and (more expansively) Part 2.

Southern Cross magazine for October 2020 now out

The latest Southern Cross magazine (October 2020) is now available for download, or reading online.

Features include:

• Christians and sport
• Getting back to church in Sydney
• Evangelism in COVID Melbourne
• The latest Ordinations
• Persecution of Chinese Christians by rewriting John 8

Grab your copy here.

‘But Billy,’ you may ask…

“Andrew Blackwood was Chair of Practical Theology at Princeton and said of preaching, ‘These three remain, faith, hope and clarity, but the greatest of these is clarity!’

Billy Graham was one of the clearest preachers I have heard, I heard him preach for two weeks at his Sydney campaign in 1968. Dr. Graham would often stop and ask himself, ‘“But Billy,’ you may ask…” He would anticipate and answer the question on peoples’ minds.

Dialogical preaching which anticipates questions raised by the sermon is a very good friend of clarity in preaching. …”

– David Cook continues to encourage preachers at The Expository Preaching Trust.

Photo: Billy Graham and Archbishop Marcus Loane in Sydney, 1968. Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.

The Priestly Preacher

“Have you ever heard a preacher talk about hell, divine election or holy war as if they were talking about riding a bike or watching a game on TV? They appear to have no sense of the gravity or the offensiveness of what they are talking about.

It’s as if the preacher lives in a different world from their listeners – unaware or uninterested in the humanity and situation of their hearers.

It’s as if they haven’t realised that their congregants are 21st century Australians who have loved ones and work colleagues who are not Christians. …“

– Ray Galea with a challenge for preachers – at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Something Better

Richard Coekin at Dundonald Church in London wants to encourage Christians to share their story.

The aim: “To resource the local church to reach the city with news of something better.”

Check out the “Something Better” website here.

The gospel according to a 5-year-old

“When my kids were young, I had the idea to talk with them about the gospel over dinner so that we could discuss together about what it means for us to follow Jesus. (Dinnertimes were pretty crazy with three kids under ten and the usual debates over the necessity and place of vegetables in the created order, so it was an ambitious goal.)

My husband suggested that the best way to start might be to teach them the gospel outline Two Ways to Live and to make it super fun. …”

– Great advice for parents (and grandparents!) from Bronwyn Windsor at The Australian Church Record.

Review: Come, Let Us Sing by Rob Smith

“Of making many books on worship, there is no end. Surely all has been said and done?

But given that ‘sung praise’ (we will come to the use of the term ‘worship’ later!) is so essential in our churches, and such a vital part of Christian life and ministry – as well as being such a divisive and vexed topic – and, knowing the qualifications of the author for writing such a book, I looked forward with anticipation to Rob Smith’s latest. I was not disappointed. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, David Roberston speaks highly of Rob Smith’s “Come Let us Sing”.

Thinking about Critical Race Theory

Albert Mohler reflects on Critical Theory in conversation with James Lindsay, and also in his The Briefing for 9th September 2020.

As well, Stand to Reason has a helpful introduction to Critical Race Theory:

“Critical Theory divides the world into two groups: the oppressors and the oppressed. Those groups are made up of smaller cultural groups defined by race, sex, sexual preference, gender identity, etc. When this worldview focuses on race, it’s called Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT divides people into groups by race, the white oppressors and the oppressed non-whites…”

The State of Theology in the USA

“What do Americans believe about God, salvation, ethics, and the Bible? Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research partnered to find out. These are the fundamental convictions that shape our society.”

– This year’s results have been released and make interesting and concerning reading.

Archbishop Glenn Davies on being a father

For his online service for Father’s Day, Bishop of Bathurst, Mark Calder, spoke with Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies.

He began by asking Glenn about how he felt when he learned he would become a father for the first time.

When Looking for a Church, Beware the “Right Fit”

“I’ve given up trying to recall all the times someone has said to me, ‘Murray, there aren’t enough young families at your church.’ Or, ‘There are too many children.’ Or, ‘The youth group is too small.’ Or, ‘Where are all the elderly people?’ Or, ‘The church is too large.’ Or, ‘The church is too small.’ ‘The music is too new.’ ‘The music is too traditional.’ …