Leading for endurance not recovery!

“Australian church leaders need to make a philosophical shift in every aspect of our ministry, away from leading for recovery and towards planning to lead for endurance.

We need to start using the catchcry, ‘Not Recovery, But endurance, ’ in order to set our people’s expectations right.”

– At this morning’s EFAC/Peter Corney Institute online conference, Dominic Steele contributed these thoughts about endurance.

‘Come, let us sing!’ with Rob Smith

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Rob Smith has been a global leader in evangelical music for three decades. He has a new book out ‘Come, Let us Sing!’ just as singing has been restricted in many churches due to COVID-19.

Rob joins us to talk about some of the principles he’s discovered in a lifetime’s work in Evangelical Music, plus how the current pandemic has caused course corrections. …”

Helpful and encouraging.

– Watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart.

(Image: Rob Smith at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, courtesy Anglican Media Sydney.)

“We must do better” — Simon Manchester to Sydney Anglicans

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy,” says Proverbs 27:6 – or to put it another way, we often benefit more from being rebuked than praised.

The Rev Canon Simon Manchester has delivered a firm rebuke in this month’s Southern Cross and, although he risks upsetting some, he observes that “the stakes couldn’t be bigger”. …

– Sometimes being blunt is very helpful if we are to desire ‘The things that are excellent” (Philippians 1:10). Along with the loving rebuke, there is much that is encouraging in the linked video as well as the article in Southern Cross (page 33).

Photo: EMA, 2016.

The Sins of Old(er) Christians – Especially Pastors

“John Chapman, the gifted evangelist now with the Lord, would often say two things as he moved into his senior years: (i) Getting old is the pits, and (ii) Another year, another specialist.

He was no fan on the ageing process and, as an active man, found the breaking-down of his body frustrating and he refused to ennoble it.

I don’t mean he complained about it. He remained thankful and faithful to the end. Chappo was only doing what Ecclesiastes does in chapter 12 – being honest about the brevity of life and the pain of drawing closer to the end of it. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Ray Galea has some sobering encouragement for older Christians, and pastors in particular.

Moore College Sunday is this Sunday

Moore College Sunday this year is Sunday 2nd August.

Learn more and download resources here.

The Big Question

“One of the finest preachers I have heard is Haddon Robinson, who was the Harold J. Ockenga, Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Gordon Cornwell Theological Seminary, in the United States.

Haddon Robinson visited SMBC for two Preachers’ Conferences in 1995 and 1999 and his preaching had a great impact us.

His book on preaching, ‘Biblical Preaching’, continues to be very influential in the world of expository preaching.

The central thesis of the book is that preaching preparation ought to lead the preacher to reduce his text to one big idea, a single sentence which encapsulates the content of the  Bible passage. Indeed the Wikipedia entry on Dr Robinson lists his notable ideas as: ‘The big idea, Biblical Preaching’. …”

– At the Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook shares lessons he’s learned in sermon preparation.

(Book link added. Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

Two new episodes of The Pastor’s Heart

Dominic Steele and the team at The Pastor’s Heart have been busy, already producing two episodes this week:

1 – “Thousands of people attended Grace Community Church in Los Angeles [on Sunday, US time], the evangelical megachurch led by Pastor John MacArthur junior.

And the church elders have put out a statement defending their decision …

Moore Theological College’s New Testament lecturer Dr Lionel Windsor and Northmead Anglican Church’s Senior Pastor Adrian Russell join us to discuss the decision.”

2 – “After three years of researching the pornography problem and what to do about it, Marshall Ballantine-Jones has a message of hope.”

– Watch both at The Pastor’s Heart.

Review: Spurgeon on the Christian Life: Alive in Christ

“Michael Reeves has gifted us an excellent addition to the ‘Theologians on the Christian Life’ series, which is clearly written and a joy to read. …”

– At Church Society’s website, Ben Sear provides a brief and encouraging review of “Spurgeon on the Christian Life: Alive in Christ”.

(The book is available locally from Reformers Bookshop.)

 

We Preach Christ Crucified — J. I. Packer at the 1978 Moore College Lectures

The Donald Robinson Library at Moore College has digitised and made available the videotapes of  Dr. J. I. Packer’s 1978 Moore College Lectures.

His topic? “We Preach Christ Crucified.”

Watch here.

Preach, Pray, Love, and Stay

“When I was interviewing with Capitol Hill Baptist Church before they called me to be their pastor, someone asked me if I had a program or plan to implement for growth.

Perhaps to this person’s surprise (and perhaps to yours too!), I responded that I didn’t really have any great plans or programs to implement.

I was just armed with four P’s – I would preach, pray, develop personal discipling relationships, and be patient. In other words, preach and pray; love and stay. …”

– 9Marks shares this very helpful excerpt from The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander.

Preaching in the Days of the Virus

“The English philosopher Bertrand Russell said, ‘Most people would rather die than think and most people do so’.

God urges his people to think – to think about history, to think about what he is doing in the world. God is not aloof and distant; he is involved in human history, nothing happens apart from his permission.

History is indeed his story and when one takes a bird’s eye, rather than a worm’s eye view,  God’s hand in world and personal events is readily apparent. …”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook has some valuable suggestions for preachers in “the Days of the Virus”.

(Picture: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

“…and the books were opened.”

“This morning saw the release of a set of 45 year old documents, previously kept as secret as secret can be since 1975.

The ‘Palace Letters’ were the correspondence between the then Governor-General of Australia Sir John Kerr and the office of Queen Elizabeth as they discussed the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. …”

– What will it be like when the books are opened – for you?

The Australian Church Record has this timely article by David Ould.

Are my sermons boring?

“In recent months several people at different churches have told me how bored they are by the sermons they hear on Sundays.

Now, if you’re a preacher, ‘bored’ is a term likely to immediately trigger your defence mechanisms. You’ll likely want to jump at the comment and eagerly condemn such ungodly attitudes. And yes, when some people say ‘I find the sermons boring’ they mean the sermons fail to entertain them. In this case repentance is required – there are many ways to be entertained but sermons aren’t one of them. No one should expect entertainment when God’s word is preached.

However, this criticism of sermons isn’t always or wholly the fault of the listener. …”

– Helpful questions from Steven Kryger at Communicate Jesus.

Loving the Liturgy

“Churches returning to physical services after the pandemic lock-down are having to be creative and adaptable under the present restrictions.

With singing not allowed, many are re-discovering the benefits of using liturgy in our corporate worship.

Is this something to be regretted, a backward step, or something to be grateful for?…”

– At Church Society’s blog, Andrew Cinnamond shares some reasons this can be a very good thing.

The minister drought and what to do about it? – with Phillip Jensen

From Dominic Steele:

“The minister drought and what to do about it? – with Phillip Jensen

There’s been an across the board drop in people stepping up to serve in full time ministry roles whether as senior pastors, assistant pastors or people putting themselves forward to study at theological college.

We had the Principal of Moore Theological College, Mark Thompson on The Pastor’s Heart a few months ago and he said that enrolments are down for theological colleges across the western world. 

It’s very different to twenty years ago, when all the talk at Moore College was of continued growth.

Humanly speaking Phillip Jensen was the person in Sydney used by God most significantly to prompt the explosion in gospel workers.

We ask Phillip what are the factors that have contributed to the slump, and what needs to be done?”

– Watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart.

Related:

Where are all the senior ministers? – Bishop Peter Lin.

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