‘My Body, My Choice’

“What do we worship?

If aliens from another planet were to conduct a research expedition to earth, tasked with answering this question, what would they come up with?

They might ask people, but I doubt the answers would match up with what the aliens saw all around them. Various gods would be offered up as objects of worship. Some would say, “I’m spiritual, just not religious.” Others would claim to worship nothing.

But the evidence speaks louder than words. …”

– What does “My body, my choice!” say about us? Martyn Iles from the Australian Christian Lobby takes a biblical perspective.

Four ways Christians can support our farmers

“Take a drive into the country and you’ll see rolling hills of red dirt and crispy yellow grass. The drought is crippling farmers and rural economies, and it doesn’t look like relief is coming any time soon.

‘The short version is that it’s pretty tough,’ says Rev Ted Brush, the Bush Church Aid’s NSW & ACT Regional Officer. Since stepping into the role in January, Mr Brush has seen the toll that the drought is taking on towns.…”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Passing it on

“Earlier this year I was driving my youngest son home from a school event. Not long into the trip he asked me, ‘Dad, how did you become a Christian?’

Naturally that was a question that I was more than happy to answer, and we had a wonderful ride as I shared my story with him and as he probed me with further questions. It was a precious father-son moment.

However, I must confess that I was also a bit taken aback by the question.…”

– At GoThereFor.com, David Mears shares a great reminder about passing on the saving gospel to our children.

Spirit-inspired Christian Living — Phillip Jensen

“What does the Spirit want Christians to do? What does the Spirit enable Christians to do?

There are two common errors in answering these common questions:

at one extreme, the humanistic Christians have no place for the Spirit, but lay burdens of morality upon us;

at another extreme, the mystical Christians expect the Spirit to magically solve all our problems.

But what do the Spirit-inspired Scriptures tell us to expect about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives?”

At Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living, Phillip Jensen is speaking about “Spirit-inspired Christian Living” on Monday 20th August, from 7:30pm.

– Booking details here.

The Burden for Missions Begins at Home

Encouragement from Mark Dever in this brief 9Marks video.

Watch here.

Being salty in a secular world: An interview with Os Guinness

When Os Guinness was in Sydney recently, Steve Tong spoke with him for The Australian Church Record.

Os spoke about the need to connect evangelism and apologetics, and the responsibility of Christians to engage with our world by holding out the light of the gospel.

Read it at The Australian Church Record.

Simon Manchester on Getting the Message Across

Late last year, Nancy Guthrie spoke with Simon Manchester about how to engage listeners.

A 33 minute podcast.

Mark Jones ‘meet the author’ at Reformers Bookshop

Mark Jones, author of several books, including the well regarded Christian’s Pocket Guide to Jesus Christ: An Introduction to Christology, is visiting Reformer’s Bookshop in Stanmore next week (Thursday 16th August) for a ‘Meet the Author’ event.

Details from the bookshop.

In other news from Reformers, they have recently introduced four Pastors Packs which may be of interest to our readers.

Reformers also has some copies of Reformation Worship, edited by Jonathan Gibson and Mark Earngey, at their reduced price. (Use this link. Click through to the checkout to get the 30% discount, while available.)

‘Church in Hard Places 2018’ videos now available

Andrew Beddoe has shared this news from the recent Church in Hard Places 2018 workshops:

“If you missed the Church in Hard Places 2018 workshops this year you might be interested to view the sessions …

These videos will not only help those ministering in socially deprived areas but those seeking to bring the hope of Jesus to any community that does not know Him.”

Very helpful resources.

Have we lost evangelism? with Phil Colgan and Craig Schafer

“A good friend tells you when you have something stuck between your teeth just before the photograph is taken.

Scotland’s David Andrew Robertson was a guest on The Pastor’s Heart a few months ago and is a good friend.

In an interview with Australian Church Record, having spent three months in Sydney, he’s had some significant things to say about the Sydney Anglican Church and asks have we gone off the boil on seeking the lost saved? …”

– Take the time to watch Phil Colgan and Craig Schafer discuss the state of evangelism with Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart.

And a response from David Robertson:

“This is a fascinating discussion about evangelism in Sydney – in response to this interview I gave to the Sydney Anglican magazine. This is from an excellent podcast called The Pastors Heart. hosted by Dominic Steele. I found it very encouraging to hear pastors and church leaders take seriously this issue.

I contrast these Sydney Anglican brothers with what I hear from Anglicans here (Rico Tice resigning from the Archbishops commission on evangelism, Kelvin Holdsworth complaining about the roads being closed for a cycle race in Glasgow, the Leeds diocese facing bankruptcy, or the endless attempts to impose LGBT ideology upon the church), and I am heartened by what I hear. (at a personal level it was good to have people take one seriously and not just shrug their shoulders or shake their heads!).

Those of us who are not Sydney Anglicans (or even Australians!) could learn a great deal from this conversation – I loved the line ‘You can’t convert the public square, you can only see people converted’. …”

How I talk to people about the Trinity

“It was the first evangelistic course that I had ever run. I had just finished my presentation on the authority of Jesus in Mark 1-2 and opened up for question time. The first question, right off the bat, was…

‘So, what’s the deal with the Trinity?’

Since then I have found that of all the questions I get asked, this is the most common one. …”

– Maybe you’ve had similar experiences to Tom Habib, who writes at The Australian Church Record.

Six Benefits of Studying Church History

“Many of us may struggle with the feeling that the church is already too old-fashioned. If so, why should we study church history? Shouldn’t we stop looking backward to the 16th century and start living in the 21st century?

Contrary to our concerns, the church has always realized that a forward-looking church is also a backward looking church. Likewise, well-balanced, progressive Christians will be students of church history. …”

– Meet the Puritans wants to encourage you to study church history.

Alight for the Lord

“With an eye to spreading the blessings God has given, CityAlight – the music ministry of St Paul’s, Castle Hill – has created a series of videos about their most popular songs.