The blood that brings us close

“Every so often, I go to a local community college to watch Israeli films with some of my Jewish friends. Recently, we watched a film called A Borrowed Identity. It’s a beautiful film, based on a touching memoir by popular Israeli Palestinian novelist and TV writer Sayed Kashua.

The film tells the story of an Arab boy who, through various circumstances, comes to take on a Jewish identity. It explores friendship, love, life, identity, and humanity. Its message is that if we can just come close to people, experiencing their humanity and seeing their struggles first hand, we will be able to overcome our differences. The film offers a hope of peace through shared humanity.

But sadly, ideals like this don’t always reflect reality, do they? …”

– In time for Easter, The Australian Church Record  has published this reflection from Lionel Windsor on Ephesians 2:11-13.

Review: Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen

“To Machen, liberalism was not simply a different style of churchmanship, or a rival Christian theology. It was an entirely different, and man-made, religion founded on a sentimental and superficial view of God. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Andrew Prideaux commends an excellent book, J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism.

(Free versions of the book are available for download at Monergism.)

History’s Biggest Hoax? What the Resurrection Means for Us

“For us, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 is a precious historical source-document. For the Corinthians, it was an embarrassing and pointed re-telling of the basics. It would be like going to a prestigious university to hear a lecture from an eminent theologian, only to have them begin with a verbatim recounting of Two Ways to Live, complete with the cartoon drawings.

You see, the problem in Corinth wasn’t what they believed about Jesus; it was what they believed about us. Their issue wasn’t Jesus’ resurrection, but ours. They managed, somehow, to simultaneously affirm the resurrection of Jesus and deny the resurrection of believers. We still have the same problem. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Rory Shiner looks at the implications of The Resurrection.

Image from The Pastor’s Heart.

God’s Plan for Corporate Worship – podcast

From Crossway’s podcast series:

“In this episode, Matt Merker discusses the central importance of corporate worship for the life of the Christian. He shares his thoughts on the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic could have on church gatherings in the future, explains why the concept of a church liturgy is a good and necessary thing, and offers encouragement to the person who may be toying with the idea of not returning to church once the pandemic is over.”

– This podcast episode is a real encouragement – for pastors and congregational members.

There’s also praise for Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present, the fruit of much painstaking work by Jonny Gibson and Mark Earngey.

Related:

A Tale of Two Liturgies.

On how the Reformation changed Sunday gatherings.

We ask Mark Earngey about ‘Common Prayer for Homes’.

“He Will Hold Me Fast” — The Story Behind the Song.

Photo of Matt Merker: Together for the Gospel.

A Tale of Two Liturgies

At The Gospel Coalition website, Justin Taylor draws attention to “An insightful excerpt from Matt Merker’s new book, Corporate Worship: How the Church Gathers as God’s People, 9Marks, Building Healthy Churches series (Crossway, 2021).”

He quotes Matt Merker who writes,

“…imagine two different church gatherings. Each congregation is the same size. They use the same musical instruments: keyboard, guitar, bass, and drums. More importantly, they affirm the same basic theological beliefs. But their liturgies differ in consequential ways. …

What do these different liturgies communicate? What values do they reveal? …

Look at the structure of your church’s most recent gathering. What is the “story” that it tells through the arrangement of the various elements? Is it a story worth instilling in your congregation, week after week?”

– Read it here.

God, the Bible and Mardi Gras

“The 2021 gay and lesbian Mardi Gras held at the Sydney Cricket Ground was quite a spectacle. It was colourful, loud, celebratory and was reported by various media outlets as being the best celebration yet (as it is every year). And yet, the Scriptures teach us that what they were celebrating was in fact part of God’s judgement. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Ben George takes us to Romans chapter 1.

But be sure to read the full article.

“… Knowing that we are all in the same boat, all equally rebellious against God, all equally deserving of death, and all equally in need of Jesus who saves, then it is in fact loving and good that Christians reach out to all communities, including the LGBQTI+ community, with the gospel.”

John Piper’s Magnum Opus on the Providence of God

“Joe Rigney sits down with John Piper about his magisterial new book on Providence, a volume over 700 pages that is a culmination of his life study and work.”

– Watch the video and read about it from Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition.

Discovering the Holiness of God

This 14 minute documentary from Crossway shares something of R.C. Sproul’s conviction of the centrality of the holiness of God.

GAFCON’s Lift Up Your Hearts Devotions for March 2021

From GAFCON:

“Canon Craig Roberts, along with his colleagues at Anglican Youthworks (Australia) contribute to the Lift Up Your Hearts Devotions for the month of March.

The focus of the devotions demonstrates how throughout scripture, we see God at work through intergenerational discipleship.

The devotions are also available in Spanish and Portuguese, and in audio version in English.”

How Christians can guard against the Cultural Milieu

This short video from Carl Trueman encourages Christians to read widely and to ground themselves in biblical and systematic theology.

Published by Crossway, it’s part of a promotion for Dr Trueman’s new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.

For the good of Others

“As we commence a new year in 2021, I am sure that many of us look forward to the suppression, if not elimination, of the Coronavirus which has threatened lives and livelihoods. We welcome the imminent distribution of some of the vaccines that have been developed and are currently in use in other parts of the world, and I am grateful for so many who have offered prayer each night at 1900hrs for COVID-19 research…”

– In his column in this month’s Southern Cross, Archbishop Glenn Davies uses COVID-19 as a lead-in to speak of the goodness of God’s Law.

The Sign of the Cross in Baptism — Broughton Knox

“Why do Sydney Anglicans sign the forehead of children with the sign of the cross at their baptism?…”

– The Australian Church Record publishes two short articles by D. Broughton Knox on Baptism.

Photo: DBK at George Whitefield College in Capetown.

Discounted kindle version of Married for God

We understand the Kindle version of Christopher Ash’s book “Married for God: Making Your Marriage the Best It Can Be” is on special at Amazon until February 17.

Carl Trueman writes,

“I heartily recommend it as a book to read and also as a basis for framing and informing pastoral discussions with Christian couples who are looking toward marriage and want a realistic but encouraging picture of what to expect. A great book.”

Justification

Some encouragement:

“The voice that spells forgiveness will say: ‘You may go: you have been let off the penalty which your sin deserves.’

But the verdict which means acceptance [justification] will say: ‘You may come; you who are welcome to all my love and my presence.’“

– Sir Marcus Loane, quoted in John Stott, The Message of Romans.

Photo: Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane (centre) at Bishopscourt, December 1981. From the Sydney Diocesan Year Book, 1982.

Why do we say things together in church?

“As a teenager, I was deeply impacted by a youth ministry that made a lot of hay out of throwing out traditional, churchy practices. We started a church service on couches and bean bags in the hall where we didn’t do anything like liturgy or set prayers.

I remain deeply grateful for this low-church experience, for I heard the gospel there with a freshness that was God’s gift. But in hindsight, I have mixed feelings about the excitement we felt at doing things differently. For while this stance did grab my attention, it also distanced me from good things…”

– At The Australian Church Record, Andrew Errington shares three ways that saying together “sentences from the Bible, psalms, creeds, and other prayers” can be a real help.

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