The ‘so what’ of Easter: Part 1
“When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, most contemporary Christian writing has been centred on its historicity. Preaching often tends to focus on the historical details and the fact that it really happened, rather than its meaning.
As a result, the average pew sitter might have a robust apologetic in response to the historical claim of the resurrection, but be somewhat cloudy when it comes to its theological significance. …”
– At The Australian Church Record, Mike Leite doesn’t want us to miss the point of Easter.
J C Ryle on “Evangelical Religion”
“Since many religious disputes have arisen solely because there has been a lack of accurate definition, I am beginning this paper by explaining exactly what I mean by ‘Evangelical Religion’. …”
– This classic article by Bishop J. C. Ryle is always worth re-reading.
The Illuminated Heart — Lent Reflections from Dr Peter Jensen – Part 6
“In the penultimate video in the series, Dr Jensen explains how God illuminates our dark hearts through the proclamation of the gospel.” – From GAFCON.
T.C. Hammond on Article 19 — The Church
Article XIX Of the Church
The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the sacrament be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.
As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred; so also the Church of Rome hash erred, not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith.
“It is worth noting that the definition here embodied is limited strictly to the Visible Church. The Language is very carefully chosen. The Article does not say ’The Church of Christ is visible,” but “The Visible Church of Christ is a congregation, etc.‘ …”
– T.C. Hammond on Article 19 of the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion – republished at The Australian Church Record.
The Exclusiveness of Christianity — T C Hammond on Article 18
“We have to notice that there is an exclusiveness about Christianity.
It asserts, quite emphatically, that there is only one way of salvation. This is the consistent message of the New Testament.
Peter boldly declared to his interrogators: ‘Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name, under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.’ This is a vigorous declaration of the exclusiveness of Christianity. …”
– The Australian Church Record continues to republish T.C. Hammond’s theological reflections on The Thirty Nine Articles.
The Burning Heart — Lent Reflections from Dr Peter Jensen – Part 5
In the fifth of seven videos during the season of Lent, GAFCON General Secretary Dr. Peter Jensen turns to the burning heart.
T C Hammond on Articles 17 and 18
The Australian Church Record is continuing to republish T C Hammond’s commentaries on The Thirty Nine Articles from the late 1950s. The latest are:
Perversions of the Doctrine of Predestination (Article 17)
and Where is salvation to be found? (Article 18).
The New Heart — Lent reflections from Dr Peter Jensen – Part 4
In the fourth of seven videos during the season of Lent, GAFCON General Secretary Dr. Peter Jensen asks ‘How’s your heart?’, looking at the new heart.
Do whatever makes you holy
“We all face the struggles of living in a world that doesn’t know Christ.
The Christian life is like an iceberg: one tenth of it is spent at church or with other Christians, and nine tenths is spent in the world where, much like salt water, that world attempts to erode our Christian character. …”
– ACL Council member Mike Taylor writes to urge you to pursue holiness. Read it all, at GoThereFor.com.
The Repentant Heart — Lent reflections from Dr Peter Jensen – Part 3
In the third of seven videos during the season of Lent, GAFCON General Secretary Dr. Peter Jensen asks ‘How’s your heart?’, looking at the repentant heart.
Published by GAFCON.
Church Society series for Lent
We’re now well into the season of Lent.
Whether or not you personally observe Lent, it’s always a good time to mediate on the great truths of Scripture.
Over at Church Society’s blog, Lee Gatiss has been posting Lent reflections:
So far (earliest first), the posts are:
A Revolutionary Act: Saying the Creed.
The Author of Perfect Happiness.
– with more to come, at Church Society.
T.C. Hammond: God’s Purposes are Independent of Time (Article 17)
“So much attention has been paid to what we may call the problems of Predestination that sometimes the positive teaching of the Article is overlooked. It is worthwhile to devote some time to this obvious duty. …”
– The Australian Church Record republishes this 1957 article by Archdeacon T.C. Hammond.
Dealing with Guilt and Shame
“Western culture regards guilt and shame as overwhelmingly negative experiences. The catch-cry of our times is “believe in yourself”, and ridding ourselves of guilt and shame is part of the near universal pursuit of positive thinking. Yet, for many, guilt and shame are all-too crushingly real and inescapable. We feel their weight even as we try to banish them with positive spin.
In our first Centre for Christian Living event of the year, Faculty member Dr Dan Wu will explore what the Bible has to say about guilt and shame – what they are, and how they can be both negative and positive experiences for Christians. Most importantly, Dan will unpack how these experiences relate to the defining reality for all human life – the glory of God seen in the cross of Jesus. …”
– Read about Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living event coming up on Wednesday 7th March.
When heresy is accepted in the Church of England
“If one is to claim that a certain teaching is heretical, we need to be clear what we mean by the term.
Alister McGrath writes, ‘Heresy arises through accepting a basic cluster of Christian beliefs – yet interpreting them in such a way that inconsistency results. A heresy is thus an inadequate or deficient form of Christianity. By its very deficiency, it poses a threat to the Gospel.’ The reason why heresy gains traction in the church is because it contains at least an element of truth; as such it is parasitic on orthodoxy. ‘In the Catholic faith, we recognise that a heresy is not so much a false doctrine as an incomplete doctrine. It has rejected part of the truth and is representing what is left over as the whole truth. But what a heretic usually ends up doing is attacking the greater truth.’
Jayne Ozanne illustrates this well.
In July 2017, Ozanne placed a private member’s motion to the General Synod meeting in York (GS 2070A) calling upon the Synod to effectively repudiate the practice of conversion therapy for those who experience same sex attraction. …”
– Melvin Tinker takes a sobering look at a very important topic.
Top image from Jayne Ozanne’s persuasive speech at the Church of England General Synod, 8th July 2017. (Youtube.) How persuasive was it?
See the voting result for the Private Member’s Motion.
The full text of the Private Members Motion may be found here.
The World is not Exposed to Chance (Article 17)
“We are not living in a world exposed to chance. We are in the hands of an Omnipotent God. No matter how difficult it may be to realise it in the changes and chances of this mortal life, there is a Divine determination that must reach its true conclusion. …”
– T.C. Hammond’s 1957 reflections on Article 17 have been republished by The Australian Church Record.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…