Face to Face with the Message of Matthew
“Face to Face with the Message of Matthew” is the theme of this year’s Moore College School of Theology – being run at the College on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th September 2014.
Positively evangelical
“In 1997, Mark Thompson wrote in Churchman:
‘If I am not mistaken there is a concerted attempt being made at present to redefine what it means to be an evangelical Christian. A number of prominent people around the world are trying to broaden the term, to encompass a variety of perspectives which were once quite alien to evangelical thought and practice.’
Well, he wasn’t mistaken. I was recently at an Anglican gathering encompassing representatives from all streams of the Church of England, except, perhaps, the most Catholic. As we went around the circle introducing ourselves, everyone there described him or herself as evangelical. It was usually qualified – ‘largely’ evangelical, or even ‘a little bit’ evangelical – but it was clearly a very common label…”
– Kirsty Birkett writes at Church Society’s blog and reminds us of (and links to) a paper by Mark Thompson entitled, “Being Clearly and Positively Evangelical”.
Themelios 39.2
The Gospel Coalition has released the latest issue of Themelios with 192 pages of articles and book reviews.
Included: What Are Gospel Issues? – D. A. Carson.
Projection Atheism: Why Reductionist Accounts of Humanity Can Lead to Reductionist Accounts of God – Michael Ovey.
Lord & Life-Giver: The Holy Spirit Changes Everything
The Annual Moore College Lectures continue this week with special guest Professor Mike Horton from Westminster Seminary California.
This year’s topic is “Lord & Life-Giver: The Holy Spirit Changes Everything”.
If you can’t be at Moore College for the lectures, you can live-stream them – or watch later. Recommended!
Biblical Theology — Guardian & Guide of the Church
The latest 9Marks Journal is out and is available for free download in a variety of formats.
Print edition of ‘Women, Sermons and the Bible’ on the way
Matthias Media advises that a print version of Women, Sermons and the Bible will soon be out. The eBook was published in May. (Table of contents here.)
The evil be ever mingled with the good
“‘In the visible church, the evil be ever mingled with the good.’
This is a phrase which comes from Article 26 of the Thirty-nine Articles – which considers the ‘unworthiness of the ministers, which hinders not the effect of the sacraments.’
… But the throwaway line about the presence of evil within the visible church of Christ is what grabbed my attention.…”
– For Church Society’s Formulary Friday, Simon Scott sees the application for today’s church. Related: The Thirty-Nine Articles.
Emotional Preaching — Andrew Sach
In the latest ‘Preaching Matters’ from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, Andrew Sach speaks about preaching on a passage which is truly horrible.
Healed at Last — What promise am I given?
“When we bow our heads and bend our knees in prayer to the God of all creation, we participate in an impossibly privileged activity. To be able to meet with the one whom the Old Testament saints feared even to name, let alone look upon (lest they be consumed by his glory and die), should be a cause for great humility and no small amount of trembling. The Christian holds an astonishing status before God. On any day, at any time of the day, we may approach God to speak with him personally. We are to approach him as his own children—without fear and with confidence, but always in an attitude of reverent awe and deep respect.
Very often, however, it seems we forget that it is a privilege to come before our Father God – a privilege that Jesus won for us by his sacrifice on the cross. Too often Christians exhibit a bawdy familiarity that verges on contempt. Our regular presence in the throne room can cause us to develop a tendency towards carelessness and presumption, and our humble caution turns into disrespect.…”
– In this extract from his book “Healed at Last”, Scott Blackwell looks at how Christians should pray for healing, and what they should expect. But there’s much more to the extract than that.
Read it at The Briefing, and you can order the book here.
From The Dean’s Wife
“Peter tells husbands to live with their wives understanding her physical hardships in life, as one with whom we share an inheritance (1 Peter 3:7). Here is an edited version of an article on the topic that my wife, Helen wrote some years ago for the Equal But Different Journal.”
– Phillip Jensen introduces this article by Helen.
The Church Singing — latest 9Marks Journal
Check out the latest 9Marks Journal –
“In this edition of the 9Marks Journal, we start with singing and the song. Why do congregations sing, what should they sing about, and how can they sing better?
We then think more carefully about the music itself, particularly with two different perspectives on whether or not some musical forms are better than others. Finally we think about what is involved in leading music.”
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God – one of J I Packer’s most important books – is this month’s free Audiobook download from Christian Audio. It’s read by American Grover Gardner.
Firing Rome’s Canon
“The church at Rome just determined that these two popes exceeded God’s expectations for obedience. These men not only were able to escape the punishment of purgatory, having no need to purge their sins, having already achieved the holiness necessary to enter heaven.
Not only that, but all the merit they achieved which was beyond what was required was deposited, along with the merit of Christ, into the Treasury of Merit. This merit can become yours, via the purchase of indulgences…”
– Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr. looks at the theology behind the canonisation of Popes John and John Paul.
‘Women, Sermons and the Bible’ coming in May
Tony Payne at Matthias Media writes:
“…I’m pleased to be able to announce that on Monday 5th May, Matthias Media will release Women, Sermons and the Bible: Essays Interacting with John Dickson’s Hearing Her Voice (edited by Peter Bolt and Tony Payne).
The collection not only responds to the main arguments of Hearing Her Voice (regarding whether women should give sermons in the regular Sunday gathering), but also bounces off this specific question to consider some larger issues…”
– See the table of contents at the Matthias Media website.
Themelios vol 39, issue 1 now available
The latest issue of the theological journal Themelios is now available for free download from The Gospel Coalition.
Check it out – including Don Carson’s editorial, “Do the Work of an Evangelist”.
h/t Andy Naselli.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…