Reading as Rebellion
“Everyone agrees. We live in an age of vanishing readers – a digital desert where sustained attention has evaporated and the next generation risks losing its imaginative inheritance.
But we can still read! some say. Sure, we read snippets here and there wherever we scroll online, and we dip into an occasional article or post on a sports page or in a political forum. But reading a book, going about it the old-fashioned way, where you give yourself over to a thoughtful and sustained argument that unfolds over several chapters, or where you lose yourself in a novel alive with beauty and subtlety – this practice appears less and less common for all ages, but especially the young. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Trevin Wax has encouragement and a challenge for us all.
The Hardest Thing for Christians to Do
“What’s the hardest thing for Christians to do?
To tidy up and do things around the church? To ‘bring a plate’ for after-church fellowship? To tithe? (two or three other tithers + you = no more financial problems for your church!) To believe that Christ is coming again? To have assurance of salvation? To live in personal relationship with Christ?
No. Christians can do all these things fairly easily.
The hardest thing for Christians to do is …”
– Read on to discover what Bob Thomas, retired Presbyterian minister, sees as the hardest thing for Christians to do. At AP.
Evangelism – A Priority in Your Parish? — Neil Prott
From our archives:
“There is nothing more wonderful we can do for anyone than introduce them to Jesus Christ.
However, this is not reflected in the programme of many parishes today.
No doubt there are numerous reasons for the current state of affairs. Our analysis should take in the Scriptural factors as well as the obvious ones. …”
– The late Neil Prott wrote this article for ACL News back in 1989.
(We gave thanks for Neil when he was called home in April 2022.)
Evangelism and the Local Church
From AP, the Australian Presbyterian journal, Mark Powell speaks with Dave Jensen –
“Dave Jensen talks about his amazing conversion to faith in Jesus as well as why he is passionate about seeing others come to faith in Jesus.
Dave’s ministry now is helping local churches be equipped to share the Gospel with others.”
– Watch here.
Preaching’s Big Umbrella
“Apostle Paul unfolds a big umbrella over the work of the pastor/teacher in 1 Corinthians 1.23,24: ‘But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God’.
This begs the question for every preacher: Am I preaching Christ in all the fullness of His Person and Work to all-comers, sceptics and saved, sinners and saints, in the face of all opposition and all acceptation? …”
– The Expository Preaching Trust features this post from Bob Thomas, retired Presbyterian minister and, for many years, the Editor of New Life.
(Bob shared his experience of ‘church union’ in The Crisis of 77.)
Reaching Out in Difficult Situations
“Timothy has been given a tough assignment — he has been designated to supervise the churches in the regions of Ephesus. He is to proclaim the gospel positively; he is to correct the damage done by the false teachers; and he is to lay down patterns of proper congregational life. …”
– From our archives – a 1988 talk given by Bishop Dudley Foord.
Training for body and soul
“The Apostle Paul was probably a sports fan. He often used sporting illustrations… Fight the good fight of faith. Run the race. Wrestle in prayer. …”
– With the Sydney Marathon coming up this weekend, Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant reflects on the training that’s important for eternity.
Image: The thin blue line laid down for the Marathon during the Sydney Olympics in 2000 (at Sydney Road, North Strathfield).
How to keep going when the knives are out at church?
From The Pastor’s Heart this week –
“The call to ministry is a call to lay down your life for others, but how do we create a well-thought-out roadmap toward pastoral perseverance – when there are external and/or internal difficulties?
How do we approach congregational conflict, criticism, unrealistic expectations or personal health, financial and family stress?
Why is pastoral friendship not optional, but essential?
Today on The Pastor’s Heart, there’s advice for pastors who feel isolated and are feeling like quitting.
Brian Croft leads Practical Shepherding in Louisville Kentucky.
Matthew Spandler Davison also lives in Louisville, serves with Practical Shepherding, and as an executive director of 20 Schemes, Church in Hard Places in Scotland as well as the preaching pastor for Redeemer Fellowship in Bardstown, Kentucky.”
How to improve our preaching – with David Cook and Robin Sydserff
From The Pastor’s Heart –
“Today our focus on The Pastor’s Heart is on how to preach for transformation for real changes in people’s lives.
Two men with a lifetime’s passion for preaching — Robin Sydserff, Director of the Proclamation Trust and David Cook, former Principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College and a long-time preaching mentor – now with the Expository Preaching Trust.
We start by looking at how Christian leaders the UK and Australia influenced preaching patterns overseas.
We look at preaching that has led to record enrolments at Bible Colleges, the purpose of preaching, the life and relationships of the preacher, training preachers and what patience is needed in preaching growth.”
Related –
Perseverance and Endurance in Ministry
Phillip Jensen speaks about Perseverance and Endurance in Ministry.
Audio recording – 38 minutes.
Witness when the Vibe shifts
“Have you heard the vibe has shifted? Whether you call it a quiet revival, the surprising rebirth in belief in God, or something more modest, it appears there is a new sense of openness towards Christianity.
Christians may have felt increasingly sidelined in the recent past, but now, at least in some circles, we are being given a hearing where we weren’t before. Something of this phenomenon has been reflected in my own local experience. There has been a steady trickle of young people who are seeking answers to big questions and are willing to listen to what their Christian friends have to say. Perhaps you have seen the same in your own context.
That raises the question, how should we conduct ourselves when we feel we are finally given a hearing? …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Pat O’Keefe, a member of the team at St. Mark’s Northbridge, points us to the encouraging example of the Apostle Paul’s witness.
Beyond the Crisis: Global Perspectives on a training culture for the next generation
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“A training culture for the next generation: Healthy Churches producing new ministers for the next generation.
Across the world, the number of candidates putting themselves forward for gospel ministry is in decline. Many churches are feeling the pinch – struggling to find leaders and often looking elsewhere to fill ministry gaps.
Yet healthy churches don’t just maintain ministry; they reproduce it. They raise up and send out the next generation of gospel workers.
This week in Sydney, a group of evangelical movement leaders from across the globe have gathered to sharpen one another in this task: creating a culture of training that will multiply gospel workers for the decades ahead.
The shift they are calling for is from passively plotting decline to actively asking, What are we going to do?—and then taking decisive steps toward it.
We’re joined this afternoon by three of those symposium participants.
From the UK, Robin Sydserff of the Proclamation Trust.
From Santiago, Chile, Matt Pope – pastor and trainer of pastors in five Latin American countries, formerly of St Ebbe’s in Oxford.
And from Cleveland, Ohio, Marty Sweeney – pastor for training at Old North Church and long-time champion of multiplying ministry apprentices.”
Enrolments in Bible Colleges
Some historical perspective and a challenge from David Cook:
“Moore College and SMBC experienced record enrolments in 1960, 1969 and 1980.
I was part of the student enrolment in SMBC in 1969, we had 35 men enrolled in our year compared to 7 men in the year before.
What had happened?
Billy Graham had conducted campaigns in Sydney in 1959, 1968 and 1979.
There is a direct relationship between lively, faithful, engaging Bible preaching and people both being saved and people offering themselves to train for ministry.
Here in Sydney in my own denomination, J. Graham Miller’s ministry at Hurstville Presbyterian was the catalyst God used to call numbers of men into training in the late 1970s, Phillip Jensen at Uni of NSW was similarly used of God.
Men and women would be changed by such preaching and would be so challenged that they gave serious prayerful consideration as to make such ministry their life’s vocation. …”
– Do read it all – at The Expository Preaching Trust.
And see the end of his article for some fine aids for preachers.
See also:
Daily Bread’s Journey Through.
On Graham Miller’s Method for “Personal Daily Bible Study”.
Image: David as a guest preacher at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.
The believer’s assurance in times of groaning — Romans 8:1-39
In anticipation of celebrating Dick Lucas’ 100th birthday next month, here’s a recording of ‘brief notes’ on Romans chapter 8 he made late last year.
He points us to the sure hope of everyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever our age –
“Recorded in early October 2024, this is expected to be Dick’s last formal talk, though he continues to speak penetratingly of biblical truths with the many scheduled visitors to his home.
In this brief survey of Romans 8, he considers not only the deep comfort of the chapter, rooted in solid hope for the future, but also its realism concerning present experience in a ‘groaning’ creation.”
– Listen here, from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.
PDJ on the ‘Quiet Time’
“Friends in Christ, the most helpful article I ever read on personal Bible reading and prayer was written by Phillip Jensen.
This was more than 30 years ago when he was a university chaplain – long before he became Dean of this Cathedral. At that stage I had never even heard of him. But his article helped me so much I kept it all these years. Today I share an extract with you…”
– Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant shares an encouraging extract – in the Cathedral newsletter.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…