Reaching female university students for Christ

“Instant gratification is attractive. Especially to our Gen Z friends, with their supposed attention span of a mere 8 seconds.

Add to that the widely prevalent social anxiety – experienced by 90% of Gen Z according to one workplace study – and many of the ways that we come to Christ or grow in him are looking quite difficult. Anything that takes a long time, or involves other people. Concentrating for a 30min Bible talk. …

Each one, and the many not listed, presents some difficulty, and therefore invites both the evangelist and the evangelised to save their effort and just give up.

What are the implications of this for our evangelism, particularly to young people, and especially given the urgency of the task? Perhaps there are two broad approaches. …”

– At the Moore College website, Marlee Knight shares words of encouragement.

Why You Should Attend Church (in Person) This Sunday

“Whether because of health concerns or simply out of preference for watching online in their pajamas, 30- to 49-year-old churchgoers now attend church far less often than before COVID. For some, gathering in person can feel risky or inconvenient.

No doubt online services can serve beloved homebound saints and sick members. There are valid reasons to miss church. And yet God’s Word insists individual Christians need congregational worship. …”

– While this article at The Gospel Coalition is written for a US readership, numbers are still down after COVID in many churches in Australia.

On Being a Heroic Man

“There is something deep inside a man’s heart that longs to be heroic.

I don’t know what little girls dream of, but I do know that little boys dream of carrying those girls out of a burning schoolhouse so they can be admired as strong and brave. Teenaged boys dream of fighting in a war not so much to blaze away at the enemy as to perform an act of heroism that will mark them as tough and noble and worthy of honor.

Though older men may no longer be prone to such fantasies, they, too, are drawn to heroism and are convinced that they would be equal to the challenge, that they would stand where others fall, that they would run forward when others run back. …”

– At the start of the year, Tim Challies shares some wisdom for men, urging patience and action.

O Joy! – New Year message from Church Society’s Lee Gatiss

“You know, as well as I do, that, being in the Church of England right now, can have a detrimental effect on one’s health. …

How can we cope with it all? What is the solution?”

– Church Society’s Director Dr Lee Gatiss has a message of joy, despite what’s happening in the Church of England.

Related:

Why the Global South will win the Spiritual and Culture Wars in the Anglican Communion – commentary by David Virtue:

“It’s like a sinkhole opening up before your eyes, slowly swallowing up churches, bishops and priests, while watching helplessly as the hole increases and more of the Church of England falls into it never to be seen again. …

Whatever happens, the Global South now owns the Anglican Communion and they don’t have to force schism, because they are the theological heirs of Thomas Cranmer and his legitimate heirs.”

The happiest Year you will ever know

From Tim Challies:

“There are some hymns that disappear because they are simply not very good. There are some hymns that disappear because they are too tied to a particular niche. And there are some hymns that disappear because their language becomes antiquated.

I think this hymn/poem by John Newton spans the latter two categories. It is closely tied to New Year’s, so likely to be sung for only one Sunday out of every 52. And then some of the language has become just a little bit old-fashioned.

Still, it is worth dusting off, reading, and pondering as one year fades into another. In it, Newton marks the year that has gone and celebrates the year to come (though possibly not right now) – the year that will prove to be the best of your life. …”

– Read here.

And Marylynn Rouse at The John Newton Project provides some context for the hymn.

Marylynn also shares news of the calling home of the Rev. Tony Baker, one of the founding trustees of the John Newton Project.

At various times, Tony also served with the UCCF, Africa Evangelical Fellowship, the Evangelical Alliance, was Director of Evangelicals Now and held many pastoral roles. He last preached at Holy Trinity Eastbourne in September 2023, on the 60th anniversary of his ordination.

Photo of John Newton’s portrait with thanks to Marylynn Rouse.

A New Year: Comfort and Joy…!

“With the many and varied changes around us – conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle-East and Africa, China’s aggressive acts, significant political and social divisions in the West, climate-change, gender issues, and the western disdain of Christianity – we might wonder about the future.

In the course of his ministry Jesus spoke of events that would unfold …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason helps put things in perspective.

Excellent advice from the Apostle Paul at the start of a new year

Encouragement from the Apostle Paul:

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

– Philippians 3:13b-14. (ESV)

Death Rehearsal

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)

“For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life. And 11:59 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death. …“

– John Piper shares these thoughts for the end of a year.

Evangelism in a post-Christian world – Dave Jensen

“How do we see Australia won for Christ? …

Firstly, we need to see and then remind each other that the biggest problem facing the people we know is that they are spiritually lost.

What that means is that no matter how they may present themselves to us, we must treat them with the greatest compassion possible – by telling them the gospel.”

– At the Moore College website, Dave Jensen has some real encouragement for you. A great article to recalibrate our thinking as we come to a new year.

(Emphasis added. Image courtesy Evangelism and New Churches.)

Things I wish I knew about Pastoring a Church when I was young

“I was 28 when I started in full-time ministry as associate pastor in a large Presbyterian church. I was thirty when I was called to pastor a small suburban church on my own.

I made loads of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I can’t turn back the clock but I can share these lessons. I hope they might help young men who are just starting out.

Most of these thoughts should be read in the category of wisdom or common sense, to be weighed accordingly. …”

– Campbell Markham, the minister of Scots’ Church Fremantle, Western Australia, shares a bunch of helpful reflections – providing food for thought at the end of the  year. It’s at AP, the national journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

Photo: Moore College, 1956.

Southern Cross magazine Dec 2023 — Jan 2024

The latest issues of Southern Cross magazine from the Diocese of Sydney is out now.

Copies should be available in churches, and it can also be viewed online or downloaded.

Do take the time to read your copy. Much encouragement.

Top 7 stories in 2023 (from heaven’s perspective)

“It’s the season for reflecting on the year that has been.

People are compiling lists of the biggest or most momentous events of 2023. While these lists can be interesting, I want to do something a little different here.

Rather than taking the usual perspective, I want to remind us that the Scriptures give us another view of reality and it’s one that we can easily miss or forget in the midst of everyday life.

Enjoy and be encouraged and a little bit challenged as well. …”

– Murray Campbell wants us to have a heavenly perspective on 2023.

The Sin of Selfish Ambition in Christian Ministry

“The prophet Jeremiah was inspired by God to write: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it’ (Jer. 17:9).

While it is widely applicable for many things, it functions as a particularly pertinent warning to those who would serve Christ. Even discerning one’s own motives can be a notoriously difficult thing to do. And in this regard, the words of the apostle Paul are especially apt …”

– At AP (The Australian Presbyterian) Mark Powell encourages fellow-pastors to “Take yourself less seriously, have fun, serve Christ…” – and not to promote yourself. Good advice!

Evangelistic Fire

“The Christian gospel is the most significant message ever entrusted to human beings.

It is the message of a love so strong it overcomes every obstacle in order to rescue sinful people from judgment. Jesus is God come to save us, by bearing himself all the consequences of our sin and opening up a new life of hope and joy and peace. This is breathtakingly good news, all the more so because our situation without it is so dire. The gospel of the crucified and risen Messiah changes everything. It is the powerful way God saves people (Rom 1:16). …

A friend of mine asked not that long ago where all our evangelistic fire had gone. Where’s that sense of urgency, that passion for the lost, that clarity of focus on Jesus and the salvation available only through him, which used to characterise Christians in this part of the world? It made me think. Have we become too comfortable or perhaps too fearful? Do we still believe it?…”

– Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson writes this foreword to the latest Moore Matters, Summer 2023. It has the theme of the Urgency of Evangelism.

Related:

John Chapman: Encouragement for Evangelism.

The how and why of Bible reading – and why we should do it more

“According to the recent National Church Life Survey, 47 per cent of Sydney Anglicans say they read their Bible every day and 75 per cent of them a few times a week. This is a very encouraging statistic!

During the pandemic, newspapers reported something of a revival in personal “spiritual practices”, including reading “holy texts”, prayer and meditation. No doubt many Christians also found that being forced to stay at home lent itself to reviving personal Bible reading and time with God in a more disciplined way.

The Scriptures emphasise both the importance and also the sheer joy and privilege of meeting God in his word …”

– Archbishop Kanishka Raffel encourages us to continue to hear and respond to God’s word. He writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

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