How do we read the Bible differently as Followers of Jesus?

“The Christian attitude toward the Bible is part of Christian discipleship. To follow Jesus is to follow him in this too. Put simply, we want to have the same attitude toward the Bible as Jesus had.

We must not pit the authority of Jesus—or the power of the Holy Spirit, for that matter—against the teaching of Scripture. Jesus himself turned to the Scriptures as the final word: sufficiently clear, true, and powerful to make known the person and purposes of God, and to direct a faithful response to what God has done for us in his Son. ‘It is written,’ Jesus said. ‘What does the Scripture say?’ asked his faithful servant, the apostle Paul.…”

– Crossway has published this encouraging article by Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson.

It’s adapted from his just-released book, “The Doctrine of Scripture: An Introduction”. (It’s available to order from these booksellers.)

Evangelism and New Churches Conference

Here’s an encouraging conference to help train and equip you for effective gospel conversations.

Saturday 4th June 2022 at St. Anne’s Anglican Church, Ryde.

Details from Evangelism and New Churches.

The latest “TOP CENTRE” from the Northern Territory

The Diocese of the Northern Territory has published the first Top Centre magazine for 2021.

It includes news of several new faces in the diocese.

Bishop Greg Anderson explains why they produce Top Centre:

“This is the fourth edition of Top Centre with Anne Lim as our editor. It seems a good time to say something about Top Centre and its place in the Diocese of the NT, to draw attention to why we commit time, energy and money to producing it, and what value it has. …

Having a diocesan magazine reminds me of the importance of stories. Our Christian faith is based on a story – real, not made-up – comprising events that unfold the work of God in rescuing the world he made and loves, and that reaches its high point in the arrival, death and resurrection of Jesus. At the heart of the work of the diocese is sharing about this rescuing work that the Bible’s narrative recounts.”

– Read it all on page 3 of this edition.

The latest Armidale “Link”

Admittedly we’re a bit late in posting this link to The Link, the magazine of the Diocese of Armidale.

The March 2022 issue is now up on their website.

Fuel for your prayers.

North West Network March 2022

The latest issue of North West Network, the newsletter of the Diocese of Northwest Australia, is now available.

Download your copy and use it as fuel for your prayers for the churches and people of the North West.

Scripture Alone — David Cook

Even if you haven’t, David Cook has seen the preaching and the damage done –

“Coming from a Presbyterian background I had personally experienced the destructive effect of modernism or liberalism; preaching was hesitant, indefinite, and unclear. There certainly was no sense of authority. All one could say, after hearing a sermon, was that the minister believed in some sort of divine being!”

He writes at The Expository Preaching Trust:

Attending Bible College in the 1960s involved a two-year course, each year having three terms.

This meant that six areas of Systematic Theology were covered, the first being the foundational Doctrine of Revelation—what we believe about the Bible.

Entering Moore College in 1973 meant attending the transformational lectures of DB Knox as he led us through TC Hammond’s, ‘In Understanding Be Men’, the first chapter of which is entitled, ‘Final Authority in Matters of Faith’.

All other doctrines flow from a right understanding of what we believe the Bible is, its source, its nature and its purpose.

Coming from a Presbyterian background I had personally experienced the destructive effect of modernism or liberalism; preaching was hesitant, indefinite, and unclear. There certainly was no sense of authority. All one could say, after hearing a sermon, was that the minister believed in some sort of divine being!

The available Presbyterian Theological Schools, with a non-commitment to the inspiration of Scripture, its supremacy, authority and sufficiency, had produced a generation of preachers with nothing to say, apart from vague, theistic, positive psychology.

When Paul urges Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 to understand the times, avoid the alternatives and preach the word, all these imperatives are based on a firm conviction about Scripture’s divine source (2 Timothy 3:16).

Abandon the foundation of what God tells us about Scripture and the pulpit, and all true pastoral ministry will be lost!

Fifty years on and we need this reminder because fewer of us have experienced those empty, powerless days.

Scripture’s inspiration means that its authority is supreme, over church and culture.

Scripture’s inspiration means that it is sufficient, we need not, and should not look for any other special word from God, that extra word is at best a hunch.

Scripture is God’s word, not yours or mine, therefore we have no right to add to it or subtract from it.

Scripture is the instrument God uses to bring the lost to life and to bring the believer to maturity (Isaiah 55:11; Acts 12:24; 19:20; 20:32; 1Cor 1:18;1:21; 15:2; Eph 1:13;  2Timothy 3:15-16).

As disciples of the Lord Jesus, we share his conviction as to the authority and centrality of Scripture (Mark 12:10; John 10:35).

Thus all Christian leaders must be awake to what our recent history has taught us, and actively resist any influence to water down the central and supreme authority of Holy Scripture.

As our old friend John Chapman used to say, ‘The authority is in the text, brother. Preach the text’.

‘It is at the very root of the Evangelical position that the supremacy of Holy Scripture be held in its fullest sense… no words can too strongly express the importance of securing, beyond doubt, the unsuperseded authority of the Sacred Scriptures in all religious discussions whether of doctrine or practice’. (TC Hammond, ‘In Understanding be Men’, p.39).

– First published at The Expository Preaching Trust.

Shepherds of Assurance

“How did the Puritan pastors use their doctrine of personal assurance of salvation to assist believers in living the Christian life?

And what lessons can we learn today from their pastoral specialization in the vast field of experiential Christianity connected with the assurance of salvation?…”

– At Desiring God, Joel Beeke looks at the Puritans and outlines how their examples are a great encouragement to pastors in understanding their roles today. (link via Tim Challies.)

Three Encouragements for Pastors Pursuing Wandering Sheep

“One of the unintended consequences of the pandemic has been the disintegrating weekly habit of attending the Sunday gathering. What should a pastor do when faced with wandering sheep, those who have left the safe pastures of the local church and found themselves in dangerous territory away from the herd?

Let me encourage you, pastor, to consider three things as you seek out wandering sheep. …”

– At 9Marks, Nick Gardner has some encouragement in these changing times.

Bathurst Anglican e-News — March 2022

The Diocese of Bathurst’s e-News for March 2022 is now up on their website.

It’s a “newsletter for the Anglican Church in Central & Western NSW”, but will be of interest to many who are praying for the eternal good of men and women across that diocese.

In this issue Bishop Mark Calder writes –

Encouraging signs of growth

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind towards each other that Christ Jesus had so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the same mind towards each other that Christ Jesus had; a humility of servanthood and of sacrifice, so that with one voice and one mind we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)

I’ve been sharing those verses with you since before I began here and I think that under God we are slowly seeing our prayers answered in that regard. …

Read it all on page 2 – and download the whole issue here. (3.7MB PDF file.)

In an e-mail to newsletter recipients Bishop Calder writes:

“Please give thanks with us for the grace of God at work among us and pray that the Lord will raise up more gospel workers for our 16/29 parishes without clergy.”

Praying at the foot of the Cross

“The pain of the world, the reality of death and the uncertainty of life has been made acute by the long struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and by the war that has broken out in Ukraine just this past week. That is the context in which Christians across the world are called to be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ.

So now like never before we need to personally know the transforming love of Christ and the living hope we have in Him. And there is no place to experience these powerful realities than at the foot of the Cross.

As we gather at the foot of the Cross and behold our Lord, there are three dimensions that shape our posture. …”

– The Rt Revd Rennis Ponniah, former Bishop of Singapore, calls Christians to worship at the foot of the Cross. This Lent devotion was published by the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches.

(Image courtesy St. Andrew’s Cathedral Singapore.)

Diocese of the Northern Territory Prayer Cycle for 2022

From the Diocese of the Northern Territory –

“We covet your prayers for the work of the Gospel in the Diocese of the Northern Territory.

Please keep praying that God will raise up the next generation of leaders in all the parishes here in the Northern Territory, for additional resources for our urban and remote parishes and that we will use the resources that God has given wisely.”

– Download the Prayer Cycle for 2002 here.

Peter Jensen: The Challenges of Global Anglicanism — The Mission of the Church

From Church Society:

“In this first of our 2022 Lent series on the challenges of Global Anglicanism, Rt Revd Peter Jensen former Archbishop of Sydney and General Secretary of GAFCON, speaks about the challenge of taking the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world.

He identifies three challenges: identity, truth and relationships.”

Good to watch and share.

Southern Cross magazine, March 2022

Anglican Media Sydney has just released Southern Cross magazine for March 2022.

Printed copies will be available in parishes from this weekend, but you can download a PDF version now at magazine.sydneyanglicans.net.

Pastoral video from Bishop Mark Calder on the floods and Ukraine

Yesterday Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder released this pastoral video.

Please use it as an encouragement to turn to the Lord in prayer.

Jesus is what truly matters

“I hope that as you combed through the Moore Matters Autumn 2022 publication, you have begun to see the ways in which Moore College continues to influence the world through theological education.

From the rich melting pot of ethnicities right here in Sydney, to the various overseas ministries that our graduates are involved in, your generosity in supporting the training and equipping of men and women is both strategic and significant.

Every one of you, through your financial generosity, fervent and consistent prayers, and advocacy for the work of the College, are valuable partners in this ministry that aims to see God glorified through providing excellent evangelical theological education. …”

– Ben George at Moore College writes to encourage us to focus on what’s most important. (Plus you can read the latest Moore Matters at the link.)

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