“We must do better” — Simon Manchester to Sydney Anglicans

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy,” says Proverbs 27:6 – or to put it another way, we often benefit more from being rebuked than praised.

The Rev Canon Simon Manchester has delivered a firm rebuke in this month’s Southern Cross and, although he risks upsetting some, he observes that “the stakes couldn’t be bigger”. …

– Sometimes being blunt is very helpful if we are to desire ‘The things that are excellent” (Philippians 1:10). Along with the loving rebuke, there is much that is encouraging in the linked video as well as the article in Southern Cross (page 33).

Photo: EMA, 2016.

An Evening Conversation with J. I. Packer – A 1999 Interview by Mark Dever

In October 1999, Mark Dever interviewed Dr J. I. Packer in an event at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.

The 59 minute video from 9Marks is a very worthwhile use of your time.

The Sins of Old(er) Christians – Especially Pastors

“John Chapman, the gifted evangelist now with the Lord, would often say two things as he moved into his senior years: (i) Getting old is the pits, and (ii) Another year, another specialist.

He was no fan on the ageing process and, as an active man, found the breaking-down of his body frustrating and he refused to ennoble it.

I don’t mean he complained about it. He remained thankful and faithful to the end. Chappo was only doing what Ecclesiastes does in chapter 12 – being honest about the brevity of life and the pain of drawing closer to the end of it. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Ray Galea has some sobering encouragement for older Christians, and pastors in particular.

The Big Question

“One of the finest preachers I have heard is Haddon Robinson, who was the Harold J. Ockenga, Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Gordon Cornwell Theological Seminary, in the United States.

Haddon Robinson visited SMBC for two Preachers’ Conferences in 1995 and 1999 and his preaching had a great impact us.

His book on preaching, ‘Biblical Preaching’, continues to be very influential in the world of expository preaching.

The central thesis of the book is that preaching preparation ought to lead the preacher to reduce his text to one big idea, a single sentence which encapsulates the content of the  Bible passage. Indeed the Wikipedia entry on Dr Robinson lists his notable ideas as: ‘The big idea, Biblical Preaching’. …”

– At the Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook shares lessons he’s learned in sermon preparation.

(Book link added. Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

Praying well before COVID-19

“Moore College has always been in the business of praying. As a student a few years ago, I distinctly remember being struck by the faculty’s prayerful dependence on our Lord.

They prayed at the beginning of each lecture. They prayed as a response to and as an application of what we were learning from the Bible. They prayed in chaplaincy groups as we shared ministry wisdom and talked through issues at College. They prayed with tears of sorrow as we struggled through life’s hardships. They prayed with tears of joy as we celebrated the happiest of moments in Christian community. They prayed before each exam, focusing our attention on the goals of growing our relationship with God and developing a deep love for people to come to Christ and grow in him. They prayed for us individually during morning tea, lunch, over coffee and as a collective faculty on Monday mornings. …”

– Ben George is so thankful for the model of prayerful dependence he saw at Moore College.

Colin Buchanan ‘Strong & Courageous’ concert live online tonight from 7:30pm

With the support of The Gospel Coalition Australia, tonight (Thursday, 23 July 2020) at 7:30pm, Colin Buchanan is ‘singing some songs echoing God’s grace in the COVID-19 season’ – live on his Facebook page.

Share and watch.

Forgiveness in Three Images

“Christians always want to understand the world better than it understands itself in order that we can comment on it with light and understanding.

However, we are members of another kingdom (Phil.3:20-21) ruled by a king who is not from our earthly world (John 18:36-37).

For sinners, one of our first issues must be that of forgiveness – which is probably not first on the list of world priorities.…”

– Encouragement from Psalm 103, and the Rev. Dr Peter Barnes, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

Preach, Pray, Love, and Stay

“When I was interviewing with Capitol Hill Baptist Church before they called me to be their pastor, someone asked me if I had a program or plan to implement for growth.

Perhaps to this person’s surprise (and perhaps to yours too!), I responded that I didn’t really have any great plans or programs to implement.

I was just armed with four P’s – I would preach, pray, develop personal discipling relationships, and be patient. In other words, preach and pray; love and stay. …”

– 9Marks shares this very helpful excerpt from The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander.

Preaching in the Days of the Virus

“The English philosopher Bertrand Russell said, ‘Most people would rather die than think and most people do so’.

God urges his people to think – to think about history, to think about what he is doing in the world. God is not aloof and distant; he is involved in human history, nothing happens apart from his permission.

History is indeed his story and when one takes a bird’s eye, rather than a worm’s eye view,  God’s hand in world and personal events is readily apparent. …”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook has some valuable suggestions for preachers in “the Days of the Virus”.

(Picture: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

A Glimpse of a Disciplined Life

“One thing that always fascinates me when I read biographies is learning of other people’s habits. That’s especially true when the subject is extremely disciplined.

Tim Chester’s Stott on the Christian Life is not quite a biography of John Stott, but it’s not far off. He gives an interesting glimpse of Stott’s normal, well-disciplined routines. Here is what his life looked like…”

– Encouragement from Challies.com.

(Photo: Langham Partnership.)

Psalm 136 and The bread and butter Christian

“How much is thankfulness part of your life as a follower of Jesus? How much, in our current situation, are you tempted to grumble? How much do you focus on the negative and lose sight of the positive?

These questions are significant because giving thanks to God is the mark of a follower of Jesus. Or conversely, the mark of a pagan mind is a lack of thankfulness. See what Paul says in Romans 1:21a: ‘For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him….’

It is for this reason that I think Psalm 136 is such important teaching in our current climate…”

– Encouragement from Ben George at The Australian Church Record.

Nothing takes God by surprise

“Nothing takes God by surprise and the ministry he has entrusted to his people remains the same: ‘this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world’. …”

– Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, is praying for a Corona harvest.

Theology or Evangelism?

“James Denney, the late 19th, and early 20th-century Scottish theologian is quoted as saying, ‘The church is healthiest when its evangelists are its theologians and its theologians are its evangelists’.

In my lifetime I have known two evangelists who were effective evangelists because they were able theologians. One was John Chapman …”

– Encouragement from David Cook.

A new culture of one-to-one ministry under lockdown

“How can we stick resolutely to our marching orders, now that proper ‘churching’ in person is impossible?”

Like every other church, we asked numerous such questions as the global pandemic gathered its eerie pace in what now seems almost another age, barely three months ago. …

rather than attempting to maintain familiar structures via an unfamiliar online medium, we resolved to set up a brand new ministry structure with every current and fringe church member assigned a place.

– Stephen Anderson shares an encouraging approach from the parish of Oatley West. At The Australian Church Record.

David Cook launches Expository Preaching Trust website

David Burge, Chairman of the Expository Preaching Trust, commends their new website:

“For over 40 years, God has used the ministry of David Cook to strengthen the faith of His people through expository preaching, and to train thousands of other preachers to do the same.

This site, and the Expository Preaching Trust behind it, seeks to make David’s ministry and resources more accessible.”

– See the new website here, and pray that it will be an encouragement to faithful expository preaching (and listening).

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