“As it had been the face of an angel”

“The Christian ministry has never been for the faint of heart. The ministry, biblically defined, is combat duty in spiritual warfare. These graduates have been prepared to be front-line officers in that warfare. …

At every Southern Seminary graduation we remind one another of the great and essential fact that the Christian ministry is not a mere profession — it is a divine calling. The ministry is one of Christ’s gifts to his church. it is the most serious and joyous of all callings.

I think often of the venerable words of the old Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England for the ordering of the ministry. These words are spoken to new ministers of the Word:

‘You have heard, brethren, as well in your private examination, as in the exhortation which was now made to you, and in the holy Lessons taken out of the Gospel and the writings of the Apostles, of what dignity and of how great importance this office is, whereunto ye are called. …’ ”

– Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, speaks at the Commencement of Ministry for this year’s SBTS graduates.

Evangelism in the Latter Days – Sharing the gospel with ageing parents

“Ever since I became a Christian at the ripe old age of 18 I’ve been trying to share the gospel with my parents.

Not surprisingly, they weren’t receptive to my early methods, driven as they were by excessively youthful enthusiasm. My decision to give up all for gospel preaching in my late twenties only increased their hardness towards that message. …”

– Here’s some encouragement from The Australian Church Record.

Related: Keith Green – Song to my Parents.

Six ways to be prepared

“One of the ways you ‘honour Christ the Lord as holy’ as a Christian is by ‘being prepared to make a defence [or a ‘reasoned statement’] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you’ (1 Pet 3:15). Preparation is also a key way to feel more confident and positive about sharing Jesus with those around you.

So here are six ways to be prepared…”

– Ian Carmichael, CEO and Publishing Director at Matthias Media (and formerly Secretary of the ACL Council), shares these useful ideas.

Mainstream … or on the margins?

“If ever we could have considered the church to be a core part of Australian culture (and that’s not at all certain), the Christian church is now being slowly edged to one side. It is increasingly less mainstream.

Have you noticed though that there are key moments in the year’s calendar and certain elements of our culture where we’re let back in? It’s strange, but true. Consider… ”

– John Wilson, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, offers encouragement to take the opportunities we do have to share the Christian hope.

Truthing in love

“Have you heard the saying ‘speak the truth in love’?

It appears quite often as a heading in blog posts that have titles such as ‘Seven top principles for using social media’. The phrase is normally used to mean something like ‘say true things in a charitable way’. The idea is this: sometimes you have to say hard and challenging things; when you do, make sure you’re using a gracious tone.

But do you know where the saying comes from? …”

– Even if you know the answer, you will be encouraged by this article from Lionel Windsor, at GoThereFor.com.

Moore Matters — Autumn 2017

The latest issue of Moore Matters, the Moore College newsletter, is now available.

Copies have been sent to churches, but if you missed out, you can download your copy from the College – on this page – or here’s the direct link to the file (a 10.5MB PDF file).

Among the articles is this one from Colin Bale on Marcus Loane’s Masters of the English Reformation:

“Marcus Loane’s Masters of the English Reformation was first published in 1954 and remains in print sixty-three years later.

The long period of the work being in print is a testimony not only to its important focus but also to its readability for successive generations.

The book presents biographical profiles of five key English reformers—Thomas Bilney, William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer—showing how they contended for the truth in the period 1516 to 1556. Loane describes the vfie men as ‘Masters’ because, convicted of the truth of the gospel, their contributions were incredibly significant to the cause of Reformation in England.”

Read it all on page 10.

Also in this issue:

 

Real faith in a performance dominated world

“We live in a world that constantly judges us by how well we perform. From preschool reports to professional annual reviews, performance assessments are everywhere.

Of course, in many cases it is entirely appropriate to assess performance. Businesses need to perform for their customers, politicians for their constituents, employees for their employers, sportspeople and artists for their fans. Assessing performance can help us make wise decisions about whom to buy from, vote for, employ, watch or listen to.

However, this focus on performance can easily become a burden. In our workplaces the anxiety of being constantly measured and assessed can be a major source of stress and depression. Even worse, the demand for performance can affect our friendships, our relationships and our family life.

Is our relationship with God based on our performance? Does God ‘assess’ us to determine our standing with him? …”

– ACL Council member, Dr Lionel Windsor, writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Queen’s Birthday Conference 2017

This year’s Two Ways Ministries’ Queen’s Birthday Conference will be held on the Queen’s Birthday public holiday, Monday 12th June.  Read more

Glorifying God with infertility

“Pip and I married in 2009. We discussed trying for children after one year of marriage. We saw children as a blessing from God (Ps 127:5), and we wanted to have them while we were relatively young and bring them up knowing Jesus – a testimony to the goodness of God’s purpose for children. …”

– Mike Taylor, member of the ACL Council, shares the goodness of the Lord in the midst of questions and tears. Take the time to read it, and be encouraged.

At GoThereFor.com.

‘I am the Good Shepherd…’

“Elections remind us how much we long for a leader who will bring us justice and peace, protection and prosperity. However, on every occasion our aspirations are dashed as leaders reveal their flaws and failures and self-interest. No one proves to be the leader we long for.

There is one exception: Jesus, who said, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’ …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason meditates on John 10.

Australian Presbyterians — Taking God Seriously


Presbyterian Moderator-General John Wilson outlines some of the ways Presbyterians in Australia plan to celebrate Reformation 500 – with evangelism!

See the video here. (3’42”)

2017 Gospel Coalition Conference — expositions


From Justin Taylor:

“Here are the videos from the expository plenaries at the Gospel Coalition National Conference (April 3-5, 2017) in Indianapolis, with the theme of ‘No Other Gospel’.”

– Expositions from Galatians.

(Photo: Dr. Peter Adam, who, in his characteristic way, thanks Don Carson for his numerous visits to Australia.)

The unexpected lesson from my flooded Lismore house

“Our house is built on the side of a hill, and as I look up the hill from beneath the floorboards, I see water – lots of water – cascading down.  And then it hits me:  If I want to stop the flooding of our downstairs room, I need to tackle the water problem further ‘upstream’. …”

– Akos Balogh uses the floods in northern NSW to illustrate an important lesson in communication and relationships. (h/t Gary Ware.)

Call to continue gospel vision at Thanksgiving Service for Mike Ovey

“All Souls, Langham Place was packed on Monday 13th March as hundreds of men and women, young and old, gathered to worship God and give thanks for the life and ministry of Mike Ovey, the dearly loved former Principal of Oak Hill College, who died on 7th January aged 58.

Hugh Palmer led the service, featuring hymns with All Souls’ trademark uplifting music. Current students at Oak Hill read the opening biblical sentences; there were four outstanding tributes to Mike and a sermon based on Philippians 1:21, ‘for me, to live is Christ, to die is gain’.

All the speakers emphasised how Mike Ovey combined robust love for truth with compassion for people.”

– Anglican Mainstream’s Andrew Symes reflects on the Thanksgiving Service for Mike Ovey.

Is the Cross sufficient?

“Paul thought it was. Let’s do a cross-check on this (pun intended) – the greatest Christian who’s ever lived – what did he say? Among other things:

Galatians 6:14 ‘May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’.

The great Apostle Paul thinks this much of the cross of Christ – that it’s his only boast. Let’s go further:

1 Corinthians 2:2 ‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’

Paul says that his repeated and constant theme in preaching is the crucifixion of Christ. When he says: ‘I resolved to know nothing’, it’s not that he didn’t say anything else – it’s hyperbole, to make the point that all his preaching centres on the cross.

We use that word ‘cross’ as shorthand. It’s a synecdoche, where the part stands for the whole, or a single word stands for a whole concept. So the word cross is synecdoche for the whole doctrine that Christ died for sinners upon the cross – or, alternatively put: it stands for the belief that atonement was made for sinners through the suffering of Christ on the cross.

Is the cross sufficient? Are we right in the Christian church to make such a big thing about it, and to centre on it? Surely there’s works of mercy, relief of the poor and other good works to make our focus? Other churches certainly think this way.

Last year, the Uniting Church in Australia’s social services department… 

Oak Primary School in the UK, a school boasting that it runs ‘in accordance with the principles of the Church of England’…

A few years ago, the PCUSA removed /Getty’s song ‘In Christ Alone’ from their new hymnbook … ”

– An exhortation we need to hear – from Presbyterian Moderator General, John Wilson. Read it all here.

Related:

At the 2015 NEXUS Conference, Chris Braga gave a very helpful 18 minute exhortation.

Does your church or Christian organisation explicitly speak of the Cross of Christ and what it means?

Or is it assumed?

Encouragement: It’s not too long – watch the video in your Parish Council meetings, committee meetings, home groups, staff meetings – at GoThereFor.com.

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