Holy Imposter Syndrome

“The term might not be familiar to you, but the concept behind it most likely is – imposter syndrome. It’s the feeling, often experienced in professional or academic contexts, that you can’t do what everyone believes you can and expects of you. You feel like an imposter. Any success you seem to have experienced up until this point was a fluke. You’re a fraud, and any moment now everyone is going to realize it. It’s only a matter of time. …”

– Sam Allberry helps put it all in perspective. At The Gospel Coalition.

France moves to enshrine Abortion in its Constitution

In his latest edition of The Briefing podcast (Monday 4th March 2024), Albert Mohler speaks further on the Culture of Death – including the French Parliament meeting to enshrine abortion in their Constitution.

The ‘dark logic’ is not confined to France.

– Listen here.

CMS QNNSW Summer School 2024 cancelled after storm damage

The Queensland and Northern NSW CMS Summer School, which was to have started today, has been cancelled due to significant storm damage at Mount Tamborine.

From the QNNSW website:

“In consultation with MTCC and QCCC we have made the difficult decision to cancel Summer School this year. Care for Summer School attendees and the local community at Mount Tamborine has been paramount in our minds. With all the information we have available to us, we believe this is the best decision to achieve that.

An email has gone out to all people who have registered for Summer School with further details about what’s next.

We want to give a massive shout out to MTCC and QCCC for all the hard work they’ve put in over the last week and half to try and make it possible for Summer School to go ahead. We are also very thankful for the work our speakers, missionaries, volunteers and staff team have put in in the lead up to Summer School.” (Links added.)

A good reminder to pray for other CMS Summer Schools and conferences taking place.

Related:

Tamborine Mountain residents without power, water after ‘tornado’ storm destroys electricity network – ABC News, 29 December 2023.

Can I share a little secret about speaking at Conferences?

“for me, all things being equal, the hard part of ministry isn’t giving talks at conferences. The hard part is Everything Else.”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Rory Shiner shares what’s easy – and what isn’t.

Catholic Archbishop ‘shocked and stunned’ at ACT’s proposed takeover of Calvary Hospital

“After serving Canberra for more than 44 years, Calvary Public Hospital Bruce has been blindsided by the ACT Government, who yesterday announced it had begun an acquisition process to take control and ownership of the hospital, reports Catholic Voice.

If the proposed legislation is passed at the end of the month, the hospital will cease to operate under the governance of the Little Company of Mary. …

Canberra Health Services will run the hospital from July 3. …”

– Story from CathNews.

Related:

“Established in 1885 by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary, Calvary is a not-for-profit Catholic health care organisation. Our mission is to provide quality, compassionate healthcare to the most vulnerable, including those reaching the end of their life.” “Calvary is a Values based organisation” – Calvary Care.

Petition to Save Calvary Hospital Bruce – Catholic Voice.

‘Soviet Style’ Acquisition Of Canberra Hospital A Dangerous Precedent – Australian Christian Lobby –

“So unprecedented is the move, that the Labor-Greens ACT Government will introduce new legislation to execute its decision. The Catholic owned hospital has been a strong advocate for the sanctity of human life by conscientiously objecting to the provision of elective abortions and opposing the introduction of assisted suicide in the ACT.”

And in a letter from Archbishop Christopher Prowse Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn:

“My prayers and thoughts are immediately directed to the 1,800 workers of the hospital and their families. They must be worried about the ramifications of this decision for their future employment.

I am also concerned that this action, based on obsessive government control, would deprive future generations in Canberra of the choice of hospital care based on the ethos of our cherished Catholic faith.

There is a rising fear, also, that this extraordinary and completely unnecessary government intervention could set the scene for future “acquisitions” of any faith-based health facility or, indeed, any faith-based enterprise, including education or social welfare. …”

Photo: Calvary Hospital, Bruce, in Canberra’s north via Calvary Hospital website.

“A lose-lose position for everyone in the Church of England” — CEEC statement

“We are deeply saddened and profoundly grieved that General Synod has given a ‘green light’ to the proposals put forward by the House of Bishops. The Church of England now appears set on a course of action that rejects our historic and biblical understanding of sex and marriage, by departing from the apostolic faith we are called to uphold. This decision will be extremely distressing for evangelicals in this country today, as they consider the impact of the decision on their ministry and as they continue to contend for Jesus in their local contexts. 

This seems to us to be a lose-lose position for everyone in the Church of England. Those who wanted more change will continue to ask and push for greater change. Those of us who have been trying to uphold the historic and biblical understanding of marriage and singleness say change has gone too far. This decision has settled nothing and has only served to deepen divisions and cause deeper hurt. 

We will continue to work alongside evangelicals across the country, who today share our sense of great sadness and dismay, to contend for biblical faithfulness and to live lives that Jesus has called us to. We are grateful that several speakers noted the need for some kind of settlement, though this would need to be without theological compromise.  We believe that putting in place new imaginative structures, ‘good differentiation’, is the only way we are going to be able to reach a settled outcome, that maintains the highest degree of unity possible within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.”

– Source.

Eight Billion in Need of the Saviour

“So before we sip on the Chardonnay and celebrate the establishment of a 21st century Babel we might like to consider the accumulated debt of eight billion people before the Kingdom of God. The kind of debt a proud humanity embraces with celebration is the kind of debt that makes any meeting with God, the biggest concern of humanity. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Bishop Rick Lewers reminds us we have better news than simply celebrating another population milestone.

The Mothers’ Union & the ministry of lay women

Coming up at Moore College on Wednesday 16th November –

“Women have been key workers in the church since the time of the Apostles, and continue to be so in Australia. Alongside deaconesses and ordained women undertaking professional ministry, lay women have made extensive and invaluable voluntary contributions to church work and evangelism.

From its beginnings in the late 19th century, the Mothers’ Union has provided a framework for supporting Christian women through the parish network, as well as wider ministry in hospitals and the family courts. Other lay women including clergy wives have crafted their own unique spheres of ministry.

This event and accompanying exhibition will highlight the different ways in which lay women have influenced Australian Christianity.”

Jane Tooher is speaking. Details and booking from the College.

Related:

Synod marks ministry of women – SydneyAnglicans.net.

Religious Discrimination Bill infographic videos

The Institute for Civil Society has produced several infographic videos which might be helpful in thinking about the need for a Religious Discrimination Bill.

For links to the videos, see this page.

Allowah Presbyterian Children’s Hospital needs help to keep the doors open

Back in November 2021 we reported that Presbyterian Social Services in NSW are seeking help in gaining vital funding for the Allowah Presbyterian Children’s Hospital in Dundas, “the only hospital dedicated to the health of children with disabilities in NSW”.

Now CEO Liz McClean writes,

“As you know, Allowah has had a rough couple of years financially due to COVID-19.

We have been working on obtaining government funding for the past 12 months, however it’s now looking like that won’t be an option, at least in the short term.

Unfortunately, that means that we will come to the end of our internal resources before we are able to get services and admissions back to a sustainable level.”

As a result, Allowah has started an appeal, and perhaps you can help them keep the doors open.

Bible Gateway removes The Passion Translation

“A Bible version designed to ‘recapture the emotion of God’s Word’ was removed from Bible Gateway last week. The Passion Translation (TPT) is listed as ‘no longer available’ among the site’s 90 English-language Bible offerings.

First released as a New Testament in 2017, The Passion Translation includes additions that do not appear in the source manuscripts, phrases meant to draw out God’s ‘tone’ and ’heart’ in each passage. …”

– Story from Christianity Today.

Related:

Burning Scripture with Passion: A Review of The Psalms (The Passion Translation) – Andrew Shead, April 2018.

“Brian Simmons has made a new translation of the Psalms (and now the whole New Testament) which aims to ‘re-introduce the passion and fire of the Bible to the English reader.’ He achieves this by abandoning all interest in textual accuracy, playing fast and loose with the original languages, and inserting so much new material into the text that it is at least 50% longer than the original.”

The Passion “Translation” of Romans: Problems and questions – Lionel Windsor, November 2017.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope

Last night (Christmas morning in the US), after years of delays, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched for NASA from South America by the European Space Agency. It’s an incredibly complex and sensitive observatory with the potential to make astounding discoveries.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson spoke shortly after the launch, using words you may find familiar. (Starting at 2:04 into the video.)

Have we domesticated service?

“A few times every year in our church we have ‘welcome suppers’ for people who are new to our church. During those times we talk about the things that define us and invite people to come on board. On each occasion we open up various passages of Scripture to talk about different aspects of church life and one passage we always look at is Mark 10:42-45 …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Phil Colgan reflects on the radical nature of Christian service.

(Photo taken at the 2018 ACL Synod Dinner.)

Anglican Church Quenching Community Thirst In Marsabit

“In one of the remote parts of Marsabit County, Nairibi Sub-location in Laisamis Constituency, the Anglican Church is transforming lives of a community that has experienced water crisis for many years, by availing the precious commodity to them. …

According to the Co-ordinator, a study by the organization established that most residents of Marsabit have to trek long distances in search of the precious commodity which is not only tiring but also a drain on their useful time.

He told KNA that the high levels of illiteracy among women in the region, is linked to the water shortage problem as girls spend their valuable time fetching water and end up dropping out of school.

The boy child is also not safe as he has to undertake the chore of taking livestock to watering points which are situated far away from where they attend school.”

– Good news from Kenya.

And similar work to which you can contribute:

Marsabit Water and Income Generation – Anglican Aid.

ACL Annual General Meeting 2021 — Report

The 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Anglican Church League took place on Thursday 10th June at Moore Theological College, Newtown.

ACL President the Reverend Andrew Bruce (pictured) spoke on Acts 1:1-14. He encouraged the meeting with the reminder that Jesus is the ascended Lord, that his gospel will go to the ends of the Earth, and that this will happen through the testimony of his disciples, in the power of the Holy Spirit. He pointed out that the apostolic mission began with earnest, dedicated and united prayer.

Reverend Bruce exhorted all present to wait on the Lord and engage in devoted prayer as we continue this significant task of gospel proclamation. Humanly speaking, the “odds” of being able to proclaim Jesus to the ends of the earth seem impossible. Yet this impossibility is the normal situation for God’s people. In the end, the risen and ascended Lord will see his gospel go out. Thus, we can only engage in this mission through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Andrew then moved on to provide some thoughts on some of the aspects of Sydney Diocesan life. He emphasised the need to be reinvigorated in our lives and our churches with gospel confidence. As a Diocese, we are in constant danger of focusing on the “urgent” matters that our world sees as priorities, rather than the truly important things of gospel ministry: prayer, godliness, evangelism, and recruiting and training.

Reverend Bruce exhorted us to ensure that the “urgent” does not take up all of our resources so that we neglect the important. We do not have unlimited resources – indeed we are quite stretched – and so we need to be wise, courageous and sacrificial in saying “no” to things that seem urgent but are not central to what we do.

He also exhorted us to reinvigorate our evangelism. All ministry today is cross-cultural, because of the vast difference between our aggressive secular culture and our gospel culture. So evangelism must be relational and person-to-person. This means we need to engage deeply with the laity, since one-to-one mission is primarily lay-led. This requires gospel courage and endurance.

We must also reinvigorate our recruiting and training. We need to ensure there are strong numbers of Anglican candidates in training at Moore College, that they sign up in good time for us to evaluate them, that we recruit Rectors, and that we retain those we have trained.

The ACL can play a key role in advocating for Diocesan structures to make courageous and bold decisions to seek always to value the important over the “urgent”.

The President closed his address with a reading from Romans 12:1-2 and prayer for our Diocese.

The meeting received the Treasurer’s Report, approved positions for Elections Secretary, Recruitment Secretary, Membership Secretary and Communication Secretary, and elected office holders. Office holders for 2021-2022 are listed here.

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