Leaders need wisdom, diplomacy and resolve to find the way of peace
“Any sensible person wants peace, but the way of peace is not as easy to find as the way of war. The Prime Minister calls Australia a carefree nation yet we have to confront the Islamic State overseas and, it seems, at home.
I would not want my words twisted again in public debate so let me be perfectly clear. Our leaders need our prayers for wisdom, diplomacy and resolve as they seek to find the way of peace. The evil deeds of recent weeks cannot be left unanswered, but what is the best way to protect innocent people on the other side of the world? …”
– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen writes in The Daily Telegraph.
The War of the Cross
“When ISIS changed its name in June from ‘the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL, or the Arabic acronym ISIS) to simply ‘the Islamic State’, this was a shift of enormous theological and eschatological significance. …
The Islamic State sees itself … playing a key role in the End Times in fulfilment of many prophecies, when all the enemies of Islam (particularly Christians) will be defeated.”
– Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, writes that the theology and eschatology of ISIS explains a great deal about their actions. (Photo: Barnabas Fund.)
The truth behind ISIL
“Two questions for today: Is ISIL Islamic? Is ISIL a State?
President Obama objects to the name ‘Islamic State’ (IS) because he says it’s neither Islamic nor a State.
This may well be good politics and wise diplomacy in a time of great world crisis. However, as truth is ‘the first casualty of war’ so truth has little to do with either politics or diplomacy. The patron of all politically wise diplomats is the man who asked the rhetorical question ‘What is truth?’ (John 18:38). …”
– Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, writes in his weekly column.
Another bite of the Apple
“The excitement is building and the tension is mounting. We have been eagerly anticipating this day, a day on which we get to consider marvels and receive blessings…”
– If you are planning on getting up at 3:00am to partake of the live stream, maybe this would be good to read.
Don’t leave us Fatherless
“The calendar of modern Australia carries some of the old, Christian celebrations such as Easter and Christmas as well as some modern, religious celebrations such as ANZAC day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
Both Mother’s and Father’s Day, as we now celebrate them, were started by American Christians and began as celebrations in their churches. Mother’s Day was begun by Anna Marie Jarvis in 1908, and Father’s Day was started by Sonora Smart Dodd in 1910…”
– Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, looks at the key role of fathers.
First reflections on ‘Living With the Enemy’
“So what to say? I woke up this morning to an inbox full of responses; facebook tags, twitter responses and a number of emails…
So many people have so many opinions but the truth is that there’s really only three of us who have the fullest reflection upon what actually happened and how well the show reflected it…”
– David Ould reflects on his appearance on SBS TVs “Living With the Enemy”.
The Osteen Predicament
“America deserves the Osteens.
The consumer culture, the cult of the therapeutic, the marketing impulse, and the sheer superficiality of American cultural Christianity probably made the Osteens inevitable.
The Osteens are phenomenally successful because they are the exaggerated fulfillment of the self-help movement and the cult of celebrity rolled into one massive mega-church media empire. And, to cap it all off, they give Americans what Americans crave — reassurance delivered with a smile…”
– Albert Mohler comments theologically on that video of Victoria Osteen.
Dying with Dignity?
“Here’s the submission I made to the relevant committee of the Senate of the Australian Parliament regarding Senator Richard Di Natale’s private member’s Exposure draft of the Medical Services (Dying with Dignity) Bill 2014…”
– Sandy Grant at St Michael’s Cathedral, Wollongong, shares what he’s written – at The Briefing.
Dear prime minister: what is the UK government’s strategy in Iraq and Syria?
Dear Prime Minister …
The focus by both politicians and media on the plight of the Yazidis has been notable and admirable. However, there has been increasing silence about the plight of tens of thousands of Christians who have been displaced, driven from cities and homelands, and who face a bleak future. Despite appalling persecution, they seem to have fallen from consciousness, and I wonder why…”
– Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines, writes to Prime Minister Cameron.
Christian spirituality, British values, and contemporary teachers
In his latest essay, Andrew Symes, Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream, reflects on the place of God’s written word in the Christian’s life – with reference to a recent story in the (UK) Telegraph about former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, “How Buddhism helps me pray”.
‘The West must face the evil that has revealed itself in the Iraq genocide’
“A beautiful mosaic of ancient religions, cultures and languages in the Middle East is being systematically destroyed. Until now, the world has watched mutely. …
So will the world just stand by and watch this unprecedented onslaught on freedom or will we do something beyond airdropping food and medicines and protecting our own personnel who may be caught up in the conflict?…” – Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali writes in The Telegraph.
A Christian response to the distressing news
“I awoke on Friday morning to the news of Christians fleeing for their lives in Iraq. Over the last couple of months in Iraq, there has been mounting pressure on Christians to convert to Islam. Now, whole Christian townships have been conquered and the people are fleeing to seek Kurdish protection.
In a world riddled by war, revolutions, violence and ever increasing numbers of displaced refugees it’s strange how distressing I found Friday’s news. It’s not simply because the people are Christians, though no doubt that’s part of it. I suspect my distress is that we are being plunged into the kind of war that we do not want to have and that we have eschewed – a religious war.
As I write, I am still struggling to come to a considered response to this terrible news. Here, in point form, are some things that go towards working out an appropriate Christian response.…”
– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen sets down some helpful thoughts – and calls for prayer.
See also: Murder of Iraqi Christians – second appeal for prayer from Archbishop Glenn Davies.
Are Christian Missionaries narcissistic idiots? (Quick answer: No)
“In Ann Coulter’s view, Kent Brantly should never have gone to Africa in the first place. He should have spent his time and energies saving America…”
– Albert Mohler responds to an opinion piece by columnist Ann Coulter. While the context is US-based, the command of Christ is the same.
‘Get with the Program’ — The Church of England votes to ordain Women Bishops
“Writing about the age of John Milton, the British author A. N. Wilson once tried to explain to modern secular readers that there had once been a time when bishops of the Church of England were titanic figures of conviction who were ready to stand against the culture.
‘It needs an act of supreme historical imagination to be able to recapture an atmosphere in which Anglican bishops might be taken seriously,’ he wrote, ‘still more, one in which they might be thought threatening.’
Keep that in mind as you read the news that the General Synod of the Church of England voted yesterday to approve the consecration of women as bishops of the church …
Ruth Gledhill is profoundly right about another aspect of Monday’s vote as well. It won’t stop with women bishops. ‘Now the church can move into the 20th century, although perhaps not the 21st,’ she wrote. ‘A change on gay marriage would be needed to do that.’ Well, stay tuned, as they say”
– Albert Mohler writes on what happens when bowing to the spirit of the age is more important than a serious commitment to biblical Christianity.
‘Anglicans mad only if they ignore Bible’
“Amid the swirl of opinion around the Anglican General Synod’s decision to commit to finding a way to bless gay couples, the epithets for orthodox Anglicans have mounted: anti-gay, homophobic, wrong, immoral, betrayers of Jesus, unloving, judgmental, intolerant, bigoted, ostracising, unjust and hypocritical. Doubtless an incomplete list, but enough to paint a nasty picture…”
– In this opinion-piece for the New Zealand Herald, Michael Hewat (Vicar of the West Hamilton) argues that the NZ Anglican General Synod has failed ‘the LGBT community’.
Related: Same-Gender blessings: NZ General Synod votes. (May 14 2014)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…