Grace has brought me safe thus far
“This first weekend of 2014 affords many of us an opportunity to hit “pause” on this busy opening week and to reflect, backward and forward, on our own lives.
Essential at the beginning of every new year is to set aside time to reflect on life, according to eighteenth-century slave-ship-captain-turned-pastor John Newton (1725–1807). This practice was embedded into his personal disciplines, and it emerged as a hallmark of his pastoral work. He penned new hymns and sermons and personal letters every year to urge his friends to take time at the unveiling of a new year to stop and reflect on life.”
– Tony Reinke, at Desiring God, looks at Amazing Grace.
Related: A hymn for the New Year.
Don’t Teach the Bible
“There is an important difference between teaching the Bible and teaching people the Bible. It is easy to be so engaged in what we teach that we forget whom we are teaching. We can even be oblivious to the fact that we are not teaching anybody.”
– Read all Phillip Jensen’s latest article.
How You Spend My Christmas
“Everybody, except the scrooge, agrees it is a time to celebrate – there’s just no agreement about what we are celebrating. So everybody wishes everybody ‘happy Christmas’, but in true post-modern fashion it means different things to different people.”
– Phillip Jensen on Christmas.
Something more important than charity!
“In many previous generations and still in some places today, Christians might be surprised that a pastor has to write in this way. But recently I had to remind the congregations I serve that there is something more important than charity. Read on to see what I meant…”
– Sandy Grant shares a letter he wrote to the congregations at St. Michael’s Cathedral, Wollongong.
Social Media and the Sufficiency of Scripture
“Social media has opened up a wonderful new way in which Christians can express spiritual unity despite physical distance. … When a Christian friend posts about his sick daughter, within minutes our non-Christian friends can see that a whole bunch of us are praying for healing and strength.
But Christians are no less prone to abusing God’s good gifts as anyone else.”
– Latest post from The Australian Church Record.
Legality and Validity
“Does something become legitimate by virtue of legislative enactment? Does the decision of a parliamentary majority or of a court of law suffice to settle the question of whether a course of action is appropriate, or legitimate or valid? Can Christians recognise the legal or constitutional reality of a situation without for a moment consenting to its reality in a deeper sense — something that legitimately exists in a world constituted by God’s word?
Two recent developments in Australia raise this question in stark terms for us.
The first is the conduct of same sex ‘marriage’ services in the Australian Capital Territory last weekend. …
The second development is the consecration of women as bishops in the Anglican Church of Australia.”
– Moore College Principal Mark Thompson writes an important post at Theological Theology. Challenging times ahead.
A Moral Revolution at Warp Speed
“Six months. That’s how long it took to get from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act to the decision of a Colorado judge ordering a Christian baker to make a cake for a same-sex ceremony. Just six months. …”
– Albert Mohler writes on the latest developments in the US.
Mike Ovey responds to the Pilling Report
“We humans have to live with grey. Sometimes we must weigh whether an action or life-choice is right or wrong. But so often, actions and life-choices are shades of grey rather than simply black or white. …”
– Oak Hill’s Principal, Dr Mike Ovey, responds to the Pilling Report –
Part 1 – God’s work versus God’s will?
Part 2 – Does sincerity grant a veto?
Jesus’ Improbable Plan
“Jesus and the apostles expected the nations of the world to be won for him. This is a historical statement that is historically true that will stand in the face of even the most stringent, critical analysis.
Consider how improbable such a vision must have been.
‘Make disciples of all nations’ he said but those to whom he said it were but eleven in number, simple uneducated men, without friends in high places. Their own track record had not been good; one was a betrayer, another a denier and all were deserters.
He, their leader, had been handed over by the temple hierarchs and crucified by the Romans.
Yet he expected world conquest, but not achieved by naked power but by mere words backed up by an ethical life. …”
– Bishop Paul Barnett looks at Jesus’ ‘improbable plan’.
GAFCON Chairman’s Advent Letter
Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council has released this Advent Letter.
He begins by giving thanks for the meeting in Nairobi, before turning to what’s next –
“We have to come down from the mountain to face the challenges ahead.
And so we have. The Church of England has just released what is known as the Pilling Report, the conclusions of a Working Group commissioned by the House of Bishops to report and make recommendations on issues of human sexuality.
I am sorry to say that it is very flawed. If this report is accepted I have no doubt that the Church of England, the Mother Church of the Communion, will have made a fateful decision. It will have chosen the same path as The Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada with all the heartbreak and division that will bring. ”
Outsourcing Life
“‘Outsourcing’ is an ‘in’ word. It used to be only a business word but now is spreading into life itself. Today people are outsourcing their life.
For some time the business world has used the term to talk of buying goods and services from outside suppliers. Rather than using in-house employees to undertake all the tasks of the business, the company will turn to external suppliers and ’outsource’ the work. …”
– Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, writes about the most amazing ‘outsourcing’ of all.
Forget the Channel
“The 21st century saw incredible communication breakthroughs with a soaring use of social media. Social media has given us ways of communicating that is unparalleled in digital history. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, microblogging have all become household terms.
Amongst infinite possibilities, social media has opened up tremendous opportunities for Christians to speak in the world. …”
– The latest from The Australian Church Record.
The important message of Christmas
“On 3 January 2014, as a member of the SCG, I will get up at 5 am, queue up at the members gate at 6 am and then run from the gate, in what is called the “Paddington gift” to secure my seat for the day, in the Members’ Stand.
I will try to reserve the seat next to me for a friend. He will get up at about 9:30 am, wander into the ground at 10:30 for the start of play, secure in the fact that I have reserved a seat for him. I pay the member’s subscription, I get up at 5 am, queue at 6 am, race at 7 am, I do all the work, he wanders in and enjoys the fruit of my labours.”
– David Cook, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, writes about The important message of Christmas on the PCA website. (h/t Gary Ware.)
Grafton appointment exposes massive differences in the Anglican Church in Australia
“I wrote last week about the appointment of Rev Dr Sarah Macneil as the new Bishop of Grafton diocese in NSW, Australia. Not only is she due to be Australia’s first female diocesan, but far more troubling she is on the record as holding what many consider to be heterodox views on human sexuality and the atonement. …”
– At his blog, David Ould continues to explore the implications of the election of a new Bishop of the Diocese of Grafton. (Related posts.)
Extinction in a generation?
“Have a read of this report from the Daily Telegraph: ‘Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, warns Christianity “a generation away from extinction” in Britain. Clergy are now gripped by a “feeling of defeat”, congregations are worn down by “heaviness” while the public simply greets both with “rolled eyes and a yawn of boredom”, he said.’
Lord Carey goes on to say how in particular ‘we’ have let down young people and that we must deploy ministers to get children and youth back into church.
There’s much here to admire. Lord Carey may no longer be Archbishop of Canterbury, but it still takes courage for such an establishment figure to point out just how bad things are. But he’s quite right: Christianity is a generation away from extinction in the United Kingdom. This is something both very old and very new. Let me explain. …”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…