Christianity Explored

Kevin DeYoung at the Gospel Coalition is enthusiastic about Christianity Explored.

‘But I saw it on TV’

Here’s a disturbing report on how the mainstream US media reported a large anti-abortion demonstration in Washington two weeks ago.

From LifeSiteNews. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)

Connecting the Mind and the Tongue

“I want to go on record at this point as saying that I understand the attraction of Rome: the sheer mass of the organization (if you’ll pardon the pun); the overwhelming aesthetics; the desirability of belonging to such an august and ancient institution which knows what it is, where it comes from, and where it is going; and the cornucopia of brilliant intellects that have debated, refined, and articulated its confession over the centuries.  All that I understand; all that I find attractive; all that I find superior to what evangelical Protestantism has to offer, particularly in its crassest megachurch and emergent varieties.”

– Carl Trueman contributes “Reflections on Rome Part 1: Connecting the Mind and the Tongue” at Reformation 21. As always, provocative and worth reading.

Al Mohler on The Shack (again)

Albert Mohler has again written about The Shack, with good reason. Here’s the punchline –

“The popularity of this book among evangelicals can only be explained by a lack of basic theological knowledge among us — a failure even to understand the Gospel of Christ. The tragedy that evangelicals have lost the art of biblical discernment must be traced to a disastrous loss of biblical knowledge. Discernment cannot survive without doctrine.”

Read it all here.

Related: More Catechesis, please.

Matt Kennedy on ‘Leaving home’ (part 1)

This time last year, Matt Kennedy and his congregation at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, New York, lost their property to the Diocese of Central New York. Matt tells the story of what happened next — at Stand Firm.

(Screenshot from WBNG News, NY.)

Bishop John Harrower on ‘anger at happy clappers’

“A front page article in our State’s major newspaper today illustrates some of the challenges of following Jesus in today’s Tasmania. Newspaper article here, Anger at ‘happy clappers’.”

– Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower on the challenge of making Christ known in Tassie.

(This is a good reminder to uphold in prayer Bishop Harrower, and all who belong to Christ in Tasmania.)

Church statistics: not many dead

“Still, it is worth remembering, as one looks at these dull graphs, that there are on any Sunday at least 100 people in an Anglican church for every member of the National Secular Society.”

– At The Guardian, Andrew Brown tries to put in perspective the latest figures form the Church of England.

Ignorance or historical censorship?

“In teaching about William Cowper to groups of people under the age of 30, I have tried to place him in his historical context.

To my amazement, I have discovered an almost complete lack of knowledge of colonial history.

The names and events of governors Arthur, Bligh or Macquarie, or issues like emancipation, or the exploration of the continent – the crossing of the Blue Mountains, the inland explorers or the journeys of Matthew Flinders – or even the gold rushes, were basically unknown…”

– Phillip Jensen writes about the importance of history. (Also at SydneyAnglicans.net)

How will they hear without a preacher?

“Preaching has fallen on hard times. So suggests a report out of Durham University’s College of Preachers. The British university’s CODEC research center, which aims to explore ‘the interfaces between the Bible, the digital environment and contemporary culture,’ conducted the study to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the College of Preachers. The report is not very encouraging…”

– from Al Mohler’s latest column.

What’s happening to InterVarsity?

Take the time to read this important piece by J. Mack Stiles. It’s a strong reminder for churches and parachurch organisations to remain crystal clear on the gospel —

“For the better part of 30 years I have been a ‘company man.’ My life has been devoted to student ministry through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as a campus staff worker. All four of my books are published by IVP. The eleven Urbana missions conferences I attended shaped my life as a student and as a staff worker. … I love IV, and I long for its success. …

But, as Phillip Jensen says, the generation that assumes the gospel is the generation most responsible for the loss of the gospel.”

Read it here – from the current 9Marks eJournal.

Preaching without notes

“I’m a convert to preaching without any notes.

I know it’s not for everyone, but I reckon more preachers could do it if they wanted to.

I’ve preached evangelistically without notes for years, by memorising certain talks that I knew I would get to repeat many times. But I’ve not thought it ‘worth it’ to preach all the time without notes. Until now. …”

– At Read Better, Preach Better, Moore College’s Con Campbell shares his experience in preaching without notes.

Notes from the Future: Evangelical Liberalism in the UK

“The Lord Jesus called me into his kingdom in April 1974 in a Baptist church in Southampton, England. He had blessed me with a Christian family, and my conversion was very much a humble acceptance in my heart of truths I had long known in my head. Then, almost immediately after my conversion, I found myself (as a 15 year old) having to resist liberal theology from my fellow pupils at school, and even more so from my teachers.

I’ve used the word ‘liberal,’ though it felt very different from the liberalism I now see and sense…”

– Mike Ovey, Principal of Oak Hill College in London, writes in the current 9Marks eJournal. (Photo © Richard Hanson.)

The Real Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

“Combine the problems of defining evangelical identity with the current cultural penchant for not excluding anybody and you have a heady recipe for total disaster. Say nice things about Jesus, have a warm feeling in your heart when somebody lights a candle, and be kind to your grandmother and—hey presto!—you belong; you too can be an evangelical …”

– Carl Trueman writes on the danger particularly facing evangelical academics in the US (and elsewhere?) – in the current 9Marks eJournal.

‘Moses Tay: A Prophet confronts Lambeth Pragmatism’

Charles Raven’s latest column —

“if you try to keep the light and darkness together, righteous and immoral together, to say we are a church, it’s disparaging the meaning of covenant” – Bishop Moses Tay

In his recent interview with the Christian Post Moses Tay, onetime Archbishop of Singapore, brings a sharp prophetic insight to bear on the Anglican Covenant and warns that it is a ‘whitewash’. ‘It cannot be of God’ he says ‘because if you try to keep the light and darkness together, righteous and immoral together, to say we are a church, it’s disparaging the meaning of covenant’.   Read more

The persecuted church

Bishop Bill Atwood has written this for the American Anglican Council’s weekly newsletter:

When President Nixon went to Yalta in 1973 (in what is present day Ukraine), I flew the White House staff and secret service on my Air Force plane. Of course the senior staff and the President flew on Air Force One.  Read more

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