What will happen at Lambeth 2022?
“The Lambeth Conference which is set to take place from 26 July to 6 August, last met with all Anglican bishops in attendance in 1998 – 24 years ago. …”
– At Anglican Mainstream Canon Chris Sugden in the UK gives some background to the coming Lambeth Conference.
He points out the reason some provinces will not be attending: “The Africans’ boycott is the consequence not the cause of disunity.”
Related:
Lambeth speaks plainly (that was then) – Dr Stephen Noll.
Unborn babies have taken another battering in Victoria today
Here’s a media release from The Australian Christian Lobby, 24 May 2022 –
“Commenting on Bernie Finn’s expulsion from the Victorian Liberal Party today, the Australian Christian Lobby’s (ACL) National Director, Wendy Francis, said,
“Abortions are only going to increase whilst pro-life speech is regarded as disrespectful, particularly when it applies to politicians who have the capacity to vote and change laws on life issues. Media reports indicate that Bernie Finn’s commitment to ‘pray for an end to abortion’ was the final straw for the Party who voted to expel him from their ranks today.”
Whilst, sadly, pro-life speech such as this will always sound disrespectful to those that don’t want to hear it, advocating for the child in the womb is perfectly respectful. It’s encouraging to witness a new, young, pro-life generation rising up around the globe.
“The Liberal Party of Victoria has seriously underestimated the impact this move has had on their pro-life conservative base,” Ms Francis continued. “It will be a tough journey for them to regain their confidence in the leadup to the State election in November.
“Freedom of thought, worship, speech and association are basic tenets of the Liberal Party of Australia. And yet, today, a democratically elected member has been expelled from the Liberal Party of Victoria for exercising these very rights.”
Why is Canada euthanising the poor?
“Since last year, Canadian law, in all its majesty, has allowed both the rich as well as the poor to kill themselves if they are too poor to continue living with dignity. In fact, the ever-generous Canadian state will even pay for their deaths. What it will not do is spend money to allow them to live instead of killing themselves.
As with most slippery slopes, it all began with a strongly worded denial that it exists. …
Even before Bill C-7 was enacted, reports of abuse were rife. A man with a neurodegenerative disease testified to Parliament that nurses and a medical ethicist at a hospital tried to coerce him into killing himself by threatening to bankrupt him with extra costs or by kicking him out of the hospital, and by withholding water from him for 20 days.”
– Yuan Yi Zhu in Oxford writes in The Spectator (UK online edition) about the situation in Canada – which will get worse when changes come in 2023..
General Synod and comprehensive Anglicanism
“Some believe that the scriptures are quite clear in their condemnation of same-sex sexual activity and that the Church has no authority to act contrary to the clear teaching of the scriptures. Therefore marriage, in their understanding, must continue to be exclusively between one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others, for life.
Others believe that what’s at stake here is an important matter of justice and that LGBTI people should be fully included in the life of the Church and allowed to express their sexuality through life-long, faithful, monogamous relationships just as heterosexual people do. Other parts of the scriptures are cited in support of this view.
…
In Southern Queensland we have set as a key focus area promoting ‘comprehensive Anglican identity and purpose.’
This approach recognises that there will be different convictions, understandings and priorities among Anglicans. And it is likely that each of these perspectives includes insights into the truth.
This means that in order to comprehend the whole truth we need these various insights and perspectives to be present and engaged. …”
– Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Phillip Aspinall writes about the upcoming General Synod to be held next month on the Gold Coast – and the range of theological convictions on the question of the blessing of same-sex marriages.
How ‘comprehensive’ can Anglicans be? Worth considering:
From Article 20 of The Thirty Nine Articles:
“… it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same…”
Photo: Anglican Focus.
The Truth of Jesus: John Anderson speaks with Phillip Jensen
Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia John Anderson has interviewed many interesting people over the last few years.
With Easter upon us, he speaks with Phillip Jensen, Bible Teacher and Evangelist.
Fascinating interview. Encouraging to watch and great to share.
It’s available at johnanderson.net.au – and also on YouTube where a timeline of topics discussed is posted underneath the video.
Vladimir Putin, A Friend to Christian Morality and Conservative Culture?: A Christian Response this Question
In his daily analysis of news for Thursday March 10 2022 Albert Mohler tackles the place of the Christian morality and the Russian Orthodox Church in what’s happening in Russia at the moment.
Shane Warne and our own mortality
“I think it is fair to say that the whole nation is in mourning. The cricket world is in shock. At the age of 52, Shane Warne is dead. This legitimate Aussie larrikin and cricket legend (and legend is no exaggerated term) died suddenly on Friday night, apparently from a heart attack. …”
– Murray Campbell writes of mortality and Christian hope.
The Real Cost of Social Media
“Like it or not, we live in a world dominated by social media. While many older forms of media continue to exist and to exert their influence, all have in some way had to bow before the ascendancy of new media. It is pervasive, it is ubiquitous, it is addictive, and it is changing everything.
Yet because social media rose with lightning speed and so quickly became nearly omnipresent, we may already have lost sight of the influence it has over us. …”
– Tim Challies commends “Terms of Service: The Real Cost of Social Media” by Chris Martin.
Albert Mohler on the Ukraine crisis
In his The Briefing for Monday 28th February 2022, Albert Mohler tackles what’s happening in Ukraine.
He provides an interesting and disturbing analysis, emphasising the importance of a Christian worldview.
Is the future for the Church of England’s General Synod… Dan Andrews?
“The readiness of the English middle classes to sacrifice democracy on the altar of political correctness was evident at last week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod.
It was during a debate on the dry subject of the CofE’s governance structures that the growing anti-democratic spirit on this largely democratically elected body asserted itself. …”
– At Anglican Ink, Julian Mann looks at some disturbing moves in the Church of England’s General Synod.
Dual Citizens podcast
David Ould has recently started a podcast which many will find of interest –
Dual Citizens is “a podcast analysing current affairs, informed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Covering various topics weekly, Dual Citizens explains how Christianity holds an important sense of relevancy in contemporary society, and how all Christians are ‘dual citizens’ belonging to two places; their country, and Jesus’ heavenly kingdom.”
A small step forward for religious freedom – with Bishop Michael Stead
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“Religious Freedom will be debated in the Australian Parliament this week.
Two parliamentary reports were released late on Friday afternoon. MP’s and Senators have spent the weekend reading them.
The reports show the Coalition and Labor broadly in support of introducing improved protections for people of Faith.
The reports recommendations are set to go to the party rooms on Tuesday morning, and the House of Representatives as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Anglican Bishop Michael Stead is the new chair of Freedom for Faith.”
– Watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart.
And please pray about the expected vote this afternoon (Tuesday 8th February).
See also:
Submission to the Senate Legal Affairs Committee on the Religious Discrimination Bill – Freedom for Faith.
Advance Australia Fair?
“Watching the Australia Day celebrations whilst on holiday was much more interesting and revealing than I had anticipated. Normally I am bored to tears by these kinds of events however I have to say that I was impressed, and I learned a great deal. It was like a cross between the BBC’s Children in Need, celebrating the good that charities and volunteers do, and BBC Scotland’s Hogmanay show – a bit kitsch and cliched, but nonetheless something that makes you glad to be Scottish – or in this case, Australian.
The wonderful work done by Australians throughout the country was highlighted and the music was… not bad.The fireworks and setting in Sydney harbour (as well as the 12 Apostles and other spectacular Aussie scenery) made one thankful to be an Australian – or in the case of yours truly – a guest in this wonderful country.
But the whole show also revealed something deeply disturbing. …”
– Sometimes it takes a visitor to our country to point out what we might otherwise miss. David Robertson writes at AP.
‘The divide between two different Christianities’
“One of the most influential books in the 20th Century Church was J Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism.
Machen was prophetic in his analysis of the crisis facing the Church in the US in the first half of the century – some would argue that it was because of his (and others’) stance that the US Church did not go down the path of decline that Churches in most other Western countries did.
In his prophetic book he warned:
‘A terrible crisis unquestionably has arisen in the Church. In the ministry of evangelical churches are to be found hosts of those who reject the gospel of Christ. By the equivocal use of traditional phrases, by the representation of differences of opinion as though they were only differences about the interpretation of the Bible, entrance into the Church was secured for those who are hostile to the very foundations of the faith.’
These words came to mind as I listened to the latest debate on conversion therapy on Premier’s Unbelievable, between Jayne Ozanne, the chair of Ban Conversion Therapy, and Peter Lynas of the Evangelical Alliance. …”
– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson reposts an article he wrote for Christian Today.
The Criminalization of Christianity in Finland
“In a foreshadowing of America’s future under coercive secularism, a Finnish politician and Finnish bishop will go on criminal trial next week for merely upholding historic Christian teaching on sexual morality.
The trial is a telling measure of the erosion of Christianity in Europe.
Juhana Pohjola, a Lutheran bishop, and Päivi Räsänen, a member of Finland’s Parliament, stand accused of an act increasingly forbidden in the de-Christianized West: quoting the Bible. …
After Räsänen quoted from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans in a tweet, she found herself under police interrogation for 13 hours.”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…