Albert Mohler gives thanks for Billy Graham

In today’s issue of The Briefing, Albert Mohler gives thanks for Billy Graham – and also shares some personal reflections. (Billy Graham spoke at Albert Mohler’s inauguration at Southern Seminary.)

Update:

The text of Dr Mohler’s tribute is now online: The Preacher: Billy Graham and American Evangelicalism.

Peter Jensen ‘a new person’ after hearing Billy Graham

Dr Peter Jensen spoke with Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart today, giving thanks for Billy Graham and his ‘the Bible says’ message.

Peter related how he left the 1959 Sydney Crusade knowing he was ‘a new person’.

Most encouraging. Many would benefit from watching this.

Watch at The Pastor’s Heart Facebook page – soon to be posted to the website.

(Peter also gives an update on GAFCON.)

And here’s an idea:

While Billy Graham’s name is in people’s consciousness, why not show Billy’s My Hope: The Cross video.

Dominic Steele to speak with Peter Jensen about Billy Graham – 3:00pm today

From Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart Facebook page:

“Former Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen will speak live with Dominic Steele this afternoon in a special edition of The Pastor’s Heart, remembering … Billy Graham, who has died aged 99.

Billy Graham’s 1959 Crusade was perhaps, at a national level, the closest Australia has come to what could be described as a revival.

Peter Jensen himself became a Christian listening to Billy Graham that day.

Write ‘Billy’ in the comments below to be notified when ‘The Pastor’s Heart’ is live.

The full interview will be available later at www.thepastorsheart.net.”

3:00pm AEDT today (Thursday 22nd February 2018)

Dr Billy Graham’s life and influence

Anglican Media Sydney has made available Russell Powell’s 2008 interview with David Aikman on his book “Billy Graham: His Life and Influence”.

Well worth 5 minutes of your time.

With great thanksgiving for Billy Graham 1918–2018

Billy Graham at the age of 99, has been called home to be with the Lord.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has the news.

The Gospel Coalition has a number of feature articles linked from their home page.

In  the Lord’s providence, Billy Graham and his team had a huge impact on Sydney in 1959 – and in the years since. We are sure that much will be written about the 1959 Sydney Crusade.

In the midst of all the thanksgiving for Billy, please consider this:

Do you need to get right with God? Do you need to find new life in Christ? –

You could do a lot worse than to listen to Billy’s message, given at the Sydney 1959 Crusade, on the subject: “The Certainty of Death”.

(His other messages in Sydney can be heard here.) Then find a church.

Archbishop of Sydney Dr Glenn Davies has issued this statement:

The world has lost one of the most significant figures of the late twentieth century with the news of Billy Graham’s death on 21 February in his 100th year.

Billy Graham’s extensive ministry has affected the lives of millions of people around the globe, and under God, hundreds of thousands of people have been brought to faith in Jesus Christ through his anointed preaching ministry.

We in Australia are especially grateful for his first visit to our country in 1959, where his crusade in Sydney of that year had all the hallmarks of revival with increased church attendance, increased candidates offering themselves for the ministry and a marked effect on criminal statistics with fewer crimes being committed. His visits in 1968 and 1979 were again welcomed by church leaders, which again saw an increased level of cooperation among the Churches and many people becoming Christians.

Billy Graham was passionate about Jesus Christ and unrelenting in finding ways to persuade people to put their trust in the Saviour of the world.

We have lost a giant among us – but the angels in heaven rejoice in his arrival in his eternal home.

Dr Glenn Davies,

22 February, 2018 AD

And SydneyAnglicans.net has this tribute.

Top image: BGEA. Second image – Billy with Archbishop Marcus Loane at the 1968 Sydney Crusade, courtesy of Ramon Williams.

Bishop Stuart Robinson: Farewell message in Anglican News

“Though we are retiring from episcopal ministry we are … ‘refiring’ back into full-time parish ministry. I’ll be inducted as Priest, St Michael’s, Vaucluse and Rose Bay, on Saturday May 5th at 4.30pm.

And my formal farewell from this Diocese is Saturday March 31st at 11.00am is a ‘Laying Up Of The Pastoral Staff’ event.”

– Bishop Stuart Robinson reflects on his ten years as Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn in his last message for the diocesan newspaper.

As well, there is news of clergy moves in the diocese – all on page 2 of the February 2018 Anglican News (800kb PDF file).

History Bytes – Remembering Sir Marcus Loane

“I was Rector of Berridale. The clergy of the Monaro were invited to dinner in the Cooma Rectory to meet Sir Marcus Loane, then Archbishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia. I found him a shy and reserved person, but when Church history was the subject his face lit up. …”

– On the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn website, Fr. Robert Wilson remembers a great man.

Related:

From Strength to Strength — A Life of Marcus Loane by Allan M. Blanch reviewed at Australian Presbyterian.

(Photo courtesy of Ramon Williams.)

Ramon Williams, Australian Christian media powerhouse, decides it’s time to retire

Ramon Williams, the unassuming one-man Christian media powerhouse behind Worldwide Photos, has tonight announced, on medical advice, that his ministry will conclude.

Dan Wooding at IPA News published a profile of Ramon in July 2017 –

“Now 86, Ramon Williams has been supplying news articles and photos to the Christian media from ’down under’ for more than 50 years, and he is considered by many, including myself, as one of the great heroes of the Australian Christian media.

This self-effacing former missionary has, for more than half-a-century, been running the equivalent of a Christian AP (Associated Press) news wire…” – Read the full article at IPA News.

Ramon and his wife Dorothy, both graduates of SMBC, served as missionaries with WEC (Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade) in South East Asia from 1959 to 1967, and originally established Worldwide Photos as a department of WEC.

In this June 2017 profile in The Salvation Army’s War Cry, Ramon explains –

“… the mission called for someone to open a new department to produce good-quality audio­visuals. I accepted the challenge and (with wife Dorothy) came home to Australia in November 1967, to start the work.

I noticed in the ministers’ meeting, prior to the 1968 Billy Graham Crusade, that nobody was photographing the event for the Christian media. New Life, an Australian Christian newspaper, was willing to accept my offer to photograph the crusade but they could not pay. Afterwards I found The Australian Baptist was willing to accept photos but could not pay. I’ve been doing it ever since—supplying photos to people who cannot pay! …”

Astute observers will notice that the ACL website is one of many beneficiaries of Ramon’s cheerful generosity, and it is only appropriate that we publicly thank him here, through our website.

We are sure that many will echo our heartfelt thanks.

Photo courtesy IPA News.

Michael Kellahan next guest on The Pastor’s Heart

Freedom for Faith’s Michael Kellahan is the next guest on The Pastor’s Heart – to be streamed live on Facebook tomorrow (Tuesday 30th January 2018) at 2:00pm.

From Dominic Steele:

“With submissions to the Ruddock inquiry into Freedom for Religion being given amazingly tight deadlines, Michael’s been responsible for co-ordinating a ‘heavy weight’ response to the inquiry on behalf of a series of leading Protestant churches.”

Watch live, and also see or hear replays at The Pastor’s Heart on Facebook – or thepastorsheart.net.

12 Rules for Life – A Christian Perspective

“I have been asked so much about my article Is Jordan Peterson the New Messiah? … that I decided to … write a full review of 12 Rules for Life, complete with quotes so that you can judge  for yourselves –  Peterson is not a preacher but there are enough quotes here to keep a preacher happy for many sermons!  of course reading the book is better.

The following is my review from a Christian perspective. I have to say it is a long time since I have been so excited about a book!”

– At his blog The Wee Flea, David Robertson reviews Jordan Peterson’s influential new book.

Related: Jordan Peterson interviewed on Channel 4 in the UK. (via Rod Dreher.)

Phillip Jensen on his long ministry and lessons learned

At Nexus Conference 2016, Dominic Steele interviewed Phillip Jensen on his long ministry and lessons learned.

The video and audio files have now been posted at The Pastor’s Heart.

Take the time to watch or listen, be reminded of what’s really important, and give thanks for faithful servants like Phillip. Much to think about, and lots of wisdom.

Vale Bishop Chuck Murphy

“Charles H. Murphy III, retired bishop and founder of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA), died Jan. 9 … He was 70.

Through his organization, created in response to liberal drift in the mainline Episcopal Church, Murphy gained acclaim from conservative Christians for taking a public stand against liberal theology that rejected the authority of Scripture, the divinity of Christ, and other orthodox doctrines. AMiA provided a new institutional home to marginalized conservative Christians, churches, dioceses, and bishops in the US and Canada. …

By September 1997, Murphy and other conservative Episcopal clergy believed that their denomination had thoroughly embraced false doctrine and was resistant to reform. These clergy drafted and signed the First Promise statement. It declared the church had “departed from ‘the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them,’ and we declare their authority to be fundamentally impaired, and that they are not upholding the truth of the gospel.”

– Full story at Christianity Today. (link via SydneyAnglicans.net.)

Related:

Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America:

“The reformation of Anglicanism in North America owes a great deal to his courageous and visionary leadership, and I am thankful for the ways in which God used him to spread the message of Jesus Christ.”

Here’s how the Editorial of ACL News, March 2000 reported the developments at that time. It gives a sense of the turmoil being created by the actions of the Episcopal Church, and varying thoughts on how best to respond –

On Saturday 29th January, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda and the Most Rev. Moses Tay, Archbishop of the Province of South East Asia, together with other bishops, consecrated two American Episcopal clergymen, John Rodgers and Chuck Murphy, as bishops.  Read more

Isesomo: God’s Servant in Congo

“In this short book we are introduced to Bishop Adolphe Isesomo, second bishop in the Diocese of North Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

While the book is essentially a biography in the style of a ‘missionary biography’, Josh Maule neatly intertwines three different but interrelated histories. Isesomo’s story is told in the context of the development of the Anglican Church of Congo, especially the Diocese of North Kivu, but also the sad account of the country that was Zaire and is now the DRC. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, CMS NSW ACT General Secretary Canon Malcolm Richards points us to a book worth reading.

(The book is available locally here, as well as from other sellers.)

Tim Challies in Sydney next month

“I will be in Sydney on February 22 [2018] and would love to meet you for an informal drop-in event at the Reformers Bookshop! I am dedicating 2018 to traveling the world for my EPIC church history project and am making a stop in Australia. …”

– Canadian blogger Tim Challies will be in Oz next month. More here.

Interview with Richard Chin

Richard Chin, National Director of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students, is the main speaker at this year’s NSW/ACT CMS Summer School at Katoomba.

David Ould interviewed him yesterday. A very encouraging 29 minutes. Listen here.

Richard makes reference to the article Thank God for the Gift of Cancer, written by Bronwyn Chin for Equal but Different’s journal: June 2012.

Also at the Summer School, CMS revealed their new logo – see their website.

(Image: AFES.)

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