If there is no Resurrection – you’re following a Dead Christ
“I am always sceptical of surveys but the notion that 17% of people in Britain believe in the literal biblical account of the bible is for me quite astonishing…and encouraging. The fact that one in ten non-religious people believe the Easter story in some form is interesting – to say the least.
But perhaps the most fascinating and saddest statistic is that 25% of those who identify as Christians do not believe in the resurrection and only 31% believe in the literal biblical story. What is going on?”
– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson in Dundee responds to this week’s BBC poll on the beliefs of British ‘Christians’.
Related:
You can’t be Christian if you don’t believe in the resurrection, says former Queen’s chaplain – Telegraph.
“A former chaplain to the Queen has said that the quarter of Christians who say they do not believe in the Resurrection ‘cannot be Christians’.
The Rev Dr Gavin Ashenden said in a letter to the Times that a survey which found that one in four self-proclaimed Christians do not believe in Jesus’s Resurrection ‘made the mistake of confusing British culture with Christianity’. …”
Glorifying God with infertility
“Pip and I married in 2009. We discussed trying for children after one year of marriage. We saw children as a blessing from God (Ps 127:5), and we wanted to have them while we were relatively young and bring them up knowing Jesus – a testimony to the goodness of God’s purpose for children. …”
– Mike Taylor, member of the ACL Council, shares the goodness of the Lord in the midst of questions and tears. Take the time to read it, and be encouraged.
At GoThereFor.com.
Archbishop Glenn Davies’ Easter Message 2017 — Rescuing Australia
Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney 2017 Easter Message
Archbishop’s Easter Message 2017 from Sydneyanglicans.net on Vimeo.
Text below: Read more
Easter: For the Love of Beautiful Things
“Has our age lost a love for beautiful things? With all our environmental education my travels still find McDonald’s coffee cups and beer bottles in the most remote of places.
I was born in the late 50’s and schooled in the 60’s and 70’s when environmental care was not on the curriculum. As I drive past the polystyrene burger container, the soft drink cans and chip wrappers I find it interesting that in a bygone age we never had to be told to not throw our rubbish on the ground or out the car window. We never had to advertise with slogans like, ‘Dob in a Tosser’. …”
– Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers shares his 2017 Easter message.
‘I am the Good Shepherd…’
“Elections remind us how much we long for a leader who will bring us justice and peace, protection and prosperity. However, on every occasion our aspirations are dashed as leaders reveal their flaws and failures and self-interest. No one proves to be the leader we long for.
There is one exception: Jesus, who said, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’ …”
– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason meditates on John 10.
2017 Gospel Coalition Conference — expositions
From Justin Taylor:
“Here are the videos from the expository plenaries at the Gospel Coalition National Conference (April 3-5, 2017) in Indianapolis, with the theme of ‘No Other Gospel’.”
(Photo: Dr. Peter Adam, who, in his characteristic way, thanks Don Carson for his numerous visits to Australia.)
The Hypergrace of Joseph Prince: A Review of ‘Destined to Reign’
Joseph Prince is a charismatic pastor of a very large church in Singapore. He has written a number of popular books, but it is his emphasis on what is called ‘hypergrace’ that is raising quite a deal of discussion in Asia. His key book is entitled Destined to Reign: The secret to effortless success, wholeness and victorious living …
This review seeks to engage with his theology of hypergrace (though the term is not used in that book).
– While the book was published back in 2007, it is still influential. At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Bishop Paul Barker takes a look.
Know Why You Believe — free audiobook
An audiobook of Paul Little’s classic 1967 work, Know Why You Believe, is this month’s free download from Christian Audio.
Twenty resources on the Protestant Reformation
“2017 is the 500th anniversary of an event that strangely ignited the Protestant Reformation.
If you want to learn more about the Protestant Reformation, consider these helpful resources. I combed through about 800 relevant resources in my Zotero library and selected only twenty — including some picture books and videos.”
– Thanks to Andy Naselli who has compiled this useful list.
Romans commentary from David Peterson due in August
News from Dr. David Peterson:
“The commentary I have been working on since 2012 is finished and is due to be published on August 1st 2017. The series is called Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation. The publishers are B&H Publishing Group, Nashville Tennessee.
The series is based on the new Holman translation, simply called Christian Standard Bible (2017). But I have made a careful study of the Greek and brought this into the analysis of the text where necessary.
A particular feature of this series is the desire to relate the interpretation of each biblical book to the Bible’s story line and to explore theological themes in the light of biblical teaching more generally. I have done this for Romans in an extensive introduction, but have also demonstrated in the exegesis how Paul develops these themes. More details about the commentary and my approach to this book can be found in the folder on Romans on this website.”
Anglican Connection National Conference 2017 June 13-15
Registration is now open for the Anglican Connection National Conference, June 13-15 in Dallas.
This would be a wonderful encouragement to Anglicans in North America.
“Exploring practical ways we can build effective gospel-centered churches through the lens of the 16th-century reformers.
The gospel need in the USA today is great. So many have never heard; and so many others do not know what to believe.
The Anglican Connection conference offers ministers, church leaders, and members an opportunity to re-envision and refresh effective gospel-centered ministries.”
Gospel Speech Online
“I’ve written this Brief Book to help Christians to speak the gospel of the truth in love in the online world. I draw on principles of Christian speech from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In many ways it’s a sequel to my earlier book Gospel Speech. …”
– from Lionel Windsor at Forget the Channel. A very timely resource!
NEXUS17 coming up on April 3rd
NEXUS17 is at MBM Rooty Hill this year.
“Four outstanding talks, morning and afternoon tea, a spit-roast lunch, time to talk with old friends and meet new ones…”
Theme: The Reformation we need today.
Details at the Nexus website.
An FAQ on shaping your ministry culture around Disciple-making
“In 2009 a small Australian publisher quietly released a book entitled The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything, co-authored by Sydney Anglicans Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.
The book became an unlikely international bestseller, especially when Mark Dever offered his unsolicited endorsement that “This is the best book I’ve read on the nature of church ministry,” and began reading excerpts of the book aloud at conferences.
If you haven’t read it, you don’t need to. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor explains why you don’t need to read The Trellis and the Vine.
Why Christians should be punctual
“If you’re someone who is consistently late, are your reasons good? Maybe you’ve never even considered your lateness to be an issue. But have you thought about what it is that you’re (perhaps unintentionally) communicating to the person/people/event that you are late for? …”
– At GoThereFor.com, Kirsten McKinlay suggests five reasons why punctuality matters.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…