What to look for in a theological college
Moore Theological Principal Mark Thompson was asked what people should look for in a theological college. It’s a good question. He begins his answer by speaking about Moore –
“Moore College exists for one reason: to see Christ and his gospel proclaimed in all the world. We want everyone in this city to hear what God has done in Christ and have an opportunity to respond with repentance, faith and a new life. We want to see them knit into local churches and built up in the faith. We want to see them being shaped in the way they think and the way they live by the Bible’s message about God and his purpose, with its focus on his Son.
But there’s more than that. Our vision is not limited to one city or one denomination. We want to see men and women in every nation and people-group on this planet hear the good news of Jesus and be brought from darkness to light. So at the heart of what we do is a message: God’s message about his Son. And that message gives us the twin priorities of mission and ministry.”
Mark goes on to outline what people should look for in any theological college:
“Without doubt the first answer is ‘Look at the faculty’. Don’t just ask whether they are clever, well-qualified, skilled in teaching, with a long list of publications to their name, and all of that. No doubt at least some of that’s important. You want to be taught by people who will stretch you and help you grow in the knowledge of God. But more important is the orientation of the faculty…”
Read it all here at Moore’s ThinkTank blog.
The good God who speaks
“It is a sad feature of our moment in time that Christians are ridiculed for their confidence in the Bible as the word of God and that this ridicule has an edge of suspicion about it. Our appeal to the Bible is understood by some as a personal power-play. We are simply trying to impose our own opinion or our own religious preferences.
Others suggest even darker motives. Five decades ago a visiting American evangelist could repeat ‘the Bible says …’ and Sydney took notice. Hundreds of thousands wanted to know what the Bible says, what God says. What he has to say changes everything for good. Today, however, the response is more often ‘How do you know?’ or ‘Why should I listen to your inhumane religious bigotry?’…”
– Posted back in 2014, Moore College Principal Mark Thompson writes with a reminder that genuine Christian discipleship involves a serious commitment to the Bible as the word of God.
Related:
A Small Alteration, A Significant Statement – Change To Ordination Vows – Gary Ware on a proposal to change the ordination vows of Ministers and Elders in the Presbyterian Church of Australia.
Moore College School of Theology 2016
This year’s Moore College School of Theology is planned for Thursday 15th September.
“Come with us on a journey from sin and death to redemption and new life, in a series of master classes on the value of theology for the life of the church at the 2016 Moore College School of Theology.”
Some Kindle deals worth checking
Tim Challies writes, “Today’s Kindle deals [12 September 2016] include a bunch by Matthias Media! I don’t think I’ve ever seen deals from them before. …
The Trellis and the Vine and The Vine Project by Colin Marshall & Tony Payne; How To Walk Into Church by Tony Payne; The Archer and the Arrow by Philip Jensen & Paul Grimmond.”
These deals generally don’t last long. (Some seem to have disappeared already, so be quick.)
Victorian challenge to religious freedom of faith-based organisations
Here’s an important post from Law and Religion Australia’s Neil Foster:
“On 30 August 2016 the Victorian Attorney-General introduced into the Victorian lower house the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Religious Exceptions) Bill 2016.
The Bill proposes to “amend the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to modify the religious exceptions in relation to the employment of a person by religious bodies and schools”.
I would like to suggest that, if enacted, it will fundamentally impair the religious freedom of faith-based organisations. In fact, it might also be found to be constitutionally invalid and of no effect. …
The effect of the amendments … is to seriously undercut the religious freedom of many religious schools and charitable organisations, and indeed to undermine the very reason for their existence.”
Thinking about The End — Preaching Matters
In the latest Preaching Matters from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, William Taylor discusses what 2 Peter 3, and other passages, teach about The End.
How does our understanding of The End influence the way we live today?
What does the New Testament’s teaching about The End say to us about where our affections should lie and where we should invest ourselves?
What is distinctive about Preaching?
“People read their Bibles at home. People go to Bible studies. Children and young people are taught the Bible. So members of churches are hearing the words of God all the time. What is different about the Sunday sermon? What is distinctive about the Sunday sermon is that is addressed to the church?
It is the one time in the week when…
- God’s people hear God’s words collectively, as a body.
- God addresses the corporate life, the shared common life, of his people.
- The people of God gather around the word of God, and
- God is present among his people to speak to them about their common life.
The Sunday sermon is therefore the moment in the week when the people of God together meet the word of God and and so the role of preachers of God’s word to God’s people is one of immense worth and unique importance. In our weekly sermon God’s people gather around God and hear him speak to them through his Spirit-inspired Scriptures. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Dr. Peter Adam asks, “What is distinctive about preaching, and how does it differ from other ministries of the Word?”
Read Part 1 and Part 2. (Image via St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Persevering with the Desperate
Simon Manchester’s exposition on 1 Kings 19 at the recent Evangelical Ministry Assembly in London is a great encouragement to all in pastoral ministry.
(The theme of this year’s EMA was ‘Leaders who last’.)
(He also spoke on Persevering with the disobedient, Exodus 34; and Persevering with the dull, Mark 6.)
Archbishop preaches at Moore College Chapel
Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Glenn Davies, was the guest preacher this morning at the Moore College Chapel.
He spoke on Hebrews 12, godly disciple, and the reality of suffering in the Christian life.
Listen to the 22 minute sermon (11MB mp3 file) here.
Can we talk about Same-Sex Marriage?
“Can we talk about Same-Sex Marriage?” is the topic for the next Centre for Christian Living event at Moore College.
“There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, says the Bible (Eccl 3:7). What time is it, then, when the subject of same-sex marriage comes up around the watercooler? Should Christians speak up on the topic—in our personal conversations, and in the public square? And if we do, how can we talk in a way that is loving, gracious and truthful?”
When: 7:30pm — 9:30pm, Wednesday 19th October.
Where: Moore College, 15 King Street, Newtown.
Speakers: Michael Kellahan and Tony Payne.
Book through the Centre for Christian Living.
‘Jesus & the Ten Gospels’ – New College Lectures with Dr Simon Gathercole
Dr Simon Gathercole is giving this year’s New College Lectures on September 20 and 22.
“Some of the most widely published challenges to the Christian faith today have come in the publicity surrounding the “apocryphal” Gospels not included in the Christian Bible.
The idea that there is nothing particularly special about the four New Testament Gospels has appeared in both the popular media and in Biblical scholarship, from references to the Gospel of Philip in the Da Vinci Code, to the publication by the Harvard Theological Review of the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” fragment.
These lectures will discuss the relevance of these Gospels outside of the Bible, comparing them with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”
– Free entry, but RSVP essential. Details from New College.
Homesick for heaven?
At The Next Level conference in Sydney, two weeks ago, Professor D A Carson spoke on Revelation 7:9-17 and the need to be ‘homesick for heaven’.
Sober, Christ-honouring, and very encouraging.
Reformation History Tour
From Moore College:
“In 2017, the Reverend Dr Michael Jensen, Rector of Darling Point Anglican Church, will be leading a tour of the key Reformation sites of Europe. The tour will run from 26 April to 12 May and is being organised by 316 Tours Faith Travel. The group will travel from Prague, through Germany and Switzerland, finishing in England.
Moore College MA (Theol) students can participate in this study tour as a component of the Reformation History Tour unit, lectured by Dr Ed Loane (Lecturer, Theology and Church History).”
– Interested? Details here.
Evidence–based debate about LGBT issues?
“If you all you know about gender and sexuality comes from reading headlines, it’s an open and shut case. …
So the nature of homosexuality and transsexualism is settled, incontrovertible, and beyond dispute? Yes, but only in newspapers, not in academia.
A landmark survey of decades of research by two eminent scholars working in the United States claims that many of these assertions are simply not supported by the weight of evidence in scholarly journals. …”
– Report from MercatorNet – with a link to ‘Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences’ – and an introductory video.
From the Archives: Evangelical Religion — by Bishop J.C. Ryle
“Since many religious disputes have arisen solely because there has been a lack of accurate definition, I am beginning this paper by explaining exactly what I mean by ‘Evangelical Religion’.
I want to consider that religion which is peculiar to those within the Church of England who are normally called “the Evangelical Party”. Whether we like it, or not; whether it is right or not, it must be agreed that there are varying schools of thought within the Church of England, with many divisions and shades of opinion even within the various parties. Here I am concerned with the unmistakable and undeniable tenets of the Evangelical school which, I maintain, are worth contending for…”
Bishop Ryle wrote these words in the 1870s, but they could just as well have been written yesterday.
His main headings:
WHAT EVANGELICAL RELIGION IS
WHAT EVANGELICAL RELIGION IS NOT
WHAT MAKES MUCH RELIGION APPEAR TO US NOT EVANGELICAL?
THE PRESENT DUTIES OF EVANGELICALS.
Read it in our Resources section.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…