One-to-One Bible Reading
“There is something to be said for evangelism strategies and discipleship programs. My guess is that most churches have some way to introduce unbelievers to the Christian faith and to mature those who are new to the faith. I would guess as well that most churches keep an eye on the various new offerings, looking for what is original, what is interesting, what promises results.
But what if we’ve made it all too complicated? What if both evangelism and discipleship can be as simple as reading the Bible?”
– Tim Challies looks at One-to-One Bible Reading by David Helm.
Committed to actually reading the Bible?
In an article at SydneyAnglicans.net, Archbishop Glenn Davies observes,
“It is a strange phenomenon that we Sydney Anglicans, who are so devoted to our commitment to the teaching of the Bible, do not appear to be as devoted to our personal reading of the Bible…”
– Read his article, and then check out these resources –
- Two-Year reading plan from The Gospel Coalition.
- Many other Bible-reading resources via Justin Taylor.
- For the Love of God – Online version. Printed volumes.
- Reap Journal from Anglican Youthworks.
- Matthias Media resources.
- YouVersion Bible apps.
Lasting hope — at Munguishi Bible College
To help promote their Lasting Hope appeal, CMS Australia has posted several videos you could use in church or in small groups. The latest video features testimony from the Rev Nicholaus Charles, who has been studying at Munguishi Bible College in Tanzania.
There are also an encouragement from Archbishop Glenn Davies, and other recent videos here. Take the time to see them.
Emotional Preaching — Andrew Sach
In the latest ‘Preaching Matters’ from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, Andrew Sach speaks about preaching on a passage which is truly horrible.
Why Creeds?
“In every major service in the Prayer Book, the congregation recite one of three Creeds, helpfully laid out for us in Article VIII: ‘Of the Three Creeds’.
The Three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius’s Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture. …”
– At Church Society’s blog, Mark Smith writes to encourage saying of the Creeds.
Condemned Christian woman gives birth
“Meriam Ibrahim, a Christian woman who was sentenced to death in Sudan for apostasy, has given birth to a daughter…”
– Report from Barnabas Fund.
The Historical Reliability of the Gospel of Luke — Peter Williams
Dr. Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge, spoke at an event for St. Helen’s Bishopsgate last week.
His topic? “The Historical Reliability of the Gospel of Luke”. The 54 minute audio file and is well worth hearing and passing on.
Update: the video of the slides is now available.
Healed at Last — What promise am I given?
“When we bow our heads and bend our knees in prayer to the God of all creation, we participate in an impossibly privileged activity. To be able to meet with the one whom the Old Testament saints feared even to name, let alone look upon (lest they be consumed by his glory and die), should be a cause for great humility and no small amount of trembling. The Christian holds an astonishing status before God. On any day, at any time of the day, we may approach God to speak with him personally. We are to approach him as his own children—without fear and with confidence, but always in an attitude of reverent awe and deep respect.
Very often, however, it seems we forget that it is a privilege to come before our Father God – a privilege that Jesus won for us by his sacrifice on the cross. Too often Christians exhibit a bawdy familiarity that verges on contempt. Our regular presence in the throne room can cause us to develop a tendency towards carelessness and presumption, and our humble caution turns into disrespect.…”
– In this extract from his book “Healed at Last”, Scott Blackwell looks at how Christians should pray for healing, and what they should expect. But there’s much more to the extract than that.
Read it at The Briefing, and you can order the book here.
Reading the Bible — Regularly, carefully, prayerfully
The latest two posts by David Cook, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church, deal with sin, and reading the Bible (respectively). Here’s a quote from “Reading the Bible – Regularly, carefully, prayerfully”.
“Do you wonder how many people in church read the Bible regularly? The latest statistics I could find from the Bible Society are 19% read on a daily basis, 14% several times a week, 10.5% several times a moth. That means that more than half are not reading the Bible at all. We need to do something about this.”
The church David attends is seeking to do something.
Both posts are under Moderator General’s Comments (you may need to scroll down to 20 May 2014 to find them).
30 Days of Prayer
This year’s 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World prayer guide is now available from their website.
A very practical and heart-felt way to show love for Muslim people with a focus during Ramadan, June 28 – July 27.
NEXUS registration closes tomorrow
Thinking of going to the NEXUS Conference on Monday May 26th?
If so, bear in mind that registration closes on Wednesday May 21st.
‘How Jesus Became God’: A Review
“Ehrman’s core argument is that Jesus was a mere man who gradually, over time, came to be regarded as more and more divine, until he was ultimately (in the fourth century) regarded as the God of the universe.”
– At Reformation21, Mike Kruger (pictured) reviews Bart Ehrman’s latest book, “How Jesus Became God”.
Why so many churches hear so little of the Bible
“It is well and good for the preacher to base his sermon on the Bible, but he better get to something relevant pretty quickly, or we start mentally to check out.” That stunningly clear sentence reflects one of the most amazing, tragic, and lamentable characteristics of contemporary Christianity: an impatience with the Word of God.
The sentence above comes from Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today in an essay entitled, “Yawning at the Word.” In just a few hundred words, he captures the tragedy of a church increasingly impatient with and resistant to the reading and preaching of the Bible. We may wince when we read him relate his recent experiences, but we also recognize the ring of truth. …
– Albert Mohler writes on the famine of hearing the Word of God.
Investigating Paul’s backstory
“Paul Barnett, a leading historian of early Christianity, investigates the period sometimes labelled the ‘unknown years’ of Paul’s ministry (i.e. the 14 years between his Damascus Road experience and first missionary journey), in order to provide a foundation for interpreting Galatians. He convincingly accounts for Paul’s activities during that span, and offers a compelling interpretation of sections of Galatians based on his reconstruction…”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Moore College’s Philip Kern reviews Paul Barnett’s new book, Paul in Syria: The Background to Galatians. (Published by Paternoster in the UK, the book does not seem to be widely available just yet, but will be worth getting when it is. The ISBN is 9781842278536.)
Formulary Friday: Taking to heart
“We can tend to have a low view of memorisation – perhaps it conjures up those dreary school lessons spent reciting the kings and queens of England, or, still worse, we associate it with a dead spirituality, all outward forms and vain repetition. But, just as we might want to commit particular Scriptural verses or passages to memory, I’d like to suggest that we might find it helpful to do the same for parts of the liturgy – that liturgical familiarity is more often a friend than it is a foe.”
– Mark Smith at Church Society reckons it’s a good idea to open that Prayer Book. See why here.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…