The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, author of “The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert”, spoke recently at Wheaton College in Illinois. The video and audio files from her talk are now available.
Update: You are What – and How – You Read
“I just returned from a well-known (and well-heeled) Christian college, where roughly 100 demonstrators gathered on the chapel steps to protest my address on the grounds that my testimony was dangerous. Later that day, I sat down with these beloved students, to listen, to learn, and to grieve.”
TEC Annual Litigation Summary 2014
A. S. Haley, Christian lawyer and blogger (as The Anglican Curmudgeon) has provided a comprehensive list of legal action by (and against) The Episcopal Church of the USA.
See also: How Much Has ECUSA Spent on Lawsuits? (Updated Jan. 2014).
J. I. Packer on Personal Holiness
“At the age of 87, Dr. Packer is not travelling to lecture much these days, but a few weeks ago (January 16th, 2014) he spoke at the Trinity School for Ministries on a subject of his choice.
He says that his desire in his remaining days is to ‘campaign for a renewal of personal holiness, as a project, as a focus of interest, as a reality – which our churches need, which our country needs, which the world needs at this time in its history’.”
– Justin Taylor has the link. 51 minutes. Well worth watching and contemplating.
Things we’ll never say once we’re in Heaven
Here’s a thought-provoking reflection on Romans 8:18. (h/t Steve Kryger and many others.)
The power of The Search
The Diocese of Sydney’s Department of Evangelism and New Churches has released a couple of videos on how to use The Search – the special edition of the Gospel of Luke produced for the ‘Jesus Brings’ mission.
The Prayer of the Lord — free eBook
During February 2014, Ligonier Ministries’ Reformation Trust is giving away the eBook edition of R.C. Sproul’s The Prayer of the Lord.
To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism
The Anglican Church in North America has released an updated Catechism for their Province. Dr J I Packer is the General Editor. (h/t Anglican Ink.)
Related:
Fighting heresy in churches and small groups. – Interview with Jim Packer.
The Good News We Almost Forgot. – Tim Challies reviews Kevin DeYoung’s book on the Heidelberg Catechism.
The New City Catechism – Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York via Andy Naselli.
Revolutionary Sex
From St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London –
“Our recent sermon series ‘Revolutionary Sex’ gave us opportunity to examine the Bible’s teaching on marriage, sex, sexuality and singleness. William Taylor helpfully pointed out that in a society that is confused about these issues the Bible calls Christians everywhere to be sexual revolutionaries.”
See the videos here:
1. The Call to Revolution.
2. Revolutionary Sex and the Gospel.
3. Same Gender Sex.
4. Singleness and Marriage.
5. Q&A Compilation.
Audio files at this link.
Update: William Taylor talks about the rationale behind the series in the latest Preaching Matters (9 minute video).
Praying for ‘Jesus Brings’
This weekend, Anglican churches across Sydney and the Illawarra will be uniting in prayer to the Lord of the Harvest as we commit into his hands the “Jesus Brings” mission.
Archbishop Glenn Davies has recorded a brief message of encouragement to be shown this Sunday.
Amazing Grace’s lasting impact — the John Newton story
Marylynn Rouse from The John Newton Project was interviewed about the impact of the hymn “Amazing Grace”. Along the way, she spoke about the background to the hymn, and about John Newton’s conversion.
Most encouraging – see it on Vimeo.
Latimer Fellowship website updated
The Latimer Fellowship of New Zealand have updated their website.
Prosperity Gospel
The latest 9Marks Journal is on the topic of the Prosperity Gospel. Editor Jonathan Leeman writes:
“Here’s a prediction: as Western culture increasingly turns against Christianity, the prosperity gospel will keep growing, at least for a time. …
This trade is hot! God wants to provide you with gabled double-front doors, leather interiors, satisfying sex, and an all-around better you. It’s like a wedding between a Wall Street shark and a self-help guru, all decked out in the paraphernalia of a Christian bookstore.”
– Download the latest issue here.
What did Jesus say?
“Here are three accusations commonly levelled at Christian teaching:
One, people like to drive a wedge between Jesus and rest of the Bible and Christian tradition. So we often hear it said: ‘the God of the Old Testament is harsh and judgemental; the New Testament God is kind and loving’…
Two, the importance of sexual morality is often downplayed compared with other aspects of human life. ‘Why is the church obsessed with sex?’ people complain. …
Three, the dominant narrative about religion in the media is this: ‘The church must change, or it will be irrelevant’…”
– At last week’s “Setting Love in Order” conference in the UK, Anglican Mainstream’s Andrew Symes spoke on “Homosexual orientation and practice: what did Jesus say?”. Here’s the paper on which he based his talk.
Taking God Seriously
Here’s a challenging video clip from Dr J I Packer on Taking God Seriously.
It’s a subtle promotion for the book of the same name – the video was published almost a year after the book.
Runs for 1:52 at Vimeo. Well worth passing on the link.
About the book, Carl Trueman writes:
“Like many people, I first discovered what it meant ‘to take God seriously’ through reading J. I. Packer’s books. It is thus an honour and a delight to be asked to write a commendation for his latest work, a basic catechetical plea for sober, modest, thoughtful and orthodox theology.
In a church world dominated by Barnum and Bailey circus antics and the brash triviality borrowed from the world around in the name of ‘engagement,’ Dr. Packer remains a truly engaging and gentlemanly advocate for those old paths which are ever fresh.”
Related: Dr Packer’s most recent sermon preached at St. John’s Vancouver, 5th January 2014 – on John 4:1-45.
Australia Day Convention 2014
The 2014 Australia Day Convention at the Cathedral is coming up on Monday 27th January.
Phillip Jensen, Neil Foster and Mark Thompson are the speakers, and the early-bird rates end soon.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…