The seduction of pornography and the integrity of Christian marriage, Pt 1
“Not only have we severed sex from marriage, but as a society, we now look at marriage as an imposition, chastity as an embarrassment, and sexual restraint as a psychological hang-up. The doctrine of sin explains why we have exchanged the glory of God for Sigmund Freud’s concept of polymorphous perversity…”
– Albert Mohler begins a two-part series on the pornographic crisis gripping the western world.
Related:
Online safety resources (Communicate Jesus),
Avoiding pornography’s perils (SydneyAnglicans.net),
and Just1ClickAway (from John McDowell Ministry).
Josiah and the essentials underpinning reform
“And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (II Chronicles 34 : 2).
These words refer, of course, to King Josiah. They are noteworthy not least because in the Second Book of Chronicles, they form a summary, quite remarkably, of his thirty-one year reign in Jerusalem, beginning when he was a mere eight years old. Of how many kings and rulers can the same be said after the close of so lengthy a reign? …
– James Crabtree, Chairman of Church Society Council, looks to Josiah as an example of godliness. From the Spring 2012 edition of Cross†Way. (PDF file.)
Moore Matters — Winter 2012
The latest issue of Moore Matters (Winter 2012) is available from the Moore College website.
It’s a 4MB PDF file. Well worth downloading – and passing on to your friends. Grab your copy here.
Credo Magazine — May 2012
The latest issue of Credo Magazine is available online. Executive Editor Matthew Barrett writes:
“the title of this May’s issue of Credo Magazine is ‘Chosen by Grace’.
Timothy George starts us off by taking us into the mind of the colossal reformer Martin Luther, exploring how he understood the doctrine of predestination, particularly in light of his famous debate on the bondage of the will with Erasmus.
Then, Paul Helm navigates new territory, investigating the contours of Calvin’s first controversy on predestination with Bolsec.
Next, I look at three Pauline passages that support the unconditional nature of election, demonstrating that God’s choice is not made on the basis of anything within the sinner, including faith.
Bruce Ware follows with a piercing article on the relationship between election and suffering, showing that suffering is a means ordained by God to spread the gospel for the salvation of his elect.
And finally, Fred Zaspel concludes by introducing us to B. B. Warfield’s understanding of predestination and providence, and the relationship between the two.”
The 75 page issue is 20MB PDF download from this page.
Papers from the FCA leaders conference available
More papers from the FCA leaders conference in London have been uploaded to the GAFCON website.
See this page for the complete listing of resources from the GAFCON website.
The newly available papers are –
What is the Gospel? – from a seminar led by Drs Ngozi Okeke & Mark Thompson
A Summary of Anglican Ecclesiology – Ashley Null
16th Century Anglican Ecclesiology – Ashley Null
The Anglican Mind in Caroline and Tractarian Thought – Arthur MiddletonFaithful and Effective – Evangelism and Church Planting.
Queen’s Birthday Convention 2012
Coming up at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Monday June 11. Early bird before June 01.
Details here.
J I Packer interviewed by Carl Trueman
Carl Trueman recently interviewed Dr J I Packer. He writes, “the testimony to God’s grace in his own life, his reflections on the Puritans and on Lloyd-Jones and his advice to young ministers is invaluable”.
Wonderful interview – watch it here (16 minutes).
‘A table of the Lord’
Dr Barry Newman has been blogging on the meaning of the expression in 1 Corinthians 10: 21 –
“Focussing on the phrase, ‘a table of the Lord’, the aim of this blog series is to present a case that suggests that this phrase has nothing to do with any practice associated with a sacrament…”
– Barry has now posted the full series as a single PDF file on this page. You can follow his arguments and see what you think.
9Marks Journal – Wanted: Apostolic Pastors
“Jesus hasn’t called our churches to fulfill the great commission alone. So look up, look out, and see what encouragement and unexpected fruit God may have in store for you as you work to bless other pastors and churches…”
– The latest 9Marks Journal looks at caring for the work of the gospel outside your local patch.
Making the most of the Cross
“The second sermon I ever gave was a cracker. People told me! It was logical, engaging and humorous. I succeeded in explaining, illustrating and applying the Bible in a way that captivated the listeners. My girlfriend (now wife) even started to believe that I might have some hope of becoming a preacher! But, it’s time for public confession. I basically pinched the whole talk, idea for idea, point for point, from John Chapman.
I don’t think I was the first to do this, and I’m certain that I wasn’t the last. You see, I’d looked over the Bible passage again and again, and I couldn’t see any way to make it clearer than Chappo…”
– Dave McDonald commends Chappo’s book Making the Most of the Cross.
Prayers for Defence ministry
Our friends who minister to Australia’s Defence personnel would be very glad of your prayers on a regular basis.
There’s the current Prayer Diary (pdf) and other prayer resources at this link.
Simple Bible reading advice
“Wherever you settle on this question, be sure to ignore headings as much as possible. In fact, the best exegesis experience I ever had in the gospel of Mark was using a text without headings, paragraphs, or verses. Just 40 pages of a block of text with page and line numbers. A wonderful teaching tool I used for years and highly recommend.”
– In a discussion about ‘the spirituals’ in 1 Corinthians 12, Bill Mounce offers this advice for reading the Scriptures.
Is the Reformation over?
At last month’s Together for the Gospel conference, Carl Trueman spoke at a breakout session on ‘Why the Reformation isn’t over’. He gives five reasons why the Reformation matters in our churches today –
“The Centrality of the Cross, the Centrality of the Word, the Centrality of Assurance, the Centrality of the Pastor, and the Centrality of more than just the gospel.”
‘Tearing the Fabric’ — 2012 edition
An updated edition of ‘Tearing the Fabric’ (‘The Episcopal Church: Tearing the Fabric of communion to Shreds’) has been produced by The American Anglican Council.
It’s a very useful resource – and a sobering reminder of how a denomination can lose the gospel.
It can be downloaded from the AAC website (PDF file).
The main sections:
Catalog of Heresies: Quoting Episcopal Church Leaders
Fruits of TEC‘s Theology
Declining Membership
Litigation, Uncanonical Acts, and Harassment
How to Read the Bible Through the Jesus Lens
“This is a charming little book that gives an overview of every book of the Bible and how it relates to Jesus. … I wish all students would read a book like this before they came to Seminary…”
– Michael Bird (Crossway College, Brisbane) draws attention to Michael Williams’ book ‘How to Read the Bible Through the Jesus Lens’. Availability.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…