ACR Journal Autumn 2023 now available
There’s much worthwhile reading in the just-released copy of the Autumn 2023 ACR Journal –
Editorial: Taste and see that the Lord is good – Mike Leite
The law of the Lord is perfect – Andrew Leslie
Created male and female: Reflections on Genesis 1-3 – Gav Perkins
God’s goodness in 1 Timothy – Lionel Windsor
Interview: William Taylor – Micky Mantle
How to preach truth yet teach falsely – Mike Leite
A God worth trembling before: Isaiah 66 – Craig Schafer
Preaching a good and powerful word – Paul Grimmond
Will we be teachers who tremble at His Word? – Phil Colgan
Reflections: An interview with Phillip Jensen – Ben George
Displaying God’s love daily: School chaplain interviews – Stephen Tong
This is the Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God – Mark Earngey
You are enough, and other lies we like to swallow – Jocelyn Loane
Richard Johnson: Chaplain under fire – Stephen Tong
From the vault: The evangelical heritage – Archbishop Howard Mowll
From the vault: The cross and the resurrection – John Stott
Book review: Eager to serve by Ray Galea – Ben Pfahlert
Book review: The Doctrine of Scripture: An Introduction by Mark Thompson – Andrew Leslie
Book review: The Life of Faith: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine by Peter Jensen – Sandy Grant
Book review: Biblical critical theory by Christopher Watkin – Rory Shiner.
Download your copy from The Australian Church Record.
THAT’S EASTER — Life to Death – and Death to Life
Back in 2010, St. Helen’s Bishopsgate released this video.
Good to share (again).
See also THAT’S EASTER Death to Life:
Book launch – Peter Jensen’s The Life of Faith: An Introduction to Christian doctrine
Moore College has now uploaded the video of the launch of Peter Jensen’s new book, The Life of Faith: An Introduction to Christian doctrine.
Do watch the full video – Peter speaks about his purpose in the book, and explains his use in the lecture room of some of the books he brought along. Very encouraging.
Get your copy of The Life of Faith: An Introduction to Christian doctrine from Matthias Media.
Correlations between leadership behaviours and ministry burnout
This week from The Pastor’s Heart:
“What is the relationship between clergy leadership behaviors and burnout?
How does destructive leadership behaviour relate to burnout?
What about conflict at church? How does a minister being the target of personal violence correlate to thoughts of quitting? “
Valerie Ling leads the Sydney’s Center for Effective Living and Center for Effective Serving.”
Seize the Day — Mothers Union Sydney seminar 2023
Mothers Union Sydney’s Annual Seminar for 2023 was held at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Friday 24th February.
The theme was “Seize the Day – Work and Rest in the light of Eternity”.
A recording of the full livestream is now available on the Mothers Union website.
Speakers and topics on the day were:
- The God of All Our Days – Ruth Schroeter
- Days Well Spent – Paul and Cathy Grimmond
- Parenting for the Days to Come – Ruth Baker
The accompanying booklet is available at this link.
2023 Moore College Graduation – Occasional Address
The 2023 Moore College Graduation service was held on March 20.
The College has now published video of the occasional address given by the Rev Don West, Principal of Trinity Theological College in Perth.
Don speaks from 2 Corinthians 4:1-18.
Elon Musk, Apple co-founder, other tech experts call for pause on ‘giant AI experiments’
“Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and a host of other tech leaders and artificial intelligence experts are urging AI labs to pause development of powerful new AI systems in an open letter citing potential risks to society.
The letter asks AI developers to ‘immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.’…”
Related:
John Anderson speaks with Professor John Lennox on Artificial Intelligence.
“In 2020, Lennox published 2084 – Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity, which covers key developments in technological enhancement, bioengineering and AI. In the book, he discusses the current state of AI – its benefits, dangers and future implications. …”
“This is not futuristic speculation – this is already happening.”
The King?
“On that first Palm Sunday there were joy, acclamation, and tears. Yet, five days later the unthinkable occurred: Jesus was put to death by crucifixion. The contrast between the first Palm Sunday when crowds acclaimed Jesus as king and the day he was strung up on a cross, could not have been more stark. …”
– John Mason reflects on the twin themes of Palm Sunday and Good Friday – at The Anglican Connection.
Sin, addictions and faith based therapy
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“How do we as pastors help people with addictions? Addictions to alcohol, gambling, narcotics, gaming and sex addictions.
How much is sin? How much is addiction?
Penny Wilkinson and her husband Andrew direct the Overcomers Outreach ministry and the Overcomers Place in Sydney.”
– Watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart. Very helpful.
Why it’s not enough to be a ‘Bible teaching Church’
“When my appointment to St Andrew’s Cathedral was announced about 18 months ago, a godly old Methodist minister wrote to me. He kindly thanked me for my ministry in Wollongong but added this note of caution: ‘Don’t let your boast be, “We are a Bible teaching church”. But rather, like St Paul… “We preach Christ, and him crucified”.’
Was my older Methodist colleague right? …”
– Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.
(Also published in the current Southern Cross magazine.)
Preaching Hope on Good Friday
“The late Professor Chris O’Brien, after whom the Life House is named at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital said, ‘Everyone needs hope, we live on hope’.
We normally associate hope with resurrection and so preach hope on Easter Sunday, but this year I am going to preach hope on Good Friday.
The Christian life is full of hope because hope is based on promise, and God reveals himself as the God who makes promises to his people. His promises are the basis of our hope. …”
– David Cook has this encouragement for preachers at The Expository Preaching Trust.
Photo: David Cook at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in August 2022.
A prayer for the NSW State election
From Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant:
Almighty God and Loving Heavenly Father, we humbly ask you to direct the hearts of those who seek election to our state parliament, and of us as we exercise our democratic freedoms.
May we vote unselfishly for the common good.
Protect politicians from the temptation of self-serving. Enable them to make realistic promises and help them keep their word.
Uphold those elected to serve in the new Parliament through all the heavy demands that come upon them, that they may serve with integrity.
May the decisions of our parliaments, state and federal, lead to the safety and welfare of this country, so that peace and happiness, truth and justice may be established among us. Amen.
March — April 2023 issue of Southern Cross now out
The March — April 2023 issue of Southern Cross magazine, produced by Anglican Media Sydney, is out now.
Copies will be available in churches.
As well, you can download a PDF version, or read online, at sydneyanglicans.net/about/southerncross.
Moore College welcomes back Peter Jensen to launch his latest book on The Life of Faith
“On Tuesday night Matthias Media held a book launch for Peter Jensen’s new book The Life of Faith: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine at Moore College. The event was a resounding success, drawing an engaged and enthusiastic audience of over 80 people.
Peter’s book is the fruit of his more than thirty years of teaching Christian doctrine. Many graduates during Peter’s time as Principal of Moore College can testify to the brilliance of his teaching and the invaluable resource his lecture notes have been over the years. These are now, freshly edited, available more widely. …”
– Full report and photos at the Moore College website.
Photo: Archbishop Kanishka Raffel, Carmelina Read and Archbishop Peter Jensen with the new book. Courtesy Moore College.
How can we best support gospel growth beyond our church? — with Mikey Lynch
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“How might our church best relate to other organisations (churches, denominations and parachurches) who are also engaged in the grand cause of reaching the world for Christ?
What is the difference between a church and parachurch and how might they best interact? …
Mikey Lynch is a Director of Reach Australia and is the new editorial director for the Gospel Coalition Australia. Mikey leads the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students staff team doing ministry in Hobart at the University of Tasmania.
Matthias Media have just released his new book ‘The Vine Movement – supporting gospel growth beyond your church.’…”
And also note how you can support the coming “Heart of GAFCON” broadcasts from Kigali.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…