The book on truth a government wanted to censor

“When the Rev Dr Lionel Windsor set out to write a book on the importance of objective truth in a post-truth world, he never imagined it would be so controversial that a significant overseas government would want to censor it.

Yet before Truth be Told even hit bookstore shelves, it was proving why it was so necessary. …”

– Recently, SydneyAnglicans.net featured Lionel Windsor’s book Truth Be Told. (It was also in the May-June Southern Cross magazine.)

For a promotion with a difference, you can now see the book’s (mostly true) Photo Tour.

Jesus’ Prayer: (1) Glorify

“Our prayers say a great deal about us. Are your prayers like that of AA Milne’s, Christopher Robin who, in the midst of his child-like bedtime prayers, prayed that God would bless his parents as well as himself?

Or do your prayers reflect the shape of the honest and humble yet bold petitionary prayers of people such as Moses, David and Daniel or the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples?

In John chapter 17 we read Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his arrest. It’s a prayer that tells us a great deal about him and his relationship with God the Father, his concern for his disciples, as well his concern for all his people throughout time.

Over three Wednesdays I’ll be touching on these three themes. …”

– John Mason begins a three-part reflection in his Word on Wednesday series at The Anglican Connection.

Acting like men? – with Phillip Jensen, Craig Hamilton, Adrian Russell and Robin Kinstead

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“What is it to be #likeaman? There are not many places in the New Testament where men are spoken to specifically.

Today we are thinking about being a Christian man.

In the ESV and NASB the translation of 1 Corinthians 16:13 has ‘Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong’. (ESV)

But what does that mean? Dominic Steele put that question to panelists at the recent Men Meeting the challenge conference:

Adrian Russell, senior minister of Northmead Anglican Church.
Craig Hamilton, senior minister at Pitt town.
Robin Kinstead, senior minister of Figtree Anglican.
And Phillip Jensen who heads up Two Ways Ministries.”

– Watch or listen here.

Church Society Podcast: Kirsten Birkett on Class

From Church Society, an Australian looks at Class:

“In this week’s podcast, Lee Gatiss chats to Kirsten Birkett about her new book on class in the evangelical church in England. English evangelical churches are overwhelmingly middle-class – but why is the gospel of Christ not bringing in people from all walks of life? The issue of class is a challenge for all biblically-minded churches.”

– Very English – and yet, which people groups in Australia are not being reached with the gospel? And how can we reach them?

Alistair Begg on 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Fulfil your Ministry

At a Truth for Life conference for pastors last month, Alistair Begg spoke on 2 Timothy 4:1-8, “Fulfil Your Ministry”.

A great encouragement on a Monday morning, especially for pastors.

This link seems to default to an audio recording. If so, click on the toggle switch just above the Player window to Watch.

Preaching Mentoring

“Part of the ministry of the Expository Preaching Trust is to provide preaching mentors.

The Trust has five experienced preachers who offer mentoring on a regular, usually weekly, basis.

The mentor usually listens to the mentee’s Sunday sermon and then they reflect together on the sermon’s engagement with the Bible text and the people. …”

– Read about this extraordinarily gracious offer to preachers from The Expository Preaching Trust.

David Cook speaks with Mark Powell on Preaching, for the AP’s Australian Christian Life Podcast.

Really encouraging.

Strategies to increase the retention of the children of members

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“There are three different ways that the adult population of churches can grow:

Adults being saved.
Christians transferring from another congregation within your denomination of switching from another denomination.
Children of members growing up in the church and taking on their parents faith for themselves.

Most evangelical churches – even growing churches – are underperforming in the first and third ways. …”

– At The Pastor’s Heart this week, Dominic Steele speaks with Al James from Sydney Anglican Youthworks.

Make the Main Thing the Main Thing on Sundays

“If everything in a church needs to change, where should a pastor start? I want to offer a convictional testimony for making the Bible the main course on Sunday. Every other change should follow. …”

– At 9Marks, Bret Capranica has encouragement for pastors.

Fact-Checking a popular story of Christian origins

“The latest book by bestselling author and controversial Australian feminist Clementine Ford is I Don’t: The Case Against Marriage (Allen & Unwin, 2023).

She wants this book to not only dissuade people from getting married but also ‘to end marriages’, because of the harm they bring to women.

This article isn’t about her main thesis, but the striking way she begins her case against marriage. The very first step Ford takes is to outline the history of Christianity and so discount the moral authority of the church. …”

– Robert Martin at Northcote Baptist Church in Melbourne does a spot of fact-checking for The Gospel Coalition Australia. This could be helpful if you have friends who are reading the book.

Who will champion marriage? – Marriage Foundation via Anglican Mainstream. The linked story includes some interesting charts.

Singing as Spiritual Formation

“Churches in Australia go to incredible lengths to sing together. Typically, churches do not have the resources to do music as they’d like. What’s more, views differ on the place of music in church life. Yet Sunday after Sunday, the church sings.

Over the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of visiting churches throughout Australia to help in music ministry training. Almost all have been struggling to motivate their congregations to sing heartily, and to develop bands that lead the congregation well. Some church music teams are thriving – praise God! Yet mostly, churches are just getting by. I know of churches where faithful music teams are few in number and exhausted. I know of churches with no musicians – they sing along to YouTube videos in their services instead. I have served on staff as Music Pastor at three evangelical churches (2 in Sydney, 1 in Melbourne), each holding slightly different views on the place of singing and seeking to lovingly engage with congregational expectations of singing’s purpose and song choices. Perhaps these are familiar scenarios. Music ministry is complex.

And yet I’ve not encountered a single church that has excluded singing from its gatherings. Singing on Sundays – some way, somehow – seems to be a non-negotiable. …”

– Greg Cooper published this article back in March at EFAC Australia.

Image: gregcoopermusic.com

Making Sense of Suffering, Part 1 — Don Carson

From The Gospel Coalition, a Carson Center Podcast:

“Don Carson outlines six theological pillars for a biblical understanding of suffering.

Looking into the philosophical problem of suffering, he references David Hume’s skepticism about God’s goodness in light of pervasive hardship, and he challenges his audience to consider how to reconcile the existence of a loving, omnipotent God with the reality of suffering.

A faith that remains steadfast despite life’s trials requires a deep trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness, which can sustain believers through the deepest valleys of suffering. …”

– Listen or read the transcript here.

How should we teach artificial intelligence morality?

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“A new massive ethical question has risen up with the advent of artificial intelligence.

How will people decide what kind of morality to give to their artificial intelligence creations?

There will need to be a morality. But what should it be?

The market is already making different choices.

Elon Musk has said he wants the AI behind X (formerly Twitter) to be morally flexible. He wants his AI to appeal to all people: left and right, authoritarian and democratic, kind and brutal …

Stephen Driscoll is the author of ‘Made in our Image – God, artificial intelligence and you’.”

– Watch or listen here.

Martin Salter Interview on Acts

From Church Society:

“In the podcast this week, Martin Salter talks about his new commentary on the book of Acts, in the new Hodder Bible Commentary series, in which the gospel spreads from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, and people learn what it is to live for Jesus.

We hear about the battles that follow – battles in the spiritual realm, and the persecution of Christians as they preach the gospel.

Martin also talks about how we read biblical narrative and what that means for applying Scripture today.”

– Listen here.

King’s Birthday Conference 2024: A Post Christian Christ?

From Phillip Jensen:

“The annual King’s Birthday Conference is coming up… This year, I will be joined by my nephew David Jensen as together we will explore the question of ‘A post Christian Christ?’.

Together, we will look at the gospel’s message in a world that tries to bypass Jesus. Many Australians may have lost connection with organised religion, but Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, has not finished with them. How do we tell people, who do not want to hear, of the Saviour they are ignoring before they meet him as their Judge?

Please join us on the afternoon of Monday June 10th from 1:30-5:00pm at Moore Theological College, Sydney. There will a Q & A time after the sessions and afternoon tea will be provided.

If you are outside Sydney, there will be a live-stream option (Q&A not included), so why not gather a group of friends to join us together online?”

– See all the details, and register, at this link.