The Draft Religious Discrimination Bill and possible impact on healthcare professionals

Associate Professor Neil Foster presented a paper tonight on the topic “The Draft Religious Discrimination Bill and possible impact on healthcare professionals” at the meeting of the Newcastle University Clinical Unit in Ethics and Health Law.

He has made his paper available for download at Law and Religion Australia.

Reformation Day 2019 Acquisition for Moore College


“To mark Reformation Day this year (2019), Moore Theological College is pleased to announce the acquisition of an important Martin Luther volume. This particular book is the sixth part of the great Wittenberg Reformer’s Books and Writings published in 1557. …”

– Read the news at the Moore College website.

FREE2BME Religious Freedom Event in Blacktown, Monday 18 November

Mark Tough, Rector of St. Clement’s Lalor Park and Kings Langley, is advertising a Religious Freedom Event on Monday November 18 at 7pm at the Bowman Hall in Blacktown.

He writes, “We have a great line up of speakers – John Steenhof from the Human Rights Law Alliance, Professor Michael Quinlan from the University of Notre Dame Australia, Michelle Rowland MP the Federal Member for Greenway, and the Hon. John Anderson AO, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.

The event is free but people need a ticket in order to gain entry. Tickets can be obtained at https://www.trybooking.com/BFRMK.”

Download the flyer (1.6MB PDF file) with all the details, and be encouraged to share it widely. See also the Free2BMe Facebook page.

Mark Tough has recorded this video to encourage you to come along.

Moore College Spring Carnival, Saturday 26 October

“A day to come along and check out the College, get an insight into Moore’s in-depth theological training, tour our new building, plus have all your questions answered by faculty and students. A presentation overviewing the College is followed by a tour of the new building with lunch to follow. Meals are our shout, but RSVP is essential for catering purposes.”

– Details from Moore College.

The Bible and Same-Sex Marriage: An Overview from Ridley College

“Our purpose in writing this brief letter is to support our fellow Anglicans in wrestling with this issue by offering a summary of the scholarly discussion over what the Bible teaches on homosexuality, and an explanation for why we believe the traditional path on marriage and sexuality is the one that Christ is calling us to take.”

– Ridley College, Melbourne, has issued an open letter affirming the Biblical doctrine of marriage.

As David Ould notes, this is a significant contribution to the conversation among Australian Anglicans, especially in the light of the unilateral action of the Diocese of Wangaratta.

The ACL’s Pre-Synod Podcast

Check out the ACL’s 2019 Pre-Synod Briefing Podcast to get a feel for some of the key issues coming up at Sydney Synod.

Produced by the Anglican Church League as a service to members of Synod.

Listen here.

The big mistake many secular people make about religious discrimination

“There’s a big mistake many secular people make about religious discrimination.

It’s a mistake I’ve seen repeated many times. Even by (or especially by) educated secular commentators. This mistake is a fairly recent one. But it’s impact is serious: it’s eroding religious freedom in Australia. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Akos Balogh thinks there’s a better way of understanding the issues.

Resilience

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart (2 Corinthians 4:1). The trouble is, in ministry it can be only too easy to lose heart.

So begins Birkett’s short and incisive work that details her research into the idea of resilience and Christian ministry. This is much needed, given that burnout is all too common in ministry.

What sets Birkett’s work out from the crowd is that she is not writing a survival plan. …”

– At Church Society’s blog, Aled Seago commends Resilience, a new book by Kirsty Birkett.

Seven ways you can contribute to better Public Discourse

“Paul D. Miller, professor of the practice of international affairs at Georgetown University, recently authored a white paper for the ERLC [Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention] on ‘Faith and Healthy Democracy.’ …

Here are their seven encouragements for individuals and families to be healthier contributors for the common good.”

– From Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition.

One encouragement: Put down your smart phone, and don’t give them to kids.

What do you want to become? (Ephesians 5:5–7)

“What do you want to become? When you close your eyes and picture yourself in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, what will you have become? What do you hope for, pray for, and plan for? …”

– Don’t be deceived, Lionel Windsor at Moore College has some encouragement for you from God’s word.

Books of the Reformation: An Interactive Exhibition

On Monday, 28 October 20129, from 6:30 pm, Moore College is running a free event as part of the NSW State Library’s Sydney Rare Book Week.

Booking here.

Dr Peter Jones on The Arrival of the Post-Secular Age

Reformers Bookshop in Stanmore is hosting an event with Dr. Peter Jones, Executive Director of TruthXChange in Los Angeles, on Monday 21st October at 7:00pm.

Details here.

Dr. Jones is also speaking at the Australian Christian Lobby’s “Not Ashamed” 2019 National Conference in Sydney on Saturday 19th October. See the short video of Dr Jones on this page.

Crowd Madness and The New Religion of The West

“ ‘There are 2 gunman at the university – tell your friends on campus’.

The text arrives from a friend, who knows I’m often on campus. But I can’t believe it: surely this is spam?

So I ring my friend to confirm. Yes, the text is legit: A collegue of his has a contact at the university.There really are gunmen at Southern Cross University in Lismore.

I well up with anxiety. My head starts racing. Is this really happening?…

But the herd mentality isn’t limited to stressful rumours about active shooters (as bad as they are). Any idea can lead to herd mentality, as it spreads among a population.”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Akos Balogh draws some helpful ideas for Christians from a new book about western culture.

Submission on the Religious Freedom draft laws

Associate Professor Neil Foster shares his personal submission on the Government’s package of draft laws on Religious Freedom – at Law and Religion Australia.

If you would like to make your own submission, you have until 5:00 pm on Wednesday 2nd October 2019.

The Moon is Always Round

“In one of those wonderful gifts of God in the midst of darkness, I received a copy of Jonny Gibson’s book The Moon is Always Round only a day before hearing that the New South Wales parliament had failed to protect the most vulnerable in society and had passed its Abortion Bill.

Though the Bill received some significant amendments, its basic thrust remains and we have descended further into a culture of death where life has no intrinsic value, only what we decide to give it. If you want this child, that’s OK. Go ahead and carry the child to full term and share your life with her or him. But if you do not want this child, for whatever reason, then this life is expendable, disposable. It was a tragic piece of news to hear that this Bill had been passed. The darkness encroaches even further.

Enter Jonny Gibson’s book. …”

– Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson commends a book about a sensitive and important topic.

It’s available locally from Reformers Bookshop.

David Ould also has a review.:

“In The Moon is Always Round Jonathan Gibson has given us a fine gift – the tragedy of the stillbirth of his daughter turned into a book to help children process suffering.

Illustrated beautifully by Joe Hox, Gibson takes us through the story of that loss through the eyes of his son Ben, using the waxing and waning of the moon as an illustration of something that we can’t always see but we know is always there.”

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