High Court upholds rejection of inter-state vilification orders

“In a Federation like Australia, different jurisdictions (States and Territories) may have different rules on what amounts to ‘discrimination’ or ‘vilification’, and how those things interact with religious freedom. One of the pressing issues here in recent years has been whether there will be a ‘race to the bottom’ in freedom of speech on religious issues, with one jurisdiction in particular, Tasmania, raising deep concerns with a very broad prohibition on causing ‘offence’ related to matters such as sexual orientation.

Today the High Court of Australia, on appeal from NSW, has affirmed the decision of the NSW Court of Appeal that State and Territory ‘tribunals’ (non-judicial panels usually used in discrimination issues) have no jurisdiction to impose penalties on residents of other Australian jurisdictions under their own local laws. …”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Assoc. Professor Neil Foster looks at today’s decision.

Rejection by C of E has driven LGBT people to suicide, says Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool

“A senior Church of England bishop has said some LGBT people have been driven to harm or even to kill themselves as a result of ‘pain and rejection’ caused by the church.

Paul Bayes, the bishop of Liverpool, also likened the struggle to persuade the Church of England to be truly welcoming and inclusive to LGBT people to the fight against slavery.

Speaking at the launch of the Ozanne Foundation …”

– Story from The Guardian.

A very helpful book in thinking about all this is Rosaria Butterfield’s 2015 book Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ. (Also as an AudioBook.)

Reviewed at The Gospel Coalition:

“When it comes to same-sex anything, the church can appear awkward and clumsy. As the pressure mounts, we Christians fumble around with our Bibles, unsure of how to connect the truths in God’s Word to cultural discourse or personal struggles.

The church would be hard pressed to find someone better than Butterfield to help us make sense of our uncertainty. Once a tenured English professor, she approaches the issue of sexuality with notable scholastic rigor; her theology is profound. Once a committed lesbian, she empathizes with those in the grips of same-sex attraction; her compassion abounds. In her new book Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ [20 quotes], we benefit from both.”

See also:

Analysis of Bishop of Liverpool’s Speech at Ozanne Media Launch – Julian Mann.

Same sex marriage implications for Christian health professionals

Neil Foster, at Law and Religion Australia, writes:

“I am presenting a paper on this topic this evening to a group of Christian health professionals in Newcastle. The paper may be downloaded here: Same Sex Marriage and Christian Health Professionals. [PDF file.]”

Preaching the Word, rarer than we think?

There is nothing confusing or surprising about Paul’s dying exhortation to his younger partner in ministry, Timothy : ‘Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction’, 2 Timothy 4:2.

It is not confusing, Timothy is to see that his ministry revolves around the public, open proclamation of the Word, the Word which God breathed out, 2 Timothy 3:16.

Timothy was a Pastor at Ephesus and he would have been very familiar with Paul’s pioneering work there. When Paul rehearses his method in planting the church to the elders of the Ephesian church, he speaks of preaching, teaching, declaring, testifying and proclaiming, all Word proclaiming words.

The explanation and declaration of God’s revealed Word was at the heart of first century apostolic ministry and must be at the heart of twenty first century apostolic ministry.

This is not confusing, a pastor today exercises his pastoral role by preaching the Scriptures, by correcting, rebuking and encouraging the flock with this Word.

Cut the modern day Pastor and he must bleed Bible!

Neither is this surprising, because Paul has already reminded Timothy that it was this breathed out Word of God which, ‘gave him wisdom for salvation’ and is ‘useful for teaching rebuking correcting and training in righteousness’, 2 Timothy 3:15-16. The Bible is God’s word, it’s origin is God Himself, not to preach it therefore and preach our own ideas is perverse.

The faithful preacher must set about the task of explaining and applying a passage of Scripture, be it a verse, a paragraph, a chapter or a whole book, it will always be the Biblical text which is the focus of the preacher’s attention. This is unfortunately, rarer than we think!

Instead we may have preaching which takes the idea of the text and preaches the idea in isolation from the text. We may have sermons which are addressed to all sorts of contemporary issues, which tell much more about the issue than what God says in the Bible. We may have sermons about a theme which follows the theme through the Bible in a doctrinal way, ‘flipping preaching’, which does not settle down in one passage and explain and apply that passage to hearers.

One Pastor said recently, does this mean I have to expound a passage every week? No, but realise that the week you don’t expound a passage is the week the sheep will go home hungry.

Does this mean we never preach on topics? No, it does not mean that, it means that we will never take a topic and not expound a section of Scripture in relation to that topic.

Let me give an example. Recently in the light of that very emotional confession of Australia’s cricket captain Steve Smith, I might have preached a sermon on the topic of, Why the world is in such a mess.

I would preach on the dynamics of Genesis 3, Adam and Eve receiving God’s word, but the contrary voice of the Serpent tells the lie and the lie is believed. The reason the world is the way it is, is because a lie has been believed.

I would cross reference just once, to Jesus’ description of the Devil as a liar and murderer, John 8:44, to show that the contrary voice is always the voice of the Serpent. I would warn the church to always be aware of two voices, one which speaks truth the other the lie, don’t follow the lie! Steve Smith listened to the lie that, the end justifies the means, don’t you listen to the lie, which always causes us to doubt that the Word of the loving God, cannot be trusted.

I have thus preached on a contemporary topic of why the world is the way it is, I have done it from Genesis 3, probably in a series on these early chapters. The Devil speaks the crafty lie; our parents believe the lie; God judges the serpent, the woman, the man and the earth. Therefore trust the Word of God, rightly understood and don’t believe the Devil’s lies.

John Chapman would often say in critiquing a sermon, ‘the authority is in the text brother, preach the text!’

Do you make the text of Scripture the object of your explanation and application, thus feeding your sheep?

David Robertson is quoted as saying, ‘A preacher who does not preach the Bible is like a comedian who is not funny, you wonder, what is the point’.

– David Cook.

Four ways Christians should share their faith that are actually effective

“This is a great time to be a Christian. Not an easy time – but an exciting one.

I know it doesn’t look that way. Spend a few minutes on your social media feed, and you’ll see just how lost and broken we are right now. Ours is a world full of contradiction and confusion. And it’s not a great place to be a Christian: We’re now seen by most of the world as intolerant and irrelevant. Yet, while the end of Christendom may surprise and scare many us, that’s not true of God. …

And in a time so confusing, so transient, so difficult, God is calling us to be bold and strong – to have courage. He will accomplish His purposes. He will carry out His mission. And He is inviting us to join Him in making disciples of Jesus Christ among all tribes, tongues and nations despite the social climate.”

– Read another encouraging article on gospelling – this one from Matt Chandler.

Freedom18 Conference – The Limits of Religious Freedom

Freedom for Faith is holding their 2018 Conference –

“Join with lawyers, politicians, academics and faith leaders at the NSW Parliament for Freedom18.  Our conference theme is ‘the limits of religious freedom’.

The debates around marriage highlighted tensions between claims of religious freedom and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – should religious freedom be curtailed by other claims to dignity and rights? How does freedom relate to security in our secular liberal democracy? Do we live in over-regulated times that are going too far in constraining civic freedoms?

Freedom18 is a unique opportunity to network with some of Australia’s leading thinkers and practitioners. In the contested intersection of culture, public theology, and law, we want to offer a platform for the best possible conversations. …”

– Read more about the Freedom for Faith conference to be held on Wednesday May 23 at NSW Parliament House.

Defending the Resurrection

“Though age would be rapidly catching up with him, some people believe that Elvis Presley is still alive. Despite certified death certificates, a very public, photographed funeral, and no verified appearances after the date of his death, fans insist: Elvis lives.

How many people view the resurrection of Christ similarly to conspiracy theories about Elvis? Is there compelling evidence that Christ actually rose from the dead? Or, is the story repeated simply because people wish him to not be dead? The stakes are high. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christianity is empty and those who adhere to the faith “are of all men the most pitiable” (1 Cor. 15:14, 19). …”

– At Reformation21, William Boekestein provides good reasons for having confidence in Christ’s Resurrection.

Resurrection … you can stake your life on it

“Burying my aunt – the senior member of the Wilson clan – focussed my mind sharply.

Our family met last week in a medieval Cotswolds church, and these words rang out clearly: ‘in sure and certain hope of the resurrection from the dead’. As we laid my aunt to rest alongside her long-deceased husband, and my grandparents, I challenged myself again as to whether I believe this and … WHY?

Don’t panic, the moderator is not in any doubt. But, standing in the face of a biting Oxfordshire wind, I lowered the body into the ground and tested my beliefs afresh. Why do I believe in resurrection? It’s a good thing to ask. …”

– Presbyterian Moderator-General, John P. Wilson, speaks of the centrality of the Resurrection.

Catch up on the talks from Nexus18

All the main presentations from Monday’s Nexus18 Conference are now available for you to watch online. A wonderful resource.

Download a PDF file of the Program – and watch the talks here.

The Final Week of Jesus

Justin Taylor writes:

“Each day this week I’ll post a video on what happened during the original Easter week of April, AD 33. …

For more information, including a day-by-day guide with the complete biblical text and commentary, you could pick up the Kindle version of The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Justin Taylor.”

– at The Gospel Coalition.

Making Disciples

Here’s a new series of Bible Studies from Colin Marshall – Making Disciples –  available from Matthias Media.

“How central should the work of disciple-making be in our daily lives and in our church culture? How do we get there? And what does it actually look like?

The 8 studies in Making Disciples will highlight the work of disciple-making as the very heart of the Bible’s vision for the life of God’s people. They will also:

• guide you as you explore and discuss key Bible passages
• show you what it might look like to be involved in this great work of God
• forge the deep biblical convictions that you will need in order to commit to disciple-making
• address the challenges and potential pitfalls around making disciples of Jesus
• help you see disciple-making as both an enormous privilege and an attainable goal.”

The Illuminated Heart — Lent Reflections from Dr Peter Jensen – Part 6

“In the penultimate video in the series, Dr Jensen explains how God illuminates our dark hearts through the proclamation of the gospel.” – From GAFCON.

Growing godly kids #3: Teaching children to read the Bible

“God grows his children through his word, so teaching children to read the Bible is as important as teaching them to feed themselves.

Let’s see how we could apply a modelling-training-teaching approach to helping children read the Scriptures. …”

– Pete Tong continues his very helpful series – at The Australian Church Record.

11 New Features in PrayerMate 5.11

If you use PrayerMate – or if you don’t – check out Andy Geers’ video showcasing what’s new in version 5.11 of this wonderful free resource.

St. Patrick’s Day

Back in 2013, then Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Phillip Jensen, wrote an evangelistic leaflet to help Christians share the true message of St. Patrick.

Thankfully, his leaflet, and a St. Patrick’s Day message, are available on his website.

1.) St. Patrick — The Irish Evangelical.

2.) An Evangelistic Leaflet for St. Patrick’s Day.

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