A Clear or Cloudy Gospel? – A review of ‘The Suburban Captivity of the Church’
“An interesting juxtaposition of events happened to me last week. I found myself reading Tim Foster’s The Suburban Captivity of the Church at the same time as eagerly following the consultation conference of the Australian chapter of The Gospel Coalition.
Tim Foster is the Vice Principal of Ridley Theological College in Melbourne and the book has been shortlisted for the Australian Christian Book of the year award. The Gospel Coalition Australia is a local iteration of The Gospel Coalition originating in the US. Two voices labouring to see Australia won for Christ. Yet, given the difference in descriptions of the gospel were so significant, I felt it prudent to review Foster’s recent book.
The major purpose of Foster’s Suburban Captivity is ‘… to develop a theology of gospel and culture, and then illustrate how contextualisation works.’ (p. 5). …
It’s not a pedestrian read. Foster strongly denounces conceptions of the Gospel that centre upon the sacrifice at Calvary, and calls for a reconceptualisation of the Gospel around God’s wider purposes. We are told in no uncertain terms that this is the only way to break the shackles of our suburban captivity…”
– An important review by Mark Earngey, an ACL member currently studying Reformation theology and history at the University of Oxford.
Tim Foster has posted this response.
Creation and the Christian
“One of the most sustained reflections on the nature of created life is Psalm 104. In this article I’d like to offer some thoughts drawn from this psalm on what it means for us to be made by God. These are not the only things that can be said about our created nature but they are very helpful in our approach to life in this world…”
– Moore College lecturer on Old Testament and Biblical Languages, Dan Wu, turns to Psalm 104 at the College’s Think Tank. Take the time to be encouraged by it.
True Repentance — Peter Jensen on Judges chapter 10
From Moore College:
“Former Archbishop (and College Principal) Peter Jensen preached on Judges 10 at St Andrew’s Cathedral on 12 July.
We are convinced this is a message that should be heard by as many people as possible and are pleased to be able to make it available through our podcast.”
Listen to Archbishop Peter Jensen’s sermon here (14MB mp3 file).
Same-sex intimate unions
Moore Theological College Principal, Dr Mark Thompson, has written a very helpful piece to aid Christians in their thinking and discourse in the current debate around same-sex marriage. Read more
‘Redefining Sex and Marriage: how to think, live and speak as Christians’
The next event at the Centre for Christian Living at Moore College is on Wednesday August 26.
The topic is: “Redefining Sex and Marriage: how to think, live and speak as Christians when the world heads in a different direction”.
Sandy Grant and Tony Payne will be speaking. Details here.
The success of the Left
“There are now fewer in our denomination who remember the way the church was pre 1977.
I began to teach Sunday School at Waverley Presbyterian in 1968. The curriculum consisted of situational ethics. There was no gospel being taught, indeed, in the wider church, those who refused to use the imposed Sunday School material were hounded out of the church. Liberalism in the majority is always thoroughly intolerant!
These were the days when our training institutions imposed a deadening liberalism by training clergy with no gospel to preach, no propitiatory sacrifice, no substitutionary atonement, no bodily resurrection, and no new life…”
– In one of his recent opinion pieces, Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook reminds us of the ever-present danger of theological liberalism.
(Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Expositional Preaching – new 9Marks Journal
The latest 9Marks Journal is out. It’s on expositional (otherwise called expository) preaching.
Did you forget the Cross?
At the recent NEXUS Conference, Chris Braga gave a very helpful 18 minute exhortation.
Does your church or Christian organisation explicitly speak of the Cross of Christ and what it means?
Or is it assumed?
Encouragement: It’s not too long – watch the video in your Parish Council meetings, committee meetings, home groups, staff meetings – at GoThereFor.com.
Related: Mission Minded.
The Huguenot Heart
Bishop Paul Barnett spoke at the Huguenot Heritage Church service for the Huguenot Society at Scots Church in Sydney yesterday and shares his notes from the event –
“I am not of Huguenot descent. But let me speak today about the Huguenot heart…”
The Bible and same sex relationships: A review article
“The reason that homosexual relationships make so much more sense to people today than in previous times is because they have absorbed late modern western culture’s narratives about the human life.
Our society presses its members to believe ‘you have to be yourself,’ that sexual desires are crucial to personal identity, that any curbing of strong sexual desires leads to psychological damage, and that individuals should be free to live as they alone see fit…”
– Tim Keller responds to two celebrated books which argue that the Bible allows for, or supports, same sex relationships.
Christ amongst the ‘gods’
“Today, Australia is visibly a religiously plural society. Christianity is no longer the ‘normal’ religion. Religious diversity is the new normal. And we experience that diversity daily. … This is the first of three articles about responding to religious plurality in Australia…”
– the Gospel, Society and Culture Committee of the Presbyterian Church of NSW is helping Australian Christians to think through the issues of living in a multifaith society. You can download the PDF file here.
The upside-down cross
At GoThereFor, Tony Payne reflects on Simon Manchester’s talk at the recent Nexus Conference.
Read Tony’s highlights and watch the whole address here. Well worth your time.
The troubled conscience
“Does God speak through our conscience? Does changing your mind really change your behaviour? Should we follow our head or our heart?
At our next [Moore College] Centre for Christian Living (CCL) event Tony Payne and Peter Bolt will explore two concepts that shape the Bible’s teaching about these matters: ‘conscience’ and ‘mind’.”
– Tuesday 26 May at Toongabbie Anglican.
The Forgotten God
The latest Credo Magazine is out and available for download:
“Looking back on the first half of the twentieth century, H. Richard Niebuhr famously described liberal Christianity’s understanding of the gospel like this: ‘A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.’ …
For many people today, Bible stories having to do with divine wrath, anger, or jealousy are embarrassing. And yet, no matter how uncomfortable they make you feel, it is nearly impossible to get through a book (sometimes a chapter!) of the Bible without coming face to face with these forgotten attributes of God.”
Gospel Coalition 2015 conference audio
The Gospel Coalition’s 2015 National Conference was held April 13-15, and audio files of all the talks and workshops are now available.
Plenty of encouraging and challenging talks to hear.
Last on the list of files, John Yates II and John Yates III speak on “The Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What relevance does it have to today’s contemporary worship?”. [John III spoke at NSW CMS Summer School this year.]
“More and more pastors and church leaders are discovering the remarkable contribution Thomas Cranmer made to us all through his Book of Common Prayer.
This Reformation martyr’s understanding of what matters in worship is reverberating more and more through the evangelical community all around the world. The genius of Reformation Anglicanism is found in Cranmer’s timeless insights into the human heart and our motivations for Christian service.”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…