Bishop Julian Dobbs on when Doctrine goes Bad
Posted on May 8, 2022
Filed under ACNA, Culture wars, Encouragement Comments Off on Bishop Julian Dobbs on when Doctrine goes Bad
“I’ve been this week at the conference of the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word (ACNA), led by Bishop Julian Dobbs.
The bishop gave his annual address on Friday morning, and … Lord have mercy, if only ten percent of bishops and pastors talked like this man, we would be living in a different country. I present to you here the entire text…
Imagine a bishop talking like this! Catholics and Orthodox can scarcely wrap our minds around it. I asked the diocesan communications director to send me the text, which was so extraordinary. Here it is…”
– At The American Conservative, US conservative writer Rod Dreher shares his gratitude at hearing an address by Bishop Julian Dobbs.
Bishop Dobbs has seen what happens when a denomination turns away from the Bible to embrace the surrounding culture.
From his address –
“One of the many reasons why I am so sensitive to wokeness and this pattern of capitulation within the Anglican Church is because I am, and many of you are, refugees from a church that lost her way when she began to succumb to appeals for compassion, tenderness and a capitulation to culture as the justification for dismantling the faith ‘once for all entrusted to the saints’.
I am a refugee from a church that deposed the late Dr. J.I. Packer from the ordained ministry. I am a refugee from a church that put our own assisting Bishop William Love on trial for believing the bible. And I am a refugee from a church which just three days ago reaffirmed its commitment to the murder of unborn babies and said, ‘As Episcopalians, we have a particular obligation to stand against Christians who seek to destroy our multicultural democracy and recast the United States as an idol to the cruel and distorted Christianity they advocate.’
Brothers and sisters, when doctrine goes bad, so to do hearts, minds, churches, nations and eternal destinies. That is why this matters. …”
Read it all. Or, better, watch it all. Most edifying.
Preacher, do you pray?
Posted on May 8, 2022
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“Have you ever stood at the pulpit, about to declare, ‘This is what God says,’ about to preach the living word of God, to souls in desperate need of his voice, and realised you’re about to pray for the preaching and hearing of the sermon for the first time?
Have your prayers for the preaching of the word grown perfunctory and superficial? …
We know. We believe. But we need help in our unbelief. We need belief that drives us to wrestle in prayer, sleeves rolled up, never pushing it aside because we are busy – for ourselves, for our hearers, for our preparation, for our preaching.”
– Encouragement, and three helpful prayers, from Janet Riley at The Expository Preaching Trust.
Prayer encouraged for General Synod 2022
Posted on May 7, 2022
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The 18th Session of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia meets on the Gold Coast, Sunday 8th – Friday 13th May. (Progam here.)
The meeting had been planned for June 2020, but COVID concerns meant the meeting date was changed to June 2021 – and then again to this week.
After such a long break between meetings, the membership of the General Synod has changed more than would be usual, and some will not have met each other before this meeting.
We are sure that all members, representing all the dioceses of Australia, would crave your earnest prayers as they discuss issues of considerable importance to our unity in Christ.
“In Canada, death is cheap”
Posted on May 7, 2022
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“Canada refers to ‘euthanasia’ and ‘assisted suicide’ by the friendlier-sounding term of ‘medical assistance in dying’ (MAID). The MAID programme was first introduced to end the suffering of terminally ill people, but its mission creep is now undeniable.
Denise (not her real name), a 31-year-old Toronto woman who uses a wheelchair, is nearing final approval for a medically assisted death. She only applied after her many attempts to move from her apartment, which she says worsens her severe sensitivities to household chemicals, all failed. …”
– Heartbreaking story from Spiked. See also this video report from CTV News.
‘The Line in the Sand’ Author Interview: Dr Mark Thompson
Posted on May 5, 2022
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The following is an interview with The Rev. Canon Dr. Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore Theological College and one of the authors of a newly published book, The Line in the Sand.
This book is a joint initiative of the Australian Church Record and the Anglican Church League. It’s available for download here.
ACL Podcast Author interview.
Listen here:
or Download the file (right-click to Save As).
Transcript: Read more
‘The Judgement to Choose to Abort a Child’: President Biden Accidentally Speaks the Truth about the Pro-Abortion Argument
Posted on May 4, 2022
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In his The Briefing for Wednesday 4th May 2022, Albert Mohler comments on the responses to Monday’s leaked document from the US Supreme Court.
Processing disappointment in ministry
Posted on May 4, 2022
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“How do we process disappointment in ministry? Personally as leaders and with our people?
What about when the church plant fails? Hans Kristensen planted Resolved Church in Newtown, and six years later closed it down.
If we try lots of things, many of them will fail. But how do we know when to call time? And what part does ego play in all of this?”
‘The Line in the Sand’ Author Interview: Bishop Michael Stead
Posted on May 3, 2022
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The following is an interview with Bishop of South Sydney Dr. Michael Stead, one of the authors of a newly published book, The Line in the Sand.
This book is a joint initiative of the Australian Church Record and the Anglican Church League. It’s available for download here.
ACL Podcast Author interview.
Listen here:
or Download the file (right-click to Save As).
Transcript: Read more
Why would you move to Victoria in the middle of a pandemic?
Posted on May 2, 2022
Filed under Australian dioceses, People Comments Off on Why would you move to Victoria in the middle of a pandemic?
“Why would you move to Victoria in the middle of a pandemic?
Such was the incredulity of our friends basking in the tropical delights of the Northern Territory when we announced we were pulling up stumps and heading south. Indeed, many of our new friends here have asked the same question.
To say it was an interesting start to our new ministry at Christ Church Echuca would be an understatement. …”
– On page 9 of the March 2022 issue of The Spirit monthly from the Diocese of Bendigo, Phil & Leeanne Zamagias share why they moved from Darwin to Echuca.
Allowah Children’s Hospital Dollar Matching Appeal
Posted on April 30, 2022
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We’ve previously mentioned the attempts by the Allowah Children’s Hospital in Dundas (run by Presbyterian Church) to find funding. They are “the only hospital dedicated to the health of children with disabilities in NSW”.
They’ve launched a new appeal – see a video about it here.
Baylor University charters LGBTQ group
Posted on April 30, 2022
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“The news that Baylor University has officially chartered Prism, an LGBT student organization on campus, marks an important moment in Christian higher education in the USA.
To be fair to Baylor, Christian colleges and universities have a very difficult task in the current climate. Institutions of higher education are meant to be places for free discussion and exchange of ideas. With sexual identity politics now a central component of wider public discourse, freedom of discussion inevitably means that sexual identity discourse will take place on campuses. But there is a difference between students discussing these issues in the context of, say, a debating society or a mainstream political club, and discussing these ideas in an official LGBT group. To receive an official charter is to receive a formal imprimatur. …”
– At First Things, Carl Trueman writes about Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Started in 1845, Baylor is private Christian University.
From the Baylor website:
“During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, prestigious institutions of higher education founded on Christian principles began a relentless retreat from their spiritual heritage. During that time and into the Twenty-first Century, Baylor has remained one of the few to persist in the belief that not only can its Baptist heritage inform a vital approach to life in general, it can also inform the life of the mind specifically.”
and their Statement on Human Sexuality.
‘The Line in the Sand’ Author Interview: Archbishop Glenn Davies
Posted on April 28, 2022
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The following is an interview with former Archbishop of Sydney Dr. Glenn Davies, one of the authors of a newly published book, The Line in the Sand.
This book is a joint initiative of the Australian Church Record and the Anglican Church League. It’s available for download here.
ACL Podcast Author interview.
Listen here:
or Download the file (right-click to Save As).
Transcript: Read more
Navigating change management in church – with Raj Gupta
Posted on April 28, 2022
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From this week’s The Pastor’s Heart:
“How to navigate change management in church?
We want and need to make changes in our churches. But there are so many war stories of ‘church change resistance,’ where well meaning ministers have had relationships blow up in their faces when they attempted to bring about needed change.
Raj Gupta is the senior minister of St Paul’s in Carlingford in Sydney and a director with Moore College’s Center for Ministry Development and has insights for churches based on John Kotter’s Change Management Framework.”
‘The Line in the Sand’ Author Interview: Dr Claire Smith
Posted on April 26, 2022
Filed under Anglican Church of Australia, General Synod Comments Off on ‘The Line in the Sand’ Author Interview: Dr Claire Smith
The following is an interview with Dr. Claire Smith, one of the authors of a newly published book, The Line in the Sand.
This book is a joint initiative of the Australian Church Record and the Anglican Church League. It’s available for download here.
ACL Podcast Author interview.
Listen here:
or Download the file (right-click to Save As).
Transcript: Read more
How do we read the Bible differently as Followers of Jesus?
Posted on April 26, 2022
Filed under Encouragement, Theology Comments Off on How do we read the Bible differently as Followers of Jesus?
“The Christian attitude toward the Bible is part of Christian discipleship. To follow Jesus is to follow him in this too. Put simply, we want to have the same attitude toward the Bible as Jesus had.
We must not pit the authority of Jesus—or the power of the Holy Spirit, for that matter—against the teaching of Scripture. Jesus himself turned to the Scriptures as the final word: sufficiently clear, true, and powerful to make known the person and purposes of God, and to direct a faithful response to what God has done for us in his Son. ‘It is written,’ Jesus said. ‘What does the Scripture say?’ asked his faithful servant, the apostle Paul.…”
– Crossway has published this encouraging article by Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson.
It’s adapted from his just-released book, “The Doctrine of Scripture: An Introduction”. (It’s available to order from these booksellers.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…