The healing way (Exodus 15:23-26)

Posted on September 5, 2018 
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“When they came to Marah they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter” (Exodus 15:23). This happened to God’s people, after their redemption from Egypt, when he was leading them.

We may rightly regard the incident as a picture not only of the trials of life, but more particularly of the trials of our Christian pilgrimage. The question of fundamental importance, therefore, was—and still is—what was the attitude of God’s people to such a trial? Or what is our attitude? …

– The Australian Church Record continues to republish Alan Stibbs’ biblical reflections from 1960.

Does the Secular Party know better than a child’s parents?

Posted on September 4, 2018 
Filed under Culture wars, Opinion Comments Off on Does the Secular Party know better than a child’s parents?

“An extraordinary claim before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal recently, Secular Party of Australia Inc. v the Department of Education and Training (Human Rights) [2018] VCAT 1321 (27 August 2018), alleged that a child at a public school should be prevented from wearing Islamic religious garb in the child’s own interests!

Thankfully the claim failed, but the fact that the case could even be argued illustrates the pressure that some groups on society are placing on parents and children of faith…”

– Associate Professor Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.

Have we finally hit peak Attractional?

Posted on September 4, 2018 
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“As I watch the video announcing the series, I can’t help but feel some pity for the countless thousands of pastors who have been convinced by this model. James Montgomery Boice once warned ‘what you win them with is what you win them to’ and the attractional model bears this out: If you draw people with stunts like Wrastlin’, you’ve got to keep them with other similar or bigger stunts. I feel sorry for the pastor who knows that to keep his congregation, he has to keep coming up with bigger and more shocking ideas. …

Ed Young’s latest desperate attempt to draw a crowd is a good opportunity for us to consider the hallmarks of the attractional church model and to compare it to something far better …”

– Tim Challies on something far better than the latest cringeworthy attempt to fill a church building.

Trusting in God in drought

Posted on September 2, 2018 
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“Be strong and courageous” sang Colin Buchanan, but the words of one of his most famous kids’ songs were being applied to all ages as St Andrew’s Cathedral filled with people wanting to pray for an end to the worst drought for more than a century.

The singer’s poignant songs about the Australian bush, farmers and faith hit the right note as the congregation was told of the struggles of those living and working in rural and remote areas of New South Wales. …

– Full story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

See also: The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid Drought Appeal.

Calling God “Father”: Stumbling block or salve?

Posted on September 2, 2018 
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“If someone’s relationship with their human parents is negative or non-existent, could the idea of God as Father become unappealing?

As someone who’s always enjoyed healthy relationships with my still-married parents, I know that I’m fortunate. But the more people I meet, the more this seems as rare as it is fortunate. Countless factors cause people to experience parental relationships that range from tricky to traumatic. For those whose understanding of parenthood comes from an absent father or a neglectful mother, it’s perhaps harder to process the fatherhood of God as something fundamentally good. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Lauren Mahaffey considers if we should dispense with the notion of God as Father.

Promoting plagiarism in ministry

Posted on September 1, 2018 
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“Over the last few weeks there’s been a lot of angst in my denomination’s local circles about evangelism. A visiting friend told us we’re no longer keen on it, and the statistics show that over the last ten years we’ve lost people just as fast as we’ve converted them. …

In the midst of this I thought I’d share what our church is doing. We’re a small, struggling church in the part of Sydney where Anglican churches go to die. We’re not big. We’re not successful. Our senior minister is a bit of an idiot. We haven’t found the evangelism silver bullet. …”

– At GoThereFor.com, Mike Doyle at St. James Berala, reckons you ought to find the best of the best – and “plagiarise the life out of it”.

Related:

Reflections on Sydney Anglicanism: An interview with David Robertson – Australian Church Record.

Have we lost evangelism? with Phil Colgan and Craig Schafer.

When a Muslim village makes a bid for your daughter …

Posted on September 1, 2018 
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“When Paul writes to Timothy, ‘Continue in what you have learned … because you know those from whom you learned it’, he’s referring to his grandmother and mother. In Timothy’s childhood, it was the faith that first lived in Lois and Eunice that deeply impressed him. Paul reminds him how from infancy he had known the holy Scriptures.

Today, I’ve witnessed how this works firsthand, but in a setting for which I never thought I’d have the privilege. I walked in my friend Moses’ shoes for a day, sat with his ‘Eunice’, heard stories of his ‘Lois’ and discovered how oral tradition passes on the teachings of holy Scripture.

I’ll never be able to read these verses from Timothy in the same way again. …”

– Take the time to read the latest post from Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, John P. Wilson.

If you can change the language, you can change the entire society

Posted on August 31, 2018 
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In the 31 August 2018 edition of The Briefing podcast, Albert Mohler looks at several current stories illustrating the language wars over gender and sexuality.

Listen or read here.

The Church and the Bible (Part 2)

Posted on August 31, 2018 
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“What particularly threatens us as members of the Church of England is the very serious danger of the official acceptance by our Church of doctrines and practices which are additional and contrary to the Scriptural witness – and all in the supposed interest of larger and truer unity among Christians.

As each Lambeth Conference makes more obvious, there is the growing pressure of the Anglican Communion, and of a striving after a comprehensive ‘wholeness‘ whose governing principle is not uncompromising loyalty to the Scriptures, as the one supreme rule of faith and conduct, but the holding together in one family of churches which have come to believe and worship differently …”

– Alan Stibbs wasn’t writing yesterday, but in the January 1960 issue of The Australian Church Record.

The Tyranny of the Immediate in Short Attention Span Theatre

Posted on August 30, 2018 
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“Over the weekend Alan Jacobs, distinguished professor of the humanities in the Honors Program of Baylor University, had an important post on how we process the never-ending influx of information fixated on Now …”

– Read this, rather than just liking on Facebook. From Justin Taylor.

Learn about the nine new GAFCON Networks

Posted on August 30, 2018 
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Learn about the nine strategic global Networks launched at GAFCON 2018.

Working alongside men in ministry

Posted on August 29, 2018 
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“In ‘The value of training women for ministry’, Tracey Gowing shared some of her practical wisdom on how to train women for ministry and why that’s a worthwhile task. But as a ministry staff-worker on various university campuses around Australia, Tracey hasn’t just trained women! Many men will testify that they learned invaluable lessons about leadership and biblical manhood from having Tracey as their co-leader.

What’s her secret? Tracey has no new, radical beliefs—she just trusts the Bible. …”

– At GoThereFor.com, Lauren Driscoll continues her interview with Tracey Gowing.

Denham Court Anglican Church celebrates 180th birthday

Posted on August 28, 2018 
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“As the face of Denham Court continues to evolve each year, one beautiful building has stood the test of time.

Parishioners at Denham Court Anglican Church celebrated the historic building’s 180th birthday on Sunday. …”

– Local news from The Macarthur Advertiser.

Photo: Denham Court Anglican.

Why evangelicals in the Church of England need to talk openly

Posted on August 28, 2018 
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“One year before WWI broke out, Winston Churchill wrote a memo: ‘Timetable of a Nightmare.’

It predicted details of the coming war. Churchill frequently warned of the danger his country faced – the majority of his fellow leaders merely complained about him. Sir Henry Jackson spoke for many when he wrote that he ‘did not like the style’ of Churchill’s writing.

Churchill’s warnings of danger were ignored and instead his manner, style and motivations were impugned. Trying to prepare the military and nation to defend itself felt like wading through treacle with chains of iron around his neck – because free and open debate about the actual issues was precluded by those in a position to act. …”

– Peter Sanlon writes at Evangelicals Now. (Link via Anglican Mainstream.)

Jesus never directly said “I’m God!”: Answering our Muslim friends (Part 2)

Posted on August 27, 2018 
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“But Jesus never directly said he’s God”, says our Muslim friend. How would you answer?

Part 1 of this series had us step forward on the front foot against this specific challenge by rejecting the premise and reframing the issue.

But if we did work within the boundaries imposed by our Muslim friends, how would we defend the deity of Jesus from his own words in the Gospels? …

– Ryan van der Avoort continues to share practical advice, at The Australian Church Record.

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