Why we should vote ‘No’ in the survey on same sex ‘marriage’
Posted on September 19, 2017
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“Australia is in the midst of a critical decision about one of the major building blocks of community life: marriage and the family.
A great deal of money (including public money) and effort is being expended on the case for a change to allow people of the same sex to marry. To many it seems that the case for change is unassailable, in some measure because its advocates have been able to link their proposal to treasured notions of ‘love’ and ‘equality’. …”
– Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson shares his reasons at Theological Theology.
What is at the centre of God’s mission for the church?
Posted on September 19, 2017
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The latest Preaching Matters from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate –
“What activities distract us from the central priority for which God sent His Son into the world? Denesh Divyanathan talks to Sam Manchester about these issues in this month’s Preaching Matters.”
– Most encouraging and timely.
Is GAFCON divisive?
Posted on September 19, 2017
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“The suggestion that Gafcon is a divisive movement, and in particular aimed at breaking up the Anglican Communion, is one I hear from time to time.
It’s heartbreaking to hear it because it is untrue and it is an indication of the power of gossip.
I never tire of telling the story of the meeting of Primates at the end of the Jerusalem Conference 2008. …”
– GAFCON General Secretary Dr peter Jensen answers the question.
Flowchart: Christians and same sex marriage
Posted on September 19, 2017
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“This flowchart aims to show pathways people may take on this issue. … The diagram aims to tease out points of distinction, but is unable to display the breadth and complexity of this issue. Please prayerfully consider this topic, seeking advice from godly and wise Christians.”
– The team at St. Thomas’ North Sydney have published this flowchart as a “springboard for productive conversations”. See if you find it helpful.
Martin Luther Exhibition at St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Posted on September 18, 2017
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Don’t miss the free Martin Luther Exhibition, on at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, until Friday 29th September.
For opening times, see the Cathedral website.
Lisa, Bruce & Co @ Parramatta
Posted on September 18, 2017
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“What does complementarian ministry look like?
We chat to Lisa Boyd & Bruce Morrison of St John’s Cathedral, Parramatta about the ins-and-outs, ups-and-downs of working as a team. …”
– new from The Australian Church Record.
Nabeel Qureshi — Seeking Allah, he found Jesus
Posted on September 17, 2017
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“On Saturday, September 16, 2017, Nabeel Qureshi, age 34, entered into the joy of his master, Jesus Christ, after enduring a yearlong battle with cancer. …
In August 2001, while a student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Nabeel observed fellow student David Wood reading the Bible in his free time.”
– Justin Taylor gives thanks to the Lord for Nabeel Qureshi.
Most people who call themselves C of E never read the Bible — survey
Posted on September 16, 2017
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“Figures show that 60 per cent of self-declared followers of the Church [of England] admit they never read the Bible. Meanwhile, 36 per cent say they never attend church and one in three says they never pray. …“
– Report from Premier UK.
National Press Club speech by Karina Okotel
Posted on September 16, 2017
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The Sydney Morning Herald has published the speech given at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday by federal Liberal Party Vice President Karina Okotel.
Faith in a time of crisis
Posted on September 16, 2017
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“This is a book written by people of gospel conviction who are calling all those with gospel conviction to stand for that gospel. And it is not just for Anglicans.”
– ACL Council member Nigel Fortescue reviews “Faith in a time of crisis” by Vaughan Roberts and Peter Jensen – on the GAFCON website. (Originally published in Southern Cross, August 2017.)
See also this earlier review by fellow ACL Council member Dan McKinlay, published in June.
The book is available from Matthias Media (AUS), The Good Book Company (UK) and Amazon (for fun, click on ‘Peter Jensen’ in the Author line at Amazon, to see other books written, or nor written, by Peter Jensen.).
The Reformation’s Continuing Legacy and Relevance
Posted on September 15, 2017
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“Moore College has published a significant collection of its 2017 Reformation papers through Apollos an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press. The book was launched at morning tea on the second day of the two-day 2017 School of Theology conference held this week, which had 80 people in attendance. All copies of the book sold out in minutes at the launch. …
You can purchase the book in paperback through the Wandering Bookseller here, or the Book Depository here, or hard copy or Kindle at Amazon here.”
– Read all about it at the Moore College website.
John Howard criticises Malcolm Turnbull over handling of postal survey
Posted on September 15, 2017
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“Former prime minister John Howard has criticised the Turnbull Government’s handling of the same-sex marriage survey, calling for the details of any bill to be released before the vote. …”
– Report from ABC News.
Gems from Leon Morris
Posted on September 15, 2017
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The Australian Church Record team have been digging into their archives to republish classic articles by Leon Morris.
Here are excerpts from some of the recent posts –
Three in One – And One in Three.
“Some people seem to think that the doctrine of the Trinity is the result of a concerted effort by the theologians to make it difficult for ordinary men to understand the nature of God. So far from this being the case history shows that theologians tried every alternative they could, and the Trinity is simply man’s effort to say what he can about the deity in the light of Scripture and the history of Christian thought.
Moreover, it is a doctrine of practical importance for every-day living, and ought not to be relegated to the position of a piece of unimportant theological lumber, as so many Christians do. …”
“C.H. Dodd prefers the translation ‘the Wrath of God’ to Moffatt’s ‘God’s anger’ in Rom. 1:18, ‘because such an archaic phrase suits a thoroughly archaic idea,’ while Nicolas Berdyaev writes ‘Anger in every shape and form is foreign to God.’ And again, Sydney Cave speaks of law and Wrath as ‘almost personified powers, which, owing to God their origin, act on in partial independence of God, and are hostile to men as He is not.’
In such words many modern writers give expression to their conviction that God cannot be thought of as exercising wrath towards men, so that where the Scripture speaks of “the wrath of God’ it must either be explained away or abandoned. …”
Unless you see Signs & Wonders.
“Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe,” said Jesus to a well-educated man of the first century, but in modern times the situation seems to have reversed. Whereas in earlier days the miracle authenticated Christianity, to men of our day they often present a stumbling-block, so that they find it difficult to accept a Christianity which speaks of the miraculous. …
“O come, let us worship,” sang the Psalmist, and it seems certain that he found a more ready response among his fellows than his modern counterpart would among the men of this generation were he to sing a similar song. Whereas in earlier days it was usually accepted without question that man must worship, to-day this is often doubted even among men who have some idea of the existence of God. …
Some Reflections on the Global South Primates Meeting
Posted on September 14, 2017
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“Many of you will have read the statement of the Global South Primates Steering Committee from their meeting in Cairo this past weekend. In the swirl of the weekly news cycle, it’s easy to look at this statement as just another murmur from the background of Anglican geopolitics. I’d like to offer a few thoughts about why their statement should be considered newsworthy.
First, let’s remember that the Global South Primates include the Archbishops or principal Bishop-leaders of the largest Anglican Churches in the world – Nigeria (in terms of real average Sunday attendance in church), Kenya, and Uganda for starters. They include those leaders of the Gafcon movement – which plants the future of a renewed Anglicanism around a common confession of faith, the Jerusalem Declaration.
But the Global South movement existed before Gafcon, and includes those provinces in that part of the world that have not yet joined Gafcon, like Southeast Asia, but have for many years stood firmly on the authority and clarity of the Bible as the ultimate authority within the councils of the Church. That’s a big deal. …”
– Canon Phil Ashey, President of the American Anglican Council, puts last week’s Global South communique in perspective.
Free speech and vilification in the marriage law postal survey
Posted on September 13, 2017
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“Australia is involved in a debate about whether same sex marriage should be introduced. The question is being put to the electors in the form of a voluntary postal survey, the question in which is simply: ‘Should the law be changed to allow same sex couples to marry?’
The original intention of the current Government had been to put this question to the people of Australia in a compulsory plebiscite. This option being defeated twice in Parliament, the postal survey has been designed to be run without explicit authorising legislation. However, once it was decided that the survey would proceed, concerns were expressed that the debate might contain misleading and deceptive advertising, which would usually have been dealt with under the electoral laws (but since the survey was not being run under those laws, no such protections applied for the survey.) In addition, concerns were expressed about hateful and harmful speech on both side of the debate.
In response to these concerns, the Commonwealth Parliament today (in a rare example of swift bipartisan action) saw the introduction and enactment of the Marriage Law Survey (Additional Safeguards) Act 2017(which has now received the Royal Assent, and become Act No 96 of 2017). The Act will come into operation on Thursday 14 September, 2017 (tomorrow, as I write.) …”
– Associate Professor Neil Foster has published some important information about legislation coming into effect tomorrow.
Anyone who plans to comment publicly on the plebiscite and related issues would do well to read it.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…