Love your neighbour enough to speak truth
Posted on November 2, 2016
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“If this were 1999—the year that I was converted and walked away from the woman and lesbian community I loved—instead of 2016, Jen Hatmaker’s words about the holiness of LGBT relationships would have flooded into my world like a balm of Gilead. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Rosaria Butterfield responds to some comments by a ‘best selling author’ (whose books have just been pulled from LifeWay Christian bookshops).
Make the time to read Rosaria Butterfield’s observations about the nature of sin and the Christian life. (Image: Desiring God.)
‘Pride Mass’ at Branxton, Newcastle Diocese
Posted on November 1, 2016
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In last week’s “This Week Around the Diocese”, photos of a “Pride Mass” held on Sunday October 23 at Branxton in the Hunter Valley in the Diocese of Newcastle are featured.
Archdeacon of the Central Coast, Rod Bower, evidently took part in the service.
Being There: Wittenberg
Posted on November 1, 2016
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“I have valued the experience of being in important places because it brings history to life.
A long time love of the history of the New Testament has taken me many times to Jordan, Israel, Turkey and Greece. The landscape, remains of buildings, even the climate, adds value to the written word. Being there also raises questions of chronology. What happened when, and how long was it before b followed a?
I had not visited the places that figured in Martin Luther’s life story until 2014, and more recently in 2016. Many buildings are being restored in anticipation of big crowds in 2017, the 500th anniversary of Luther’s ninety-five theses being nailed to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. …”
– Bishop Paul Barnett reminds us that the events of the Reformation happened in real places which you can visit today.
GAFCON Chairman’s Letter October 2016
Posted on November 1, 2016
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Archbishop Nicholas D. Okoh, Primate of All Nigeria and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council, has released this Pastoral Letter, reflecting on developments in October 2016 –
“The call to be peacemakers is also a call to evangelism because peace with one another cannot be separated from peace with God, and peace with God cannot be separated from faithfulness to the biblical and apostolic gospel of God. I therefore warmly commend the Global South Chairman, Bishop Mouneer Anis, for his bold warning about the ‘ideological slavery’ which some Western Churches seek to impose on the Global South by using their money and influence to promote teachings which overturn the bible and offer a false gospel.
Many of us were therefore deeply disturbed that the Presiding Bishop of the American Episcopal Church (TEC), Michael Curry, was a prominent member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s delegation in Rome, despite the fact that the Canterbury meeting of Primates in January this year had resolved that, among other things, TEC should not be involved in representing the Anglican Communion in ecumenical or interfaith relations.
This incident is just the most recent of many failures which the Cairo Communiqué describes as ‘the inability of the existing Communion instruments to discern truth and error and take binding ecclesiastical action’. We need alternatives. …”
– Read it all on the GAFCON website.
Sola Scriptura
Posted on October 31, 2016
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“Today and over the next four Wednesdays I plan to touch on key elements of what is known as the five ‘solas’ or ‘alones’ of the Reformation: ‘Scripture alone’, ‘faith alone’, ‘grace alone’, ‘Christ alone’, ‘to the glory of God alone’. …” — Posted last week, John Mason begins a brief series at Anglican Connection.
Is the Reformation still necessary?
Posted on October 31, 2016
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“All over the world people are gearing up for a year of celebrations commemorating 500 years since Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg.
There is still an academic debate about whether the theses were actually ever nailed to the door, though the tide has certainly turned back in favour of saying that he did. Not that it matters much. No one doubts that the theses that ignited the Protestant Reformation were sent to his local bishop on October 31, 1517. That Reformation transformed the religious landscape in ways that continue to resonate in 2017.
Yet is it still a cause of celebration? Is it still necessary? Today some voices – including apparently Pope Francis himself – consider it is all over. The Reformation has ended. But has it, and should it?”
— Moore College Principal Mark Thompson at SydneyAnglicans.net. Read it all.
Related: John Piper on why we celebrate the Reformation.
The uglier side of humanity
Posted on October 31, 2016
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“Tolerance and acceptance is important for a nation’s well-being but tolerance and acceptance is a lot easier when people are respectful. This is particularly important in the current climate of debate on issues of human sexuality and marriage.
Before people misunderstand or misquote me, by tolerance and acceptance I do not mean that I agree with all the sexual choices people make. …”
— Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers writes on the need for genuine civility.
Freedom of Religion and Balancing Clauses in Discrimination Legislation
Posted on October 30, 2016
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“An article of mine on “Freedom of Religion and Balancing Clauses in Discrimination Legislation” (2016) Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, doi: 10.1093/ojlr/rww045, has just become available. Those who are interested can download it from the Oxford website…”
– More helpful resources from Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia.
The New ‘Jerusalem’ Papyrus: Not so Fast…
Posted on October 29, 2016
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“Here are some things to remember, as this Jerusalem Papyrus garners attention:
The fact that the papyrus itself has been carbon dated to the 7th century BCE certainly does not mean that the writing on the papyrus is ancient In fact, it really means nothing. After all, ancient papyrus is readily available for purchase online (check the web and see!), thus, no modern forger worth his or her salt would forge an inscription on modern papyrus. …”
– Dr. Christopher Rollston, at George Washington University, shares his thoughts on the Papyrus which is making news.
Thanks to George Athas for the link.
Light trumps darkness
Posted on October 29, 2016
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“Reformation trumps Halloween. In fact it’s no contest.
For reasons unclear to me we’re being enticed by a dark festival of American origins that brings stocks of evil and bizarre to shelves where weeks before fresh food or other cheery merchandise sat. In supermarkets and $2 shops throughout Australia, the dark, the gruesome, the macabre and the scary hold sway.
Why witches hats, ghoulish masks and spider webs? As if swinging with the breeze, parents bend to accommodate this strange festival, children are attracted to it and society is the worse for it.
By strange coincidence, the same weekend as Halloween, the Presbyterian Church of Australia celebrates light. …”
– Presbyterian Moderator-General John Wilson on the light of the gospel, as rediscovered by Martin Luther.
Societas 2016
Posted on October 28, 2016
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This year’s Societas (the magazine of Moore College’s students) is now ready for your enjoyment and edification.
Download it (a 10MB PDF file) from the College website, or read it online.
Printed copies are also available.
It’s a great way to get a feel for what is happening at Moore College, and is a good resource for prayer.
Also from the College: Moore breaks boundaries of geography with its newest course.
“After 75 years of supporting lay ministry, Moore College is pleased to announce its first fully-accredited online course for laypeople, the Diploma of Biblical Theology (DBT). In development over the past few years the College will launch the DBT in Semester 1, 2017. …”
Bishop of Egypt calls for prayer and advocacy after ‘hostile takeover’
Posted on October 28, 2016
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“The Bishop of Egypt, Dr Mouneer Anis, has called on Anglicans to pray and advocate with their local Egyptian consulates and embassies after a court ruling effectively subsumed the diocese into a separate denominational body. …
Through ACNS, Dr Anis is asking for Anglicans and Episcopalians to pray for the Church in Egypt. ‘we feel deprived from our legal rights and our role as a church, and our freedom, may be compromised,’ he said. …”
– Read it all at the Anglican Communion News Service.
‘Dad got the death he wanted’
Posted on October 27, 2016
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“A Vancouver-based doctor with nearly four decades experience in family medicine, Wiebe has lately become one of Canada’s leading advocates for medically assisted death.
Since the new laws came into effect in June, she has provided dozens of people with lethal doses of sedatives, all by intravenous injection. …
She discusses with the patient for the last time their wish to die. Once confirmed, she administers a muscle relaxant. Then, she injects the lethal dose of sedatives; it usually takes the patient about 10 minutes to die.
The funeral home is then called, and someone comes to pick up the body. Wiebe signs off on the death certificate. The mood can be solemn or happy, even ‘uplifting,’ says Wiebe. It all depends on who is around. If friends and family are grieving, the emotional impact can take a toll.”
– Like a wedding planner, only different. Story from The National Post.
(h/t Albert Mohler. Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
AFL’s scheduled Good Friday match in 2017 another win for market, not for people
Posted on October 27, 2016
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“The AFL’s decision to schedule a match on Good Friday for the first time in 2017 is another win for the relentless and commodifying logic of the market overwhelming all other considerations, Bishop Philip Huggins, an Assistant Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, said today.”
– Read the full media release from the Diocese of Melbourne.
Encouragement from the Pressies in Queensland
Posted on October 25, 2016
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The latest issue (4/2016) of Pres Life, the magazine of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland, is now available. It’s a 1.6 MB PDF file.
Rejoice with those who rejoice at the Lord’s salvation in Christ, and join with them in praying for the progress of the gospel in that state.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…