Former SAAB showroom home to Baton Rouge Anglican church
Posted on April 25, 2015
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“At first glance, a Cadillac dealer’s showroom may not seem like a ‘mission outpost’ of Christianity, but that’s exactly how Holy Cross Anglican Church was described by a visiting bishop when he blessed the congregation last Sunday evening…”
– Story from The Advocate, Baton Rouge. Photo: Gerry Lane Cadillac.
GAFCON — threat, option, or only future?
Posted on April 25, 2015
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“Two Archbishops walk into a bar for a relaxing drink after a hard day’s work in committee. One of them, in placing his order, starts a conversation with the man serving the drinks. He beckons to his purple shirted companion and over the next few minutes, the two of them share the Gospel with the bartender, and lead him to faith in Christ. Later both prelates testify that for them, this was the highlight of the conference.
Thankfully its not impossible to imagine that this story involved Most Reverends Welby and Sentamu, but in fact it was related by one of the GAFCON Primates who had been told the story by his two fellow Archbishop-evangelists at their meeting last week…”
– Andrew Symes at Anglican Mainstream asks if GAFCON is a threat to the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop of Canterbury visits Cairo
Posted on April 24, 2015
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Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited Cairo earlier this week, to stand with Christians facing persecution.
Here’s a report on the Diocese of Egypt website.
Prayers for ANZAC Day
Posted on April 23, 2015
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Over at SydneyAnglicans.net, Mark Charleston has some prayers which could be used on the ANZAC Day weekend – and with links to more for Defence Anglicans.
Related: Anzac Day: More Than Civil Religion – Ian Lambert, Bishop to the Australian Defence Force
(Photo: Defence Anglicans.)
The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Posted on April 23, 2015
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The latest issue of The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has been released and is available as a download without charge.
Worth checking out. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Anzac Day – A reflection — Bishop Stuart Robinson
Posted on April 22, 2015
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As we approach the 100th Anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli and the 70th Anniversary of Victory in the Pacific later in year, I’m minded to report a conversation I had with a soldier – NX146695 – who witnessed the formal “surrender” in the eastern half of the Netherlands East Indies on September 9, 1945.
On Morotai Island, NX146695, along with 10,000 Australian and Allied troops, stood motionless as Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces, General Blamey accepted Japanese Second Army Commander, Lt. General Teshima’s surrender of approximately 126,000 men.
NX146695 has vivid memories of that great day.
But he also carries memories of the cost; the cost of freedom; the cost of peace.
NX146695 (who is now 92) came face to face with death – and survived; many of his friends and comrades did not.
Indeed more than 100,000 Australians have given their lives – from the Boer War to Peacekeeping operations in this new century.
Even as we speak Australian Forces are on their way to Iraq to engage with a new enemy…not a country per se – but an ideology cloaked in a religion; ‘I.S.’ by name.
NX146695, Sergeant Harold Robinson, my father, knows first-hand the reality of being ready to lay one’s life down for another – as do so many of those who will read this simple piece.
It was Jesus who once said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that they lay down their life for their friends” John 15:13.
That inscription is also found on countless headstones across the former Western Front. I served as a Priest in Flanders and in the dead of winter I’d stand in those old trenches and weep as I contemplated the agony and the despair that faced combatants (on all sides).
And yet all is not hopeless. It isn’t.
Lest we forget that in order to bring peace between God and his wayward family, that’s exactly what Jesus – the one who first articulated those headstone inscriptions, did. He gave his life.
Yes, Jesus absorbed sin’s curse and sin’s punishment that I might go free.
My sin was laid in him – his righteousness was laid on all who believe.
He was willing to pay a very great price; the price of peace – his life for mine; for all who believe.
And we know his work was effective; we know that peace with God is available to all who trust this Jesus, because God raised him from that death; the price for sin having been fully paid by God in Christ.
As we honour those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, so too must we honour and worship and serve Him who gave his life that we might be set free from the clutches of our last great enemy – even death itself.
– Bishop Stuart Robinson is Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn.
Churches opposing new Tanzanian constitution to be deregistered — report
Posted on April 22, 2015
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“Tanzania’s Minister of Home Affairs, Mathias Chikawe, has announced that churches and religious institutions that publicly oppose the country’s new constitution will be deregistered, beginning from 20 April.
Tanzanian Christians oppose a bill that would introduce Kadhi (Islamic) courts across the country’s mainland, in the new constitution…”
– this report from Barnabas Fund.
Terrorists ‘reveal their desperate need of a Saviour’
Posted on April 21, 2015
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“The Anglican Bishop for Ethiopia has hailed as martyrs 28 Ethiopian Christians shot or beheaded in Libya by members of the terrorist group known as ISIS or ISIL…”
– from SydneyAnglicans.net.
Update:
Archbishop Glenn Davies this afternoon sent a message of condolence to the Anglican Bishop of the Horn of Africa, Grant LeMarquand:
We mourn with you and the Ethiopian church. Our hearts are heavy at the suffering caused by such depraved acts.
As the company of martyrs grows, we cry out ‘How Long, O Lord?”. Be assured we hold you in our prayers at this trying time.
(Image: Diocese of Egypt.)
Sydney at Gallipoli
Posted on April 21, 2015
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“This month marks the centenary of the landing at Gallipoli by Australian and New Zealand troops as part of a larger allied invasion force in April 1915…
Historians have noted how the Australian involvement at Gallipoli gained Australia the right to be treated as an independent nation. Thus, Australia was allowed its own independent seat at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and was not simply part of the British Empire delegation.”
– This article by Dr Colin Bale (Head of Church History at Moore College) tells the story of two Sydney Anglicans in the Great War. It was published in the April edition of Southern Cross, and has also been posted online by SydneyAnglicans.net.
Sticks and stones: why words matter
Posted on April 20, 2015
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Matthias Media has made the first chapter from Steve Morrison’s book Born This Way available to read online.
Read it here, and also watch Steve talk about the book.
GAFCON Primates Communique 17 April 2015 — We are not leaving the Anglican Communion
Posted on April 18, 2015
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Next GAFCON Conference in 2018
“We are not leaving the Anglican Communion.”
“We invite all faithful Anglicans to join us in renewing the Communion…”
“This week, from 13th to 17th April 2015, we have met in London for prayer and fellowship in order to help chart the future of global Anglicanism. We are uniting faithful Anglicans, growing in momentum, structured for the future, and committed to the Anglican Communion. …
We are excited to announce that the next GAFCON conference will be in 2018. This global gathering now serves a critical function in the life of the Anglican Communion as it is an effective instrument of unity which is capable of gathering the majority of the world’s Anglicans. … A further announcement will be made when the details of the venue have been confirmed.
… We continue to encourage and support the efforts of those working to restore the Church of England’s commitment to Biblical truth. Equally, we authenticate and support the work of those Anglicans who are boldly spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and whose circumstances require operating outside the old, institutional structures. …
We are not leaving the Anglican Communion. The members of our churches stand at the heart of the Communion, which is why we are committed to its renewal. We belong to the mainstream, and we are moving forward.”
– The GAFCON Primates Council has released this encouraging Communique after their meeting in London. Full Communique below: Read more
New Assistant Bishop for Canberra & Goulburn
Posted on April 18, 2015
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News from Canberra & Goulburn Diocese –
“Archdeacon Dr Matt Brain was appointed as a new Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn following a meeting of Bishop in Council earlier today…”
And “Assistant Bishop Trevor Edwards will become the bishop responsible for the development of ministry in the Diocese’s western and coastal regions following a meeting of Bishop in Council today…”
Learn biblical Hebrew?
Posted on April 18, 2015
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Why learn Biblical Hebrew?
“The job of a pastor-teacher is to be gripped and transformed by God’s word, and so to speak God’s word faithfully and appropriately into the various life situations of those under your care. If you are serious about devoting your life to the ministry of God’s word, you can’t afford to be shallow in your engagement with it.” – Lionel Windsor at Moore College. (And see his interview with Michelle Philp.)
and George Athas, also on the Faculty at Moore College:
“I’m often asked by people going to theological college or seminary, “Why should I study Hebrew?’ Less often, they ask, “Why should I study Greek?”
They’re good questions. Vital questions. To answer, I want you to imagine this scenario…” Read it all here.
Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu ‘to write book on happiness’
Posted on April 17, 2015
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“The two Nobel peace laureates will meet in Dharamsala, India, later this month, where for five days, as well as marking the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday, they will spend time ‘in deep dialogue and playful laughter as they share their experience of how to find joy in the face of life’s challenges’, said publisher Hutchinson. …
Their discussion will form the basis of the text, with the pair – who call each other ‘spiritual brother’ …
‘The ultimate source of happiness is within us,’ said the Dalai Lama …”
– The Guardian. (Image: Desmond Tutu’s Facebook page.)
How to destroy freedom one wedding cake at a time
Posted on April 16, 2015
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“Those Christian bigots are at it again. And this time it’s those Gun-Lovin’, Bible Thumpin’, Cousin’ Marryin’ conservative rednecks over in Indiana.
On March 26th, Mike Pence (the Governor of Indiana) signed into law the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (or RFRA as it’s known). Many people got quite upset by this new law, and immediately both mainstream media and social media went beserk…”
– At Thinking of God, Akos Balogh provides some background to help understand what’s been happening in the US.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…