The Worldliness in World Vision’s new hiring policy
Posted on March 26, 2014
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“We are entering the days and the decade of a great shifting and sifting of evangelicalism. The capitulation will not happen all at once. The camel of compromise will poke its nose into the tent little by little.
We will hear about the unity of the church, as if Christ in John 17 were interested in a unity indifferent to the truth (John 17:17). We will hear about the reputation of the church, as if Christ promised that everyone would love us as long as we meant well (John 15:18-19). We will hear urgent pleas to stay on mission and not be distracted by controversy, as if Christ’s gospel of the kingdom had little to do with actually repenting and believing in the gospel (Mark 1:15). We will hear—in a hundred ways from a thousand voices in a million devilish disguises—the siren song that beckons the church to change or die, as if we could rescue Christianity by saving it from itself…”
– Kevin De Young’s piece at The Gospel Coalition is well worth reading in full.
Piper: World Vision USA’s move trivialises Perdition and the Cross
Posted on March 25, 2014
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John Piper looks to the godly example of Jim Packer when he responds to Christianity Today’s report that “World Vision’s American branch will no longer require its more than 1,100 employees to restrict their sexual activity to marriage between one man and one woman.”
Piper: “This is a tragic development for the cause of Christ, because it trivializes perdition — and therefore, the cross — and because it sets a trajectory for the demise of true compassion for the poor.
When J.I. Packer walked out of the 2002 synod of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, he was protesting its decision to ‘bless same-sex unions.’ His rationale is relevant for the developments at World Vision…”
– Read it all at Desiring God.
Related:
Pointing to Disaster — The Flawed Moral Vision of World Vision – Albert Mohler.
On World Vision and the Gospel – Russell Moore.
Franklin Graham Statement on World Vision – Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. “My dear friend, Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, would be heartbroken. He was an evangelist who believed in the inspired Word of God.”
The Road Less Traveled: The Faithfulness of J.I. Packer vs. the Capitulation of World Vision – Justin Taylor.
The Hole In Their Bible – Todd Pruitt. “Stearns says that World Vision is united around the Apostle’s Creed. But what profit is there in affirming belief in God while denying that which He has made so clear?”
And from the files: Are we stronger than He? – by David Short, published in ACL News, January 2005 (PDF file).
Photo: Canon David Short and Canon Dr J I Packer at St. John’s Vancouver – they both left the Anglican Church of Canada because of that denomination’s departure from obedience to the Scriptures.
GAFCON Chairman calls for Repentance, not Indaba
Posted on March 25, 2014
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“The need for repentance, without which we cannot have true unity, is obscured when the authority and clarity of Scripture come into question.
Sadly, this is the inevitable result of the Continuing Indaba project. By assuming that all differences are matters of context and interpretation, it becomes a way of affirming a false gospel. Much of its funding comes through the Episcopal Church of the United Sates.
We see here the repetition of a subtle and ancient strategy. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent says to Eve ‘Did God really say…’ (Genesis 3:1) and the consequences are tragic. By grace, we have been rescued from the power of death and sin. So how then can we once more set ourselves above its truth, we who are a made a new creation through hearing and obeying the Word of God?
I do therefore need to make an important clarification. Contrary to the claim made on the website of the London Anglican Communion office that there is a Kenyan ‘Resource Hub’ for Continuing Indaba, neither the Anglican Church of Kenya nor any of its learning institutions are participants in this project. We are strongly committed to the work of reconciliation within the Church and within civil society, but the gospel ministry of reconciliation is given to us by God and must not therefore compromise the Word of God. …”
– Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council writes in his March 2014 Pastoral Letter. Read it all here.
The False Teachers: Charles Taze Russell
Posted on March 23, 2014
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Tim Challies has been writing a series on false teachers.
This week he turns to Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Advance your Preaching — Moore to host hands-on preaching day
Posted on March 22, 2014
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“On April 8 Moore College will host the first of a regular series of hands-on days to help improve our skills in proclaiming the Word. Moore Emeritus Faculty member Dr David Peterson, author of the Pillar Commentary on Acts, will give us input on issues involved in preaching the Book of Acts. …”
– Read the details at the Moore College website – and book in to “Advancing your Preaching” here.
Fred Phelps and the Anti-Gospel of Hate
Posted on March 22, 2014
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“Fred Phelps became infamous due to one central fact — he was a world-class hater. He brought great discredit to the Gospel of Christ because his message was undiluted hatred packaged as the beliefs of a church.”
– Albert Mohler writes on the tragic legacy of the founder of ‘Westboro Baptist Church’.
How real is ‘Heaven Is for Real’?
Posted on March 21, 2014
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John Piper was asked about the “Heaven is for real” genre of books written by people who claim to have been to heaven.
Here his reply – 6 minutes here. (h/t Tim Challies.)
Why Holidays are More Christian than Holy Days
Posted on March 21, 2014
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“There are Holy Days and there are holidays and Christians support both, though they prefer holidays.
The word ‘holiday’ comes from Holy Day, but has been secularised. The Holy Day celebrates something of eternal, supernatural or religious significance. The holiday is just taking time off work. Holy Days are not always celebrated by taking time off – sometimes they are marked by fasting or feasting or wearing special clothing. However, some Holy Day celebrations do involve taking time off from work. …”
– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen writes in his weekly column.
The New Calvinism: A Triumph of the Old
Posted on March 21, 2014
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“Theologically, the New Calvinism is mainly an extension of the broader rim of Old Calvinism that was expressed in Charles Spurgeon and populist Presbyterians like James Boice. In fact, Boice’s main target was the very evangelical audience that largely comprises the New Calvinism, and I often heard him predict and rejoice in the Reformed resurgence that blossomed shortly after his death. Instead of a theological shift, the New Calvinism represents a major sociological and ecclesiastical extension of Calvinism in general…”
– Rick Phillips at Reformation 21 begins a series of observations on the phenomenon known as ‘New Calvinism’.
The Dry behind the Fence
Posted on March 20, 2014
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“For those with water on tap and a weekly pay cheque it is worth considering the food on our plates, the fresh produce of a morning breakfast and the meat and three vegetables to which we are accustomed. All of this while dressed in cotton, looking forward to the heat of summer giving way to winter’s woollen warmth.
While many of us enjoy the privilege of another evening meal, the food bowl of our nation and region is struggling. While we drink freely, the farmer is on the verge of buying drinking water. While we eat, people on the land are spending what they often don’t have to buy fodder for the stock they may be unable to keep…”
– It’s very tough on the land, and Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, encourages us to pray for rain and to be mindful of the farmers.
Mohler on Spurgeon
Posted on March 20, 2014
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Albert Mohler delivered the annual Spurgeon Lecture at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Florida last week. He looks at Spurgeon in his intellectual and cultural context.
See it here via the Gospel Coalition.
(From 23:20, there’s mention of Bishop Colenso, whose actions precipitated the first Lambeth Conference.)
New BCA Regional Officer to be Commissioned
Posted on March 18, 2014
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The new BCA Regional Officer for NSW and the ACT, the Rev. Peter Adkins, will be commissioned tomorrow afternoon, at 5:30pm 19th March 2014, in Sydney.
The Service is at St. Philip’s York Street, and Archbishop Glenn Davies will preach and conduct the commissioning. Please pray for Peter in his new role.
One 2 One part 2
Posted on March 18, 2014
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In part 2 of her 3-part video series from St Helen’s Bishopsgate, Amy Wicks talks about the where, when and how of One2One Bible reading.
Diocese of South Carolina ‘joins Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans’
Posted on March 16, 2014
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“The Diocese of South Carolina has been formally recognized as a member in good standing of the Global Anglican Communion.
On Saturday, March 15, the Diocese’s 223rd Annual Convention unanimously accepted an invitation to join the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GFCA) and temporarily enter into a formal ecclesiastical relationship known as provisional primatial oversight from bishops in the Global South. Read more
Remembering Leon Morris on the Centenary of his birth
Posted on March 14, 2014
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Australian theologian Leon Morris was born one hundred years ago this weekend – on March 15th 1914.
The current Principal of Ridley College Melbourne, Dr, Brian Rosner, has a tribute. (Photo: Ridley College.)
If you are not familiar with the writings of Leon Morris, you can read three articles on the Church Society website:
The Person of Christ (1960).
The Authority of the Bible Today (1961, PDF file).
Christian Worship (1962, PDF file).
And if you can obtain a copy (and especially if you have some Greek), take the time to read his The Apostolic Preaching of The Cross – The Tyndale Press, London, 1955) – an enormously important book still today.
That book “is an attempt to understand certain key words, words which are crucial to the New Testament picture of the atonement, by seeing them against the background of the Greek Old Testament, the papyri, and the Rabbinic writings. Armed with our discoveries, we then proceed to examine them in their New Testament setting…” – from the Preface to the First Edition.
Update: Sandy Grant has just published this at The Briefing.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…