Singing as Spiritual Formation

Posted on June 9, 2024 
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“Churches in Australia go to incredible lengths to sing together. Typically, churches do not have the resources to do music as they’d like. What’s more, views differ on the place of music in church life. Yet Sunday after Sunday, the church sings.

Over the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of visiting churches throughout Australia to help in music ministry training. Almost all have been struggling to motivate their congregations to sing heartily, and to develop bands that lead the congregation well. Some church music teams are thriving – praise God! Yet mostly, churches are just getting by. I know of churches where faithful music teams are few in number and exhausted. I know of churches with no musicians – they sing along to YouTube videos in their services instead. I have served on staff as Music Pastor at three evangelical churches (2 in Sydney, 1 in Melbourne), each holding slightly different views on the place of singing and seeking to lovingly engage with congregational expectations of singing’s purpose and song choices. Perhaps these are familiar scenarios. Music ministry is complex.

And yet I’ve not encountered a single church that has excluded singing from its gatherings. Singing on Sundays – some way, somehow – seems to be a non-negotiable. …”

– Greg Cooper published this article back in March at EFAC Australia.

Image: gregcoopermusic.com

June 6, 1944, One of the Most Morally Significant Days in Western History

Posted on June 7, 2024 
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In his The Briefing broadcast for Friday 07 June 2024, Dr Albert Mohler reflects on D-Day.

Latest George Whitefield College newsletter

Posted on June 7, 2024 
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Screenshot

The latest newsletter (May 2024) from George Whitefield College in Cape Town has been uploaded to their website.

Good to see what’s happening, and as fuel for your prayers. (Click PRINT FULL NEWSLETTER for the PDF version.)

Anglican Global South leaders meet in Egypt to reset and renew the Anglican Communion

Posted on June 7, 2024 
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“The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) is a recognised grouping within the  Anglican Communion which includes some 75% of Anglicans worldwide and traces its origins to the  first ‘South to South’ Encounter in Kenya in 1994. Since then, regular ‘Encounter’ gatherings have  brought the voice of Global South to the wider Anglican Communion and next week, 11th-15th June, a  group of 200 leaders is being gathered by the GSFA in Egypt as its ‘1st Assembly’ under a new  Covenantal structure.

The Assembly will meet in the context of the rapid growth of Anglican Churches of the Majority  World, in contrast to the Western Churches which, on the whole, have been unable to resist a  cultural drift away from orthodox Christianity. …”

– Report on the upcoming GSFA Assembly in Egypt.

via Anglican.ink. Image: GSFA.

The gospel in jars of clay

Posted on June 7, 2024 
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“Some years ago I was asked what the mission strategy was for the youth ministry at our church. What did we do for evangelism? How were we reaching the lost and proclaiming the good news to non-Christians?

I took the question in good faith, even though I detected a hint of haughty accusation underlying the question, i.e. ‘If you’re not running courses, holding attractive evangelistic events and presenting Two Ways To Live each week, then are you actually doing any evangelism?’ seemed to be the subtext. …”

– Mike Dicker, Principal of Youthworks College, writes in the current Southern Cross magazine – and at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Remembering D-Day

Posted on June 6, 2024 
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Today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June 1944.

Five years ago, Joe Carter wrote this potted summary for The Gospel Coalition.

Students of history know that D-Day represented a massive effort to win freedom from Nazi tyranny, and there was great personal sacrifice. In a world where so many take for granted the freedoms we enjoy, it is good – and sobering – to remember.

Yet Christians know that our liberation from sin and death came at an even higher price. Incalculably so.

As we remember and give thanks for those who laid down their lives to defend our freedom and civilisation, let’s never take for granted what the Lord Jesus has done for us.

Related:

Hear the NBC radio broadcast announcing the D-Day invasion.

A D-Day story: Part One – The crossing – Tom McCarthy at The Conservative Woman.

Freedoms of West make our culture worth defending – John Anderson

Image: 1977 photo of a stone marker in Saint-Malo, France – part of La Voie de la Liberté – the Road to Liberty – opened in 1947. It commemorates the route of the Allied forces as they fought to liberate Europe.

Honouring faithful service over 15 years

Posted on June 6, 2024 
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From Moore College:

“It is with full hearts that we share Moore College Faculty member and Director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre, Jane Tooher, will be leaving the College at the end of this year.

Jane, who is much loved, has been on College Faculty since August 2009 and she will be dearly missed by everyone at the College.  Jane is the founding Director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre, the key architect and lecturer in the women’s ministry stream of the Advanced Diploma and a thought leader both within the College and further afield in the area of complementarian models of Christian ministry. …”

– Read it all here.

Making Sense of Suffering, Part 1 — Don Carson

Posted on June 6, 2024 
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From The Gospel Coalition, a Carson Center Podcast:

“Don Carson outlines six theological pillars for a biblical understanding of suffering.

Looking into the philosophical problem of suffering, he references David Hume’s skepticism about God’s goodness in light of pervasive hardship, and he challenges his audience to consider how to reconcile the existence of a loving, omnipotent God with the reality of suffering.

A faith that remains steadfast despite life’s trials requires a deep trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness, which can sustain believers through the deepest valleys of suffering. …”

– Listen or read the transcript here.

What is relational evangelism?

Posted on June 5, 2024 
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“I was an ESL [English as a Second Language] teacher in Western Sydney before going to Moore College with the plan to be a missionary.

I had been involved in summer missions and church evangelism for years, though I’m not a naturally gifted evangelist! I now spend my time helping equip everyday Christians to be courageously speaking about Jesus.”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Dave Jensen asks Sarah Seabrook about relational evangelism.

How should we teach artificial intelligence morality?

Posted on June 5, 2024 
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From The Pastor’s Heart:

“A new massive ethical question has risen up with the advent of artificial intelligence.

How will people decide what kind of morality to give to their artificial intelligence creations?

There will need to be a morality.  But what should it be?

The market is already making different choices.

Elon Musk has said he wants the AI behind X (formerly Twitter) to be morally flexible.   He wants his AI to appeal to all people: left and right, authoritarian and democratic, kind and brutal …

Stephen Driscoll is the author of ‘Made in our Image – God, artificial intelligence and you’.”

– Watch or listen here.

Martin Salter Interview on Acts

Posted on June 5, 2024 
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From Church Society:

“In the podcast this week, Martin Salter talks about his new commentary on the book of Acts, in the new Hodder Bible Commentary series, in which the gospel spreads from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, and people learn what it is to live for Jesus.

We hear about the battles that follow – battles in the spiritual realm, and the persecution of Christians as they preach the gospel.

Martin also talks about how we read biblical narrative and what that means for applying Scripture today.”

– Listen here.

Is Article 20 a Roadblock to “Prayers of Love and Faith” in the Church of England?

Posted on June 4, 2024 
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Quick answer: “Yes”.

Longer answer at Anglican Futures.

Related:

“Prayers of Love and Faith” – Church of England.

2024 Annual Moore College Lectures

Posted on June 4, 2024 
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The 2024 Annual Moore College Lectures are just two months away:

“The Battle for the Truth of the Gospel.

In Galatians, Paul is engaged in a battle for the truth of the gospel. Over five days this August, Tom Schreiner, the Associate Dean for the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky, will be opening the book of Galatians at the 2024 Annual Moore College Lectures.

Tom will be focussing on the centrality of the gospel in the face of opposition.

In Galatians, Paul responds to certain opponents and adversaries who have distorted the gospel and sought to influence the church. He responds by emphasizing the gospel he received from Christ. Paul centres on the cross of Jesus Christ, the inauguration of the eschatological age, the correct understanding of justification, and what it means to live as believers in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Join us from 5 – 9 August for a week of insightful lectures from an international Pauline scholar.”

– All the details are here.

Commissioning at Narromine

Posted on June 3, 2024 
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On Saturday, Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder was in Narromine, “to welcome Luke and Lauren Merriman to Narromine and commission Luke as stipendiary lay minister.”

Bishop Calder continues, “Thanks be to God.”

Do uphold in prayer Luke and Lauren and the church at Narromine.

– More photos on the Bathurst Diocese Facebook page.

King’s Birthday Conference 2024: A Post Christian Christ?

Posted on June 2, 2024 
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From Phillip Jensen:

“The annual King’s Birthday Conference is coming up… This year, I will be joined by my nephew David Jensen as together we will explore the question of ‘A post Christian Christ?’.

Together, we will look at the gospel’s message in a world that tries to bypass Jesus. Many Australians may have lost connection with organised religion, but Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, has not finished with them. How do we tell people, who do not want to hear, of the Saviour they are ignoring before they meet him as their Judge?

Please join us on the afternoon of Monday June 10th from 1:30-5:00pm at Moore Theological College, Sydney. There will a Q & A time after the sessions and afternoon tea will be provided.

If you are outside Sydney, there will be a live-stream option (Q&A not included), so why not gather a group of friends to join us together online?”

– See all the details, and register, at this link.

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