‘The hardest talk I’ve ever given: Loving God’ – with Ray Galea
Posted on May 15, 2024
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From The Pastor’s Heart:
“‘God wants all of me to love all of God all the time’ says Senior Pastor of Fellowship Dubai, Ray Galea.
We want our staff and leaders to live and serve in ministry out of an overflow of the love of God for them. Grasping this love properly lifts our service from duty to desire.
As pastors we are so committed and focused on encouraging our congregations to love God with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. But do we stop to consider that our own love for God might be the limiting factor?
The pastor’s love for God will be a limiting factor for the congregation’s love for God. If we do not truly have hearts for God, how could we possibly lead others to the same?…”
Growing fellowship among gospel-minded churches in the UK?
Posted on May 15, 2024
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In the latest Church Society podcast, Lee Gatiss speaks with Affinity‘s Graham Nicholls (pictured) about the possibility of a “Gospel Coalition UK” – as well as about helping Christians commend Christ in the public square.
– Listen here.
Armidale Preaching Conference Review
Posted on May 14, 2024
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From The Expository Preaching Trust:
“On 6-7 May we held a fully subscribed Preaching Conference in St Peter’s Cathedral, Armidale.
The conference was sponsored by the Trust and co chaired by Rod Chiswell, the Bishop of Armidale, and David Cook of the Trust. …”
– Read here.
LLF Working Groups – is it just the next step on the travelator?
Posted on May 14, 2024
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“The Church of England finally announced the membership of the three Working Groups that will continue the work of implementing the outcomes of Living in Love and Faith. The press release says that the role of the Working Groups is to:
‘…feed into the Programme Board, helping to shape recommendations to be presented for consideration at the House and College of Bishops ahead of bringing an outline proposal to the July meeting of the General Synod.’…”
– This piece, published a few days ago at Anglican Futures, argues that the process within the Church of England has been well organised to provide the desired result.
Inside the hidden assumption in Albanese’s ‘misinformation’ bill that undermines its entire premise
Posted on May 13, 2024
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“As Claire Lehman of the Quillet puts it: ‘In universities across the world, humanities departments have, over time, come to reject the notion that there is such a thing as objective truth.’
If they are right, there is no point in any debate or discussion about either the news or our opinions of the news. …”
– At Sky News Australia, Kel Richards points out the fatal flaw in all ‘misinformation’ legislation.
Showing Christ’s love to children in need
Posted on May 13, 2024
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“Are you constantly amazed by the depths of God’s love described in these verses like we are?
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (John 4:9-10)
God loved us by sending his son Jesus into the world, who laid down his life for us. And as the Apostle John writes, this truth gives us a powerful reason to love others.
We love because he first loved us! (John 4:19)
All around the world, Anglican Aid’s partners are taking these verses to heart. …”
– At Anglican Aid’s website, Anna Grummitt shares some encourgement and also a way you can help.
The church as our village
Posted on May 11, 2024
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For Mother’s Day, SydneyAnglicans.net has published a version of a talk Jocelyn Loane gave the Mothers’ Union Sydney conference in March:
“During COVID lockdowns I started collecting memes about parenting to get the vibe of how the internet portrays being a mum.
I came across memes that played on the old African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. One said this: ‘They say it takes a village. I believe it also takes a vineyard’. Which might tell you something about how people found those months of home learning! …”
– Read it here.
The heavens declare the glory of God
Posted on May 11, 2024
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“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” – Psalm 19:1.
Photo: Aurora Australis as seen from Tasmania, 11 May 2024.
Evangelism in Bathurst Diocese – Sharing Jesus for life
Posted on May 10, 2024
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A very encouraging editorial from The Australian Church Record:
“Through the goodness of God, combined with the kindness and service of his people, the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst has experienced renewal in recent years. Fresh vision, boldness, and a firm grip upon biblical preaching and teaching has spread through its churches. Evangelism has been at the forefront of the minds of its leaders and very much within the hearts of its people.
Ultimately, there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to evangelism. It is simply sharing Jesus for life. Therefore, Bathurst Diocese has no new fancy technique to report. This diocese has modelled its evangelism from Scripture and has ‘just got on with it’.
The determination and drive of Bishop Mark Calder at the helm, consecrated and installed in late 2019, has given a very clear path forward which is bearing fruit in lives won for the kingdom, and the church of God is flourishing. Bishop Calder came to bring gospel change, has maintained this objective, and by the grace of God, many have joined with him in sharing Jesus for life. As I pause with others to reflect upon our evangelism, some key principles have emerged as being very significant for us. …”
– Read it all here. Food for Prayer.
The risen Lord of life and ministry: A sermon on John 21
Posted on May 10, 2024
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Moore College’s Lionel Windsor preached on John chapter 21 in the College chapel earlier this week.
Outline: John 21: A strange commissioning
1–3 The in-between time.
4–14 Trying to catch fish? – Jesus has it sorted.
15–17 Feeling a failure? – Jesus has just the job for you.
18–23 Suffering & out of control? Jesus knows all about it.
24–25 The things we really need to know.
Four Questions for Faithful Anglicans
Posted on May 9, 2024
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From Anglican Futures:
“Today we tackle four questions relevant to faithful Anglicans:
1) Primates Meeting in Rome – Was it the biggest boycott ever?
2) Primates Meeting in Rome – Is Justin Welby looking to reunite with Rome?
3) CofE – Is the hope of meaningful structural provision fading?
4) Church hurt – How do we lead more loving churches?…”
– In Question 2, they observe,
“It is striking that a meeting which revealed the chasm in the Anglican Community, those who have lost confidence in the word of God are now seeking greater unity with Rome. It seems Articles 19, 22 and 35 no longer have any authority either. …”
Related:
Different views of the future of the C of E – Gafcon GB & Europe, 29 April 2024.
How not to lose heart in Ministry — Ed Loane
Posted on May 8, 2024
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The Rev Dr Ed Loane gave the occasional address at the 2024 Moore College Graduation on March 26th and the College has just made his talk available.
Ed spoke from 2 Corinthians 4 on ‘How not to lose heart in ministry’.
And read about the graduation at the Moore College website.
A Response to the Primates Meeting in Rome
Posted on May 7, 2024
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Archbishop Dr. Laurent Mbanda, Chairman of the Gafcon Primates Council, has released this response, 6 May 2024:
“To my dear Anglican brothers and sisters contending for the faith once delivered to the saints,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Last week, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 32 Primates of the Anglican Communion gathered in Rome to meet with one another and to hold a private audience with Pope Francis. In their Communiqué, published on May 2, they highlighted the pope’s admonition to them to “embrace our disagreements without fear” and issued their own call “to mutual respect and accompaniment with one another.” They also expressed their own renewed commitment to “make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
As the Communiqué itself acknowledges, however, multiple Anglican Primates did not attend the gathering. To be specific, 12 primates did not attend this meeting in Rome, which means that those who did attend represented 30 of the 42 recognized provinces of the Anglican Communion. Such numbers are misleading, however, since the Primates of the three largest Anglican provinces (Nigeria, Uganda, and South Sudan) were among those absent. Those Primates who did attend represent a minority, perhaps 30%, of active Anglicans worldwide. The Communiqué makes no mention of how unrepresentative a gathering this meeting was, nor does it explain the reason that multiple Primates declined the invitation to participate.
The truth is that most of those who refused to attend are leaders of Gafcon and the Global South, and our absence was not accidental, but intentional. Though we do pray for the unity and health of the Anglican Communion, we chose not to attend because, as last year’s Kigali Statement made clear, the current divisions within the Anglican Communion are neither minimal nor new. These divisions have arisen from more than 25 years of “repeated departures from the authority of God’s Word” that, despite the persistent warnings given by the majority of Anglican Primates, have continued unabated.
We know how dear the unity of the church is to the heart of our Lord. For it is he who prays to his Father that we might be one, even as he and the Father are one (John 17:21). At the same time, we also recognize that such unity is not simply a matter of institutional belonging or cultivating attitudes of “mutual respect.” The unity of the Father and the Son consists in a harmony of will and mind, of mission and message (John 8:16-18, 10:37-38, 12:49-50, 17:25-26). Jesus came speaking the word of his Father and he wanted us to be sanctified in the truth of that word (John 17:17). It is only as we agree on the truth and authority of Scripture, therefore, that we can be one as Jesus prayed.
It is unfortunate when the orthodox remnant within the Anglican Communion are portrayed as the source of disunity. To the contrary, as Bishop J.C. Ryle once said,
If people separate themselves from teaching which is positively false and unscriptural, they ought to be praised rather than reproved. In such cases separation is a virtue rather than a sin…He is the schismatic who causes the schism…Unity which is obtained by the sacrifice of truth is worth nothing. It is not unity that pleases God.
The proposals made by the Anglican Primates at the Rome meeting, which consist of minor revisions to the description of the Anglican Communion and modifications to its existing structures, will do nothing to mend the torn fabric of our Communion. Nothing apart from a return to the Lord through deep repentance and renunciation of false teaching by erring provinces will suffice. To quote the Kigali Statement once more, “without repentance this tear cannot be mended.”
In Christ, I am your servant,
The Most Rev. Dr. Laurent Mbanda
Chairman of the Gafcon Primates Council
Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda
Bishop of Gasabo.”
Also at the Gafcon website.
Related:
The Kigali Commitment – GAFCON IV, 21 April 2023. (PDF file)
Save the date for Anglican Aid’s 2024 Conference
Posted on May 7, 2024
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From Anglican Aid in Sydney:
“We are thrilled to announce that Anglican Aid’s 2024 one-day conference will take place on Saturday 31 August at Moore College.
After the success of last year’s ‘Social Justice Reframed’ event, we will once again gather with 200 thoughtful Christians to consider the intersection of Christian aid, development, and the gospel.
This year’s international guest speaker is Bishop Mwita Akiri, Anglican Aid’s partner in the Diocese of Tarime, Tanzania and Chairman of GAFCON Tanzania. …”
The End of the Church of Scotland?
Posted on May 6, 2024
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Screenshot
Here’s a very sobering analysis of the state of the Church of Scotland. (13 minutes, from Ready to Harvest on YouTube.)
It’s a reminder of what happens when a denomination tries to be just like the culture around it – and ends up with nothing to offer.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…