Sovereign Grace sale
Posted on January 30, 2009
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Bob Kauflin announces a sale at Sovereign Grace.
“Well, we figure that most of us have been affected by the present economic crisis. We want to do whatever we can to make it easier for people to benefit from what we produce. We want to serve churches and individuals by providing biblically informed, gospel-centered resources at a low cost.”
– with reduced international shipping as well, this may be of interest. (h/t BTW.)
Living with the Underworld
Posted on January 29, 2009
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Next month, the Equip Book Club looks at Peter Bolt’s very helpful book, Living with the Underworld. In preparation, they’ve published a short interview with Peter.
– at the Equip Book Club.
Welsh Primate says new Province is ‘total nonsense’
Posted on January 29, 2009
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The Primate of the Church in Wales will oppose any attempt to form a parallel Anglican jurisdiction when the primates of the Anglican Communion meet next week in Alexandria, Egypt. …
On Jan. 24, Archbishop Barry Morgan of Wales told delegates attending the annual council meeting of the Diocese of Virginia he would oppose the creation of the ACNA with “every fibre of his body.”
– Report from The Living Church. (Photo: The Church in Wales.)
New chair of CEEC: Interview
Posted on January 29, 2009
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From the UK:
“For Anglican Evangelicals, 2008 ended badly. After a divisive consultation in November, the Church of England’s Evangelical Council (CEEC) chairman, Dr Richard Turnbull, quit, and an appropriate successor seemed hard to find. Now, after a unanimous vote by the CEEC, a new leader has been appointed to begin 2009 on a more promising note. The Venerable Michael Lawson is the Archdeacon of Hampstead. …”
– Interview with the new CEEC Chairman, Archdeacon Michael Lawson, from Religious Intelligence.
Rowan Williams and Revelation wrapped up
Posted on January 28, 2009
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“Last Sunday, 25th January, the Archbishop of Canterbury delivered a sermon at Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge, England as the Diocese of Ely launched its 900th anniversary celebrations. Although barely noticed by the press, it was an event which brought a lamentable truth into sharp focus — that despite centuries of Christian heritage, what now passes for Anglicanism in England has drifted far apart from the faith which GAFCON reaffirmed last year in the Jerusalem Declaration.
While it is the part the Archbishop has played in the advocacy of homosexual lifestyles over the past twenty years which has attracted the most controversy, the heart of the problem is his understanding of the doctrine of revelation. …”
– Charles Raven at SPREAD reflects on one’s attitude to holy Scripture.
You can read the Archbishop’s Hulsean sermon at his website.
It’s interesting to read something of the history of The Hul’sean Lectures. They began in 1777 with four or six sermons preached each year at Great St. Mary’s, Cambridge.
Some of the sermons are available online, such as this 1867 book of four sermons by The Rev. Edward Henry Perowne in which he upholds ‘The Godhead of Jesus’. He wrote about his own aim in fulfilling the purpose of the lectures –
“It is the duty of the Christian minister to resolve the doubts of others, not to engender them by parading his own. … I shall endeavour to shew from the Gospel narrative that the Jesus, of whom the Evangelists wrote, is very and eternal God.” [pages 5–6]
‘If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all liberally. Only let him ask in faith, nothing doubting’ the goodness or power of the Most High. It was with the hope of helping such persons to a right conclusion that this Lectureship was established, no less than to confute the assailants of our Holy Religion. My object will be, in the three succeeding Lectures, to state concisely some of the grounds on which we may rest a defence of this doctrine of the Deity of Jesus Christ.” [page 17]
How do you use Greek in the pulpit?
Posted on January 28, 2009
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“Before the ESV was available, I used another translation that was a little freer in its translation philosophy. There were two Sundays in a row where I had to correct its interpretation to make what I thought was the true point of the passage. After the service a new Christian came to me and asked, ‘Can I not trust my Bible?’ Ouch!
So here is one of the big no-noes from the pulpit. Do not correct the English Bible. Ever! Never say, ‘the translators got this wrong.’ The damage you can do to a person’s trust in Scripture is unimaginable. …”
– Read Bill Mounce’s wisdom on the way forward at Zondervan’s Koinonia blog. (h/t Challies.com)
Christian Life Conference 2009: Name Above All Names
Posted on January 27, 2009
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Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis ran its Christian Life Conference last Friday to Sunday with the theme “Name Above All Names”.
Scottish-born pastors Alistair Begg (pictured) and Sinclair Ferguson spoke and the audio is now available online, thanks to Second Presbyterian.
Alistair Begg serves at Parkside Church near Cleveland, Ohio, and previously pastored churches in Scotland. Sinclair Ferguson serves at the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina – and has worked with the Banner of Truth and at St George’s-Tron Church in Glasgow. (h/t Between Two Worlds.)
Episcopal church starting from scratch
Posted on January 26, 2009
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“The mission parish was created by the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York following last month’s departure of most members of the former St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, a large, conservative congregation that had been at odds for years with the direction of the national church. …
Now Gordy has the job of trying to pick up the pieces for the Episcopal Diocese. She begins with a parish of four people and a determination to get past the past. …
Sunday, Gordy said goodbye to her current congregation, Trinity Church on Delaware Avenue, perhaps the diocese’s most theologically progressive parish…”
– Report from The Buffalo News. (See this earlier post from Oct 2008 for context.)
Canberra consecration on Saturday
Posted on January 26, 2009
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Stuart Robinson will be consecrated as Bishop of the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn at a service at 11:00am on Saturday 31st January 2009 in St. Saviour’s Cathedral, Goulburn.
North Hobart church building preserved
Posted on January 26, 2009
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“The Anglican Church has agreed to pass ownership of the Holy Trinity Church building, in Hobart, to the Greek Orthodox Church thus protecting its future and ensuring the site remains used for Christian worship. …
In March of 2007 the Holy Trinity Parish Council… petitioned Bishop Harrower to close the Holy Trinity building. This was in response to a comprehensive report from an expert heritage architect which put the cost of restoration and upkeep of Holy Trinity at around $4million.”
– Press release from the Diocese of Tasmania.
Why don’t we just quit preaching?
Posted on January 25, 2009
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“Considering the widespread popularity of engaging anecdotes and vivid vignettes, wouldn’t it be more effective to simply tell a few captivating stories on Sunday Morning? And why think specifically about expositional preaching — that brand so often associated with excruciating boredom and half-empty pews? In our fast paced society of sports tickers and sound bite infotainment, can we really expect anyone to have the patience for a serious exposition of an ancient text?”
– The NineMarks website has some excellent resources for expository preaching. It’s the first the ‘nine marks’of a healthy church as promoted by Mark Dever.
Virginia goes over the brink
Posted on January 25, 2009
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“This is not California, or El Camino Real, or even North Carolina. Virginia has long defined the ‘moderate middle’ of the Episcopal Church, and for that reason among others I believe the passage of this resolution will send shockwaves through the entire church. I also have to believe that if this is what has happened in Virginia in January, we’re in for a real circus come July in Anaheim.”
– Greg Griffith at Stand Firm writes about the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s Annual Council meeting held in Reston, Virginia, on January 23 & 24.
(h/t Anglican Mainstream.) Photo of Bishop Peter Lee: Diocese of Virginia.
Split in church is tragically real
Posted on January 25, 2009
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“Recent opinion pieces published in the Gazette about divisions in the Episcopal Church reveal more than intended.
One writes that only ‘four bishops’ have left the church and that ‘the vast majority of Episcopal churches’ don’t want to leave. This is the Episcopal Church’s oft repeated mantra — division in the church is numerically minor, therefore wildly overblown. This rhetoric fuels the crisis it seeks to deny. It isn’t helpful to claim that there is some smoke but no fire when there are flames everywhere. …”
– Suzanne Schwank, Chairwoman of the Diocece of South Carolina’s Department of Christian Faith Formation writes in The Beaufort Gazette.
(Photo from the Presiding Bishop’s visit to South Carolina in 2008.)
Abortion and Obama’s first few days
Posted on January 24, 2009
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Here was President Obama’s statement on abortion yesterday, released late in the day:
“On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose. …”
– Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds provides the text of the President’s statement as well as some reflections.
Just where is the church?
Posted on January 24, 2009
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Today I was briefly looking online at a paper by a certain Colin Podmore, titled The Governance of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, to be presented at the next General Synod in February. In it we find what I consider to be the ‘institutional revisionist’ understanding now dominant in the Church of England …
– John Richardson responds to the assertion that ‘the church’ = ‘the diocese’ – at The Ugley Vicar.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…