O Joy! – New Year message from Church Society’s Lee Gatiss

Posted on January 1, 2024
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“You know, as well as I do, that, being in the Church of England right now, can have a detrimental effect on one’s health. …

How can we cope with it all? What is the solution?”

– Church Society’s Director Dr Lee Gatiss has a message of joy, despite what’s happening in the Church of England.

Why the Global South will win the Spiritual and Culture Wars in the Anglican Communion – commentary by David Virtue:

“It’s like a sinkhole opening up before your eyes, slowly swallowing up churches, bishops and priests, while watching helplessly as the hole increases and more of the Church of England falls into it never to be seen again. …

Whatever happens, the Global South now owns the Anglican Communion and they don’t have to force schism, because they are the theological heirs of Thomas Cranmer and his legitimate heirs.”

The happiest Year you will ever know

Posted on January 1, 2024
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From Tim Challies:

“There are some hymns that disappear because they are simply not very good. There are some hymns that disappear because they are too tied to a particular niche. And there are some hymns that disappear because their language becomes antiquated.

I think this hymn/poem by John Newton spans the latter two categories. It is closely tied to New Year’s, so likely to be sung for only one Sunday out of every 52. And then some of the language has become just a little bit old-fashioned.

Still, it is worth dusting off, reading, and pondering as one year fades into another. In it, Newton marks the year that has gone and celebrates the year to come (though possibly not right now) – the year that will prove to be the best of your life. …”

– Read here.

And Marylynn Rouse at The John Newton Project provides some context for the hymn.

Marylynn also shares news of the calling home of the Rev. Tony Baker, one of the founding trustees of the John Newton Project.

At various times, Tony also served with the UCCF, Africa Evangelical Fellowship, the Evangelical Alliance, was Director of Evangelicals Now and held many pastoral roles. He last preached at Holy Trinity Eastbourne in September 2023, on the 60th anniversary of his ordination.

Photo of John Newton’s portrait with thanks to Marylynn Rouse.

A New Year: Comfort and Joy…!

Posted on January 1, 2024
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“With the many and varied changes around us – conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle-East and Africa, China’s aggressive acts, significant political and social divisions in the West, climate-change, gender issues, and the western disdain of Christianity – we might wonder about the future.

In the course of his ministry Jesus spoke of events that would unfold …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason helps put things in perspective.

Excellent advice from the Apostle Paul at the start of a new year

Posted on December 31, 2023
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Encouragement from the Apostle Paul:

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

– Philippians 3:13b-14. (ESV)

Death Rehearsal

Posted on December 31, 2023
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You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)

“For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life. And 11:59 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death. …“

– John Piper shares these thoughts for the end of a year.

Nigeria Christmas massacre — death toll nears 200, attacks continue

Posted on December 31, 2023
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“The death toll in the Nigeria Christmas massacre has now risen to almost 200. And more bodies are still being discovered, according to partners of Release International, which supports persecuted Christians around the world.

Even as attempts continue to recover the bodies, Release International has been told of another attack by Fulani militia on the same area on December 28, and has received intelligence of plans for further attacks in Plateau State, central Nigeria. …

According to the Nigerian NGO Intersociety, 52,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed by jihadists since 2009, and 18,000 churches destroyed.”

– You might not have heard much about this in the legacy media.

2024 Summer Prayer Diary

Posted on December 30, 2023
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“Our summers are filled with camps, conferences and missions. People across greater Sydney are diving deep into God’s word and taking it out to those who need to hear it.

So we’ve put together a 10-day prayer diary featuring some of the great kingdom initiatives that could use our prayer.”

– A great resource from Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Photo: Sans Souci swimming baths, Summer 1957.

The Pope, Same-Sex Blessings, and Protestants

Posted on December 29, 2023
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“The confusion surrounding the pope’s recent statement Fiducia Supplicans, a document that is ambiguous about whether Catholic clergy can bless those in same-sex relationships, says much about the times in which we live. Catholic theologians will argue that Rome has not changed, that the fog of distinctions contained in this latest statement means that it does not affect core Roman dogma.

But that is not the point: The watching world cares nothing for such sophistry and sees here a fundamental cultural shift. And it seems naive to think that a fundamental change in pastoral practice will not lead to a significant transformation of attitudes. Such compromises –and this is most surely a compromise – always end up being far more sympathetic to the position they are moving toward than that from which they are moving away.

When the pope sows chaos within his church on the matter of gay blessings, it is likely to affect us all – Catholic clergy and laity, certainly, but also us Protestants. …”

– Carl Trueman outlines some of the consequences of the statement by pope Francis.

Photo: Crossway. Link via Anglican Mainstream.

Evangelism in a post-Christian world – Dave Jensen

Posted on December 29, 2023
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“How do we see Australia won for Christ? …

Firstly, we need to see and then remind each other that the biggest problem facing the people we know is that they are spiritually lost.

What that means is that no matter how they may present themselves to us, we must treat them with the greatest compassion possible – by telling them the gospel.”

– At the Moore College website, Dave Jensen has some real encouragement for you. A great article to recalibrate our thinking as we come to a new year.

(Emphasis added. Image courtesy Evangelism and New Churches.)

Church Society review of 2023

Posted on December 28, 2023
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Church Society has published a review of what they did, and the big stories in the Church of England, in 2023.

It’s in two parts – January to June, and July to December.

It’s been quite a year, and our friends at Church Society have been strenuously contending for the faith in an increasingly unfaithful Church of England. Do pray for them.

Things I wish I knew about Pastoring a Church when I was young

Posted on December 27, 2023
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“I was 28 when I started in full-time ministry as associate pastor in a large Presbyterian church. I was thirty when I was called to pastor a small suburban church on my own.

I made loads of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I can’t turn back the clock but I can share these lessons. I hope they might help young men who are just starting out.

Most of these thoughts should be read in the category of wisdom or common sense, to be weighed accordingly. …”

– Campbell Markham, the minister of Scots’ Church Fremantle, Western Australia, shares a bunch of helpful reflections – providing food for thought at the end of the year. It’s at AP, the national journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

Photo: Moore College, 1956.

The Doctrine That Doesn’t Matter Remains Unchanged

Posted on December 26, 2023
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“When the first rites of blessing for same-sex couples came out in the Anglican church, they were accompanied by a lot of bluster about how they were not to be equated with marriage rites and that they did not constitute a change in doctrine.

In 2003, the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster in Canada published a form of blessing for same-sex couples. Then-Bishop Ingham made a point to distinguish these blessings from the sacrament of marriage. …”

– At Crisis Magazine, former Episcopalian priest – and now Catholic – James Merrick argues that changing Pastoral Practice might be more significant than changing Doctrine. It’s happened in the Anglican world, and is now happening in the Roman Catholic world.

Photo: Then-Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, in 2002.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s Christmas sermon 2023

Posted on December 25, 2023
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Archbishop Kanishka Raffel shared the good news of the Lord Jesus at the 10:00am service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney this morning.

Speaking of the Lord Jesus, he reminded us, “There is no other Saviour. … No other has provided purification for sins.”

Watch here. (Link should go to the start of the sermon – or see the service from the start here.)

Two Ways to Live – a very helpful outline of the Christian message.

What now for those Evangelicals who fled to Rome?

Posted on December 25, 2023
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“Where to now for the young evangelicals who left the Reformed faith for the safety and security of Rome? A Rome whose walls would never be breached, we were led to believe, by the ravages of the post-Christian Sexular Age?

The announcement by the Pope that same sex relationships can be blessed by the church raises a serious question for the trickle leading to a flood of evangelicals (often young men, with growing families who wanted to be more crunchy in their faith) who crossed the Tiber.

And where to now for former Church of England bishop, Michael Nasir-Ali, who left for Rome , for similar reasons? What reasons did he give for leaving? Here he is in his own words …”

– Written a couple of days ago, Steve McAlpine asks some valid questions.