Women in Romans 16

Recently I enjoyed preaching on Romans 16. Perhaps surprisingly, there was a lot to learn from the long list of names. One obvious feature was the many women mentioned.

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Bus evangelism

A most excellent statement from a seemingly unlikely person, heard this morning. The speaker was a tall, retired man in a suit, addressing a younger bearded man who may or may not have had some religious interest, but who had a great deal to say about the Pope, the Roman Catholic church, and the recent Roman Catholic World Youth Day (WYD). They were talking about the re-enactment of the route to Jesus’ crucifixion that happened as part of the WYD celebrations. The older man, who spoke broken English with a heavy Armenian accent, had this to say about the re-enactment:

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Shifting to the personal

Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel

This morning, just for something different, and not at all because some of the Sola Panellists have gone quiet and there’s nothing in the cupboard (guys!), let me suggest that you spend your time doing some listening instead: check out this month’s Briefing Lounge podcast, Shifting to the personal’. (more…)

Nowism

There is an insidious and dangerous teaching that I’ve noticed creeping in to my church, threatening my Christian hope, and stifling my evangelistic effectiveness. Up to this point, it hasn’t had a catchy title.1 But I want to correct that. I’m going to call this teaching ‘nowism’, from the English word ‘now’, meaning the present age.

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An interview with Gordon Cheng

Gordon, how did you come to Christ?

A school friend told me that if I was a Christian and wrong, I would have just wasted a lot of Sundays with nice people. But if I was not a Christian and I was wrong, then I was going to hell! I realize there are logical flaws in that argument now. But it was enough to convince me to keep talking to him. He told me the gospel, and started me off going to church and reading the Bible.

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Church music

In the most recent paper edition of our diocesan newspaper, Ross Cobb says, “We need to ask if our church music really is contemporary”. Ross is the music director at St Andrew’s Cathedral here in Sydney, and is across any genre you care to throw at him, whether it’s pipe organ or the credibility reducing Burt Bacharach. He says:

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A visit to Hillsong

We’ve recently had some American friends staying with us. They sing Hillsong music in their church back home, and so they wanted to check out the church.

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Thoughts after GAFCON

I’d like to report that in the two weeks since GAFCON, I’ve been carefully going over my notes, digesting my observations, mulling over what I saw and heard, and preparing to deliver myself of some devastating post-conference insights. Of course, the reality is that I have been stumbling through a haze of jet lag and exhaustion, attempting to locate my wife and kids in the fog, and emerging into brief moments of clarity to stare with horror at the mountainous backlog on the desk.

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The danger of living the gospel without speaking the gospel

Assumption: Godly Christian living in response to the gospel is a clear and unequivocal command in Scripture. It also commends the gospel to a watching world. For instance, 1 Peter 2:12: “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation”. However, I want to suggest that godly Christian living in response to the gospel is a completely inadequate mission strategy doomed to failure.

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