Regarding Julia Baird’s opinion piece in the SMH today… (more…)
Archives: sandy-grant
Pushing back on marriage
Life, Sola Panel
Everyone’s commenting (in my part of the world) on the front-page SMH article on the proposed new vows in an additional order of marriage to be considered for inclusion in the new Sydney Anglican prayer book. I agree: well done to Rob Forsyth and Andy and Steph Judd for their comments. (more…)
When to jump ship?
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
Anyone in a mainline denomination infected by liberalism, or some other divergence from the evangelical faith, will have faced the question of when to stay or when to go? How bad does the denomination have to get before you decide to abandon ship?
Practicalities for getting praying
Life, Sola Panel
The last in my series of extracts on prayer is not from Graeme Goldsworthy but from one of Matthias Media’s own very best book, Prayer and the Voice of God by Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne. 
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Liturgical v. freeform prayer
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
Relevant for our corporate praying! A thoughtful balance from Goldsworthy…
In assessing the relative virtues of liturgical versus non-liturgical prayer, I have come to conclude the following:
Teaching children to pray
Everyday Ministry, Life, Sola Panel
Graeme Goldsworthy…
Teaching the children to pray and praying for the children
Christian parents have a vital ministry in the church. The Christian nurture of children is primarily the responsibility of the parents, not the day school (even if it is a Christian school) nor the Sunday school. Unfortunately, in our modern society, mothers who stay at home to care for their children are often considered to be unemployed and to have sold out on the right of women to pursue a career. There can be no nobler career than nurturing Christian children to be well-adjusted citizens of our society and to be faithful citizens of the kingdom of God.1
Discipline, routine and the ‘quiet time’
Life, Sola Panel
Graeme Goldsworthy on the ‘quiet time’…
Avoiding legalism while exercising self-discipline
Most of us need some kind of self-discipline in all kinds of things that we do on a regular basis. Usually we don’t have any difficulty in having three meals a day, but some do. We get into a routine for eating, sleeping and going to work. One routine that is often observed is the ‘quiet time’, particularly by Christians who recognize the need to study the Bible and to pray, usually on a daily basis. A quiet time is a good routine, but it needs to have some flexibility. The quiet time can become a legalistic requirement to the point that some feel that if they sleep in and have to miss their quiet time, their whole day will be a virtual disaster. This borders on superstition. The person who cultivates the art of praying without ceasing will recognize that, like the Sabbath, the quiet time was made for man and not man for the quiet time! All kinds of things can interrupt our routines, from storm, tempest, flood, fire and earthquakes. Or it may be simply a neighbour in need who calls on us, or a sick child. On the other hand, the person who makes a habit of chaotic indiscipline needs to take this matter in hand. However we might discipline our day to include Bible-reading and prayer, it is important not to reduce this habit to the level of the fulfilment of a legal obligation. It is always a privilege for the children of God and, as such, it is an expression of our being saved by grace alone.
Source: Prayer and the Knowledge of God (IVP), page 196. (more…)
Read the Psalms on your knees
Life, Sola Panel
Graeme Goldsworthy:
The Significance of the Psalms for prayer
For any Christian for whom prayer is becoming formal and stereotyped, the Psalms provide a rich source of inspiration. It is true that to read the Psalms on your knees, as it were, can be a great boost to one’s prayer experience. The book of Psalms provides the most sustained and concentrated biblical expressions of prayer. There are two qualifications I would make to this recommendation to resort directly to the Psalms for prayer.
Encouragements to Prayer #1
Life, Sola Panel
Yesterday, as I preached on Hebrews 4:12-16, we touched at some length on prayer:
- the possibility of prayer – through Jesus our great high priest, vv15-16,
Finish the Race: favourite Olympic story
Life, Sola Panel
Recently, David Mathis shared John Piper’s advice for Christians about how to watch the Olympic Games.
This prompts me to share my all-time favourite story from among the many inspirational episodes of Olympic history. (more…)
Stop preaching only to the choir?
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
It’s hard to manage expectations about how much our regular church meetings are for evangelism!
Last weekend, I received this feedback from a very mature and committed member, via our comment cards.
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Q&A today
Life
We Christians today find ourselves at a very contested intersection with science and ethics. The amount of conflict is partly because in a post-Christian society there is no longer any shared ‘moral grammar’ about the common good. Our world has not just drifted from but also actively rejected many of the beliefs and virtues that largely derived from the Christian world view of previous centuries. (more…)
Biblical Inductivism—Friend or Foe?
Thought, Sola Panel
As someone committed to the verbal inspiration of Scripture, I have always thought it best to use biblical words in biblical ways. It sort of seems self-evident. (more…)
→ John Chapman interviewed
Link
Don’t miss this video interview (86 minutes) with gifted veteran Australian evangelist and Matthias Media author, John Chapman, conducted by the National Director of AFES, Richard Chin.
Quite likely the last interview of such length with our much loved, humorous, Bible-loving, Christ-centred teacher of preaching and evangelism.
Younger generations of ministers in Sydney and Australian evangelicalism should hear this for personal edification but also to understand something of our heritage.
Same-Sex Parenting – No Differences?
Life, Thought, Sola Panel
Last year, when I published my article on same-sex marriage, commenters asserted that the academic literature suggested children with gay or lesbian parenting situations did just as well as those with heterosexual parents. As I looked into it, even as a non-specialist, I could note that many such studies displayed methodological weaknesses such as the lack of control groups, or self-selection and self-reporting by participants. This should have cautioned against such dogmatic conclusions. (more…)