In the print edition of The Briefing (#405) we’ve included an update on how things are going here at Matthias Media, and we wanted to make this available to our online readers as well. We’re so grateful that so many of you care about our ministry and support it in prayer and other ways. We hope this information will help inform your prayers and encourage you with what the Lord is doing. (more…)
The power of stories (interview with Mark Gilbert)
Resource Talk
Sam Freney: Your new book Stepping out in Faith is a compilation of stories from people who have left the Roman Catholic church as they’ve sought to follow Jesus—a journey you’ve taken yourself. What prompted you to collect stories like this? (more…)
Why wasn’t there a eulogy?
Life
There was no eulogy at Margaret Thatcher’s funeral.
Some would say there was no good word to be spoken about her, but that was not the reason. Rather it was the funeral of a woman, not the celebration of her life. And a funeral is not a celebration. (more…)
→ Preaching that connects
Link
If you’re a preacher in Sydney (or can travel here), Cornhill Sydney is running a really worthwhile day conference that will sharpen and improve your preaching. Minimal cost ($30), lots of benefit.
Speakers are Phil Campbell (Mitchelton Presbyterian, Brisbane), Gary Millar (Principal Queensland Theolgical College) and R W Glenn (Redeemer Bible Church, Minneapolis, USA).
There will be a round-table discussion chaired by Simon Manchester, input on preaching well from the Old Testament, and also practical advice on how to avoid putting people to sleep while you preach.
We will also be launching Gary and Phil’s new book, ‘Saving Eutychus‘.
Date: Thursday, June 20, 2013
Rego: $30 (including morning tea). Please pay on the day.
RSVP: via Facebook or to gavin@cornhillsydney.com.au
Location: St Thomas’ North Sydney
Sydney’s next Archbishop
Thought, Sola Panel
I enjoyed Paul Levy’s rollicking post on Reformation21 the other day about the current election campaign among Sydney Anglicans for our next Archbishop—particularly the bit where he referred to The Briefing as one of the unfortunate gifts that Sydney has inflicted upon the world. For a mob of upstart colonials like us, having someone from the Mother Country even acknowledge our existence causes an involuntary touch of the forelock. But to admit that we have become the means of God’s grace to the Brits by being a thorn in their flesh—this is a compliment beyond telling. (I will ask our British distributors to inflict a life-time gift Briefing subscription upon Paul as a mark of appreciation.) (more…)
Book review: “Modest: Men and women clothed in the gospel”
Review
If the Holy Spirit was my personal shopper I wouldn’t have a problem. Long pants: modest. Short shorts: immodest. Long sleeve shirt: modest. Plunging neckline: immodest.
Modesty seems obvious, and would be simple if I could just get the right skirt length and be done with it—unfortunately the heart issue is more complicated. This is what Tim Challies and RW Glenn explore in Modest. (more…)
Deadly, dull and boring
Pastoral Ministry
My early preaching disasters all followed the same deadly pattern. Parishioners would shake my hand at the door with a thin smile and a kind word, but the unvarnished truth always came out in the car trip home. (more…)
God’s gifts in suffering (4) Suffering deepens our knowledge of God
Life, Sola Panel, Sola Panel
For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps. (Psalm 135:5,6)
I write this post with a heavy heart, because we are neck-deep in this particular season of suffering. It’s not showing any signs of letting up, at least for now. It’s only bearable because God no longer seems like a stranger.
Of all the effects of suffering, this is one of the most disquieting: the God I meet in suffering is different from the God I thought I knew. It’s as if you turn to a friend and catch an expression on their face that you never expected to see there. Your wife of twenty years does something so completely out of character that you wonder if you really know her. Your father turns out to be fundamentally different to the man you loved and respected all these years. (more…)
Open letter to my Sunday School teachers
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
To Sunday School Teachers – past and present – of St James, Castlecrag and St Philip’s, Castle Cove (now Castle Cove Anglican, recently re-planted after a decade or so of being closed!), (more…)
Will God answer my prayers?
Life, Sola Panel
Here’s my simple answer to that simple question from a person I know from my local church.
I am sure God answers our prayers, including for you. (more…)
Re-creation in the words of Jeremiah
Thought
It’s been my privilege in two previous issues to be your tour guide for a quick trip through Jeremiah—more of a scenic flight than a safari. Today our tour ends with the book’s final chapters—but here’s the story so far. (more…)
Live to give
Life
Where should we direct our giving? Surrounded by so many needs and opportunities it’s difficult to know where to start. Is there any priority or principle by which to choose whom to give to?
Giving is the Christian way of living. It involves more than money for we give ourselves to the Lord and to each other as we use the gifts that God has given to us to serve one another. We give our time, energy, interest, concern, prayers and hospitality—anything we have that could be used for the benefit of others. However, it does include giving money and that is what I am writing about. (more…)
Crucifixion Historicity
Thought, Sola Panel
I have heard the claim that Jesus never died on the cross many times over the years, in person, in the press, on the web and via social media. Here is my reply. (more…)
Matthew 5:17
Bible 101
Are Christians free from the law? This age-old question has often been answered in two wrong ways. The error on one side is often described as ‘legalism’—the idea that Christians are bound by some or even most of the Old Testament law. This might mean that Saturday should be our Sabbath (on which no work is done), or that circumcision or other Old-Testament-style rituals are necessary to salvation, or that certain foods or forms of clothing are out for Christians. (more…)
Holiness: the greatest need
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
Perhaps some of the most famous words ever spoken on the topic of holiness by a pastor came from Robert Murray McCheyne. He said,
(more…)