seeing in a mirror dimly

From here: http://www.lambethconference.net/canada/?p=92

“Dr. J.I. Packer, received a letter threatening suspension from ministry by the controversial Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham. Bishop Ingham accused Dr. Packer, hailed by Time Magazine as the “doctrinal Solomon” of Christian thinkers, “to have abandoned the exercise of ministry” after the church where he is a member voted to separate from the diocese and join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone under the oversight of Anglican Archbishop Gregory Venables.”

… what a sad state of affairs.

Ok, now here’s something quite valuable that’s up on the net. Vern Poythress (Teaches NT at Westminster Theological Seminary) has put his book, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses online. John Frame and Vern Poythress generously try to put whatever publications of theirs online as they can, thus this site is a wealth of helpful, stretching thought. You’ll find the full table of contents can be viewed here. It looks excellent, and I’m sure during my studies, I’ll taking a few reads of this!

Christianity Today has posted a review of Frank Schaeffer’s book, Crazy For God. Basically this book pokes a cynical view of the life and ministry of his parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer.
In the review, which is absolutely brilliant, (teaching us life lessons and bringing an insight into the life of the Schaeffers) Guinness, covers topics such a nepotism, manipulation, and family ministry, all while defending (in a ‘warts and all’ way) the life and ministry of Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

Here’s an excerpt:

‘Apart from these flaws, and above all the central one mentioned first, Frank Schaeffer’s memoir raises other grave issues for me. For a start, I am dismayed by the responses to the book. It has understandably given perverse comfort to those who already dislike the Christian faith, or evangelicalism, or conservatism. More troubling is how many evangelical reviewers and readers have betrayed symptoms of the postmodern disease in their response. The book’s revelations are taken as gospel and the book is judged in terms of its style rather than its substance. Our postmodern age is a free schooling in cynicism, so nothing is ever what it appears to be and there are no heroes once you see what really makes people tick. But no one should take Frank’s allegations at face value.

At a deeper level, Frank’s baleful influence on his father is a textbook example of how Christian ministries and organizations can be ruined through undermining their own principles—in this case, through nepotism and family politics. We have a rash of nepotism currently afflicting evangelicalism across the board, so this point carries wider lessons. In the early 1970s, when I was considering my long-term future at the Swiss L’Abri, I remember asking John Stott and James Houston what sort of questions I should be asking. Among other things, they both made the same point: “Watch and see whether the Schaeffers truly give authority to those who are not family members, or whether the family members are always more equal than others.”‘

Have a read of the full review – it’s certainly worth it:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2008/002/1.32.html

I had the wonderful privilege of visiting the L’abri family at Greatham, UK last year in September. This was an amazing time of growth, learning and streching in my Christian life and I’ve learnt unique things from my time there that I will hopefully never forget. Definitely the most wonderful experience of Christian community I’ve yet had. There are some very good thinkers, carers and overall wonderful people who display the love of Christ there. If you’ve been impacted by Francis Schaeffer’s ministry, I would commend L’abri to you for for a greater depth of insight into his work. If you’ve never heard of Schaeffer, I could write a very long list of reasons to commend L’abri to you also!

Here’s an insight into what goes on there.

For more information, have a look at the UK L’abri website: http://www.labri.org/england/home.html

Here’s a snippet from a good and short interview with the Getty’s from CT:

CT: “What makes for a good song?

Kristyn: People have to want to sing it. So much of songwriting is editing, really. It’s just trying different words.

Keith: Ever since we started doing this, people have written to us with their versions of hymns based on Ephesians or predestination. But just because the subject is good does not necessarily mean the song will be good. Our goal is not to have every theological subject covered in song. Our goal is to write great songs, but through them to nourish and enrich and inspire and invigorate people with truth applied intellectually and emotionally. It is a tough goal, which is why in every 100 melodies I write, maybe half of one becomes a song!”

Read the full interview via the link here.

Here’s an excellent post from Byron Smith on his Nothing New Under the Sun blog on the topic of fellowship and church:

http://nothing-new-under-the-sun.blogspot.com/2008/02/jesus-friend-of-sinners.html

I’ve just recently asked a few questions of Rev. Simon Manchester of St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, North Sydney about preaching and pastoring. Having been led by, and having worked for Simon for a few years I am glad to share his thoughts with you. He is a servant-hearted Christian leader and I commend his thoughts from this interview to you for the glory of God:

In the western post-Christian world, what is needed to be a counter-culture as per the salt and light Jesus demands?

Douglas Groothius has posted some good thoughts on his blog – here’s a snippet:

“What is required to be a Christian counterculture? Here is a short list to provoke thought and action.

1. Biblical knowledge (Psalm 119).
2. Spiritual disciplines: prayer and fasting in particular. See John Piper, A Hunger for God.
3. The restoration of the doctrine of calling. See Os Guinness, The Call.
4. Media awareness: how they often deaden us to biblical priorities for purity and spiritual power.
5. The courage to go against the crowd for Christ (Luke 16:15).
6. Accountability and community.
7. Careful, studied biblical preaching (1 Peter 4:11).
8. Repentance concerning materialism and consumerism. See Francis Schaeffer’s sermon “Ash Heap Lives” in No Little People.
9. A greater concern for the world Christian movement, not just what Christians in America are doing. See P. Jenkins, The Next Christendom.
10. More sensitivity to the realities of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18). See Gary Kinnaman, Winning Your Spiritual Battles.”

Read the full post here: http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2008/02/counterculture.html

Here’s a short and good little write-up on how a wrong practice of seeking God’s will can potentially lead Christians to emotional and spiritual bondage.

http://blog.togetherforthegospel.org/2008/02/the-bondage-of.html

If you’ve been following the movements of the Anglican Communion globally recently (and not-so recently also), then you’ll know that the Anglican Diocese of Sydney will not be attending the Lambeth Conference this year. This is highly significant and listening to the reasons of the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen is an important part of understanding this.