Keith and Kristyn Getty interviewed on Christianity Today

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.

Jesus: a friend of sinners

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

An interview with Simon Manchester on preaching and pastoring

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:

1) Simon, welcome to Seeing Through a Mirror Dimly. You've got podcasts, a church website, mp3s of sermons and now an interview on a blog - how do you manage to stay so technologically ahead of the times?

Just find someone who understands it all and can leave me to my quill and ink.

2) Simon, you've been ministering in Sydney for most of your life now - what are the challenges and blessings in ministering in affluent Sydney?

The big challenge is getting camels through the eye of the needle. Interesting when Paul addresses the "rich" in 1 Timothy 6 they may be the "let's have everything" crowd who cause the church to adjust it's message to suit their lifestyle (1 Timothy 1) and bring in heresy. On the blessing side the congregation here are generous and enable huge projects for the Kingdom to happen.

3) What is the hardest lesson you've learnt as a shepherd of God's flock?

The hardest lesson I've learned as a shepherd has actually been this year - that the role demands the most careful speech at all times and things said as a pastor are never to be careless.
4) Being an experienced preacher, what encouragement would you give to those in training or learning to preach?

My encouragement to new preachers is to sit with your bible and work out where the passage comes in the bible, in the book (letter,gospel) etc and what the author was getting at. Don't go to commentaries till you have sat and read the passage as if you were an original reader. Then try to say it in a way that is clear, keen and communicates to your contemporary reader.

5) What dangers do you percieve there are for young preachers in the current day and age?

The dangers for young preachers are to focus on what people think rather than what God says and therefore to see it as a performance and not a declaration. And to forget that the Lord is with you all the way as you seek His glory in people's lives.

6) Who has been the greatest Christian influence on your life and why?

The greatest Christian influence on me has been Dick Lucas - now 83 and living in London - with whom I did a three-year apprenticeship in the UK . He exemplifies the love of Christ, truth and people......and the boldness of preaching.

7) What book has most grown your love for Christ?

The book that has grown my love for Christ (I hesitate to say) has been "Morning and Evening" by CH Spurgeon. But the all round blessing of a book was probably the 2 volume biography of George Whitefield by Arnold Dallimore -rich in passion and theology.

Big thanks to Simon for his very helpful, thought-provoking and greatly encouraging answers!

Counterculture?

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

Mark Dever on the "Bondage of Guidance"

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

Peter Jensen's statement concerning Lambeth 2008

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.

The Archbishop of Sydney has released an address which you can read here:http://your.sydneyanglicans.net/images/uploads/mediareleases/Lambeth_2008.pdf

In stating some of the reasons, here is one which resonated with me:

"Fifth, we have a duty of pastoral care to the Anglican Christians in North America and elsewhere who have made their protest against the local innovations. How can they feel confidence in us if we simply attend this conference and have what the world would see as fellowship in the delightful surroundings of Canterbury - studying the Bible, receiving communion, meeting new people, enjoying gracious hospitality, attending a garden party at
Buckingham Palace, while they endure prosecution, dispossession and doubt over their standing as Anglicans? Faced with the terrible choice between unity and truth, they have chosen to live by the truth. Should we not be witnesses that their choice is right?"

Lastly, I might quote something encouraging from the summary article on the Sydney Anglicans website

"Dr Jensen said he was encouraged by what he described as the ‘gracious remarks’ of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who recently told the General Synod in England that he respects “the consciences of those who have said they do not feel able to attend because there will be those present who have in their view acted against the disciplinary and doctrinal consensus of the communion."

Starting out at Theological College

Well, since I've launched into the weird and wonderful world of theological college (Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia), it was timely that Between Two Worlds posted up a few articles about the experience.

Here are the posts that are worth reading (if there are any current or prospective students out there!):

The Beginning Stage
The Middle Stage
The End Stage

B. B. Warfield, The Religious Life of Theological Students (1911).
John Frame, Learning at Jesus’ Feet: A Case for Seminary Training
John Frame, Studying Theology as a Servant of Jesus

More from Leithart

I'm quite enjoying this book, so I thought I'd post up a little bit more.

Discussing the 'Decentered Self', Leithart writes:

"The Decartes who pronounces the cogito, in the very act of pronouncing it, identifies himself with an 'abstraction of himself.' And this thinking self, this self that is thought, is the stable, enduring, fixed self that ensures identity through time. That this stable self does not happen to be Decartes is an unfortunate and unintended consequence of the procedure. That thin wedge of doubt was perhaps too fine an instrument for it cut Decartes in two." (pg 111)

I'm reading through a great new book by Peter Leithart at the moment entitled "Solomon Among the Postmoderns". Here's part of Michael Horton's endorsement of the book:

"For those weary of wholesale denunciations of wholesale endorsements of postmodernism, this patient, well-informed and well-written essay in godly wisdom will illumin and inspire."

I'll post up more as I read along, but here's an interesting bit from the introduction:

"When I started Solomon among the Postmoderns, I was aiming it mainly at anti-postmodern Christians (let's call them APCs). By presenting central postmodern themes in a way that postmoderns would recognize, I hoped to isolate the specific places where Christians must challenge postmodern theory. Many of the most vocal APCs highlight epistemological issues, challenging what they perceive as postmodern "relativism." Epistemology is not, however, as central as many APCs suggest, and at least the most sophisticated postmodern writers rarely mean to say the outlandish things APCs attribute to them (e.g., 'texts can mean whatever we want them to mean')... I've wanted to discover those more interesting things that postmodernists are trying to say, and as I pursued those more interesting things I increasingly found that eschatology is far more central to postmodernism, and to the Christian response to postmodernism, than epistemology."

Should be an interesting read!

Trusting the Bible

From Between Two Worlds,

Daniel Wallace (Prof. New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary) has a great video entitled: Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then? It's all about trusting Scripture; particularly trusting copies of non-original manuscripts.



Wallace encourages two attitudes to avoid:
1. Absolute certainty
2. Total despair

And he suggests there are three questions we have to answer:

1. How certain are we about the wording of the New Testament?
2. What issues are at stake?
3. Do the earliest manuscripts affirm the deity of Christ?

It's good stuff, so enjoy the listen!