Monday, August 27, 2007

• A bit of Anglican History
  Three theologians are joined by
  international scholar Dr Ashley Null to discuss
  worship, Thomas Cranmer and quiche…

  `Scholars of all disciplines will find the book's review of early Tudor penitential theology both accurate and engaging … Churchmen will be refreshed by a work that treats the themes of justification, election, and anthropology as serious, theological matters still worthy of discussion and debate today. (…)

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

• The Quest for Relevance
  Os Guinness on the White Horse Inn

  On this edition of the White Horse Inn, the hosts talk with Os Guinness, author of Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance.  They discuss some serious concerns for the evangelical community and it's current condition and direction. (…)

Friday, August 17, 2007

• Recommended Book - Treasures and Lessons
  on Pastoral Ministry from the Historic Church

  This is a must read for those in any Pastoral Ministry:
   
   
  In today's Church, there often appears to be a conflict between those who are doctrinally strong and those who "care about people." Thomas Oden does an excellent service by showing that a Christian (especially a Pastor or Pastoral Counselor) can and should use the resources of the Christian tradition as a tool of compassionate ministry. (…)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

• Thoughts on the ALPHA Program from
  Holy Trinity Brompton in London
  a conversation with Nicky Gumbel

  The Alpha Course is a basic course on the Christian faith, commonly advertised as "an opportunity to explore the meaning of life". (…)

Friday, August 10, 2007

• Why I am a Protestant by Anglican Archbishop
  Dr. Peter Jensen

  In this first of three messages, Dr. (…)

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

• A Sacrifice of Praise - deep devotional material

  When I was 19 years old,  I was perusing the library shelves of Dallas Theological Seminary, and discovered a small hymnbook.   They let me borrow it, its title was Hymns for the Little Flock, if your church follows the common lectionary, you'll find that term on the lips of Jesus in this coming Gospel Reading (Luke 12-32-40).  He speaks to the “Little Flock’ and gives his disciples, a warning to be in preparation to flee from Jerusalem.   Interestingly enough, some 37 years later, I have some serious differences regarding the end time doctrine that has been represented by Dallas Theological Seminary, but I do thank them for introducing me to historic hymnody.   Ever since I held that book, I have been a collector of old hymn books, most of them leather bound with no musical notation.  In the early American church, they had various tunes that could be sung to a number of hymns.   Finding some great old hymn books at one time was fairly easy and fairly inexpensive.  Not so today, but I still am on the lookout whenever I get to a used bookstore.   These old hymn books make wonderful devotional material in worshiping God.   Comparatively, we have wandered pretty far from the God Centered, theologically deep and meaningful congregational singing in our day.   Thankfully, we have had some revival of songs from Scripture, and powerful worship, that exults in our God; Father, Son  and Holy Spirit.  I have to credit my friends at Integrity Music and a few others for helping to bring some tremendous worship music into wider distribution and use.  
  If you'd like to pursue music and hymns of the older sort, I would suggest an excellent book of Christian poetry and hymns written over a period of 1200 years.  This book utilizes sources from the Protestant, Anglican, Roman, and Orthodox traditions.   The title is "A Sacrifice of Praise” edited by James H. (…)

Friday, July 20, 2007

• Reviving the Latin Mass
  - reflections from the Reformation

  In the news recently, there has been talk of Roman Catholics opening the door again for a Latin Mass.  One of the protests of the Reformation was an insistence on utilizing the language of worshipers in Christian liturgy.   This was the view throughout the Reforming Church.   In the 24th article in the 39 articles of the Anglican Church it is stated: It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the Primitive Church, to have public Prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments, in a tongue not understanded of the people.   Anyone interested in this subject from a scriptural point of view would do well to read the veiws of the three major branches of the Reformation  those are the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Anglican Church.  Here is a link to  a commmentary on the 39 articles of the Anglican Communion on the subject: http://www.episcopalian.org/pbs1928/Articles/AnglicanTeaching/115.htm
  I'm sure the Roman Church won't be embracing the Latin liturgy in great numbers, but it was and is an important subject regarding Christian worship.  - Fr. (…)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

• Mark Noll - The Explosion of Christianity in the Global South

  What's happening in the Global South in regards to the Christian faith is nothing short of astounding. Much of it goes unnoticed in North America, but it has major implications for the future. I personally welcome De-Americanizing of the church and its outreach, I think we have much to learn from brothers and sisters throughout world who are living with less and loving the Lord.   Professor Mark Noll of Wheaton College and now Notre Dame University certainly gives a good overview in this lecture. (…)

Friday, July 13, 2007

• A Conversation with Methodist Bishop William Willimon - from the White Horse Inn

  Anyone interested in teaching or preaching of the Scriptures will want to listen to this great talk with Bishop Willimon.  The White Horse Inn is a nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by Michael Horton, Rod Rosenbladt, Kim Riddlebarger and Ken Jones.   They talk about the model of evangelism and preaching from the book of Acts and later speak with William Willimon, in the conversation you'll find insight and humor into the present modes of preaching.  When I met the Bishop, he was a Professor and Dean of the Chapel at Duke University.   He is the author of about 34 books, this audio is 37 minutes long.    
                        enjoy,  Fr. (…)