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From the Bishop

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Bishop John's blog. Here are some recent posts...

Hobbies of the Clergy #2

Euthanasia: Care or killing?

Excellent Marriage

Miss Marple or the Budget?

Wellspring is building

From the Bishop's Desk is the bishop's regular email newsletter. Click here to see his recent newsletters or to join the mail list.

Bishop John's recent publications, Addresses, letters, reflections, messages: click here.

Bible Study & Preaching Material

Stressed out with no time to write bible studies? Try our Lectionary-based study outlines for home and church-based study groups and personal study; will also help preachers. To have a look, click here.

Preaching Resources

This resource is provided to help guide, encourage and resource the preachers in our diocese, be they new or experienced. It's new and evolving, so we recommend that you drop in from time to time.

A PRAYER FOR transformingLIFE

Transforming God,
as we meet together
fill us with your wisdom.
Give us the capacity
to work boldly
and with humility,
embracing the challenge of mission.

Use us to bring transforming life
to our Christian communities and
all Tasmanians

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Download the transformingLIFE document

Will the Imagine Project change your life?

CMS: This study is a gift

While Andrew & Pam Lake visited over 24 parishes in the Diocese before heading to the posting in Damascus, Andrew had been busy on another project. He has released this short book called Christian Mission for Tasmanians. This is a very personal approach from Andrew on this important topic of Mission written for the Missionary Diocese of Tasmania. Andrew says of the book,

"My hope and prayer is that this study will help put mission front and centre of the church's agenda. I make no claim to infallibility and will have achieved my aim if this has helped start some fruitful conversations about mission."

We offer our thanks to Andrew, having served in the Diocese as an Archdeacon and Mission Support Officer. But now we offer our thanks for this impressive gift to the church in Tasmania.

Of particular interest to you, dear reader, is the freely available nature of this book. In fact, you can click here to read it right now. So is it free? Andrew explains in his Forward:

"This study is a gift to the Tasmanian church. It is freely available on the diocesan website but I invite you when you use it for personal or group study to make a donation of $10 per person to the Church Missionary Society of Tasmania."

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A healthy church...transforming life

Mainstream vs crackpot

[sat 12.may.2012 rob] Have you considered checking answers to your biblical questions on YouTube.com? What about Wikipedia? One scholar thinks that this is just how misrepresentations of scripture are being propagated. Derek Leman is the Rabbi at Tikvat David Messianic Synagogue.

I asked if you would consider getting a quadruple bypass, at half price, from someone trained to do surgery on YouTube. You wouldn’t. But you would feed your soul by people trained through a process of Google searches and reading other crankpot “scholars” who publish on the internet?

As a Christian, what do you think?

On this blog post, Derek looks at examples of myths propagated on so-called Hebraic and Messianic websites (myths believed by hundreds of thousands to be true and perhaps by 50% of the people reading this blog post). Click here to read his blog post.

This is not a Christian website, but I have heard some of these same myths floating around Christian circles.

Giving up the glory... for meaning

Inspirational People website - Jesus All ABout Life (JAAL)

[mon 07.may.2012 rob] Upon reading Bishop John's recent post, ‘Give me neither riches…’, I remembered an interview with another sucessful Australian, Missy Higgins.

I found an article on Missy's recent life on the JB Hi-Fi website as a promotional spiel for her new album. While her words may surprise many of her fans, myself included, they are profound in an age where the general public appears to chase fame and the dollar. Merely publicity and rhetoric? Decide for yourself. The JB article says,

...until recently the acclaimed singer/songwriter was still keeping one thing secret ..."I quit". After selling over a million albums and touring the world performing much loved songs like 'Scar', 'Steer' and 'The Special Two', Missy privately decided to turn her back on music. She did it without farewell tours or media releases. Instead she just told those closest to her that she was walking away from music and she got on with a new life...

Later in the article Higgins says,

"I'd had more success than I'd ever dreamt of and somehow it didn't bring the happiness I thought it would," Higgins explains. "I guess I had a bit of an existential crisis - I thought, how do I become happy? If this doesn't give me fulfilment, what will? And when you let go of something you've always attached to as your identity, what do you do? I'd always been the singer or the musician or the songwriter. And when I quit music, it was terrifying. Who am I without it? It was scary but it was also important to find out."

In our world, people will often chase after the wealthy, the famous and the talented. If this example shows us anything, it is that wealth, fame and talent do not produce fulfilment.

So what can?

In Matthew 16:26, Jesus tells us of this problem in his own words: "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

John 3:16 sees Jesus answering this question with God's solution to the problem. Jesus says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". That's complete fulfilled life. Not just in heaven, but NOW! (although, a lot more glorious in heaven!)

Click here to read Bishop John's post ‘Give me neither riches…’.
Click here to read the promotional blurb about Missy Higgins on the JB Hi-Fi website.

Click here to read Matthew 16:26 through the BibleGateway website.
Click here to read John 3:16 through the BibleGateway website.

Australia's Billionaires: ‘Give me neither riches…’

[mon 07.may.2012 rob] Bishop John wrote an article today about the recent meda attention given to Australia's billionaires. Click here to read the article in The Age.

A wonderfully challenging and frank post by our Bishop. He begins:

“Lord, Give me neither poverty nor riches.” Why? “Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the Lord?”. Proverbs 30:8, and 30:9

In reading of some Australian billionaires I was reminded of the aforementioned Proverb. The Bible is true to life and unsurprisingly it sets out the challenges/ dangers of wealth for our learning.

At times I am tempted to say, “Lord, challenge me with wealth!” But upon reflection there are challenges that the Lord knows I am not up to!

Click here to read Bishop John's post on his blog.
Click here to read the article in The Age.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Bishop gets hands dirty

[fri 04.may.2012 rob] MEDIA ADVISORY: BISHOP GETS HANDS DIRTY AT NEW CHURCH BUILDING WORKS:

The Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend John Harrower, will tomorrow get his hands dirty at the building works for the new Wellspring Church development in Sandy Bay.
...

Bishop Harrower will be available on site at Wellspring Church (corner of Grosvenor and Lord Streets, Sandy Bay) at 10am, Friday 4 May. Media are asked to come to the Lord St entrance to the building site.

Click here to continue reading on the Bishop's blog.

From The Bishop's Desk 8.12

[thu 03.may.2012 rob] Bishop John has released the latest edition of 'From The Bishop's Desk'. Bishop John finished by mentioning a continuing need for our prayer. He said,

PASTORAL MATTERS FOR PRAYER:
I request your continuing prayers the many in our diocese who need the healing touch of our Lord Jesus, including RUSSELL MORTON, THE REVD JILL MARTIN, and MRS LESLEY FREAK. Please also pray for their families.

Click here to view the latest news from the Bishop's desk.

“Australians Keep Their Word” – Rallying for Foreign Aid

[thu 03.may.2012 rob] Bishop John has been involved in a radio interview and has also taken part in signing a letter, along with other dignitaries... Why? It is all a push for the government to increase how much it gives to overseas aid.

Bishop John's website provides links to the letter and also a link to listen to the two and a half minute ABC Radio interview. Bishop John begins,
I recently signed this open letter to the Prime Minister, along with many other leaders, ambassadors, actors and so forth around Australia.

Click here to continue at Bishop John's blog.

Graduation Tassie students

[thu 03.may.2012 rob] Bishop John wrote,

"Ridley Melbourne Graduation and Commissioning on Saturday afternoon was a great celebration and thanksgiving to family, friends, staff and God.

Three Tasmanians received their awards: Joel Kettleton, Bachelor of Theology + Outstanding Contribution to the College Community Award-Chapel Music; Kristina Kettleton, Master of Divinity + Youth Ministry Award; Bill Stewart, Doctor of Theology (Research Degree).

Joel and Kristina also spoke on their time at Ridley Melbourne. And the Bishop of Tasmania :-) gave the Address: ‘Your Worship, Your Mission’. PTL!"

Click here to zip over to Bishop John's blog to see the photos!

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AnglicanTas frontpage editor: Rob Stanley

Anglican Church in Tasmania