The Sunday Refill – 7 Links for Your Weekend (19/7/20)

The Sunday Refill – 7 Links for Your Weekend (19/7/20)

Seven up…

1) Precious in sight of the Lord is the death of his saints: J.I.Packer & Peter Maiden – This week the news broke about the deaths of English-born Canadian Anglican evangelical theologian, J. I. Packer (aged 93), and the former international director of Operation Mobilisation (OM) and former chairman of the Keswick Convention, Peter Maiden (aged 72).

Thinking about it, I may own more books by Packer than any other writer (to be honest, it’s probably a close-run thing with Tim Chester and Julia Donaldson) – and I would say his writings have probably been one of the biggest indirect influences in me identifying as an Anglican. Reading his outstanding Knowing God was a rite of passage for many young Christians. To remember him, Crossway have put an amazing set of links together capturing J.I.Packer’s life and ministry, including a powerful 15-minute video made-up of Packer’s own reflections on his ministry. Here are 40 quotes from Packer, exemplifying his insightful theological mind, and I appreciated Don Carson’s tribute and introduction to some of the defining issues in Packer’s writing and legacy, as well as Sam Allberry’s perspective as a younger British Anglican evangelical.

I wasn’t especially familiar with Maiden, but I know his legacy, both here in Cumbria and around the world, has shaped many, not least through Keswick Ministries. David Vardy remembers Peter Maiden here, as does the Bishop of Carlisle here. Peter’s final book, Radical Gratitude, which was written as he discovered he had incurable cancer, is out now.

2) CPAS’s Leadership in Lockdown Seminar – CPAS and James Lawrence have produced three excellent webinars for Christian leaders over the past few months. The latest, ‘Back to the Future’ is available now. The whole playlist is available here for free – well worth the investment.

3) We Are One – Love the new single from EMU Music – As the writers say, “There are few songs that focus on Jesus’ commends to his church to love one another as part of our witness to the world…. we are members of one body, Christ’s body; may this song encourage us to live that out in our churches.”

4) 17 Take-aways from Mental Health in Lockdown Webinar – Dan Green shares some key take-aways from the FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on Mental Health in Lockdown with Steve Midgley and Dan Steel.

5) Go Chatter Classic Hymns Lyric Videos – Something you may want to make use of for digital church services. These are performed in a contemporary style by Josh Lucas and produced by Holy Trinity Eastbourne. They’re sung with a British accent and have no copyright issues as all are public domain songs recorded with a license by the artist to use in services. They’re only £4 each.

6) Gettys and Andrew Peterson for their weekly #FamilyHymnSing – We enjoyed watching this the other week – Keith & Kristyn Getty (and their kids) invite Andrew Peterson and his daughter Skye to sing a bunch of their songs together on their porch. Nice.

7) NT Wright & Francis Collins sing ‘Genesis’ – For something a bit different, whatever your reading of the opening chapters of Genesis, you’ve got to hand it to these guys for an impressive bit of fun and a lovely window into the friendship that this theologian-bishop and physician-geneticist share!

Quote of the Week:

“Adoption is the highest privilege of the gospel. The traitor is forgiven, brought in for supper, and given the family name. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.”

– J.I. Packer