FREE FOR YOU ON REQUEST TO: [email protected] 15 July 2016 Vol 79 No 2 Free On Request: [email protected] HILLSONG’S 30TH CONFERENCE – A Joyful Noise; A Certain Sound Pastor Brian Houston opens Hillsong’s 30th Conference with a challenging message: Christians are bidden to make a joyful noise to address on Receptivity, challenging those present the Lord and are also warned against the trum- to be receptive to the Gospel and the Word of God, pet making an uncertain sound. The 30th Hill‐ one could only rejoice to see that he was true to his song Conference provided both a joyful noise and word. a certain sound for the more than 20,000 who gath‐ Hillsong’s music certainly strikes a chord with ered in the Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney’s Olympic the younger generation, if not with all of the older Park from 4‐8 July 2016. ones, but in recent years it seems to be mellowing However, Joel Houston, Hillsong’s Worship Pas- and meeting with wider acceptance and approval tor, says that Hillsong Conference isn’t just about than it did at first. Certainly 22,000 voices blended always being bigger and better, but rather aims at well in singing the first song: How Great Thou Art! ‘going deeper and wider.’ Founding Pastor Brian For a full report on the 30th Hillsong Confer- Houston says he is always attempting to ‘preach the ence go to: pressserviceinternational.org and whole counsel of God’ and listening to his opening scroll down to Hillsong Week 4-8 July. ‘Tell the people the full message of this new life’ – Acts 5.20b www.nlife.com.au VOLUME 79 NUMBER 2 ISSUE DATE: 15 July 2016 FILE NO: NL 2016-07-15 ISSN: 1033-7903 ‘There’s Never Been A More Exciting Time ...’? We haven’t heard the Prime Minister say it recently, but well may we ask if FOUNDER: Australia’s political scene has ever made for a more exciting time to be an Aus‐ Eric J. Daley tralian than now? Adjectives other than ‘exciting’ come to mind here. ‘Interest‐ (1910-1992) ing’; ‘confusing’, ‘worrying’, ‘uncertain’, ‘hopeful’, are just a few. New Life seldom enters the political fray, especially in the lead‐up to an elec‐ EDITOR: tion, hence our deafening silence (and somewhat disappointing silence, we must Rev Bob Thomas admit, to strong supporters of the overtly Christian political parties and move‐ Phone: 0417 592 646 ments). But now with the next election three years away, the political make‐up Email: [email protected] of the parliament becoming clearer by the day, some of the heat dissipated, and time for reflection, one feels sufficiently courageous to offer some suggestions BUSINESS MANAGER: for the future. Mignon Goswell 1. Could the Christian parties present a more united front to maximise their Phone: 0434 313 646 vote in each state? Perhaps if Fred Nile’s Christian Democratic Party stood the Email: [email protected] candidate in NSW and the ACT, if Rise Up Australia stood the candidate in Vic, if Family First stood the candidate in SA, if Australian Christian Lobby stood the POSTAL ADDRESS: candidate in Qld and Australian Christians stood the candidates in Tas and WA, PO Box 457 we could end up with some direct representation, in the Senate at least. Mitcham VIC 3132 2. Can we all pressure the PM into holding that plebiscite on marriage, pray for a God‐honouring outcome and then, whatever the result, turn our preoccu‐ WEB-SITE: pation with matters gay into Gospelling them like Paul did in Corinth? www.nlife.com.au 3. Can we look to more positive and creative ways of fighting the good fight? See p.6 of this issue for a report on the Church of England establishing free SUBSCRIPTION: schools in England to make a Christian education more widely available. Railing Free On Request against the evils of our day has its place, but it is short‐term compared to the long‐term aim of instilling Christian values in our children (‘Train up a child in ACCEPTANCE OF the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ Proverbs ADVERTISING 22.6.) If conditions are not right for establishing ‘free’ schools in Australia, per‐ DOES NOT IMPLY haps Christian ‘crowd‐funding’ could establish scholarship funds to be made ENDORSEMENT. available on a mass and means‐tested basis for less privileged believers’ children to attend the existing ones. NEW LIFE RESERVES 4. Can we maximise our use of the media, secular and sacred? Christians THE RIGHT TO REJECT and our ‘fellow travellers’ are few and far between these days in the secular ADVERTISING DEEMED media. Those who are deserve our full support and encouragement. Thankfully, UNSUITABLE. there are numerous Christian radio stations broadcasting around the nation and some ministries producing Christian content for television. They all need strong PUBLISHED BY: financial support. There are three broad‐based evangelical newspapers: Eternity New Life Australia Ltd distributing 100,000 copies, Press Service International/Christian Today online, and, yes, New Life. We’re all free and could all do with being more widely known, ABN: 15 005 035 138 accepted, distributed and supported. 5. Can we see good wherever it resides under The Big Umbrella which is CONTRIBUTORS PLEASE the Christian Church? Many Australian Christians belong to the World Re‐ NOTE: formed Fellowship whose mission statement is: ‘That the strengths of some may New Life is archived by the become the strengths of all.’ Such a positive inlook/outlook has brought much National Library of Australia. encouragement and help to many branches of the Christian Church and to many It is assumed that contributors individuals who belong to liberal churches while personally upholding the full‐ agree with this arrangement and orbed faith themselves. While we hold fast to Biblical truth ourselves, as we so are willing to be published on should, a generous disposition towards others will open many doors of oppor‐ this basis. tunity for us both in the wider church and the wider world. As Spurgeon said, ‘More flies are caught with honey than with vinegar.’ – Bob Thomas NEW LIFE – 15 July 2016 – Page Two MATTERS FOR PRAYER: RUSSIA: Anti-Mission Measures Signed Into Law On Thursday 7 July Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed into law a controversial 'anti-terror' package which includes anti‐mission measures that eviscerate religious freedom. In signing the Yarovaya Law, President Putin has defied the advice of business leaders, church leaders, human rights advocates and even his own presi‐ dential advisors. It is a difficult decision to understand and disappointing beyond measure. We must never underestimate the impact that geopolitics has on religious freedom. The Russian government is not inherently anti‐Christian. However, the denominations which will be impacted most seriously by the new legislation are non‐Russian Orthodox denominations, in particular Protestants, who in times of extreme East‐West geopolitical tensions can be unfairly viewed with suspicion. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists: 'If the law produces any undesired outcomes, the gov‐ ernment will introduce measures accordingly by presidential decree.' While this is a day for mourning, it is also a day for renewed prayer for the whole Russian Church. May the eternal truth that our God is a Redeeming God continue to inspire our prayers. May Christ, who is building His Church and shepherding His flock, sanctify the Russian Church. May Russia's denominations stand together as one – united across denominational lines – not only in defence of religious freedom, but in declaring the value of the wisdom of God and the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the sake of the nation and the glory of God. ‘AFTER SATURDAY COMES SUNDAY’ PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL: A new and timely book After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding • fill Russia's Christian leaders with 'the The Christian Crisis In The Middle East, is now available from the pub- knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom lisher, Wipf and Stock (Eugene, OR, USA) [http://wipfandstock.com/ and understanding, so [they will] walk in a after-saturday-comes-sunday.html], as well as through major distrib- manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to utors including Morning Star Publishing (Australia), [http://morn- Him, bearing fruit in every good work and in‐ ingstarpublishing.net.au/product/after-saturday-comes-sunday/] creasing in the knowledge of God. [May they on-line book sellers including Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/ be] strengthened with all power, according to After-Saturday-Comes-Sunday-Understanding/dp/1498239862] His glorious might, for all endurance and pa‐ and increasingly, Christian bookstores. tience with joy [and thankfulness].' (From Instead of preserving Mesopotamia’s integrity as a buffer zone Colossians 1.9‐14 ESV) and defending its vulnerable minorities and indigenous peoples (the • not permit the repressive anti‐mission Assyrians and Armenians), the West has been backing neo-Ottoman measures to stand, and that as soon as 'un‐ desired outcomes' emerge, may the meas‐ Turkey and Wahhabist Saudi Arabia while brokering deals with revolu- ures indeed be 'amended accordingly by tionary Axis of Resistance leader Iran. As for the jihadists, despite at- presidential decree'. May the Lord guide tracting all our attention, they are in reality just proxies, totally President Putin and grant wisdom in this dependent on state backing. regard. (1Timothy 2.1‐4) Meanwhile, just as the Armenian Genocide took place under the • redeem this wicked attempt to silence the cover of World War One, so too now, the genocide of the region’s in- Church.