Centre for Christian Living podcast

Digital technology like smartphones has revolutionised the way we navigate daily life and the way our whole society functions. Such technology has its downsides. Even so, our stance as Christians is often something like, “Let’s use this technology wisely, but not abuse it”, as if the technology is simply a neutral instrument. But the good things of our world (like technology or money) can become much more than this: they can become master-teachers that dominate and disciple us.In this final episode of the series, Tony Payne brings the discussion to its practical conclusion. If our smartphones are not neutral tools, but powerful forces that shape our habits, attention and desires, what does faithful Christian living with technology actually look like?Building on the foundations from episodes 1 and 2, this episode asks the key question: what should we do now? How do we respond as followers of Christ? What does it look like to live wisely and deliberately with the devices that are constantly discipling us?For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Find out more and register for “Left right out: The strange position of the political Christian” (Wed 20 May 2026)Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Digital technology like smartphones has revolutionised the way we navigate daily life and the way our whole society functions. Such technology has its downsides. Even so, our stance as Christians is often something like, “Let’s use this technology wisely, but not abuse it”, as if the technology is simply a neutral instrument. But the good things of our world (like technology or money) can become much more than this: they can become master-teachers that dominate and disciple us.In Part 1 of our series, we explored the extraordinary power and usefulness of the smartphone, as well as the powerful effects and consequences that follow from its widespread usage—the way that the phone, in fact, shapes the way we think about our lives and the way we act as humans.In this episode—Part 2—we’re going to think about what God says about all this—what he says about what it means to be human, and how human technology and manufacturing relates to God and to the purposes he has for humanity. How do the Scriptures shape our understanding of technology in general and the smartphone in particular? We’ll find it does so in surprising and disturbing and liberating ways.(Please note: Part 3 will be published in a fortnight’s time.)For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Find out more and register for “Left right out: The strange position of the political Christian” (Wed 20 May 2026)Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Digital technology like smartphones has revolutionised the way we navigate daily life and the way our whole society functions. We have supercomputers in our hands that can answer almost any question instantly and perform many tasks that make life easier.Such technology has its downsides, like the explosion of accessibility to pornography and the prevalence of online bullying. Even so, our stance as Christians is often something like, “Let’s use this technology wisely, but not abuse it”, as if the technology is simply a neutral instrument. But the good things of our world (like technology or money) can become much more than this: they can become master-teachers that dominate and disciple us.In this first episode of a special three-part series, we explore this issue—interrogate and ask questions about what the smartphone really is and how it does affect our lives. How does this technology disciple us? How does it reorder our attitudes, operating beliefs and behaviours—not just personally, but on a society-wide level? Finally, what have been the costs and disadvantages of all this?For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.(Please note: Part 2 will be published in a fortnight’s time, while part 3 will be published in a month’s time.)To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Find out more and register for “Left right out: The strange position of the political Christian” (Wed 20 May 2026)Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

It does us a lot of good to read a book on prayer every couple of years, because the Christian life is a praying life, and Christians need the occasional reminder and encouragement to keep praying or to start praying again after an overly busy or overly anxious period of life.Enter Prayerfulness, a recent book by Peter Adam that, according to CCL Director Tony Payne, is the best book on prayer and the Christian life he’s ever read. It’s warm and full of pastoral wisdom, theological richness, and many practical helps and resources.On this episode of the CCL Podcast, Peter Adam speaks about prayerfulness, how prayer is an expression of our relationship with God, why written prayers are helpful, and why we don’t pray.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Find out more and register for the 2026 Priscilla & Aquila annual conference: “Radical kinship: Men and women in God’s family” (2 February 2025)Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

If you’ve been saying the words of the Nicene Creed for most of your life, you’ll have some sense that this ancient creed is profound and important, and that it summarises something basic and unifying about the Christian faith.But why and how does it do that, exactly? Why is the Nicene Creed a big deal? Why have Christians been saying these words for around 1700 years? And what difference does it actually make to our Christian lives? Tony Payne talks to Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore College, who recently attended a conference celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, when the Nicene Creed was first written.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Find out more about studying at Moore Theological College.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Christians have always been very pro-family. In fact, historically and in some parts of the world, Christianity and traditional family values are seen as much the same thing.This makes the actual content of the Gospels and what Jesus says about family very surprising—even shocking. It's not as if Jesus is against marriage and family, but his teaching about how to relate to our families brings a radical challenge to our total and unquestioned devotion to our families and to our practice of putting our families first, above all else. CCL Director Tony Payne chats to Simon Flinders, Archdeacon to the Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, about Jesus’ radical new perspective on family life.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Find out more and register for the 2026 Priscilla & Aquila Centre Annual Conference (Mon 2 Feb 2026). Simon Flinders will be delivering the plenary addresses on the topic of “Radical kinship: Men and women in God’s family”.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

One of the commonplaces of our culture is to distinguish between sex and gender. However, it wasn’t that long ago, when filling in forms, that we were asked about our sex—whether we’re male or female. Now forms ask us for our gender, and they often give us more than two options.But did you know that the word “gender”, as applied to someone’s sexual nature or expression or identity, is a very recent invention? We only really started doing that in the late 1950s and 60s. The introduction of the idea of gender, and its separation or decoupling from the concept of sex so that we now have two potentially different things—sex and gender—is one of the extraordinary features of the story of Western culture over the past 30-40 years.In this episode of the Centre of the Christian Living podcast, Rob Smith tells the story of how that happened, why it’s had such a massive impact on our society, and how it all relates to God’s theory of sex in his word.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Find out more and register for the 2026 Priscilla & Aquila Centre Annual Conference(Mon 2 Feb 2026)Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

If there’s one word or concept that you would say is at the very centre of the Christian life, it’s the idea of faith. In fact, sometimes we describe the whole of Christianity as simply “the faith”.Yet for something that’s so central and so foundational, it’s surprising how often people are confused or have misunderstandings about the nature and meaning of faith. In this episode of the Centre for Christian Living Podcast, we’re going to seek to dispel that confusion and sharpen our understanding of faith and its place at the foundation of the Christian life.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Next CCL event: The smartphone disciple (Mon 27 Oct).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

On the CCL podcast, we’ve been exploring the topic of “Neurodivergence and the Christian life” in a special three-part series. In Part 1, we opened up the issue and heard many wonderful and moving stories from neurodivergent people about their experiences, and the questions and issues that arise from their experiences—especially in relation to Christianity, the Christian life and church life. In Part 2, we looked at what the Bible has to say about these questions, and how to think about these things from the perspective of God and his revelation about his world and our lives through the themes of Creation and the Fall; ability, the Spirit and weakness; and community and the body of Christ.In this final episode of our series, we return to the experiences of neurodivergent people and to the questions we have about how neurodivergence affects our lives, families and churches as Christians, and we explore some paths forward.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Next CCL event: The smartphone disciple (Mon 27 Oct).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

On the CCL podcast, we’ve been exploring the topic of “Neurodivergence and the Christian life”. In our first episode, we opened up the issue and heard many wonderful, extraordinary and moving stories from neurodivergent people about their experiences, and the questions and issues that arise from their experiences—especially in relation to Christianity, the Christian life and church life.In this episode, which is Part 2 of 3 in our series, we will look at what the Bible has to say about these questions, and how we might think about these things from the perspective of God and his revelation about his world and our lives—through the themes of Creation and the Fall, ability, the Spirit and weakness, and community and the body of Christ.(Please note: Part 3 will be published in a fortnight’s time.)For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Next CCL event: The smartphone disciple (Mon 27 Oct).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Neurodivergence, such as Autism and ADHD, is increasingly identified and understood in our society. Almost everyone has experience of neurodivergence either in themselves or in close friends or family.How do we think about neurodivergence as Christians? What particular challenges and opportunities does being neurodivergent bring with it, especially in responding to the gospel and living as a Christian? How can we love all people in our families and churches?In this first episode of a special three-part series on neurodivergence and the Christian life, we explore and assess what neurodivergence is—the experience, questions and issues of neurodivergent people, as well as the experience, questions and issues of parents, friends and ministers of neurodivergent people. We also look briefly at medical, clinical and social perspectives on neurodivergence. Finally, we raise questions that we will attempt to answer in more depth in Parts 2 and 3 of this series.(Please note: Part 2 will be published in a fortnight’s time, while part 3 will be published in a month’s time.)For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.Next CCL event: The smartphone disciple (Mon 27 Oct).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Moral progressivism is a feature of the best and brightest of our culture. It’s the idea that, just like technology, which is progressing all the time and getting better, so our moral beliefs, values and sensibilities are improving over time. There’s a relentless forward march to the moral status of humanity such that many of the beliefs and values we hold today will be seen as outdated and even irrelevant tomorrow.Christians are often wary of moral progressives and moral progressivism, because it frequently wants to declare that the long-held moral beliefs or standards we get from the Bible are not only outdated, but positively harmful or evil. Yet on the other hand, many of the causes that moral progressives espouse do resonate with us as Christians. We do want the world to be a more just, more peaceable and more compassionate place.So what is progressivism exactly? How do we come to be progressives in our modern culture? In addition, how should we think about this as Christians? Hear Tony Payne and Charles Cleworth consider these questions in this episode of the CCL podcast.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Next Priscilla & Aquila Centre evening seminar: A history of Complementarianism (Wed 13 Aug).Next CCL event: The smartphone disciple (Mon 27 Oct).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Around 19 per cent of Australia’s population is of school age. A similar proportion—around 17 per cent—are seniors, if that’s defined as 65 and older. Are those percentages reflected in the time, people and resources that your church devotes to evangelising and ministering to these age groups?Most of us would admit that our church has put vastly more effort into youth and children’s ministry than we do into ministry to older people. But why is that the case? Is it just a natural focus on the next generation, or is it a blind spot and a huge missed opportunity?In this episode of the Centre for Christian Living Podcast with Ben Boland, chaplain for Churches of Christ Queensland, we think about the marvellous opportunities and challenges of ministering to older people.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Priceless People: Loving Older People and People Living with Dementia (Ben R Boland): available from Koorong, Reformers, The Wandering Bookseller, Word, 10ofThose and Amazon.Next CCL event: The smartphone disciple (Mon 27 Oct).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Do you ever get that feeling that the teachings of the Bible, and the complex and painful things that actually happen in your life don’t always connect? Do you ever feel that when you’re in the midst of pain, grief and difficulty, you’re not exactly sure what the gospel has to say about it?Andrew Nicholls, Director of Pastoral Care at Oak Hill College in London, had exactly that experience as a pastor, trying to help his parishioners with the pain and grief of their lives, and finding that he didn’t have a whole lot to say to them. In this episode of the CCL podcast, Andrew speaks about this experience of having not much to say, and how it led to a turning point in his ministry and his whole view of what a pastor’s job is, as well as his understanding of how the gospel speaks to the realities of our lives.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Centre for Global Mission event: Embracing Hard Ministry: The Bible and the practice of Global Mission(Wed 23 July).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Have you ever had one of those moments of self-awareness when some relationship or perhaps some conversation has just gone badly, and for some reason, you stop and think, “Why did that just happen? What did I do? What attitudes, behaviours and underlying thoughts did I bring to that conversation that contributed to what just happened?”If you’ve ever managed to do that and also thought to yourself, “I really should do that more often and more thoughtfully,” then this conversation between Tony Payne and Caroline Spencer is for you. Also, if you’ve never stopped to think about yourself, your thought patterns and your behaviours, then this conversation is even more for you. It’s about healthy self-reflection and how we can develop good habits of self-reflection to serve others around you.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Getting Over Yourself: Developing a healthy self-reflection habit to serve those around you (Caroline Spencer).Centre for Global Mission event: Embracing Hard Ministry: The Bible and the practice of Global Mission(23 July).Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

What does it mean to live the Christian life as a man or as a woman? Does whether we are men or women make any difference to living as a Christian and seeking to be a godly person in response to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Does godliness look any different for men as it does for women, or, for that matter, for young people as opposed to old people?These kinds of questions can often cause controversy. But they’re also hard to avoid if we reflect honestly on our experiences as men and women, as well as reflect open-heartedly upon the Scriptures. In this episode of the Centre for Christian Living Podcast, Tony Payne talks with Moore College lecturer Paul Grimmond about these complex and very important questions.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Find out more about Moore College’s Open Events.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Last year in 2024, Tom Schreiner, Associate Dean for the School of Theology, the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Professor of Biblical Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, delivered the Annual Moore College Lectures on the Book of Galatians.In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr speaks with Tom about Galatians and how what God says in this marvellous letter directs the way we think and act as his people, and how it shapes the Christian life. Their conversation touches on the cross, justification by faith, the place of the law and of works in the Christian life, the role of the Spirit, and what the fruit of the Spirit looks like in those who follow Christ.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Find out more about our May ethics workshop: “Neurodivergence and the Christian life”Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

In the past, people used to date by asking each other out and getting to know each other over coffee, a meal or some other activity. But these days, many people use dating apps as a way of meeting others. How should we navigate this area as Christians? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this approach? What are the dangers we need to be aware of?Jocelyn Bignill, Assistant Minister at All Saints in Petersham, Sydney, has been working on an unpublished article about dating apps, and in this episode, Peter Orr talks to her about the challenges and obstacles Christians might face when using them. It’s an important subject—not just for those who are in a stage of life where they may be using these apps, but also for those of us who have grown-up children who might need guidance in how to navigate this tricky area.(Please note: Jocelyn Bignill’s article on dating apps, which Peter Orr refers to in this interview, is currently unpublished.)For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Find out more about our May ethics workshop: “Neurodivergence and the Christian life”Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Gospel ministry in our schools is incredibly important and strategic, and has changed many lives. But what does it mean for the gospel to do its work in a school? What sort of work does a school chaplain do? In addition, how does the ministry that takes place within our schools sit alongside, complement and relate to the broader ministry of the gospel that we’re used to seeing in our churches?In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr chats to Peter Tong, chaplain at Barker College in Sydney, Australia, about what that ministry looks like, why school chaplaincy is important, and how we can support it.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Find out more about our May ethics workshop: “Neurodivergence and the Christian life”Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

What’s the place of mission in the Christian life? In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr speaks to Tania Snowdon. Tania and her husband Mike spent a number of years on the mission field in Spain and have since returned. Tania speaks about the whole mission experience—why you would go; how to decide whether to go; how to decide where to go; the training you receive before going; what it’s like when you arrive and start speaking the gospel into a new culture; how Christians can support missionaries; and what it’s like to return from the field and re-enter your home culture.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit">https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-134/">visit our website.Find">http://moore.edu.au/ptc">Find out more about the Preliminary Theological Certificate (PTC)Support the work of the Centre by making">https://ccl.moore.edu.au/donate/">making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

As Christians, we know that evangelism is important. But most of us feel that we’re not very good at it and that we don’t do enough of it.In this episode, Peter Orr speaks with Dave Jensen, who works as an evangelist for Evangelism and New Churches Sydney Anglicans. Dave helps us think about how we can increase in our fervour and ability for evangelism, and how we can do it as Christians together.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Find out more about studying at Moore Theological College.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

It seems if you talk to anyone and ask them how they’re doing, one of the most common things they’ll say is that they’re feeling tired. I think that’s true of Christian and non-Christian alike. What we all need is rest.In this episode, Peter Orr talks to Jocelyn Bignill about some recent thinking she did in a talk on rest, and how we can rest spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. It’s a really helpful and challenging discussion, and we hope you enjoy the conversation.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Complete our podcast listener survey.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Our culture is obsessed with identity: we’re often told, “You do you” and encouraged to live according to our “true and authentic self”, expressing publicly how we feel about ourselves internally.However, the very concept of personal identity is inherently slippery. It encompasses things like ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, religion, belief, educational background, profession and personality, but it’s not fixed: it can change through time, circumstance, and even through self-invention.So as Christians, how should we regard identity? God created us as unique individuals; how does our creatureliness affect who we are? Furthermore, as sinners redeemed and sanctified by the Lord Jesus and adopted into the household of God, how does Christ’s work change the way we view ourselves? How does the encouragement to “find your identity in Christ” actually play out in the complexities of competing sources of identity?At our final event in our series on “Culture creep” in October 2024, Rory Shiner, Senior Pastor of Providence City Church in Perth, showed us how losing ourselves for the sake of the kingdom will help us find ourselves once and for all (Matt 10:39).For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Complete our podcast listener survey.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.

Peter Orr speaks with Jocelyn Loane about her new book on Christian motherhood from Matthias Media: Motherhood: How the gospel shapes our purpose and priorities. In the book and in our conversation, Jocelyn helpfully shows how the gospel, more than anything else, should shape Christian motherhood. It’s very easy to read parenting books that contain a lot of helpful things, but in this conversation, Jocelyn shows us how key gospel truths are the most powerful things for thinking carefully and properly about Christian motherhood.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Complete our podcast listener survey.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

The Centre for Christian Living exists to bring biblical ethics to everyday issues, and on each episode of our podcast, we seek to do exactly that. But every now and then, we like to share stories of how God’s people seek to apply biblical ethics to the everyday and specific issues in their own lives.In this episode of the CCL podcast, we get to know yet another member of our student team: a Moore Theological College student named Michael Parker. Michael grew up in country Australia in Victoria, and in some ways, his path to ministry and Moore College was quite typical. But in many ways, Michael’s journey was not typical at all.It is our hope and prayer that as you hear Michael’s story, you’ll come away encouraged—encouraged and eager to pray for and support not just Michael and his future in ministry, but also the College as it carries out its vision of seeing God glorified by men and women living for and proclaiming Jesus Christ, growing healthy churches and reaching the lost.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Complete our podcast listener survey.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.

For centuries, theologians have debated the doctrine of total depravity, the belief that people are wholly and naturally corrupt due to original sin. In this episode, Peter Orr speaks with Jonny Gibson, who has edited a 1,000-page book on this topic. They talk about why it’s important for Christians to have a clear grasp of sin, and what can go wrong if we don’t.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit">https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-128/">visit our website.Complete">https://ccl.moore.edu.au/podcastsurvey/">Complete our podcast listener survey.Support the work of the Centre by making">https://ccl.moore.edu.au/donate/">making a tax-deductible donation.

In this episode, Peter Orr chats with Nick and Dorothy Jones about their life as a family—particularly loving and caring for their son William, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Nick and Dorothy reflect on how their Christian faith sustains and strengthens them as they love and care for William, and they offer some very helpful insights not only about caring for a child with a significant disability, but also about how Christians can support people in a similar situation in our churches.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Complete our podcast listener survey.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.

The world is becoming wealthier and wealthier. Since the turn of the century, the net worth of many countries in the West and in Asia has tripled, poverty rates have fallen, and life expectancy has increased by more than six years.At the same time, the divide between rich and poor has increased, with the richest one per cent owning almost fifty per cent of all the world’s wealth. Five to ten per cent of people still live in extreme poverty, even in the most affluent nations. Furthermore, while money can buy happiness, it can only do so up to a certain point, and wealthier people are more likely to be less generous and less kind to others.How as Christians should we think about affluence? Is material prosperity a blessing or a curse, or both? Given the state of the world and income inequality, what are we to do with the riches God has given us? At our 2024 August event, Michael Jensen, rector of St Mark’s Anglican Darling Point, helped us to see our earthly treasure the way our heavenly Father does.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Complete our podcast listener survey.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.

In this episode of the CCL podcast, we hear from Susanna Baldwin, a Bible translator in Darwin. She speaks about her work on the Plain English Version, the challenges of Bible translation, and also helps us to think through what questions to ask when we are considering which English version to read.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.

Psalm 23 is perhaps the most famous portion of the Bible. It’s a psalm that has brought comfort to Christians throughout history. In this episode, Peter Orr speaks to David Gibson, who has released a book that walks through the psalm in detail—“The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus our shepherd, companion and host”. David shows us that there are wonderful depths that are easy to miss, and how, in so many ways, this psalm encapsulates the entirety of the Christian life.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-124/

In this episode of the CCL podcast, we speak to Jackie Gibson about her book, You are Still a Mother. The book recounts how Jackie and her husband Jonny lost their daughter Leila just before she was due to be born. Through this terrible experience, Jackie came to appreciate the comfort of the Lord Jesus.We hope this episode is of comfort to you if you’ve experienced this kind of grief, or that it helps you to care for a friend or family member who has gone through something similar.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.

Artificial intelligence or AI is one of the most important concepts that people are discussing today. It’s something that, as Christians, we need to think carefully about. Akos Balogh spoke about AI at our March event earlier this year. In this episode, Peter Orr talks to Stephen Driscoll about his new book on AI—“Made in Our Image: God, artificial intelligence and you”—particularly looking at how the gospel helps us to engage with AI and think about it positively and critically. Stephen’s book is an excellent resource for thinking about AI. We hope this conversation gives you a taster of the subject and helps you to begin to think about this important concept.For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-122/

The sexualisation of society is not new. But the untethering of sex from all relational foundations has posed new problems. No longer is sex between a man and a woman, or even between a boyfriend and girlfriend, and nor is it even with another person you’ve met through an app; sex in our culture can now be with whomever you want, in whatever way you want—even with non-human devices. Obviously these practices are ruled out for those of us who are Christians. But we’re still immersed in that same cultural space. Our ideas of sex and sexuality can be easily and subtly shaped and changed by the world around us. So how do we engage these topics in this new cultural landscape? How do we cling to what God in his word says is good for sex and sexuality? How do we respond to those who say that it is time to let go of our beliefs in the name of progress? At our 2024 May event, Philip Kern, Head of New Testament at Moore College, brought us back to what the Bible says about relationships, about our bodies and about sexuality. In this episode, we bring you the audio from that event, minus the Q&A segment, which you can find on our website: ccl.moore.edu.au. We hope you find Philip’s talk helpful. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-121/

Politics might be something that we shy away from because it’s so divisive—particularly in the current climate. But the gospel shapes us in the way we relate to our neighbours, and it gives us a fundamental lens to use in thinking about how we relate to one another and how we engage in political discourse. In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr speaks to Michael Jensen about his new book, “Subjects and Citizens”, which aims to helps Christians think about politics in light of the gospel. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-120/

Most of us experience relatively good health. Occasionally we might get sick, then recover a couple of weeks later and return to normal life with no lasting ill effects. But what happens when you’re struck with an ongoing health issue that doesn’t go away—not two, three, six months or even a number of years later? What impact does an ongoing illness have on your physical health, mental health and even your spiritual health? In this episode, Peter Orr is joined by Andrew and Kath Bruce. Andrew is the rector of St Peters Anglican Church in Sydney and his wife Kath is a GP. Together, they help us think about chronic health from a personal, theological, medical and practical perspective. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-119/

In the latest episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr has a chat with Paul Ritchie, a pastor in Limerick in the Republic of Ireland, about his long-term struggle with different mental health challenges and how he thinks about these as a pastor. They also discuss Paul’s book, “Is it Unspiritual to be Depressed? Loved by God in the Midst of Pain”, the relationship between the medical and the spiritual, intrusive thinking, the importance of receiving medical help, and the role of the church in looking after people with mental illness. We hope you find Paul’s insights—drawn from both his own experience and his understanding of God’s word—helpful. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-118/

Many Christians have testified to the power of good Christian books and how the Lord has used them in their lives. In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr talks to Jane Tooher about the different Christian books that the Lord has used in her life. We hope you find it encouraging. You might be prompted to read some of the titles that Jane mentions, or to think about different areas of your Christian life where it would be helpful to read a Christian book. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-117/

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being widely embraced across our society. When OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a large language model-based chatbot, the application became the fastest-adopted new tool in human history. Its impact—and the impact of AI more broadly—is only beginning to be felt. Many AI researchers are concerned that AI will harm humanity, with some even sounding the alarm about humanity’s future altogether. How should Christians think about AI? What does the Bible have to say about how we think about and use this new and important technology? Furthermore, how might it affect our faith? Akos Balogh, writer and researcher, spoke about technology, humanity and theology at this year’s March event. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-116/

In this episode of the Centre for Christian Living podcast, we talk with Andrew Sach, who has recently released a book with Jonathan Gemmell entitled, “Are You 100% Sure You Want To Be an Agnostic?” Andrew discusses the difference between agnosticism and atheism, and thinks about how we can share the gospel with our friends who might be agnostic or who might have other beliefs. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-115/

The last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation, is a book that many of us are intrigued by. We read its symbolism and the different imagery, and sometimes we don’t know what to do with it. In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr speaks with Tom Schreiner, who has recently released a couple of books on the Book of Revelation. Tom helps us think about how we should read the book and talks about its relevance for the Christian life. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-114/

In our last episode, we heard from Lionel Windsor, who talked about his new book, “Truth Be Told: Living truthfully in a post-truth world”. In this episode, we’re going to focus in on one chapter in Lionel’s book, looking at how, as Christians, we can live truthful, godly lives in a world that is becoming more and more technologically complex. Technology is not all bad; you listen to this podcast through a variety of technologies. But it’s hard to know how to live in such a technologically complex world. Lionel helps us think through some of the core issues that are vital for us to grasp in a world like ours. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-113/

Jesus told his disciples that he is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). The truth is absolutely vital to us as Christians. But in an era of fake news, media spin and social media manipulation, it’s never been more important as Christians that we are clear on what the truth is and how we as Christians should live as truthful people. In this episode, Peter Orr talks to Lionel Windsor about his new book, “Truth Be Told”, which sees to help Christians live truthfully in a post-truth world. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-112/ Lionel's book "Truth Be Told" can be purchased from Matthias Media: https://matthiasmedia.com.au/products/truth-be-told

Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe Jesus ascending a mountain and then being transformed in front of three of his disciples (Matt 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-36). This is the event that Christians call the “transfiguration”. But why is it such an important event? What does it actually tell us about Jesus? Does it have anything to do with the Christian life? In this episode, Peter Orr talks to Dr Patrick Schreiner of Midwestern Baptist Seminary in the United States. He’s just written a wonderful book on the transfiguration, and he shows us just how vital and important this event is for understanding Jesus and for living the Christian life. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-111/

How can we as Christians care for those who are on the margins of society? How can we share the hope of Jesus with those who, from a worldly perspective at least, look like they have the least reason for hope? In this episode of the CCL podcast, Peter Orr speaks to Ben Gray, minister of All Saints Petersham in Sydney’s Inner West, about how as a church they reach out to the homeless with the hope of the Jesus. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-110/

Christians can often be caught off-guard by how difficult life can be. When grieved by loss, deserted by friends and family, faced with a hostile workplace culture or plagued by an existential crisis, it is easy for Christians to be tempted to give up or to doubt God’s goodness. Yet the Bible encourages us to persevere in the midst of hardship, reminding us that suffering is not a sign of God’s absence, but of his good presence. The storms of life we weather serve to refine our faith as we hope in his promises. But how can we build perseverance within ourselves? What does it mean to remain steadfast in our day-to-day walk in Christ? If we experience doubt, are we in danger of falling away? In this episode of the CCL podcast, which features the audio from our October 2023 event, Moore College principal Mark Thompson considers these things as he shows us how Christians can persevere even when we face trials of various kinds. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-109/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church that when he was with them, he preached Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 1:23). The cross is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. It’s the means that God uses to secure our salvation. But it’s also so much more than that. In this episode of the Centre for Christian Living podcast, Peter Orr talks to Rory Shiner about his book, “Forgiven Forever: Living in the death of Jesus” and how the cross is, to quote Rory, “A vast ocean of spiritual power and liveable truth”. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-108/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

At Moore College, we were recently joined by Professor Christopher Watkin to talk about his new book, “Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s unfolding story makes sense of modern life and culture”, which recently won Australian Christian Book of the Year. In this episode of the CCL podcast, we bring you the recording of an interview Peter Orr conducted with Christopher, as well as the Q&A that followed. Christopher introduces us to his book, and also demonstrates the power of the Bible for helping us to understand—and even lovingly critique—the culture we live in. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-107/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/

It’s fascinating to read church history and learn about what God has done in the past. But how important is it for us Christians to be aware of church history? Is it just an interesting thing we can read about on the side, or does an awareness of church history actually help guard us from error and live godly lives in the present time? In this episode of the CCL podcast, Mark Earngey, Head of Church History at Moore College, shows us that it _is_ important, and that if we ignore church history, we can open ourselves up to all sorts of problems. For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-106/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/