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…

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 t…

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.Techn…

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 …

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 Ch…

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 chu…

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, rem…

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 talk…

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 c…

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 episo…

Do you compare yourself to other people? As a Christian, do you look at your Christian friends and think, “They’re much more godly than I am. They’re better at prayer. They’re more patient. They’re better evangelists than I am.”? Maybe you look at your non-Christian friends or family and think, “Their lives are so much simpler than mine” or “I wish…

In an age when authenticity, personal potential and the fulfilment of that potential is so highly valued, the virtue of self-control seems counterintuitive. In contrast to the world, the Bible tells us that the good life is not located in unbounded self-expression, but in purposeful self-restraint.Why is self-control so necessary to the Christian l…

What does John’s Gospel have to say about the Christian life? Famously, John tells us why he wrote at the end of his Gospel: so that we might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). We can easily read John’s Gospel and think that it’s only about understanding who Jesus is…

What is the value of the Old Testament for the Christian life? It might seem like an obvious question. We read the Old Testament, we draw comfort from the Psalms, and we can read the Ten Commandments. But in this episode of the CCL podcast with Professor Desmond Alexander, we’re going to focus on the first five books of the Old Testament and think …

The Christian life is filled with all kinds of challenges and trials that easily raise questions about the goodness of God and what it means for us to continue on in faith, even in the face of hardship. In this episode of the CCL podcast, Chase Kuhn and Peter Orr discuss how good our God is and why we can entrust ourselves to him as we continue in …

Narcissism and vanity characterise the spirit of our age—particularly when it comes to social media, where we’re tempted to promote ourselves, make ourselves look good, and present a certain image of ourselves to the world. But when faced with the glory of God, Scripture calls upon us to exhibit a different attitude: humility.What does it mean to b…

Our most recent live event from our series on “A virtuous life” focused on true virtue in an age of virtue signalling. Our presenter was Professor David VanDrunen of Westminster Seminary California.In this episode of the Centre for Christian Living podcast, Professor VanDrunen joins us again in a special follow-up episode to answer some of the ques…

In the information age and the advent of cancel culture, public morality has taken an interesting turn. Virtue is signalled by what we approve publicly or cancel publicly. The deep irony is that this virtue signalling is most often not backed by _true_ virtue. This is seen in the fierce and cutting remarks too common on social media.The danger for …

Motherhood is not something that we all know directly in our lives, but we all, at least, experience it indirectly: we’ve all been born of a woman. This is something common to humanity and is one of our deepest bonds with Jesus, our brother, who was born of the Virgin Mary. Motherhood can be viewed poorly. It can be seen as something to be endured,…

It’s sad that over the last century, so much division among Christians has come from different beliefs about the Holy Spirit. Perhaps what’s even more sad is that these differences are, at their core, about God himself. Who is the God we worship? What is the work that he does in our lives? How does he work, and to what end does he do this work? The…

Christians often think about evangelism in terms of what we say. It can easily become a formula of the right words spoken in the right way that amounts to faithfulness. In many ways, this is an entirely appropriate way to think. However, it’s also an incomplete way to think: our witness to the world is not just with our words, but also with our how…

The Beatles’ message to the world was “Love is all you need”, and certainly in Scripture, the virtue of love is regarded as supreme (1 Cor 13:13). In fact, in the Bible, love is a catch-all term for morality, summarising the law.But with the mainstream use of slogans like “Love is love” bandied around today, what does the concept of love even _mean…

Life is incredibly seasonal. In the last few weeks, with the turn of weather, it marks a change of clothing and habits. Days are cooler and shorter. There’s something wonderful about seasons that reminds us of the Lord’s provision and how dependent we are on him as creatures.Yet as Christians, it’s easy for us to approach seasons passively. Life ca…

Whom should you be able to employ or not employ in your business? If you run a school, should you be able to hire only those who agree with the stated values of your school? What if your school is a religious school? Should those you employ support your faith position? All of these questions are about discrimination: when, if ever, should someone b…

Most of us struggle to keep pace with the speed of societal progress. This means that many Christians are unsure how to approach and even answer questions to do with LGBTQ issues. We’re concerned about fitting the stereotypes of Christian hatred or intolerance. We’re nervous about the names we might be called. We’re worried that we won’t really be …

Discovering sexuality and coming of age is never simple, and tends always to be awkward. This awkwardness is intensified when your sexuality is not typical. Christians have a long way to go to help adolescents grapple with sexuality, especially when their sexuality differs from what the Bible says is good. How can we help same-sex attracted people …

Do you remember the ALS ice bucket challenge of 2014? To promote awareness and raise money for ALS (that is, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is also called Lou Gehrig’s disease), millions of people took to social media and posted videos of themselves getting buckets of ice water dumped on them.Celebrities, politicians and athletes took part. P…

When does the season feel like Christmas? Is when the decorations are hung, carols are playing, the shopping centres are full, the air turns crisp (or hot and humid, in the case of Australia), and when all the media is filled with festive ads? Or is it when we make a deliberate attempt to mark the season by turning our focus to the reason for all t…

Today it’s very easy to be suspicious of people in places of authority. We’ve heard countless stories of how power has been abused. With our increased suspicion comes a level of distrust. This quickly leads us to criticise leaders, watching their every move and picking through their every word.The trouble that we have as Christians is that this sor…

From the dawn of time, systems of justice have demanded recompense for wrongs. The most fundamental systems have been kind for kind—such as, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or a life for a life. In fact, this sort of rudimentary justice system is biblical and it lies at the heart of so much of the law in Scripture. But in God’s kingdom, Jes…

Imagine being part of a church that wasn’t confused, reluctant or reticent about complementarianism, but rather embraced it. Imagine being so convinced of what God says that you’re able to express it confidently in what you say and do. Imagine being so compelled by the goodness of what God says that you express it positively in church life. This is…

Relationships can be difficult. One of the perennial issues for humans is how to relate as men and women. These conversations have changed over time, but they have not gotten any easier. For Christians, there is a deep conviction that God has made us male and female, equal but distinct. This is good. But what does it mean for this deep conviction t…

Integrity seems almost mythical in our current culture. Suspicion runs deep—largely because of a history of lying and deception. At some points, our culture celebrates this sort of slight in order to gain the upper hand. This problem isn’t novel; we may use a variety of “guarantees” to back up our words—for example, “I swear …”, “On my mother’s gra…

Life is filled with many things that we appreciate: health and children are among some of the most treasured things we enjoy. We all appreciate health, as sickness, disease and disorders can affect what we consider a "normal" life. There is also a desire in most of us to raise children.But as good as health and children are, are they ends to be pur…

Have you ever wondered if you’re doing enough? It’s hard to escape this question. Do you ever feel like you haven’t exercised enough, read enough, given enough, spent enough time with people, or spent enough time alone? Thinking about these things is exhausting. It’s no wonder that many find life a worry. In the information age, there is always so …

Church discipline is a much-neglected topic in the modern church. However, the Scriptures suggest it is needed for the good of the church and because Christians are called to love people caught in sin. How do we apply the biblical principles of church discipline to the modern church? What can we do at earlier points to ensure that more drastic chur…

There are some very significant problems with the ways our culture thinks about our human bodies. For some, our bodies are everything, and therefore our physical appearance is what we work hardest on. But for others, our bodies have nothing to do with our true selves. Our true self, we’re told, is who we feel we are. So our bodies may actually be a…

Our recent live event looked at Jesus’ teaching on lust in the Sermon on the Mount. We were challenged in that event to consider once more the lives of holiness befitting Christian disciples. This includes abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage, but we also looked at the problems of pornography and living lives in the midst of a sexual…

Jesus raises alarm when he warns us that adultery isn’t limited to sexual intercourse outside of marriage, but actually begins earlier in the lustful glance of the eye and mental fantasies. Adultery isn’t just physical; it can be done in the heart. So great is the threat of a wandering eye or a straying hand that Jesus suggests losing a part of the…

In many places around the world, it’s easy for Christians to take peace for granted. But for much of history and even in many current contexts, Christians live with the real fear and threat of violence. One of God’s great provisions in this world is the establishment of nations and national powers. These powers are intended to provide defence for t…

Violence is not only a physical activity, it's also something that lurks in our hearts. The Lord Jesus cautions us that refraining from physical violence is only half of the equation. We are also liable for our thoughts towards one another. Kingdom righteousness demands that Christians pursue reconciliation with one another, rather than harbouring …

A little bit about the Centre for Christian Living podcast.Find out more at https://ccl.moore.edu.au/podcasts/By Centre for Christian Living

In this episode of the CCL podcast, we get to know another one of the students on our CCL team—a young man named Jordan Cunningham who, as you’ll learn, has come from quite a long way to study at Moore College. Jordan’s story is quite different to Brooke Hazelgrove’s, who we met in an earlier episode, though there are similarities in some of the st…

For many Christians, the law is one of the most challenging topics for their life. It’s as if they feel they’re walking a tightrope between legalism on the one side and licence on the other—as if they either need to perform, or else they’re simply embracing a loose way of living.But careful examination of the teaching of Jesus helps us gain a riche…

Some of our modern church practices can fool us into thinking that our faith is a private matter, or perhaps even that church itself is something for us to sit and enjoy, listening to a nice message and then leaving.But the Christian life is inherently focused on others, not just on self. A quick search of the New Testament will show that there are…

In this episode of the CCL podcast, we get to know one of the students on our CCL team—a young woman named Brooke Hazelgrove. In some ways, Brooke’s path to ministry and Moore College was quite typical of many of our students: she was raised in a Christian home, she attended a Christian school and she decided to answer the call to ministry around t…

Community isn’t something that is static; it stretches through time, as culture is passed from one generation to another. The Bible has many commands about ensuring that its truth is passed on to the next generation. Yet as simple as this command is, the practice of raising up children and new leaders can cause great anxiety.At our October 2021 eve…

In every age, societies have had methods for finding a future spouse. For better or worse, our culture embraces dating.But what is dating? Is it Christian or not? And if it isn’t, is it redeemable, or should Christians be looking for an alternative?In this episode of the CCL podcast, we feature a recent event from our partner, the Priscilla & Aquil…

When Paul and Silas came to Philippi in Acts 16, a woman who was demon possessed began to pester Paul. Paul commanded the demon to come out of the woman and she was set free from spiritual bondage. But Paul and Silas then got into trouble, because setting this woman free came with economic consequences: she had been enslaved by owners who exploited…

Children are vital to God’s great plan to save the world: Jesus one said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:14-15). But as simple and stark as this object lesson is, it also has packed i…