Centre for Christian Living

By Centre for Christian LivingReligion & Spirituality

Centre for Christian Living episodes

July 31, 2019 031: An eyeful of idolatry
Idolatry can be confusing—not because there’s any doubt as to whether it’s a good thing or not (it’s definitely not), but because the concept is often applied these days to all kinds of actions that don’t obviously have anything to do with making statues and bowing down to them. My family can be an idol. So apparently can my work, my ministry and my devotion to the mighty Sydney Swans.
But when everything can be a potential idol, does the “idolatry” as a concept lose some of its power?
In this episode, we go back to the Bible with Phillip Jensen to discover what idolatry really is, and why it is still a danger to the Christian life today.
For show notes and episode transcript, go to https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/07/31/podcast-episode-031/
41 min
July 15, 2019 030: Not a podcast about Israel Folau
The Israel Folau affair, which has clogged facebook feeds around the nation for what seems like months, is not the subject of this episode. But the question of religious freedom and religious discrimination is. Anglican bishop Michael Stead joins us to discuss why the cause of religious freedom is worth fighting for in our democracy, what the Australian government’s proposed “religious discrimination” legislation is likely to deliver (and not deliver), and what the implications of all this are for Christian individuals and organisations. One of Michael’s points is that Christians need to inform themselves about these issues—a service that he very clearly and helpfully provides in this episode. For show notes and episode transcript, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/07/15/podcast-episode-030/
42 min
June 05, 2019 029: Living with anxiety
In one sense, serious anxiety—the kind that could be called “clinical anxiety” or an “anxiety disorder”—is like other common medical problems: it afflicts quite a lot of us, it has various identifiable forms and physical symptoms, and it can be treated.
But of course, suffering from an anxiety disorder is also different from having diabetes or heart disease, because it is a dysfunction not just of a bodily process, but of how we think and feel. This makes the experience of clinical anxiety doubly hard to cope with. Its physical symptoms and everyday consequences are hard enough, but there is also the confusing and disorienting experience of “me” being anxious or terrified, when another part of “me” is trying to explain to myself that there’s really no reason to be so anxious.
Moore College lecturer Paul Grimmond knows about this firsthand, and in this episode, he not only explains what “clinical anxiety” is and what it feels like, but shares his insights into how we should think about and respond to anxiety as Christians.
For show notes and episode transcript, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/06/05/podcast-episode-029/
45 min
May 21, 2019 028: We answer your questions
This is the first of our Q&A episodes, in which Tony answers a bunch of the questions that you’ve sent in by email or asked at one of our recent events.
Questions include:
* Does the fact that Christ alone is the basis of our fellowship mean that gender-based ministries or affinity-based congregations are problematic?
* What’s the relationship between joy and thanksgiving?
* Is personal Bible reading insufficient to resist temptation as Christian?
* What’s the relationship between the mutual free word of encouragement Christians speak to each other, and prophecy?
* If we’re supposed to admonish one another as Christians, how practically speaking do we do that?
(If you have any questions from our podcast, or about the Christian life in general, send them to [email protected]. We’ll be running another Q&A episode soon.)
Find an episode transcript and show notes at https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/05/21/podcast-episode-028/
29 min
May 01, 2019 027: A page-turner for the Lord
Richard Borgonon is as natural a salesman as you’re ever likely to meet. But despite his engaging manner and flair for persuasion, he spent most of his life suffering the same frustration that we all experience most of the time: a sense of making no headway at all in sharing Christ with work colleagues and friends.
But one day that all changed for Richard—thanks to an unlikely dinner with John Lennox and a non-Christian friend.
In this episode we’ll find out what Richard discovered, and how the deceptively simple approach that he and others have developed has transformed the lives of Christians and non-Christians all around the world.
For show notes and episode transcript, go to https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/05/02/podcast-episode-027/
38 min
April 23, 2019 026: Bonus episode: The elusive joy of Christian community (encore)
Quite a few of our listeners have been asking us to roll out the audio from our regular CCL public events as part of our podcast feed. That’s what you’ll be listening to in this bonus episode: an encore presentation of “The elusive joy of Christian community” event held on 26 February, 2019.
The material falls into two parts of around 25 mins each:
* Tony Payne on what Christian community really is (and what it isn’t).
* Chase Kuhn on how we can miss the joy of Christianity in three crucial ways.
Find show notes, links and transcript at https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/04/23/podcast-episode-026/
1 hr 1 min
April 02, 2019 025: The pursuit of Christian happiness
Is “happiness” a subjective emotional state? Or is it something that is more objectively measurable in terms of the standard of wellbeing someone enjoys? Given that the Bible doesn’t seem to have a particular word for “happiness”, does that mean that happiness is unimportant as far as God is concerned? Is there a Christian pursuit of happiness? And if so, how would it proceed?
In this episode, Kirsty Birkett lets us in on the research she is currently doing into all these questions, drawing both on the massive amount of secular research into happiness that has flourished over the past few decades, and on what the Bible says about positive emotions like happiness.
Find episode show notes and a transcript on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/04/01/podcast-episode-025/
43 min
March 04, 2019 024: Similar but different? Graham Beynon on gender differences and gospel unity
What is a man? What is a woman? Are we essentially the same? If there are more than biological differences between men and women, how should we think about those differences? And how should we live in light of them?
That’s the can of worms we’re opening in this episode of the CCL podcast with English pastor, church planter and author, Graham Beynon. (Graham was in Sydney recently for the annual Priscilla & Aquila Centre Conference, where he spoke on these issues.)
In our discussion, we touch on the socio-psychological findings that chart the observable differences between male and female character traits, and ask what the Bible has to say about this. How does the Bible direct us to act as men and women, and relate to one another in Christian community as men and women?
For a transcript and show notes, head to https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/03/03/podcast-episode-024
40 min
February 07, 2019 023: Where can I find Christian community?
We all want our churches to be more than clubs, more than institutions and more than events that we turn up to each week. We want to experience the joy of genuine community with other Christians.
But let’s face it: that sort of community is hard to come by. Our churches often feel more like clubs or institutions or concerts than genuine communities.
What does it mean for churches to be “communities”? And how can we be a part of such a community and experience its joys?
In advance of our 27 February CCL event that will address this topic, Tony talks with Chase Kuhn about Christian community.
Find transcript and show notes on our website at https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/02/07/podcast-episode-023/
40 min
December 06, 2018 022: Enjoying God
Do you feel as if your Christian life is dry? Do you feel as though you believe the truth and (mostly) do the right thing, but that the experiential joy of loving God somehow passes you by? Do you think you feel some of the joy of Christ on a Sunday at church, but that carrying that forward into the mundane world of Monday morning seems impossible?
Christians have been asking these sorts of questions forever, and there have been many proposed answers over the years. But most of them are dissatisfying or hard to put into practice. In this episode, we talk to Tim Chester, who has written a book on this subject that (for once) is both biblically deeply insightful and warmly practical for Monday mornings.
Tim’s book is "Enjoying God: Experience the power and love of God in everyday life", and in this episode he speaks with Tony Payne about its main themes and ideas.
For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2018/12/06/podcast-episode-022/
36 min