With All Due Respect

As the voting time for the referendum approaches, Michael and Megan are joined by Bundjalung woman Karen Mundine, CEO of Reconciliation Australia, and Peter Morris, General Manager of the Reconciliation Action Plan program of Reconciliation Australia.

They talk through what a 'yes' vote might mean for Australian society, its citizens, and the church.

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Welcome to season 8 of With All Due Respect!

As Australians prepare to vote in a referendum on an Aboriginal Voice in parliament, Michael Jensen and (newly Reverend Dr) Megan Powell du Toit speak with constitutional law expert Dr Joel Harrison about what it might mean, legally speaking.

They then discuss whether or not the church should be involved with politics at all  - a thorny issue that Michael has had some recent experience with.

Finally on 'Through the Wardrobe', our hosts cast their eye over the controversy surrounding ABC journalist Annabel Crabb's Kitchen Cabinet program, and her decision to have some rather divisive guests on recent episodes.

WADR is hosted by Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen. It is part of the Undeceptions podcast network. 

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In the season finale, Megan and Michael sit down with First Nations Christian leader Uncle Pastor Ray Minniecon to discuss the upcoming referendum in Australia concerning The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice (also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, or simply 'The Voice).

Our hosts also sift through the responses from various groups to The Voice, casting a spotlight on who has - and hasn't - voiced support.

Finally, on 'Through The Wardrobe', Michael and Megan keep things political with a look back at the 2017 ABC documentary Counted, hosted by Stan Grant to commemorate the 1967 Referendum which saw Australian First Nations people counted as part of the Australian population. They compare this with an episode of Derry Girls, unpacking the complexities of referendum and nationhood.

And, as promised, here is a link to the Christian denominational responses to the Voice to Parliament that the WADR team collected.

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This week on WADR, our hosts are living up to the aim of the show (conversations with respect and grace) with an Easter special on ... GRACE!
Grace is of course a concept strongly associated with the cross of Christ. It is a word Christians chuck around - but do we have a good understanding of what it means? And can grace even be immoral?

'The Secret Life of Us' then makes a return, with Michael and Megan sharing episodes in their life when they had grace shown to them.

Finally, on 'Through The Wardrobe' our hosts give their take on The Engish, a grizzly western reboot about an aristocrat bent on revenge in the new world. Can grace be shown to those who've taken everything from us?

WADR is hosted by Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen. It is part of the Undeceptions podcast network.

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This week, Megan and Michael delve into the mystery of 'time', and ask the question ... is time cursed? And how are eternity and time-related?

On 'Through the Wardrobe', the pair cast their critical eye over the now cancelled Amazon series Paper Girls, a time travelling adventure drama that looks at how we might feel if we met our future selves.

Plus, our hosts take some time to answer audience questions. Does pineapple belong on pizza? Do Michael and Megan actually disagree on anything? And what should we do with the work of now-disgraced theologians? Tune in to find out!

WADR is hosted by Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen. It is part of the Undeceptions podcast network.

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On a special edition of 'For Argument's Sake', Michael and Megan dissect the fallout from The Gospel Coalitions' recent endorsement - and swift recant -  of a controversial extract from Joshua Butler's new book Beautiful Union, which drew parallels between the saving work of Christ, and sexual intercourse between husband and wife.

Our hosts then explore why the article was published, the dangers of applying such theology within marriage, and what structural and cultural shortcomings the saga has exposed within TGC.

Numerous theologians and academics who lent their names to the book - and by extension the article -  have since withdrawn their endorsements, with some writing follow-up articles in the wake of the scandal.

Joshua Butler has since resigned as a Gospel Coalition Centre fellow, and will not be involved with planned TGC events for 2023.

Extra reading on the issue can be found below.

LINKS:

* TGC statement on the article
* Check out Bethany Falker-Jones unpacking of the whole affair - 'Protestant Bodies, Protestant Bedrooms, and our furious need for a theology thereof'
* Mikey Lynch, director of the Australian arm of TGC, has published a fascinating pushback on the original article - 'Don't Go Beyond What Is Written'

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It's family week on WADR. Michael and Megan chat through different perspectives on family, and in particular, adoption. They work through the good and the bad, how it can heal - but also compound - trauma, and what the Bible has to say about it.   

UK-based broadcaster, author, social entrepreneur, and adoptive father Dr Krish Kandiah then joins the podcast for a challenging discussion on fostering and adoption.

Finally, on 'Through The Wardrobe', our hosts share their thoughts on the 2021 documentary Found, the moving story of three Chinese girls, adopted by American parents, who discover they are blood-related, and then return to their country of birth to uncover their origins.

WADR is hosted by Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen. It is part of the Undeceptions podcast network.

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This week, Megan and Michael deep dive into the often heated relationship between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, examining what the recent death of former Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI means for intra-church relations, and how Protestants and Roman Catholics can walk hand-in-hand in ministry (can they?). 

Catholic theologian Dr Elissa Roper joins the podcast to discuss a range of issues, including what the late Pope’s passing means, and what decade might hold for the Catholic Church.

Then, on ‘Through The Wardrobe’, Megan and Michael talk about Roland Joffe’s 1986 cinematic masterpiece The Mission - a classic of the genre that Megan, unbelievably, hadn’t seen before!

WADR is hosted by Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen. It is part of the Undeceptions podcast network. 

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Megan and Michael talk about all things freedom - does true freedom exist, and are we really free in the 21st century? 

From overthrowing the yoke of human slavery (Israel's Exodus from Egypt) to Jesus' promise that “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”, the concept of freedom is at the heart of the Biblical story.

But what does it mean for our everyday lives to be free? Are we truly free if we still feel the weight of sin in our lives? Can we ever, truly have free will?

On 'Through the wardrobe', Michael and Megan discuss last year's medieval comedy Catherine Called Birdy, and how this tale of a young Englishwoman navigating 13th-century society relates to the idea of being truly 'free'.

Plus, in a brand new segment called 'You can't ask that' Michael confronts Megan on one of the most divisive issues in church history; what it means to be Arminian - and can you really call yourself a Christian and Arminian at the same time?

WADR is hosted by Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen. It is part of the Undeceptions podcast network. 

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Hospitality is a word that conjures up images of wine glasses and silver cutlery. It's the word for the hotel trade or the type of entertaining that looks good on Instagram: themed dinner parties and pretty hand soaps for the guest toilet.

Yet hospitality is also a word that occurs in the Bible. Famously, Hebrews 13:2 urges, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."

But exactly what are we being called to do? Is it an occasional drinks with the next-door neighbours or something more?

Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen talk about who exactly are our neighbours when it comes to hospitality and what it might require of us.

To help the WADR team out, Michael and Megan also talk to Jon Owen who has lived a remarkably hospitable life. And then they sing along with Come From Away, the musical about 7,000 unexpected guests.

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