Centre for Christian Living podcast

When someone becomes a Christian, a transformation takes place: they move from death to life—from darkness to light. This entails a shift in how they live their life, no longer walking as they previously did before knowing Jesus. But what does this transformation entail? How does it happen? When should it happen? Is it instantaneous or is it a process? Is it something one does themselves, or is it done for them? In this episode, Chase Kuhn interviews Caroline Clark about the transformation that came to her life as a result of following Jesus and the place of transformation in all of our lives as Christians. For a transcript and show notes, visithttps://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-041/

Freedom is something easily taken for granted—until it is taken away. COVID-19 has forced government-mandated restrictions on societies all over the globe, and these restrictions lead many of us to question what responsibility government has over us. Is it to protect people or their freedoms? As Christians, religious freedom is paramount. But does government have any right to regulate religion? Furthermore, is government the enemy of religion, or is it its enabler? In this episode, Chase Kuhn speaks with Akos Balogh, CEO of The Gospel Coalition Australia, about what Bible teaches us about the role of government in relation to religious freedom. For show notes and transcript, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-040/ Links referred to: Our May event with Michael Kellahan and Chase Kuhn: “Is freedom of religion a human right?”: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/events/2020-05-27/ The 2019 CCL annual: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/2019-annual/ The Preliminary Theological Certificate (PTC): https://moore.edu.au/courses/preliminary-theological-certificate/ The Gospel Coalition Australia: https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/

For most churches, the sermon has a prominent place in the service. This is met with mixed reception from church goers—reception that is typically based on how engaging the preacher is and how long he preaches! But why do we keep the sermon? In different progressive church models, there have been experiments to do away with preaching in the “stand and deliver” model. As this sort of monologue becomes increasingly foreign in our contemporary culture, should we still keep the sermon in our churches? Putting it into our current climate, should we listen to sermons online? If so, can I listen to the best preachers around the world? Do I need to keep listening to my pastor? Furthermore, is church more than a sermon? We discuss these questions in this episode of our podcast. Our guest is Nigel Styles, the director of the Cornhill Training Course in London. For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-039/

Do all Christians have a responsibility for mission? If so, what does mission involve? Must we all tell the gospel, or are acts of mercy appropriately missional? Furthermore, how should we think about mission in a time of global pandemic? Is the mission of Jesus on hiatus? In this episode, Chase Kuhn talks with Simon Gillham, head of the Department of Mission at Moore College and former missionary in Namibia, about how we should think about mission in the Christian life in times such as these. For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-038/

The onslaught of progressive ideology in Western culture has left many of us Christians cowering in the corner. Despite holding to God’s views on morality, we feel increasingly timid about speaking about biblical morality in the public sphere. We often find ourselves in the minority in political debates and academic dialogue. We may even question whether speaking about morality is actually important. Surely each person is entitled to their own view of morality; who are we to tell someone who doesn’t believe in God that they are wrong because he says so? Can we as Christians be certain about what is right and wrong? And is what we believe anyone else’s business? In this episode, our new Director and host, Chase Kuhn, sits down with our former Director and host, Tony Payne, to chat about the difference between moral realism and moral relativism, the problem with moral relativism, and the issues moral relativism raises for Christians in our day and age. For a full transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-037/

An important piece of Christian jargon to master (if you want to appear like you know something) is the word “eschatology”. It simply “the last things”, and usually refers to discussions about the final resurrection and judgement, the return of Christ, the nature of the new creation, and so on. But “the last things” are not only about the future; they have a massive bearing on our everyday lives, because the Christian gospel is all about how the “last things” have invaded the present—how Christ has died and risen to make us members of his kingdom, which is to come. On this episode, we talk with David Höhne about his new book The Last Things and how understanding God’s plans for the future means everything for our lives now. For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-036/

Over the past two years, Dominic Steele has interviewed around 100 pastors for his regular weekly podcast, The Pastor’s Heart (http://thepastorsheart.net). In this episode, we talk to Dominic not only about what he has learned and been challenged by in these conversations, but what we all can learn about the Christian life—whether we’re pastors or not—from the joys, challenges and heartaches of pastoral ministry. Transcript and show notes available at https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-035/

In this episode, Moore College lecturer David Höhne joins Tony to answer your questions, including such easy-peasy ones as: * How can we hold the creation account of Genesis together with modern science? * Is constantly advancing technology part of God’s plan for humanity, or more of a curse? * What’s the best way to prepare a small group Bible study? and * If we’re looking forward to a new creation, is there a really much point preserving the environment? Enjoy! Find out more about CCL at https://ccl.moore.edu.au/

It’s debatable whether May 2014 was in fact “The transgender tipping point”, as the Time magazine cover story in that month suggested. But there’s no doubt that activism over transgender rights has exploded into the mainstream discussion of our culture over the past five years in ways that would have been unimaginable even a decade ago. What are we to make of this as Christians? If we are to do better than a knee-jerk response, we need to understand both the facts on the ground—what transgenderism is, and what the implications are of its recent prominence—and how the teaching of Scripture should direct our thinking. Based on a long-running research project, Moore College alumni Rob Smith is in an excellent position to help us with both of these vital tasks. He is our guest on this episode of the CCL podcast. For transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-033/

In this encore episode from our CCL event on July 29 2019, Tony Payne and Lionel Windsor address environmentalism. It’s a longer than usual episode (around 80 minutes) in three parts: 1. Setting the scene: Tony looks at what environmentalism is, and the assumptions we bring to it; 2. A biblical theology of the environment: Lionel looks at what the Bible as a whole teaches about the world as God’s creation; at humanity’s place within it; and at how all this fits with God’s purposes in Christ; 3. The practical implications: An extended question time looking at how the Bible’s theology shapes our response to environmental challenges. For show notes, visit our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/08/15/podcast-episode-032/