ABC RELIGION – In an age when knowledge of the Bible seems to be fading, many Indigenous Australians claim it as an important game changer in their lives. Among the 73 per cent of Indigenous Australians who claim Christianity as their faith — more than the general population — Max Conlon, artist and Christian minister […]

In response to the ‘Christian Century’ request for essays on ‘enemy’, they received many compelling reflections. Here is a selection.  https://www.christiancentury.org/article/enemy-essays-readers I had boarded the plane and was settling in my seat when I heard voices from several rows behind me. The dialogue was emphatic, even explosive. Were the words being thrown back and forth […]

BY PARKER J. PALMER (PARKERJPALMER), COLUMNIST I first heard about “the soul” as a child. For years, I thought of it as a wispy spirit within me, well-intentioned but too frail for life’s rough-and-tumble. Then I had my first experience of depression, a darkness partly of my own making.* During my long months underground, the […]

‘Bridge of Love’ by B. J. Thomas is an old favourite of mine and its message is as true and as relevant as ever. Dave Andrews There’s a gap in the world Only love can fill And we can bridge that gap If we have the will No it won’t be easy We’ll need help […]

Author Talk: Tom Sine Tom Sine’s new book, Live Like You Give a Damn!, declares the very good news that God is raising up a new generation, largely outside the church, to bring impressive change to the lives of our neighbours locally and globally by creating innovative forms of social enterprise and community empowerment. http://www.authortalk.audio/wipf-and-stock.html

I’m in Poland speaking about the Blessed Beatitude Revolution. These are the Beatitudes beautifully sung in Polish. Dave

Listen now https://radio.abc.net.au/search?service_guid=RN-bia-20160627-7526356 Download audio NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER DESMOND TUTU. THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER THE END OF APARTHEID IS A ROLE MODEL FOR THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS. Forgiving can sometimes look like an impossible task. How do you forgive murder, rape, genocide? After the end of apartheid in South Africa, […]

http://bit.ly/1qv9DaY The question I ask myself on my 65th birthday: What do you think – on the other side of innocence? You’ve gambled and lost. Your love’s not enough. What do you feel – now that the grief is real? You’ve tried n’ you’ve failed. You’re tired n’ you’re frail. What do you want? What […]

A survey of 20th century theology shows that many Christians have grappled with violence, justice, and the gospel and arrived at conclusions quite different from Niebuhr—and from each other. These Christian witnesses for peace include familiar voices such as Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Martin Luther King Jr., John Howard Yoder, and Stanley Hauerwas, but also […]

Carol Kuruvilla 01/06/2016 09:32 pm ET Religion Associate Editor, The Huffington Post One of the most popular inspirational works of the last century was a collection of prose poems called The Prophet. Its author, Lebanese-American poet and artist Kahlil Gibran, was born 133 years ago this Wednesday. The Prophet offers the philosophical musings of a […]

Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture by Peter Block, Walter Brueggemann and John McKnight. Paperback: Wiley, 2016 [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ] Reviewed by C. Christopher Smith Several years ago, I took note for the first time of the collaborations of Walter Brueggemann, Peter Block and John McKnight. I suspect that Brueggemann’s name may be familiar […]