Opinion by Paul Prather via Religion Unplugged The criticism of my preaching I’ve heard most across the decades is this: I don’t preach enough against wickedness. I’m too easy on reprobates. I don’t threaten rebels with hellfire. In a word,… Continue Reading
At first glance, Sydney’s Inner South West is the city’s “unBible belt,” suburbs where churches are doing it tough, but look deeper and signs of spiritual vitality emerge. One of these is a growing desire for gospel centred churches to… Continue Reading
Compare the pair: Rico tice, leader of the Christianity Explored course used by evangelicals around the world and former associate minister of All Souls Langham Place in central London, and pastor Barbara Taylor, who ministers at the rather less well-known… Continue Reading
An Obadiah Slope Column Anglicans so much better at cover-ups: Obadiah set through each day of the Brian Houston case, watching the accusation of cover-up fall apart. Now, having read and summarised the Makin report into the abuse committed by… Continue Reading
Pentecostalism, now the second-largest Christian movement by attendance in Australia, owes its birth to women ministers. Barry Chant, a great historian of Australian Pentecostalism, points out one great distinctive in his Phd thesis: “Of the eighteen Pentecostal churches founded in… Continue Reading
Barak Gurung journeyed from from Buddha to Jesus. Faithful persistence by his daughter helped Gurung find the way. “I’ve a Nepalese background. 90% of the population is Hindu, so they believe in Hindu, God and God. They have 33 million gods.… Continue Reading
The Brisbane Showgrounds, home of the annual Ekka (Brisbane-dese for show), was flooded by local Christians for an evangelistic rally last weekend. At the end of the two-day rally, an announcement from the stage said that 1,000 people had been… Continue Reading
The “Seven Mountains Mandate” is language sometimes used in Pentecostal churches to suggest that Christians should actively seek influence in society. But sometimes true believers in a hard line version of the mandate think that God is calling them to… Continue Reading
Former Hillsong College student Anna Crenshaw (right) has settled her long-running court case against a Hillsong Admin worker, Jason Mays (left), but has continued her case against Hillsong Church and the college. It was March 2016 when 18-year-old Anna Crenshaw,… Continue Reading
The trope that evangelical church networks grow while progressive denominations shrink is, sadly, a half-truth. Perhaps a three=quater truth. It is true that progressive denominations shrink. Political Scientist Ryan Burge does a good round-up of the religious experiment that is… Continue Reading