The Balanced Christian - "Both... And..."

Religious freedom under attack: Archbishop Pell
Tess Livingstone From: The Australian (November 21, 2009) RELIGIOUS freedom in Australia is under direct attack from the Human Rights Commission, says Cardinal George Pell. The [Roman Catholic] Archbishop of Sydney last night told the Australian Christian Lobby annual conference the only question about

Refugee Adviser Bruce Baird Calls for a More Compassionate Australia
From the Centre For Public Christianity. Bruce Baird is a former Federal Liberal Politician in the Australian Parliament, and former trade commissioner in Germany and then New York. He held a number of senior ministerial positions in State Government, including being minister for Sydney’s successful bid for the 2000 Olympics. In Federal politics he became well-known for controversially opposing his own party on their policies regarding the detention of refugee women and children. He was recently appointed Chairman of the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council by the Rudd Labor Govern

Violence And The Jewish Scriptures
Greg Clarke from the Centre For Public Christianity interviews Rabbi David Freedman about interpreting the Jewish scriptures and a Jewish perspective on the violence of the Hebrew Bible.   Click here to view the embedded video. Click here to view the embedded video.

The Feast Of Christ The King - Sunday 22nd November, 2009
Christ the King Sunday celebrates the all-embracing authority of Christ as King and Lord of the cosmos. Officially called the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, it is celebrated on the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Sunday before Advent. This year it falls on November 22, 2009. The Feast of Christ the King is of modern origin. It was instituted in 1925 to function in a countercultural way against the secularisation of the modern world. It is needed now more than ever as the time before Christmas has become saturated by consumerism, crowding out the real meaning of the season. By pointing to the ultimate reign of Christ over all the peoples of th

The Future Of Evangelicalism
‘O, Evangelicos!’ We need not abandon our name—just live up to it. By Philip Yancey. Christianity Today (18/11/2009). Evangelicalism has become a global phenomenon. In the past year I have visited the Middle East, India, Africa, Latin America, and Europe as the guest of churches and ministries. In each place, evangelicals exude life and energy. While staid churches change slowly, evangelicals tend to be light on their feet, adapting quickly to cultural trends. The Jesus movement, the house-church movement, seeker-friendly churches, emergent churches—evan