Pilgrim's Progress always struck me as a very individualistic depiction of the Christian ‘pilgrimage’, a characterisation which doesn’t do justice to the communal nature of our faith.

Have the sayings “Share the gospel and if necessary use words” or “You may be the only Bible someone reads” become an excuse for not verbalising our faith?

Evangelical leaders aren’t generally known for threatening “civil unrest”. But that is what the evangelical former Archbishop of Cantebury, Lord Carey, intimated might happen unless the UK’s courts become more sensitive to religious views.

Christians are biblically illiterate. Although most of them contend that the Bible contains truth and is worth knowing, and most of them argue that they know all of the relevant truths and principles. (The Barna Group.) The Christian community in Australia is in a major crisis and for the most part we are completely unaware of it.

It may come as a surprise to many Protestant Christians to discover that the Roman Catholic Church teaches the essential equality of the sexes, seeing the subordination of women as an evil to be opposed. Pope John Paul II even called himself a ‘feminist'!

The descriptor ‘multi-faith society’ possibly is incorrect in a society such as Australia if we wish to include everyone and hold everyone accountable within this society. Perhaps ‘Living in a Multi-ideology Society’ is more appropriate because this includes everyone – every person has an ideology, a belief system whether that includes a belief in God or not.

Art, particularly painting, is an area that I believe God wants to reclaim for the church. It has been an important part of the church in the past, but after many years of little interest, it seems that there is a resurgence of art within the church.

Ok, now Chris, do you mind if I call you Chris?, why do you want to be in detox? Well, you see,.. yes, no, it’s not my first time. Last time it lasted a while but I relapsed.

Dear Fellow Ministers in the 21st Century, I stared at the ceiling in bed, last night, contemplating recent conversations with fellow Pastors about the exhausting past 12 months. It’s not been a hugely fruitful time, certainly not compared to our hopes. No huge breakthroughs, just a couple of green shoots through the concrete. Maybe even grass. But no lawn.

When I was a Councillor for the City of Melbourne I was appointed to the Bid Committee for the Parliament of World’s Religions to come to town. At first I wasn’t interested. I don’t particularly like religion and I have a hard enough time with the religious aspects of my own faith, but when one is serving the City on behalf of the voting majority one has to do some things that are not high on the list of ‘things I gotta do before I graduate’.