Latest Ideas

• 1 November 2010

The word ‘conflict‘ strikes us hard.It evokes an involuntary ‘gut level‘ reaction deep within us, perhaps of pain, or danger or fear. It speaks to us of relationships that won't heal, of people who won't listen, of wounds never acknowledged, of conduct never discussed. It may be an extreme situation

Read More →

• 1 November 2010

It’s not new. It’s not innovative. It’s not trendy. It doesn’t produce immediate results. But it is a key element to church planting and the long-term sustained growth of a church. It’s pastoral visitation. As part of church planting efforts in the rural Thai community of Nong Doan, Pastor

Read More →

• 1 November 2010

The game begins with the two combatants facing each other, holding hands, their fingers interlocked. When the word is given, they start twisting and writhing like contortionists, each trying to gain leverage over the other until their fingers are so agonised that one is forced to concede, “Mercy!” The winner

Read More →

• Peter Hastie
•
• 18 October 2010

Melinda Tankard Reist is a Canberra author, speaker, commentator and advocate with a special interest in issues affecting women and girls.She is the author of Giving Sorrow Words: Women's Stories of Grief After Abortion (Duffy & Snellgrove, 2000), Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics (Spinifex Press, 2006) and the

Read More →

• 1 October 2010

  Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls Edited by Melinda Tankard Reist Spinifex Press, North Melbourne, 2009, 208pp. A few years ago, at my school swimming carnival,1 I went to put on my swim-suit. I don't know about you, but when I think ‘swimming carnival

Read More →

• Guan Un
•
• 1 October 2010

Here is the fifth instalment of Guan’s six-part series, covering his time doing ministry training (MTS) at the University of New South Wales in 2008. He is married to M.1 By now, it is the latter half of the year. We last left Guan at the end of Mid-Year Conference

Read More →

• 1 October 2010

Imagine living in a world where husbands wooed their wives with Adam's passion—bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh—and sex was enjoyed. Imagine living in a world where, after the stress of each day, husbands and wives found comfort in sexual intimacy as David did with his wife after

Read More →

• 1 October 2010

A few years ago our women’s discussion group asked a friend to talk about sex within marriage. Some­­one brought a cake, and I remember lots of laughter—perhaps a little too much!—as we chatted about how to love our husbands sexually. The discussion leader answered our questions honestly and helpfully, but

Read More →

• Andrew Cameron
•
• 1 October 2010

This article is about the morality of contraception, and we are going to state our position up front: we think there is a place for contraception in married life. We also think that marriages should normally become open, at some point, to welcoming children. We will not consider which

Read More →

• Tony Payne
•
• 1 September 2010

I still remember the first time I heard Phillip Jensen preach. It was in February 1981, and I was a fresh-faced, charismatically-inclined young Christian, just down from the country, eager to learn and grow, and ready to take on the world.At St Matthias that night I heard preach­ing like I

Read More →