In this episode of With All Due Respect, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen cover the impact of COVID-19 on humanity's most precious relationships. The WADR team kick off with a consideration of the statistics that reveal relational fault-lines developing in households across the world. Then it's on to Baptist pastor Tony Calman and his personal experience with divorce, followed by a look at the film Marriage Story which starts after most romance films end – with a married couple thinking a...
Jul 30, 2020•35 min•Ep. 42
Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen firmly believe the question, 'What is truth?' is no longer something for lecturers in post-modernism to amuse themselves with. In this episode, the With All Due Respect team tackle the post-truth world we find ourselves in. Starting with our favourite, 'You did what now??' segment, Michael explains why he just had to be publicly offended by President Donald Trump in the Sydney Morning Herald. Then Megan and Michael discuss the issue and ethics of truth onl...
Jul 16, 2020•33 min•Ep. 41
Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit begin by asking why it is that we distinguish differently between who is and isn't my neighbour, and how that affected us during the lockdown phase of COVID-19. They then invite Larissa Minniecon to discuss Australia's poor record for behaving like a neighbour to indigenous peoples. Larissa is a Kabi Kabi woman and a Torres Strait Islander. She helps us understand what indigenous Australians might contribute to our idea of neighbourliness. And finally, Mic...
Jul 02, 2020•33 min•Ep. 40
This episode the With All Due Respect team address the burgeoning crisis talk that has filled audio and video streams, as well as countless social media and blog posts. Michael and Megan suggest COVID-19 has brought out the truth in the saying, "A crisis on your part does not necessitate a panic on mine." Together they debate the role 'crisis' has in the Christian life. Then, they provoke each other to voice an opinion on Ross Douthat's book, The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Ou...
Jun 18, 2020•33 min•Ep. 39
Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen debate the positives and negatives of being cooped up in one country. The With All Due Respect team then interview Stephen Liggins, author of Travelling the World As Citizens of Heaven . And don't miss their take on a travelling film that brings out the spiritual advantages of being somewhere else.
Jun 04, 2020•33 min•Ep. 38
The slow winding back of COVID-19 restrictions means that small groups of Christians are able to gather for worship once again. Yet for the majority of the world, church services will continue to a remote affair for several months to come. Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen consider what worship looks like behind closed doors, and in particular what role singing plays. Is making music to God an essential part of relating to Him? Or a cultural add-on that's nice but not necessary? Musician a...
May 21, 2020•34 min•Ep. 37
Megan and Michael have both experienced and observed bullying in the Christian church, in a variety of cross-denominational contexts. They begin by discussing why it is that the church can become a 'safe place' for this harmful behaviour, and whether or not theology or gender make a difference. Then they welcome Stephen McAlpine to the program to share his personal experience. Stephen was the victim of a bullying scandal involving the former CEO of Acts 29, Steve Timmis, during his involvement w...
May 07, 2020•34 min•Ep. 36
Like any good Christian response, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen begin with the theology underpinning so many COVID-19 actions. Step two, is to ask the question, 'How should Christians live in a time like this?' What are Michael and Megan doing, both in ministry and their personal life? And what might they advise others to consider? Finally, it's off to the virtual movies to provide listeners with a title worth watching in trying times like these: A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood. L...
Apr 23, 2020•31 min•Ep. 35
In this easter episode… With the deaths of the Abdullah children, Hannah Clarke and her kids still fresh in the minds of Australians, hosts Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen ask, 'Just how comfortable are we with the idea of forgiveness?' Michael and Megan then talk to Esther Scott, whose missionary father Graham Staines and brothers were murdered in India. And we discuss the obscenity of forgiveness as we contemplate the enduring popularity of the song Amazing Grace ....
Apr 09, 2020•34 min•Ep. 34
Megan and Michael consider the variety of Christian responses that have been offered to the Corona Virus - from 'Jesus will fix it' to 'It's every one for themselves' - and ask how our doctrines should inform our decisions.
Apr 02, 2020•15 min
Just because the word 'heresy' has fallen out of fashion, doesn't mean it has ceased to exist. Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen kick off season three of With All Due Respect , turning their attention to this thorny topic. Their examination begins with a look at the Netflix movie The Two Popes and how it presents a recent clash of theologies in the Catholic church. Then in For Arguments Sake , Megan and Michael discuss how heresy is currently defined, where it's likely to turn up in the ch...
Mar 26, 2020•33 min•Ep. 33
We kick off by diving into a satire of the Church of England – the oldie but goodie BBC series The Barchester Chronicles. According to Megan: "The drama, humour and delight of the series is the church politics. For anyone who's been in a church, it's very familiar." Can you have a voice of influence without playing party politics? As a "reluctant participant" in church politics, Megan gives her reasons for being involved in the Baptist Assembly, while Michael gives a personal perspective on the ...
Jan 23, 2020•39 min•Ep. 32
Megan and Michael welcome "ecotheologian" Mick Pope into the studio to talk about climate change. Recorded before Australia's bushfire crisis worsened, this episode tackles big questions such as "is climate science watertight?" and "what's more important – climate action or evangelism?" Our hosts discuss the theology behind climate action and whether or not the church should get involved in this "political" issue. Also in this ep, an exploration of 2040 – an Aussie hybrid feature documentary by ...
Jan 09, 2020•41 min•Ep. 31
We revisit episode 7 of With All Due Respect : In For Argument's Sake, Megan and Michael tackle some holiday-themed sticky questions: Is Easter better than Christmas? Should we really be giving Christmas presents? Megan points to an essay by G.K. Chesterton on the theology of Christmas presents. Find out why the duo think material gifts can be quite an important tradition, with a theological basis. Michael suggests that Christmas is a display of God's abundance. It's also an ideal that can often...
Dec 26, 2019•43 min
* Warning : you may hear Megan and Michael munching on "Tumnus cake" throughout this episode. Head to the "Marge and Dave" section below for the recipe. For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out It’s Christmas – but should Christians be feasting or fasting? It's hard to avoid excessive amounts of food at this time of year. But should Christians be taking a counter-cultural approach, just as in Orthodox traditions where people have fasted durin...
Dec 12, 2019•44 min•Ep. 30
*Content warning: In the Marge & Dave section of this episode, the Netflix series discussed contains sexual assault. For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Evangelicalism: is it on the nose? "To own the name evangelical is a difficult thing to do in public these days ... It perhaps means what fundamentalist meant 15-20 years ago," says Michael. Megan clarifies: It's often equated with being a Trump voter. So what does the term evangelic...
Nov 28, 2019•48 min•Ep. 29
For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Can social media be done well? It's easy to dehumanise people in social media debates. Just look at the hurtful comments directed at 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg after she spoke at the UN's Climate Action Summit in September 2019. So how do you disagree online without being aggressive? Is it OK for Christians to block or unfriend people? And how can Christians enter into social d...
Nov 14, 2019•40 min•Ep. 28
For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Will the Religious Discrimination Bill be a good thing? Freedom for Faith 's executive director Michael Kellahan is in the hot seat, as Megan and Michael throw some contentious questions at him about the Religious Discrimination Bill: Don't we already have religious freedom in Australia? Can the bill actually create discrimination? Is a bill of rights – which also covers other freedoms – a better appro...
Oct 31, 2019•44 min•Ep. 27
For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Does the Trinity matter? Warning: we're venturing into spiritually dangerous territory. The Trinity has been in the news of late because of outspoken religious footballer Israel Folau. Folau and his church subscribe to a form of "oneness Pentecostalism", which doesn't hold to the doctrine of the Trinity – that God is three distinct persons in one. So does the Trinity really matter or, as Michael asks, ...
Oct 17, 2019•44 min•Ep. 26
For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Are family values biblical? What's more important, our nuclear family or our church family? Do we idolise marriage in the church and in society at the expense of other relationships? Megan and Michael decode the cosy phrase "family values" and look at what the Bible actually says on the topic. Mentioned in this segment: Book by Eli J. Finkel that outlines the history of marriage – The All-or-Nothing Ma...
Oct 03, 2019•46 min•Ep. 25
For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out As the NSW Parliament considers whether or not abortion should be legalised, Megan and Michael discuss the broader issues raised by the abortion debate: What does it mean to be pro-life or pro-choice? Can you be both at the same time? How do you balance the rights of the unborn child with women's agency over their own bodies? When does human life start anyway? Does legalising abortion automatically equ...
Sep 17, 2019•45 min•Ep. 24
Welcome back! Season two of With All Due Respect starts with a bang ... For argument's sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out It's game on as Megan and Michael address the elephant in the room: the issue of gender in the church. This topic marks one of the deepest divides among evangelical Christians, and the church in general. It's also one of the biggest disagreements between Megan and Michael personally (and the discussion that Michael's been avoiding ...
Sep 05, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 23
** With All Due Respect is taking a short break over August and will be back in the first week of September. First episode back with be about ... GENDER. ** For arguments sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out It's been almost a year since the the first episode of With All Due Respect, and we're coming back to the question that started it all: Can we agree to disagree? Megan says this has become even more crucial since the WADR project began. But it's con...
Aug 01, 2019•47 min•Ep. 22
For arguments sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out While beauty can be an abstract subject, it's also something that cuts into our everyday lives. Megan and Michael wanted to talk about this subject because they both feel the evangelical world can feel a bit confining when talking about beauty. Megan says her experience of baptists in particular is that they have a strained relationship with beauty. "There's a suspicion of the beautiful, which goes back...
Jul 18, 2019•42 min•Ep. 21
For arguments sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Do you need to 'experience' God in order to have real faith? Michael says he suggested this question because in his pastoral experience there are often questions about whether people should have had a spiritual or religious experience and whether you're a Christian if you haven't had one. What if you don't ever have that feeling some describe as an "immediate, powerful, palpable experience of the spirit...
Jul 04, 2019•47 min•Ep. 20
For arguments sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Can we (Christians, that is!) do politics without being partisan? There's been a storm since Australians discovered the outcome of the Federal election, particularly within the Aussie Christian community. Some Christians seem unable to believe that there are others of their faith who would have voted the opposite of them. And because the outcome of the election was so unexpected, there was a lot of "unv...
Jun 20, 2019•43 min•Ep. 19
For arguments sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Empathy has become immensely popular. Why? We have a desire to be understood. We want empathy to be shown to us. And we want to be able to stand in other people's shoes so we can communicate to them. Empathy is something Megan and Michael have been speaking about together for quite some time. And it may or may not surprise you that they disagree. Megan is pro empathy. Michael is not. Michael has been re...
Jun 06, 2019•44 min•Ep. 18
Can you both love the church and think it sucks at the same time? Well, it's probably what Jesus thinks, says Michael. So we think yes, it's possible! This topic, says Megan, is inspired by the With All Due Respect Facebook group and members (if you'd like to join, click here). In a thread where members introduce themselves, Michael and Megan realised there were a lot of people who've been really hurt by the church. Michael suggests reading Paul's letters to the Corinthians in the New Testament,...
May 23, 2019•46 min•Ep. 17
Notes on episode 16 Are we a persecuted people? For arguments sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out Do Christians have a persecution complex? And are we being persecuted here in Australia? Discussion around persecution has heated up since the Christchurch shootings where 50 Muslims were killed by a gunman who entered two mosques in March. The conversation has ramped even further since Rugby player Israel Folau posted a message on Instagram with a list of...
May 09, 2019•46 min•Ep. 16
Notes on episode 15 War: what is it good for? We're talking about the God of the Anzacs + Australian war songs. For arguments sake: where we take a debate, cut out the party politics and try to talk it out War is a controversial topic among Christians. We have been divided in the past over whether war is something Christians should endorse. And there have been historical instances where religion was responsible for "whipping up" war, as Michael says, recalling the Pope and the Crusades. In this ...
Apr 25, 2019•52 min•Ep. 15
