Centre for Christian Living podcast

Every now and then, a book comes along that makes such a sweeping, powerful and insightful argument about the nature of our lives, our world and our culture that it leaves you disturbed and almost disoriented, as if the ground has shifted under your feet and you’re not quite sure where you’re standing anymore. Paul Kingsnorth’s book, Against the Machine, is like this. It’s very broadly speaking a Christian book—or at least, is written from the perspective of a Christian worldview—and it makes a quite stunning argument about the dysfunctional nature of our contemporary, very technological machine-like society that resonates very deeply and yet raises many questions.
In this episode of the CCL podcast, Tony Payne talks to speaker, author and cultural analyst Stephen McAlpine about these questions, and about the strengths and weaknesses of Kingsnorth’s book and what it means for our lives as Christians in this machine-like culture we inhabit.
For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.
To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.
Find out more and register for “Left right out: The strange position of the political Christian” (Wed 20 May 2026)
Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.
Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Digital technology like smartphones has revolutionised the way we navigate daily life and the way our whole society functions. Such technology has its downsides. Even so, our stance as Christians is often something like, “Let’s use this technology wisely, but not abuse it”, as if the technology is simply a neutral instrument. But the good things of our world (like technology or money) can become much more than this: they can become master-teachers that dominate and disciple us.
In this final episode of the series, Tony Payne brings the discussion to its practical conclusion. If our smartphones are not neutral tools, but powerful forces that shape our habits, attention and desires, what does faithful Christian living with technology actually look like?
Building on the foundations from episodes 1 and 2, this episode asks the key question: what should we do now? How do we respond as followers of Christ? What does it look like to live wisely and deliberately with the devices that are constantly discipling us?
For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.
To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.
Find out more and register for “Left right out: The strange position of the political Christian” (Wed 20 May 2026)
Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.
Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Digital technology like smartphones has revolutionised the way we navigate daily life and the way our whole society functions. Such technology has its downsides. Even so, our stance as Christians is often something like, “Let’s use this technology wisely, but not abuse it”, as if the technology is simply a neutral instrument. But the good things of our world (like technology or money) can become much more than this: they can become master-teachers that dominate and disciple us.
In Part 1 of our series, we explored the extraordinary power and usefulness of the smartphone, as well as the powerful effects and consequences that follow from its widespread usage—the way that the phone, in fact, shapes the way we think about our lives and the way we act as humans.
In this episode—Part 2—we’re going to think about what God says about all this—what he says about what it means to be human, and how human technology and manufacturing relates to God and to the purposes he has for humanity. How do the Scriptures shape our understanding of technology in general and the smartphone in particular? We’ll find it does so in surprising and disturbing and liberating ways.
(Please note: Part 3 will be published in a fortnight’s time.)
For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.
To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.
Find out more and register for “Left right out: The strange position of the political Christian” (Wed 20 May 2026)
Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.
Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

Digital technology like smartphones has revolutionised the way we navigate daily life and the way our whole society functions. We have supercomputers in our hands that can answer almost any question instantly and perform many tasks that make life easier.
Such technology has its downsides, like the explosion of accessibility to pornography and the prevalence of online bullying. Even so, our stance as Christians is often something like, “Let’s use this technology wisely, but not abuse it”, as if the technology is simply a neutral instrument. But the good things of our world (like technology or money) can become much more than this: they can become master-teachers that dominate and disciple us.
In this first episode of a special three-part series, we explore this issue—interrogate and ask questions about what the smartphone really is and how it does affect our lives. How does this technology disciple us? How does it reorder our attitudes, operating beliefs and behaviours—not just personally, but on a society-wide level? Finally, what have been the costs and disadvantages of all this?
For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.
(Please note: Part 2 will be published in a fortnight’s time, while part 3 will be published in a month’s time.)
To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.
Find out more and register for “Left right out: The strange position of the political Christian” (Wed 20 May 2026)
Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.
Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.

It does us a lot of good to read a book on prayer every couple of years, because the Christian life is a praying life, and Christians need the occasional reminder and encouragement to keep praying or to start praying again after an overly busy or overly anxious period of life.
Enter Prayerfulness, a recent book by Peter Adam that, according to CCL Director Tony Payne, is the best book on prayer and the Christian life he’s ever read. It’s warm and full of pastoral wisdom, theological richness, and many practical helps and resources.
On this episode of the CCL Podcast, Peter Adam speaks about prayerfulness, how prayer is an expression of our relationship with God, why written prayers are helpful, and why we don’t pray.
For an edited transcript and show notes, visit our website.
To ask questions or to get in touch with us about this series, send us a voice memo or email to ccl AT moore edu au.
Find out more and register for the 2026 Priscilla & Aquila annual conference: “Radical kinship: Men and women in God’s family” (2 February 2025)
Support the work of the Centre by making a tax-deductible donation.
Please note: The episode transcript on your podcast platform may have been generated by AI and has not been checked for accuracy. If quoting, please check against the audio.