Tony Campolo from Red Letter Christians expresses his concern about Ukraine, and tells us why we, as Christians, should share that concern. “The thing, as a Christian, that I’m concerned about most is the playing of anti-semitism, and the concerns of gay, lesbian, transgender and bi-sexual people. We as a people, regardless of where we stand on the issue…we don’t want people persecuted. We don’t want people to be oppressed. We Christians are perhaps the most affirming of people we disagree with than any religion that’s ever existed. Christians have always said, there’s got to be room for people who are different than us …”

In Australia, a wave of Christian conferences is welcoming some of the world’s best known theologians to our shores. This week, it was Miroslav Volf, here for Sydney’s Re:Thinking Conference, and who appeared on ABC’s Q&A last Monday, taking a seat next to English singer/songwriter and left-wing activist, Billy Bragg. The folks at Mentone Baptist tuned in on Monday and heard Billy Bragg’s throw-away line about God:

Lead Pastor of Mentone Baptist, Murray Campbell reflects here on what we should do with an at-once loving and judgemental God.

The next international name to arrive in Oz wants to save your yuppie soul, according to the New York Magazine and ABC’s Radio National. Tim Keller, in Sydney this month for the City to City Conference spoke with ABC’s Andrew West on the particular trials of urban mission, and what it takes to preach to city slickers.

Whether you’re travelling the world as a Christian speaker or as the leader of billions of Catholics, it seems you can’t get away from the drudgery of paperwork. Pope Francis says paperwork is the biggest downside of the top job, preferring instead to be out ministering to people. Read more about the Pope’s paperwork here.

And while we’re shuffling papers around our desks, Jonathon Merritt fears we might ‘miss the boat’ on the biblical epic hitting our screens next week. Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky will inevitably split faith-adherents reviews of the interpretative biblical story. But Merritt argues all is not lost when the Bible is adapted for film:

“Noah was never intended to be a heavy-handed evangelistic tool, but rather good art. And I’m sorry to say that few evangelicals today have an eye, ear, or stomach for such things … Like other artistic endeavours drawing on biblical themes, Noah requires that audiences actually think about symbols and forms.  Aronofsky adds elements to Noah’s story, for example, that reflect the grief God must have felt over having to destroy creation. The movie doesn’t get every detail right, but it captures the spirit of the scriptural narrative and the character of God displayed therein.” Read more here.