Les Murray is arguably Australia's best-regarded poet, both in Australia and internationally. The collecting of forty years of his work in a single volume shows just how impressive his achievement is. His unique accent – which he says is part of the soil up Bunyah way – and his extraordinary, prodigious gift of language combine in poetry that is at once chatty-colloquial and demanding.

Evangelicals are often accused of proselytising, but ex-Sydney missionaries are debunking the myth.

Charlie Brammall says depictions of Jesus, and treatments of other life and death issues, in popular culture are a good gift from God to be used in introducing people to him.

When we think about Christian ministry, church growth and training, we find ourselves with the problem of the chicken and the egg. Which comes first: do we look to grow the church and then train people from among the congregation, or do we make training our starting point and grow the church from there?

With the long summer break almost over, many students are about to start tertiary education for the first time. For Christians, the time between school and TAFE or university can be a hard one. Pressures to conform rather than to stand for Christ can be strong upon starting at a tertiary institution. How can the church help Christian students remain strong in their faith during this transition period?