#127: What gay Christians experience in church (with Bridget Eileen Rivera)
#127: What gay Christians experience in church (with Bridget Eileen Rivera)

Bridget Eileen Rivera comes to The Puddcast this month to share what it’s like for LGBTQ Christians in the church today. Her book, Heavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church, is a compassionate, heartbreaking exposé on the theological and sociological structures that block queer Christians from pursuing Christ together. Bridget shared her journey of growing up believing she was an object of wrath, before diving into Scripture to find the truth of her belovedness. We explore some of the different ways queer Christians live out their faithfulness and the importance of allowing everyone the dignity to follow the Holy Spirit. I commend this discussion to you as strongly as I can.

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Jonathan Puddlelgbtq, sex, relationships, church, pastoringComment
#126: Love, freedom and conflict (with Ashley Abercrombie)
#126: Love, freedom and conflict (with Ashley Abercrombie)

This month I got to interview a true kindred spirit, Ashley Abercrombie. Ashley’s message of embracing transformative love by bravely facing disagreement and conflict was challenging to me in all the best ways. Ashley grew up in the American South before moving to Los Angeles and Manhattan. Along the way, she faced addiction, perfectionism, sexual assault and more, and today is a writer, podcaster, pastor and mom to three young kids. Her latest book is called Love is the Resistance: Learn to disagree, resolve the conflicts you've been avoiding and create real change. It’s excellent.

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Jonathan Puddlelove, conflict, boundaries, community, toxic peopleComment
#125: Bitter and Sweet — the journey of Lent (with Tsh Oxenreider)
#125: Bitter and Sweet — the journey of Lent (with Tsh Oxenreider)

This month I connected with long-time blogger and author Tsh Oxenreider all about Lent. Tsh grew up big Bible church and after living abroad for many years found herself drawn to the Catholic church. Her new book, Bitter & Sweet: A Journey into Lent is a practical, easy to use devotional tool for leaning into the upcoming season of Lent. Our conversation has got me reflecting on the seasons of nature, especially winter, the darkness and the hope we need, and how Lent grew out of the human need for hope in this season. Did you know that Lent predates the Bible? We talk about all this, and the idea of “being in the season of Lent”, rather than Lent as something you do.

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Jonathan Puddlelent, catholic, spiritual practices, devotional, liturgyComment
#124: The wisdom of your body (with Hillary L. McBride, PhD)
#124: The wisdom of your body (with Hillary L. McBride, PhD)

I had the great joy of welcoming author, psychologist, researcher and podcaster Hillary L. McBride, PhD to the show this week. We discussed the idea that our bodies are a source of wisdom and truth, the topic of her critically important new book, The Wisdom of Your Body: Finding Healing, Wholeness, and Connection Through Embodied Living. Hillary shared profound insights on the burdens our bodies bear when we ignore them, the ways Western colonialism has disembodied all of us, and how salvation itself can be a bodily reality. She offers helpful guidance for those of us getting used to being in-person again after COVID lockdowns, and more. I highly recommend this discussion and her book!

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Jonathan Puddleembodiment, touch, covid-19, psychology, sex, masculinityComment
#123: The gifts of neurodiversity (with Daniel Bowman Jr.)
#123: The gifts of neurodiversity (with Daniel Bowman Jr.)

My new friend Daniel Bowman Jr. is my guest this week, and he shares his story of learning he was autistic as an adult. Daniel is an English professor and poet, and he shares the importance of understanding the different ways brains work, the gifts present in neurodiversity, and the importance of moving away from a pathology paradigm. We also discussed the life-giving rhythms of contemplative prayer for folks whose brains desire consistency and repetition. Daniel is the author of On The Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity.

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Jonathan Puddleautism, neurodiversity, poetry, contemplative, disabilities, diversityComment
#122: The embodied faith of our grandmothers (with Kat Armas)
#122: The embodied faith of our grandmothers (with Kat Armas)

Kat Armas comes to the show this week to discuss embodiment, the sacredness of survival, and the faith of our grandmothers. Kat argues that our grandmothers, especially abuelitas in Latine cultures, function as live-in ministers particularly because the privilege to receive formal religious instruction is often unavailable. We all miss out on the unique, embodied, ways of knowing truth and practicing wisdom when we don’t turn our gaze to these figures who have been in our lives since before we were born. Kat’s book is called, Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach us About Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength, and it’s excellent.

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Jonathan Puddletheology, family, embodiment, grandmothers, womenComment
#121: What Christians should know about the Bible (with Michael F. Bird)
#121: What Christians should know about the Bible (with Michael F. Bird)

Michael F. Bird, editor of The New Testament in its World with N.T. Wright returns this week to discuss things that he wishes Christians knew about the Bible. Mike is a scholar and theologian and his new book, 7 Things I Wish Christians Knew about the Bible, provides lots of fodder for thought and discussion. He lays out how the Bible came to be, how to respond to literalist claims about Scripture, examining why people should read the Apocrypha, and then we talk about critical race theory and why it’s important to read outside your own tradition, listening to the stories of folks who don’t look like you.

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Jonathan Puddlepostmodernism, theology, critical race theory, bible, mikebirdComment
#120: When Everything's on Fire (with Brian Zahnd)
#120: When Everything's on Fire (with Brian Zahnd)

This week, pastor and author Brian Zahnd returns to The Puddcast to discuss his new book, When Everything’s On Fire. This helpful and timely book is a sort of field guide to maintaining faith in a secular age, and so we unpacked deconstruction, modernism as a framework for secular society, Nietzsche’s predictions about the death of God, postmodernism and more. I asked Brian some very pointed questions about faith leaders espousing a faith we can’t support and why that’s led so many to deconstruction.

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Jonathan Puddlejesus, deconstruction, faith, postmodernism, brian zahnd, pastoringComment
#119: The Try Softer Guided Journey (with Aundi Kolber)
#119: The Try Softer Guided Journey (with Aundi Kolber)

By popular demand, Aundi Kolber returns to The Puddcast this week. Aundi and I discuss the success and impact of Try Softer, the brand new Try Softer Guided Journey companion book, and we riff at length on Jesus’ relationship to traumatic events. Expect to learn more about how your process pain and shift into the shame-free life that God has designed you for.

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Jonathan Puddletrauma, healing, jesus, self-love, compassion, aundi kolberComment
#118: When all you want to do is to give up (with Christine Caine)
#118: When all you want to do is to give up (with Christine Caine)

This week I am honoured to welcome Christine Caine to The Puddcast. Christine and her husband Nick founded the A21 Campaign, a global anti human trafficking organization, and Christine is a much sought-after speaker, writer and activist. We discussed how to keep our faith anchored in Jesus in the context of doing hard, exhausting work. When we know that the mission before us is costly and painful, and we are tempted to call it a day, how do we continue in faithfulness? Especially when we know that God still loves us if we tap out. Christine’s insights are hard-won and she explores them all in her latest book, How Did I Get Here?: Finding Your Way Back to God When Everything is Pulling You Away. This is my last episode for the next few months, as I head into my summer vacation.

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Jonathan Puddlefaith, suffering, obedience, human trafficking, social justice, christine caine, perseverance, sexual abuse, holy spiritComment
#117: Rethinking the war on drugs (with Christina Dent)
#117: Rethinking the war on drugs (with Christina Dent)

Christina Dent joins me on The Puddcast this week to talk about the war on drugs. Christina is the Founder and President of End It For Good, a nonprofit advocating a health-centred approach to drugs rather than a criminal justice one. Living in Mississippi, Christina changed her own mind about how best to approach drug laws after she became a foster parent and saw the negative effects of our current approach up close. She shared powerfully with me about the real choices before us as people who claim to care about humans made in the image of God. Get ready to be challenged!

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Jonathan Puddledrugs, mental health, foster care, addiction, trauma, justice (legal), opioid crisisComment
#116: Building a better world (with Propaganda)
#116: Building a better world (with Propaganda)

This week on The Puddcast we welcome hip-hop artist, poet and hope-activist, Propaganda. We discussed his debut book Terraform: Building a Better World, which is a collection of poetry and prose designed to jolt your imagination and get you thinking about injustices that we all take for granted. Prop can flip between talking hip-hop, politics, coffee, church history and science fiction at will… so we had a fun time calling out things that we want to see change in the world.

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Jonathan Puddlerace, identity, hope, humanity, imagination, coffee, creativity, culture, historyComment
#115: Creating something great from what you've been given (with Justin McRoberts)
#115: Creating something great from what you've been given (with Justin McRoberts)

This week on The Puddcast I am joined by Justin McRoberts. Justin’s focus is on helping people live generous lives that faithfully do good work in the world around them. He’s a musician, a writer, a coach, and he hosts the @Sea podcast. We talked all about the process of becoming, trying something, failing, refining your understanding of your own passions and pivoting around those things in order to create something amazing out of whatever life has handed you, all themes from his new book, It is What You Make of It: Creating Something Great from What You’ve been Given.

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Jonathan Puddlecreativity, art, entrepreneur, failure, authenticity, covid-19, purpose, destiny, expression, lifeComment
#114: Embracing an authentic spiritual life (with Liz Milani)
#114: Embracing an authentic spiritual life (with Liz Milani)

Liz Milani is a writer and seeker who runs The Practice Co app and Instagram, and joins me this week to talk about daily spiritual practices that are authentic to our self of sense. We talked about leaving church when our bodies break down, deconstructing and reconfiguring our faith, and reconnecting to our bodies and a more holistic, sustainable spirituality. Liz and her husband Jesse were formerly pastors at a megachurch in Australia—we have loads in common, this was a really refreshing discussion for me personally, and there’s loads of hope and practical wisdom in here for anyone wrestling with God, church and their sense of self.

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Jonathan Puddledeconstruction, church, pastoring, faith, spiritual practicesComment
#113: Loving Dignity (with Heather Caliri)
#113: Loving Dignity (with Heather Caliri)

On The Puddcast this week is writer and cartoonist, Heather Caliri. Heather’s work on finding God’s grace in awkward, uncomfortable places has been featured on ChristianityToday.com, In Touch Magazine, Fathom Magazine, Relevant Magazine.com and more. Heather shared with me how she asked the most serious questions of her faith and experienced God respond with love and dignity. That grace slowly transformed her life, and now she teaches others how to let dignity transform their lives and their most difficult relationships.

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Jonathan Puddlerelationships, dignity, shame, boundaries, forgiveness, traumaComment
#112: A Theology of the Ordinary (with Julie Canlis)
#112: A Theology of the Ordinary (with Julie Canlis)

This week, theologian, lecturer and mother Julie Canlis comes to The Puddcast, to talk about ordinary, embodied holiness. Julie is the author of A Theology of the Ordinary, and we discussed how the Holy Spirit connects us to our bodies in normal, everyday ways and how the full life of Jesus transforms all of the mundane moments of our lives into sacred pathways of holiness. We even discussed John Calvin, as Julie’s framework for understanding Calvin’s beliefs goes contrary to much of what I thought I knew about Calvinism. I highly recommend this conversation to you, it is full of earthy hope and simple love for creation and life.

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Jonathan Puddleembodiment, discipleship, theology, life, eugene peterson, calvin, bible, jesus, holy spirit, kids churchComment
#111: Cultivating wholeness through spiritual practice (with Lisa Colón DeLay)
#111: Cultivating wholeness through spiritual practice (with Lisa Colón DeLay)

This week I am joined by my friend Lisa Colón DeLay to talk about the healing power of spiritual practices. Lisa begins by explaining why we should acknowledge that we live in a white-dominant culture and the importance of learning about non-white spiritual practices, especially embodiment. We discussed a rubric for identifying our core areas of trauma as well as how to move them from areas of non-awareness into conscious awareness, through spiritual practices led by the Holy Spirit. Lisa unpacks many themes from her excellent book, The Wild Land Within: Cultivating Wholeness Through Spiritual Practice, which is an excellent discipleship resource.

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Jonathan Puddlehealing, wholeness, race, white supremacy, diversity, embodiment, discipleship, spiritual practices, trauma, contemplativeComment
#110: Facing depression with saints from the past (with Diana Gruver)
#110: Facing depression with saints from the past (with Diana Gruver)

This week on The Puddcast we talk all about depression. Diana Gruver, author of the wonderful book, Companions in the Darkness: Seven Saints Who Struggled with Depression and Doubt, shares her own story with depression, and the fellowship we can find with notable Christians who have struggled just like us. Whether you suffer from clinical depression, periodic bouts of depression or you just know someone who does, there’s hope and practical advice in here for you.

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Jonathan Puddledepression, mental health, life, healing, anxiety, emotionsComment
#109: Why we silence women who tell the truth (with Tiffany Bluhm)
#109: Why we silence women who tell the truth (with Tiffany Bluhm)

This week on The Puddcast, author, speaker and podcaster Tiffany Bluhm joins us to discuss why we silence women. She unpacked the imbalance of power exposed during sexual misconduct allegations, why men are excused for their behaviour and women are blamed for it. We explored the reasons women don’t always speak up and what often happens when they do. Tiffany explained why we don’t believe those women who do speak up.

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Jonathan Puddlesexual abuse, metoo, churchtoo, patriarchy, power, women, jesus on women, social justice, race, justice (theological)Comment
#108: How Far You Have Come (with Morgan Harper Nichols)
#108: How Far You Have Come (with Morgan Harper Nichols)

Artist and poet extraordinaire, Morgan Harper Nichols returns to The Puddcast this week. We talked all about compassionately reframing our memories of past events, a major theme in Morgan’s new book, How Far You Have Come: Musings on Beauty and Courage. Whether you’re already a fan of Morgan’s work or are discovering her for the first time, I think you’ll find beauty and encouragement to be who you are, where you are right now.

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Jonathan Puddlestory, life, morgan harper nichols, beauty, poetry, art, self-loveComment