#134: A theology of laughter and co-creation (with Dave Connis)

Children’s and Young Adult author Dave Connis comes to The Puddcast to teach us the importance of laughter (and more). Dave’s hilarious and meaningful storybooks, The Inventions of God (and Eva), and The Stories of God (and Kiki) both captured our affection in a big way. We reflected on being intentional about the stories we tell our children and what we pass on to them; seeing ourselves within the continuum of generations before and after ourselves; how God invites all the parts of ourselves to co-creation; and more. If you’re a human being make sure to have a listen, and if you have kids, grandkids or nieces & nephews, make sure to grab his books from the links below.

Jonathan PuddleJanuary 20, 2023joy, parenting, god's love, creativity, art, humanityComment

#129-B: Debriefing Jonathan Martin on the road away from God

Time for another B-Side! Tryphena and I kept the mics rolling after we bid farewell to Jonathan Martin, and we leaned into his thoughts on God walking with us, even as we think we’re walking away. We riff on the divine power revealed in human agency, finding peace in the knowledge that God is present in everything, discerning the simple next steps in front of us, and walking life out in community.

Jonathan PuddleJuly 18, 2022b-side, deconstruction, jonathan martin, god's love, faith, hope, holy spirit, community, freedomComment

#129: Finding hope on the road away from God (with Jonathan Martin)

Pastor, writer and social leader Jonathan Martin returns to the show to explain how the journey that we’re each on is the journey we need to be on. Using the story of the disciples leaving Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus, Jonathan explains that even when we think we’re walking away from God, love finds us on the road. Tryphena and I ask him about the risky nature of doubt, of how granting freedom works as a pastor, and how to be honest about the harm done to us, while holding on to hope that perhaps healing is possible after all. It’s beautiful and raw and real, if you’ve felt at all disillusioned by God or church or the world in the last few years then I commend this to you wholeheartedly.

Jonathan PuddleJune 28, 2022deconstruction, god's love, faith, hope, holy spirit, suffering, life, community, jonathan martinComment

#128-B: Unpacking Kevin Sweeney on mystics + mushrooms

This here’s a B-Side, folks! As Tryphena and I walked back through our interview with Kevin Sweeney about mystics, mushrooms and the power of letting go, we found ourselves camped out discussing our value and worth when we’re not productive. Tryphena asks, if a flower shines with no one to see its beauty, is it still beautiful? We shared some dark night of the soul stories and challenged each other to live present, right here and now, in this cosmos, rather than escape.

Jonathan PuddleMay 17, 2022mystics, contemplative, god's love, trauma, b-side, significanceComment

#128: Mystics, mushrooms and the power of letting go (with Kevin Sweeney)

Pastor, poet and mystic Kevin Sweeney comes to The Puddcast this month to share about his journey of encountering God while high on mushrooms. And that’s just the beginning! Starting this episode, we welcome Tryphena Perumalla-Gagnon as a co-host on the show. Tryphena and I had a blast with Kevin, exploring what it means to lean into the contemplative and mystical and find God present in the everyday moments of our lives. He explained the importance of transitioning from spiritual peaks to spiritual practices, and how the key to safety, identity and fulfilment really does lie in letting go of everything. We touched on a range of topics, including vulnerability, pastoral idealism, parenting, pursuing the Spirit without the expectations of others, and much more.

Jonathan PuddleMay 5, 2022mystics, contemplative, discipleship, god's love, drugs, pastoringComment

#96: Your God, your body and your temple

This week on The Puddcast I’m giving you 3 readings from the audiobook of You Are Enough: Learning to Love Yourself the Way God Loves You. I’ve included the first 3 days: Your God, Your Body and Your Temple. If you enjoy it, you can buy a copy of the full audiobook directly from my website, at jonathanpuddle.com/store. It will also be available on Audible, Apple Music, etc. in the coming weeks.

Jonathan PuddleNovember 26, 2020god's love, embodiment, theology, god, contemplativeComment

#90: Encountering the transforming presence of God (with Duncan & Kate Smith)

This week on The Puddcast we welcome Duncan & Kate Smith, the leaders of the Catch The Fire movement of churches. I’ve known Duncan & Kate for many years and I asked them to share what it means to encounter the Holy Spirit and have the Spirit revolutionize your life. We took our time to get there, building up a beautiful framework for knowing God has a loving Father and taking on the life of Jesus into our own lives. If you’ve ever wondered what the deal was with those crazy Charismatics, then have a listen to this and see if you too don’t catch an excitement for the experienceable presence and tangible love of God.

Jonathan PuddleOctober 15, 2020covid-19, holy spirit, catch the fire, god's love, jesusComment

#68: Life and death and a God who bleeds (with John Mark McMillan)

This week I had the great pleasure of chatting with John Mark McMillan all about his brand new album, “Peopled with Dreams.” An accomplished singer-songwriter, John Mark is quite possibly my favourite musician on the planet, so this was a real treat. We talked about life and death and gods and a God who bleeds alongside us, and the connection between love and suffering. Listen today!

Jonathan PuddleFebruary 12, 2020music, god's love, suffering, life, hope, joy, johnmarkmcmillan, deconstructionComment

#36: Brave Surrender (with Kim Walker-Smith)

Kim Walker-Smith’s moving autobiography “Brave Surrender” comes out April, 2019. In it she shares her story of growing up under the shadow of a number of major traumas and how she eventually met Jesus. I was impacted by her vulnerability and authenticity and I cried on almost every page. We discussed her writing process, her worship philosophy, parenting and more.

Jonathan PuddleMarch 28, 2019worship leading, worship, healing, restoration, god's love Comments

#21: Towards a New World

God does not need Christianity nor any other world religion. He doesn’t need us to follow the rules or get in line or bow down to him. Rather he invites us to partake freely of his new world, right now.

Jonathan PuddleNovember 23, 2018church, restoration, god, god's love, freedom, kingdom, loveComment

#16: The focal point of Scripture (with Alan Smith)

Alan Smith is a pastor and writer from Dallas, Texas. Drawing from a range of Christian traditions, we discussed faith, certainty, doubt and Scripture as an unfolding narrative with Jesus Christ as the lens of interpretation.

Jonathan PuddleSeptember 13, 2018bible, god's love, theology, churchComment

#15: Scripture is a telescope aimed at God's heart (with Brian Simmons)

Brian Simmons is the translator of The Passion Translation, a new Bible translation that focuses on the life and passion inside of scripture. We discussed the beauty of an evolving understanding of the Bible, the science of linguistics, and how new translations lead us deeper into the heart of God.

Jonathan PuddleSeptember 6, 2018bible, translation, passion translation, god's love, theology Comments

#11: Finding clarity in an age of confusion (with Abdu Murray)

In a world with a plurality of religions and worldviews, how do we engage the culture around us without being drawn into a post-truth maelstrom of confusion? Abdu Murray and I discuss postmodernism's legacy, the rise of Jordan Peterson, and the apologetics of self-sacrificial love.

Jonathan PuddleAugust 2, 2018apologetics, reason, postmodernism, post truth, love, compassion, god's loveComment

#3: God is Community

I was raised in a Christian community living environment and it planted seeds inside me that I just can't seem to shake. God eventually had to take me out of the institutional church for those seeds to grow, and out there in the wilderness I learned that God himself was a community of love. Now I get to practice community inside the traditional church again.

Jonathan PuddleFebruary 15, 2018community, god, god's goodness, god's loveComment