The Nexus Podcast

Easter in Seven Movements (S14 Episode26)

For Easter Sunday, well, we have something special cooking, folks. The death we see on Good Friday will have one final word (which will be a treat for the eyes and ears) before we welcome in Resurrection Sunday!  I can hardly wait. Eliza and our Nexus Kids are contributing to the morning, which is always special. For my part, I want to present the meaning, promise, and hope of the resurrection in seven distinct movements. If I had my way, I would greet you all on Sunday morning with a mimosa for everyone. Alas, my hands are tied. Even still, I know this weekend will be meaningful, and a reminder of all that we can’t leave behind.

The Grotesque Beauty of the Cross (S14 Episode 25)

For Good Friday, we will look at the cross from a most unusual angle: aesthetically. 2000 years ago, the cross was an instrument of torture. 2000 years later it has been the subject of more artistic depictions than any other object or event in history. As one tourist to the National Gallery of Art tweeted after visiting the museum, “Well, that’s Western art for you. A thousand years of crucifixions then stripes.” I find that to be hilarious, but also telling. For centuries now, people all over the world have come to see an ancient form of torture as . . . beautiful? On Good Friday we will discover how that sentiment became possible.

The Moral Arc (S14 Episode23)

Friends, we are getting close to the finale of our Revisionist History series. On Palm Sunday (March 24) I want to talk not only of Jesus' triumphal entry in Jerusalem prior to his death and resurrection, but I want to help us locate ourselves in the long and storied history of the church. The whole series has been moving us in this direction. Before we get there, however, we have one final Sunday to reflect on the legacy and impact of the church and Christian faith throughout the centuries.

To that end, I have a few simple questions for us to reflect on leading up to Sunday. Is the world getting better? If you take a wide lens view of history, do you think humanity is collectively progressing? Are things better today for the world than they were decades or centuries ago? Are we living in the greatest time in all of history? Is there a moral arc to the universe?

Church Actually (S14 Episode22)

Hello Nexus!

I'm on this week, considering the Church (the big, universal Church) - in its beauty and brokenness. Sometimes, the gap between what the Church is and what it could be is so very large. It’s like Longfellow’s little girl with a curl - do you know that one?

There was a little girl,
            Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
            When she was good,
            She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

Lots of us have experienced both sides: when it's good, it's so good. But when it's bad, it's really bad. So bad, we might give up on it. 

“Most progressive evangelicals, having had a brutal disappointing, even abusive, experience in the Church, see no future for the Church as a change agent in our culture.” - David Fitch

Because of both of those extremes - that the Church can be so good and the Church can be so bad, I’m excited to explore it together. What is the Church in general? What are we, and what are we doing? What is God doing? How and why? Why does it seem that God keeps choosing people?

Lots of questions, lots of ideas and images. I’ll explain why my passion for my favourite pastime might be connected to why I’m still here. I’m excited to dig into this with you!

Freedom (S14 Episode21)

Friends, our Revisionist History series this Sunday has us re-examining what, until recently, had been a human universal in the world. Throughout the ages, this truth was self-evident: if you are on the winning side of war or hold great power, you get to own other people. What slavery has looked like over the centuries has varied, but behind each variation was a simple notion: people can be possessions.

Most of us are familiar with how Christians participated in, and at times perpetuated, this now damned institution. What we may not be familiar with is the driving force that put an end to it and gave us what are now the familiar terms “human rights” and “crimes against humanity.” 

The First Sexual Revolution (S14 Episode20)

Friends, our Revisionist History series this Sunday has us weighing into the turbulent waters of sexual ethics. The Church has not always had the greatest reputation when it comes to such matters, but what may come as a surprise to many of us is that Jesus and the early church launched the first sexual revolution in all of history! The ripple effect of that is still being felt today. The sexual world of antiquity was turned upside down by Jesus and his first followers. So, to the legacy of the first sexual revolution we are headed this Sunday.

Trigger Warning: The sermon on Sunday contains references to ancient sexual norms which some may find offensive. Further, the sermon contains lengthy sections from Rachael DenHollander’s victim impact statement from the trial of Larry Nassar in 2018. Listener, and parental discretion, is strongly advised.

Devils and Dust (S14 Episode19)

Friends, there is so much happening this Sunday! You won’t want to miss it. First, we are continuing with our Revisionist History series by exploring the one passage from Scripture that I think has caused more harm, death, and great evil than any other (I think the passage will surprise you). We will be reflecting on the great sins of our faith tradition, and the important lessons we can draw from them.

Gladiators, Garbage Dumps and the Poison of Pitty (S14 Episdoes18)

This week for some Revisionist History, we start with a very controversial Tweet by the notoriously adored, and reviled, atheist, Richard Dawkins. What he tweeted sounds controversial to our ears, but what Dawkins had done is merely parrot an ancient story, one that has been rehashed and retold down through the generations: from Plato and Aristotle, to Nietzsche and Himmler, to the greatest of documentary filmmakers, Werner Herzog. Dawkins was telling the story of “nature.”

In contrast to that story, something new seemed to emerge in the first century. A radically different story that highlighted an experience and emotion centered in the bowels, of all places. And this very unfamiliar emotional response in the ancient world would start a movement that, over time, would launch universal healthcare, as well as end infanticide and the gladiatorial games forever. How could such a thing happen?

Trigger warning to all, this Sunday we will be talking about some sensitive subjects like abortion and infanticide. My goal is not to explore the ethical debate around those issues, but to showcase how radically some things have changed over time. Of course, I will also need to tell you about a young boy I met this summer. A boy named Hudson, and how my response to him left me thinking God often works in our lives in the most obvious of ways...we just don’t see it.

Life's Too Short To Pretend We're Not Religious (S14 Episode17)

Well, after making some rather bold and audacious claims last Sunday, it is time to settle into this Revisionist History series, and I am excited to get at it by looking at the rather curious case of “equality.”

I am hoping this Sunday will be lots of fun with much to chew on as we dive into some unsettling, but rather profound questions. To that end, we are going to need to talk about the whispered and hushed conversations we all had during COVID, why Lord Sumption landed himself in some serious hot water over some COVID remarks, why we can’t help but reach for the sacred when discussing the value of human life, what it might sound like to debate Plato on his philosophy of inherent human inequality, what Yuval Noah Harari (the atheist) has to say about human rights, and why I woke up rather confused after a dream about Taylor Swift.

Beyond that, we will need to examine why Sam Harris’ (the atheist) "water glass" analogy exposes both the good and ill of believing in God, what kind of water I can convince you all to buy and then drink, what losing Christian stories unleashes on the world, and why people stopped caring about threats of hell after a certain historic landmark. Oh my, so many interesting places to go. I think it will get us all thinking in ways we may have never thought about before.

Revisionist History (S14 Episode16)

Well, it is time to embark on a new series that will take us all the way to Easter. As part of our year in The Tensions, I want to take some time to explore the tensions we often feel with the Church and the history of our faith.

Those looking to cast stones at Christianity over the centuries have plenty of rocks to choose from: the Crusades, the Inquisition, Catholic vs Protestant wars, slavery, and sexism, to name but a few. Even today, the Church continues to be rocked by abuse of power and sex scandals, even as we come to terms with the Church’s role in residential schools here in Canada.

Is it possible to be Christian today without feeling a sense of shame? Has the Christian faith been good, or bad, for the world? For this series, I want to try out my best Malcolm Gladwell and do a little Revisionist History. I want to take us on a journey into the overlooked and misunderstood aspects of Christian history and how the cross has shaped our world, for good and ill. And so, into the good, the bad, and the ugly we go. My hope is that this series will be provocative, unsettling, challenging, but most importantly, full of hope!

For this Sunday, I want to start by examining Three Asinine Stories that Remade the World. These stories are familiar to many but have so radically altered the world we live in; it is sometimes easy to forget just how powerful they are. In fact, you may not even believe these stories to be true. Further, you might even think them silly, but what these stories spawned is now considered orthodoxy to the Western mind. So, off we go on what I promise will be a most fascinating journey!