Shifting Culture Ep. 313 Nicholas McDonald - Rediscovering the Love, Beauty, and Freedom of Jesus in an Age of Disillusionment
What happens when the gospel you were handed no longer makes sense of the pain, beauty, or complexity of the world you’re actually living in? In this conversation, I sit down with Nicholas McDonald, pastor and author of The Light in Our Eyes, to explore the tensions between disillusionment and hope, escape and embodiment, cynicism and renewal. Nicholas brings a pastor’s heart, a theologian’s depth, and the honesty of someone who’s wrestled with real questions and has found the freedom, beauty, and love that Jesus can bring. We talk about what 40 million people walking away from the church actually means, why so many are rejecting not Jesus, but a culture of fear and power, and how the recovery of ancient practices, communal faith, and a more embodied gospel could help us reimagine the way forward. From Zechariah’s silence to Jim Henson’s Muppets, from dispensational escape theology to communion as resistance - this conversation covers a lot of ground, and all of it matters. So join us as we find the light of Christ has been present all along.
Nicholas McDonald is the Associate Pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian church in central Indianapolis and has served in ministry for over fifteen years. His previous positions have included roles in youth ministry and four years as the Campus Minister of Reformed University Fellowship at the University of Missouri. McDonald received his degree from Gordon Conwell Seminary and studied creative writing at Oxford University. He's the author of Faker, and the forthcoming book "The Light in Our Eyes: Rediscovering the Love, Beauty and Freedom of Jesus in an Age of Disillusionment". He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and their three children.
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