Nomad Podcast

Bob Ekblad serves immigrants, inmates, homeless people and people struggling with addiction in the US. What's even more interesting about Bob though is how he seamlessly combines social justice with a miraculous healing ministry! “What’s happening that’s most exciting to me in the larger body of Christ is the cross-pollenization and the coming together of people from different camps to learn from each other for the benefit of the world, for the benefit of the unreached and the marginalized.” - Bob Ekblad Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Lecturer in evangelism, theology and Chrisitan spirituality and author of The Mystic Way of Evangelism, Elaine Heath joins us on the show. We chat with Elaine about contemplative prayer, and the healing and outreach that naturally flows from it. So tune in if you want to know how to experience God and change the world. “We have been so captured by rationalism since the enlightenment – it’s really shaped how we think about our faith. And we’ve bought into the idea that to have faith is to ascribe intellectually to a set of doctrines and hopefully behave yourself along the way.” - Elaine Heath Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Theologian, church leader, and author Greg Boyd is back on the show. Greg believes a call to non-violence is at the heart of the gospel. He also believes this call impacts how we relate to animals. That's right, Greg's a vegetarian. Check out the interview to find out why. “Legalism sees the rules as an end in and of themselves and therefore there are no exceptions, whereas a holistic life principle always has love as the driving thing – what’s the loving thing to do? Usually, the loving thing to do, for me anyways, is to not eat meat.” - Greg Boyd Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Sharon Baker is a theologian and author of the controversial Razing Hell. Sharon takes issue with the traditional understanding of a violent atonement and hell, and instead holds to universal reconciliation where all people are refined by God's love. “I don’t believe that God desired the violence of the cross. I think that the violence of the cross was our doing. It was a human endeavour and not required or desired by God at all, because that in itself is a grave injustice. And I don’t think God is unjust.” - Sharon Baker Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Pete Rollins is a philosopher, writer and founder of the Ikon community. Pete believes that unless we die to certainty and embrace doubt then God becomes just another consumer product. God, in effect, becomes an idol. Sounds interesting! “Often the church looks at the Bible or theology and says, ‘What’s the right answer?’ When really, perhaps we should look at it more like a work of art and say, ‘It’s about engaging with a conversation with the work of art, seeing its beauty, being open to being transformed by it, being open to being ruptured by it.” - Pete Rollins Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Paul Kerensa is a stand-up comedian and BBC scriptwriter for shows like Miranda and Not Going Out. So he seemed like just the chap to talk to about the relationship between humour and religion, and to ask 'What would Jesus laugh at?' “You’ve got to always think, ‘Who’s the victim of this joke? And if the victim were me, would I mind?’ And so, I try not to do jokes which have an overall victim. Often the victim of the joke is me.” - Paul Kerensa Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Michael Hardin is a theologian, founder of Preaching Peace, and author of The Jesus Driven Life. He's got a rather colourful background and doesn't mince his words, which always makes for an interesting interview. So we asked him whether God is really as violent as the Old Testament makes out, and whether he really had to kill his own son in order to forgive us.  “Every ‘penal substitutionist’ at some point has to engage in a tit-for-tat logic. No matter how they play their theory out, forgiveness is essentially earned. They can claim grace, they can claim that they’re dealing with God’s unconditional love. But essentially, you have to accept what God gave you or you’re doomed.” - Michael Hardin Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

We've somehow managed to persuade Tom Wright, one of the world's leading New Testament theologians, to come on the show for a third time! We ask Tom to summarise his 1680 page 'Paul and the Faithfulness of God', and ponder whether if he met him whether he'd actually like Paul? “What Paul does is not give a blueprint for what everyone must do on all possible occasions. He teaches them how to think Christianly and then says, ‘Now, go figure it out. Where do you live? What does the gospel look like when you walk outside your front door tomorrow morning? You’ve got to think that through.’ And it seems to me that there there is all the scope in the world for all kinds of fresh expressions.” - Tom Wright  Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

We at Nomad recently had a revelation, perhaps we can learn from non-Christians as well as Christians. So we headed down to London and visited the Sunday Assembly, or The Atheist Church as it's become known. After 'worshipping' with 300 atheists, we chat with Pippa Evans one of the founders of what's becoming a global movement, and try to figure out what the Church can learn from the friendlier face of new atheism. “What I used to love about church was wherever I am – wherever in the country – I know that there’s a church in a town that will have its doors open and you can go and sit in there and be quiet if you want to. I’d love it if Sunday Assembly could offer that same solace.” - Pippa Evans Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Steve Chalke is one of the UK's most influential evangelicals and he recently blessed a same-sex civil partnership. Needless to say, this caused a bit of a stir! So we caught up with him and asked him what led him to take this controversial step. “If the Bible’s right that ‘God is love’ and ‘God is truth,’ then truth is love. Therefore, any message that sends people into depression, that sends people to throw themselves under trains, that drives people from churches, that tells them that in the core of their nature they’re no good – they’re less than human, they’re subhuman in some way – that message must be wrong.” - Steve Chalke Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.