Awaken Bowness Podcast

ACTS Ep2: The Kin-dom of Christ and the House of Commons

In this episode, I interview some of the members of a Christian intentional community that existed in Bowness for 9 years. I ask Megan, Steph, and Lee about what inspired them, what was difficult, and where they saw God. There was a lot of laughter and a few tears as we reflected on how incredibly difficult it is to be a family of God that practices radical non-violent hospitality in a neighborhood like Bowness. It turns out, they found Jesus in the lost and the vulnerable and Steph even went as far as to call it ... magical. 
If you're interested in expressions of community living, our parish church in Bowness is always interested in new and creative ways of living in community together  from co-housing to co-neighbouring and we are all simultaneously afraid and inspired by the call of Jesus to be a new and peculiar people in this place.
 
Books I highly recommend which were cited in this episode include:
God is Stranger by Krish Kandiah (I accidentally said his last name as Kandish, sorry Krish) https://www.ivpress.com/god-is-stranger
Ada Maria Asasi-Dias who came up with the term 'Kin-dom of Christ' instead of Kingdom with the help of a franciscan nun names Georgene Wilson in Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the 21st Century
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CMC6AEO/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CMC6AEO/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

ACTS Ep1: The Elisha to my Elijah on the Day of Pentecost

In this episode we look at Ascension and Pentecost and how it alludes back to Elijah and Elisha. Nikayla shares about the wildly destablizing and disruptive movement that was the early Jesus Movement.
 
In this episode Willie Jenning's commentary on Acts https://www.amazon.ca/Acts-Professor-Willie-James-Jennings/dp/0664234003 was cited as well as his book
The Christian Imagination: The Theology and Origin of Race https://www.amazon.ca/Acts-Professor-Willie-James-Jennings/dp/0664234003
and Soong Chun Rah's book The Prophetic Lament https://www.amazon.ca/Prophetic-Lament-Soong-Chan-Rah/dp/0830836942
and Lisa Sharon Harper's The Very Good Gospel https://www.amazon.ca/Very-Good-Gospel-Everything-Wrong/dp/160142857X

Episode 7: The Apocalypse of Jesus and The Everlasting Garden

Apocalypse means 'uncovering' or 'unveiling'. In this episode Logan Renaud and I talk about what is 'uncovered' in the book of Revelation. Is it the violent end of the world? No. It's the end of violence. What's 'uncovered' is that Jesus, the lamb who was slain, gets the last word. The Kingdom of Jesus is the eternal kingdom - these corrupt and broken systems cannot and will not last and this, my friends, is very good news.  This is the final episode in our garden series. 

Episode 6: Creator becomes Creation: Garden and Embodiment

Let's be unraveled by our belief in the Incarnation. It's hard to deconstruct the "flesh versus spirit" dualism we often conform to here in the post-enlightenment west, but God became flesh! Creator became creation! This should awaken us to more wonder than we can fathom. We begin in Genesis and go into the Gospels to reflect on what our belief in the Incarnation invites us into. Jesus simultaneously has authority over creation and yet is vulnerable to creation. Jesus is fully God and fully human - not human on the outside and God on the inside - this paradox invites us to do the difficult work of reconciliation and be unified as created ones made in the image of God. 

Episode 5: The Nonviolent Authority of Jesus

Eric and I talk about Jesus and what Jesus' authority over nature means for us today. Jesus calms the storm, walks on water, and curses fig trees. There are themes and stories from the Old Testament which can inform our understanding of this authority and wow - Jesus is God, and Jesus is right here in our midst? This is terrifying and wonderful and inspires me to enter the mundane with great expectations. Eric shared a bit of his knowledge about the ways climate change and natural disasters are and will continue to displace the most vulnerable populations on earth and he invites affluent Christians here in Calgary to consider what it means to follow Jesus across the water. Thanks Eric and Happy Birthday :)

Episode 4: Unless a Kernel of Wheat Falls to the Ground and Dies...

Rod Olson is an urban farmer,a lamenting truth-teller, and a man who can hear the soil teach about Jesus. This was a wildly inspiring interview about the gospel, incarnation, death, resurrection, and all of the ways the earth is preaching the gospel right here in Bowness. Have a listen and be inspired! 

Episode 3 Planting Seeds in the Wild Unknown

This podcast is a look at the ways we tend to vilify the future and mythologize the past in times of crisis. We look at the story of the wilderness wandering between Egypt and Sinai and consider the disciples between Ascension and Pentecost. Ultimately, I hope it encourages you to be still and trust that there is healing yet to come - gardens yet to plant and a community right here worth belonging to, even and perhaps especially, in the wild unknown. 

Episode 2: The Grand Ecology

Eric and I wrestle with the creation stories in Genesis 1-3. We talk about science and faith, gender hierarchy, the devil, and climate change. Ultimately we find fresh hope that Jesus really offers an answer to this whole mess. We were nervous but co-hosting a podcast was a lot of fun! I think you'll enjoy it even as it might unsettle ya.
 
I referenced a book by Randy Woodley and Bo Sanders called Decolonizing Evangelicalism you can find here https://wipfandstock.com/decolonizing-evangelicalism.html 
I also referred to a Podcast Episode on Faith with a Fresh Vibe on Indigeneous Spirituality with Tony Snow you can find here https://www.rohadi.com/podcast/episode-6-with-tony-snow/?relatedposts_hit=1&relatedposts_origin=5270&relatedposts_position=2&relatedposts_hit=1&relatedposts_origin=5270&relatedposts_position=2

Episode 1 Gardener in the Graveyard

This is the first episode in a six week series about the Garden. Since it is the first week of Easter this is an overview of the Garden versus City theme from Genesis to Revelation. We begin in Genesis, hang out in Exodus and 1 Kings for a bit and then end in John 20 with Mary's shock when she finds a Gardener in the graveyard.