The OddFather Podcast

Chris and Pete watch the lightning and ask is God at work in natural disasters? Are they acts of God? Are bad things God’s good work? Even when it blows up a church? Are natural disasters actually God and do we clutch too easily at miracles and fail to correctly understand what God is doing and why, and how? Perhaps we just love God being in control, even if it’s just the ‘way things are’? Whatever that is.

Is the knowledge of good and evil a problem? Isn’t this what got humanity thrown out of Eden? Chris and Pete ponder; does God not want us to know about good and evil or is God holding out on us? Is there a tree of doom scrolling? Has knowledge become more valuable than wisdom and how do we get it back to being wise?

‘Jesus loves the little children’, as the song says, but Chris and Pete question whether our churches kind of hide them away. How are children better at the kingdom life than adults? Do we put as much value on what our children think and know as Jesus does? What are we missing by leaving our children out of grown ups church life?

Why are you working? We were made to work, so are we just some kind of labouring machine? Chris and Pete look at labour and ask what was work meant to be? Why is work a grind when it was meant to be a God given joy? Can work make life happy and where do we find work working well?

Chris and Pete ask what is this ‘bible’ thing? Not an operator’s manual? Is it a user’s manual? Why can’t we get order by following the bible? And what is its ‘authority’? Why is it so often used for ‘bashing’ people and how did science make the bible central? Will the bible actually put itself out of business and what would our churches be like without the bible?

As holiday season descends, Chris and Pete slip into the bubble bath to wind down. But, is that the wrong thing to do? What is self care and how has it become an industry rather than a life style? Did Jesus get his nails done? How did HE take down time? Have we got self care confused with self indulgence and what about self discipline? Or are we just too self focussed? Are we willing to try a new type of self care?

Back in the day there were so many ‘heroes of the faith’. Big names, big people doing amazing things, the Jesus movement, Mother Theresa, David Wilkerson, Billy Graham etc etc… So where are these heroes of today? Why aren’t there big faith things happening today? Where has the movement gone? Have big faith, culture breaking people disappeared, if so does that mean the amazingness of faith is dying out or just changing? Can there be a revival?

Thanks to Esther for emailing podcast@oddfather.net, and pointing out that God is love, and God can also hate right? How can God be love and also hate? Are we just trying to find a balance that isn’t there, so we have love and hate wrong? Can we lay down our own hate? Can we actually love those we hate and can you want good for those you’d like to strangle?

What makes a classic? The Beatles, the Eagles, ELO and… the next testament. Are they classic and if so, why? Was the apostle Paul just ‘the fifth Beatle’? Was he writing the bible or just dropping a few notes? Where did the Creedence of these letters come from and what made it ‘Authoritative’? Why do his words still rock the world today and can we add to it today?

Chris and Pete invade the world and look at how we do it. Are we ourselves, being colonised? What ‘invasions’ do we not see? Do we just accept this as normal, why didn’t Jesus attack his oppressors and should we? How does good become bad? How does selfishness become self-help? Is today too important, is the here and now too important?

Yep, Chris and Pete are losers, or are they just playing the infinite game? Can we have a relationship where neither partner loses? Can we live by not trying to win? Is winning people for God a stupid game that just creates losers or is game theory good for God lovers?

Chris and Pete harmonise with Billy Joel as he sings that ‘Only fools are satisfied’. So are we fools? Or is there more going on here? Are fools happy, rather than Joyful? What are we looking for then and could The Rolling Stones possibly have a clue?

Chris and Pete look at this strange beast called Christian Apologetics. What is it? Why is it? Does it confuse more than confirm? Do we need it or is it a distraction? Can we be okay with not knowing or do we need our beliefs to be scientifically legitimate? And today, is it nothing more than just a tik tok bunfight?

One for the creative folk. Surely all we do is create what god tells us to? Does Chris write his own sermons? Did Pete write his novels? Or do we only do what God tells us? Is it God doing the art works? Is God in control of your creativity or is it YOU, the human, who is creative? Did God tell you that? Do individuals need each other to be effective creatively, or is God enough?

Chris and Pete have another wrestle with translating the words we know so well. Like a bible full of miracles… are they really? Should we ever pray for a miracle? Why are they so special? Why does God even roll out miracles? Have we misunderstood what they are? Is it a magic show? A party trick? Or is it something far more important?

Chris and Pete look at leaving a legacy. Why do we strive for more? Do us humans need to strive for greatness? Is that a God thing or a human misunderstanding thing? Maybe we should try to be an influencer? Is leaving a legacy worth anything and does it matter? Do we do bad when we try to be great?

‘I love you because…’ and therefore, Chris and Pete wonder, isn’t love a transaction? Can we love without transactions? What is selfless love, if we are selfish people? Is there something in our relationships that means we are always in a self-serving, transactional place and do we test God’s love, transactionally? If you do this… But what about unconditional love?

Chris and Pete get excited by a really stupid question. Was Jesus ever bored? Is it actually a stupid question? Is there any value in Boredom and what is it like in our modern world? Is it worth just slowing down in our walk with a Jesus who never rushes. Was Jesus a mischievous child? Was he a weird kid? And what do we lose by being busy? Can we be bored like Jesus?

Chris and Pete may seem uncultured, but they like to think that culture really matters. Is church culture really helpful and what happens when it’s not? Can ‘Our’ church welcome ‘them’? How hard is it to share our cultures, and who is doing all this work? Are we missing out on the joy of other cultures because it’s too hard?’

Chris and Pete have been getting grumpy at the socially mediated world because that’s how it’s made. Don’t we love to be outraged? Is it our God given right? Who gives us the right to be outraged and why do we let others unload their venom in our faces? Is there a good way to respond to the outrage of others and our own outrage? What happens when we DON’T respond to outrage?