Marc Jolicoeur (aka "Jolly Thoughts")

“Determining what is correct is a science. Truth is reality.” (pg 32 of Statistics & Faith , by Jason Wilson) Jason Wilson went to university for the math, stayed in university for the Bible, and somehow God seems to have ended up tying these passions together in ways that we can reap the benefits of in his book, Statistics & Faith . In this conversation, Jason patiently allows me to ramble throug...

“Your true home is a place you have not yet been but have sensed all along…” - Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences Brian Zahnd is no stranger to controversy, but it’s possible at this time that one of the most controversial things he could say is that there is a reality that neither science nor our senses can reliably define; existences that are unseen. This is the very topic of his latest book, a...

“Just for a moment Can we fix our eyes on Jesus? There is no other reason We stand and sing these songs” from Magnify (Just For A Moment) by Paul Baloche I have not seen the adjective “pastor” attached to Paul Baloche very often, but I can tell you that there are few people I’ve met in the wider world of worship leading who are more pastoral than he. I was blessed to have him on the pod way back i...

How did we get from the gospels recording Jesus’ words as “Take, eat, this is my body broken for you” to Youth Pastors offering donuts & Coca Cola as “communion”? How did the primary locus of mystical Christian worship become “just a symbol”? How did the evangelical church get here, and (in the adapted register of The Clash)... should we stay or should we go? [to watch this video, either scroll do...

“From the beginning, the Israelites were a multi-ethnic family whose most prominent members often married foreigners. Later laws against intermarriage are focused exclusively on protecting Israelite worship rather than trying to maintain the purity of the Israelite bloodline.” (pg 30) Just one of the many wonderfully provocative snippets that litter Dr Carmen Joy Imes ’ third book, Becoming God’s...

Did Jesus really say He was God? Belief in Jesus’ divinity is generally held to be a core Christian belief (if you need a refresher on the Nicene Creed, you can check out last year’s conversation with Dr Jerome Van Kuiken ), but recent survey data out of the US seems to indicate that roughly 43% of American evangelicals do not necessarily believe He was God… which is mindblowing, yes, but perhaps...

-“…despite a relatively high bar for entry, the young church grew rapidly…” (pg 30 of Making Disciples by Alex Fogleman ) Some churches offer what is sometimes called “spontaneous baptism” (an opportunity for someone to show up on a Sunday morning who had not planned to get baptized to get straight into the water that very morning), while some churches have a 2-3 year waiting period between when a...

“Oversaturation is not the same thing as abundance.” - Alyson Pryor In this lenten episode of the pod, I am blessed to have been able to have this timely conversation with Alyson Pryor (who holds degrees in psychology from both the University of Southern California and Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as an MA in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care from Talbot Seminary). Alyson currently serves...

In Drunk In The Spirit , Dr Merrill Greene gives us a behind-the-scenes and BANANAS look at the ways that charismaticism is not only lived out today, but is rooted in some truly weird experiences outlined in our holy texts. I had Merrill on a few years ago ( ep 39 ), and now that this conversation is done, I can’t wait to have him on again! Oh, for reference to the How God Works podcast ep I was r...

For this episode of the pod, I wanted to hear from someone who is both a friend & brother in Christ and has also fallen on the other side of where I have on a variety of ideological lines. Oh, and if he can be funny too, bonus. Cue Phil Hutchings . We only get the briefest snapshot of Phil’s story in this podcast, but rest assured, it’s a wild one. In this generous conversation, Phil knowingly wal...

“...the Bible is from God, and God exists outside of time. When we enter into the Bible, we are entering into the life of God, and this enables us to make the past and future of the Bible our present, to read ourselves into its stories and see our life through its pages…” - Michael Niebauer, Four Mountains This is one of my favourite kinds of conversations; a chat about the Bible with a wise & gif...

If worship is for God and not for humanity, is there any real argument for worship to be “contextual” (look different at different times and in different places)? If such arguments do exist, how much flexibility is there? The music? The architecture? The sacraments? Is anything sacred… or is everything sacred? In this mind-bending conversation with Dr Kenneth Wallace Jr , we talk about his work in...

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6, King James Version) Is that verse a promise or an observation? For over half a century now, Christian parenting books have been banking on (and banking from ) it being the former. In their own book ( The Myth of Good Christian Parenting ), Marissa Franks Burt & Kelsey Kramer McGinnis raise t...

“It is not as though our choice is between history and imagination. Our only choice is between historically informed imagination and imagination unconstrained by historical evidence.” (pg 156 of Christmaker by James F McGrath) Who was “John the Baptist”? You might feel like you already know the answer, or you might not even care about that question, but either way, James McGrath ’s recent pair of...

“...we find consistent and systematic emphasis on repetitive and daily practices throughout Wesley's life and teachings that have the potential to train the person to breathe.” - Chad Maxson What might “breathing” (the physical act of bringing in & pushing out breath from our lungs) have to do with spirituality in general and Wesleyan Christianity in particular, and how does Taoism figure into the...

“...the shocking argument of this book is that cultural Christians could exist and even flourish in a world in which Christianity was a persecuted minority.” – Dr Nadya Williams, Cultural Christians in the Early Church In this conversation, Dr Nadya Williams unloads a ton of mindblowing insight about the way culture has impacted Christianity since the very beginning. There are more hot-button topi...

What if your memory isn’t your memory? Would it matter? In what way would it matter? In this mini-recording, I unpack my own self-discovery of something tantamount to an accidental self-deception, and open it to the crowd to see if there’s anything to be learned from it. This is the podcast episode I mentioned: Devil & The Deep Blue Sea episode #7 (The Spell Breaks) This is the super-cool bridge I...

Ep 83 with Keith Bodner LIVE!!! I’m inclined to try & call this something like a “very special after-school special” episode of the Jolly Thoughts pod, but… it was actually recorded at school ( Crandall University , to be precise, and aided by the illustrious Darrell Nevers ). In this conversation, the incomparable Dr Keith Bodner gives us a bit of a flyover on the concept of reading the Bible as...

In “ The Creed We Need ”, Jerome Van Kuiken gives us a very compact but loaded tour through the interactions between the ancient witness of the Nicene Creed and the less-ancient but now “traditional” theological underpinnings of the [John] Wesleyan[an] movement(s). In this fun & wide-ranging conversation, we hit up all kinds of topics. I’d love to hear from you: Which part was your favourite? Chap...

I’ve known Natasha Dongell since I was a kid (which was longer ago for me than for her, I assure you), and I’ve long looked up to her as a source of wisdom, but this newly released book of hers (a memoir titled When Lynn Died ) is a resource on grief that I truly hope makes a broad impact in the world. In our conversation we briefly recap the story of crisis that led to her wanting/needing to writ...

Are miracles “violations” of the laws of nature? Are demons and ghosts more than just a relic of ancient mythology? Is there any truth behind modern-day exorcism? Do some people possess prophetic abilities? Are near-death experiences a true glimpse of the afterlife? Can the worldview of the ancient texts of Scripture help us interpret these supernatural phenomena? These are the kinds of questions...

By the year 2040, churches will no longer have Sunday morning sermons… Joel Murphy said so. Just kidding, just kidding … I said so, and then said that Joel said so. It was my attempt at “futuring”, which is something that I don’t officially do. But Joel does. In his role at Futuring Hub , Joel is part of a team that exist to “consider tomorrow in order to anticipate and shape today’s church.” In t...

How does a man who grew up in an anti-Christian cult (one which attempted to convince him that people with his skin tone ought not follow Christ) end up a professing Christian pursuing academic studies in order to be better equipped to bring the Christian message to his own home community? That’s what this conversation (in part) helps to illuminate. Hakeem Bradley ’s story is full of ups, downs, p...

For some people, the word “gospel” is mostly connected to a genre of music. For others, it may conjure significant debate on what exactly it is . In Matt Bates ’ new book, Why The Gospel? , he tries rather to take a look behind the curtain at the purpose for the “Good News” that others are arguing about. This conversation is just a teaser at some of the great work Matt has done & is doing. If you’...

When it comes to religion & politics, there’s a difference between “personal” & “private”. At least, that’s Mike MacNeil says in this conversation… and I’m inclined to agree. Mike is the author of three books ( Jesus Kicks // Jesus Wears An Orange Jumpsuit // Holy Spit! ), a hoppin’ Substack blog ( Soul Apologetics ), and is a pastor on staff @ Kings Church in Atlantic Canada, where he gives leade...