Marc Jolicoeur (aka "Jolly Thoughts")

When Alan Streett found himself sitting around a circle with friends of his listening to a man in a trance embody the voice of a dead loved one, the fact that he was doing so “in Jesus’ name” didn’t seem strange to him… until it did. In Alan’s newest book ( Exploring The Paranormal , from Eerdman’s Publishing ), he walks us through several jaw-dropping phases of his own life & personal experience...

“For years, psychedelics were my religion. All I ever wanted was The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever, the panacea, the cure for what plagued me. From those first moments when I tasted the earthy pulp of a psilocybin mushroom, it was love. Psychedelics were my sacrament. They shot me into cathedral vaults. The promise of eternal life through chemicals glittered seductively, but hid a...

“From what I gather, you fit the bill of the kind of person I have in mind.  Raised in the orbit of the church.  Not unfamiliar with Jesus or Scripture.  Not skeptical of them either.  But untutored…” The above is a brief & early description of the idealized pen-pal (or, “interlocutor”, if you’re nasty/fancy) that Brad East had in mind when writing his new book, Letters To A Future Saint . In this...

“Being told to participate - while in fact being unable to participate - is deeply dispiriting to worshipers, especially worshipers with anxiety…” (pg 152 of Worship In An Age Of Anxiety ) This Michael Jordan may or may not be able to palm a basketball, but he can certainly help us wrestle with the deep & challenging topic of how contemporary Christian worship practices (read “Western” and “Evange...

“Collaboration does not have to be about corruption; it can be about cooperation.” ( pg 78 of God’s Ghostwriters ) Have you ever stopped to wonder how the biblical texts were actually written down, and by who (or… whom)? In this episode of the podcast, I chat with Dr Candida Moss about her newest book, God’s Ghostwriters , which is about that very thing. In her own words, Candida is known as a bit...

In this episode of the pod, I’m cross-sharing a sermon I was glad to have been able to preach at my local church on Sunday, July 28th, as part of a 10-week series on the Sermon On The Mount . I reference in it this devotional , which is still available online, if interested. Also, the video version of this is available on my YouTube channel . Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts)...

David Bennett is a self-described “celibate gay Christian”, but goodness… he is so much more than that!  He’s an author , a theologian in residence , with a PhD from none other than Oxford , and he’s a fierce lover of (and follower of) Jesus . And yet, he’s a controversial character.  In large part, this is because of his online presence (which some might construe as “activism”) on behalf of what...

Conor Conway is a coffee connoisseur, top notch trumpeter, and spiritual conversationalist.  Since he is a co-owner of Epoch Coffee in downtown Moncton, I have known of Conor for years now, but this in-depth conversation was long overdue.  We dip into his early days with Canadian pop music sensation The Weeknd , drink three marvelously prepared cups of coffee, and dive DEEP into not only his own e...

Today is the first time I’ve wondered if the movie title “ Free Willy ” was actually a hidden joke. …probably not. Nonetheless, the question of just how “free” our wills may be is no longer a conversation restricted to theologians . That said, this conversation is from a theological vantage point. In it, Nathan Adams (who is currently a PhD student @ McGill University ) runs us through the paper h...

Tim Perry has some strong feelings about the state of the Church at large, and he’s not afraid to lay them out for open & honest dialogue. In this wide-ranging conversation we discuss: * the unique place of Mary in Christian Theology throughout history, and how that intersects with today * the potential dangers of “dismissing” Mary * the latent worth of the Old Testament in the Church today * the...

A few episodes back I shared my conversation with W David O Taylor, wherein we got nerdy on the question of whether or not Jesus could have been considered an “artist”. I shared part of that conversation during the Sunday morning message attached to Moncton Wesleyan Church ’s annual arts fest ( Imagine ). This podcast is the remainder of that message... Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly...

Imagine ‘24 (an annual Arts Fest that I’m quite involved in) is well in the rearview mirror now. Soon I’ll be posting the message I was pleased to be able to share as part of Moncton Wesleyan ’s Sunday morning service (a service that featured live dance, live painting, and some other beautiful artistic expressions), but this episode is actually a panel conversation with visual artist Leanne Presco...

This episode of the pod is me riffing briefly on the waiting that Holy Saturday interposes into the celebration of Easter, followed by a sermon that was part of Moncton Wesleyan ’s “Domino Effect” series . I’m releasing this episode just a few hours after what amounted to a historic Good Friday service in the city of Moncton. Officially 5 churches (and several others “unofficially”) joined togethe...

In this episode of the podcast I am overjoyed to be able to share my recent conversation with none other than Dr W David O Taylor (hereinafter merely “David”). David is the associate professor of theology & culture at Fuller Seminary , the author of a ton of books… oh, and he was the guy responsible for pulling Bono & Eugene Peterson together for this magical conversation a few years back. Relevan...

Guys, this was a suuuuuper fun convo for me!!! Nostalgia + philosophizing = a great day. In this convo, Leah Payne and I take a peek at her forthcoming book ( God God Rock & Roll To You ), geek out a little about her fabulous Weird Religion podcast (before her equally fabulous Rock That Doesn't Roll podcast was even a thing), and reminisce about the bookcase credibility trend which is no more. In...

God is a merciful judge. God has granted us mercy. God calls us to grant mercy to others. A few weeks ago I was blessed to have been able to preach in our church’s 2023 advent series, “The God I Want” . I spoke primarily from Matthew 18: “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. As he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 tal...

“In the incarnation, God has deemed the female body - the impure, bleeding female body - worthy to handle the most sacred of all things, the very body of God. “ (Amy Peeler, pg 61, Women & the Gender of God ) In this episode (released oh-so-close to Christmas 2023), I am beyond pleased to be able to share with you a conversation with the Rev Dr Amy Peeler . Amy is a professor at Wheaton College ,...

On this episode of the podcast, we go deeeeeep with Dr Ekaputra Tupamahu about his 2022 book Contesting Languages: Heteroglossia & the Politics of Language in the Early Church . This book is a highly detailed and technical revisitation of the phenomenon typically shorthanded in today’s church as “tongues”, primarily viewed through the lens of 1 Corinthians 14 . Eka was very generous with his time...

Folks, I am over-the-moon excited to be able to share this conversation with Dr Lester Ruth about his most recent book (co-authored with Lim Swee Hong ), A History Of Contemporary Praise & Worship . This pair did a shorter history on this topic a few years back ( Lovin’ On Jesus ), and in this conversation we get not only the broadstrokes of their findings but also a little bit of the behind-the-s...

Ladies & gentlemen, it is with great pleasure (and a touch of trepidation) that I share with you my first podcast conversation with not one but TWO guests at a time! Don’t worry; it’s double the fun! Sarah Kathleen Johnson and Anneli Loepp Thiessen are the co-authors of a recently-published journal article in Worship called “Contemporary Worship Music As An Ecumenical Liturgical Movement”, which w...

The apostle Paul.  Other than Jesus, arguably the most famous / notorious figure in the Christian scriptures.  His name has authorial responsibility for a huge chunk of the New Testament. Statues of the man litter modern day Italy.  There are fields of study dedicated exclusively to trying to understand his thought.  In a word, Paul’s influence is massive. But… Paul himself may not have been massi...

In this conversation, Mitchell Eithun and I pick away at the challenging ways that Christian worship has represented people with disabilities, and how we might want to consider doing so in the future. If you’d like to follow Mitchell online, his Facebook page is likely the best spot to do so. If you, like me, did not know what a carillon was, be sure to check it out!  If you, like me, had never he...

This summer has been pretty typical for me. A lot of camping, a lot of complaining about the heat, a lot of searching for cool water to dip into. A lot of walking the dog. A lot of trying to keep the dog from being overly social. A lot of trying to encourage opportunities for my kids to be IRL social. A lot of wishing I was sleeping just a liiiiiiiittle bit more than I am. A lot of being thankful....

“[When considering the presentation of violence in the Old Testament]… I hope that we can nudge the needle further along, not towards resolution, but toward trust in God's ultimate goodness.” - Matthew Lynch, Flood & Fury This episode of the podcast is with OT scholar and prolific podcaster Matthew J Lynch . Currently teaching at Regent College in Vancouver and releasing content into the world via...

Professor Nancy Pearcey (author of the upcoming book The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes , which you can pre-order NOW) is no stranger to difficult but important subject matter. Her most recently published book ( Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality ) was a great & thought-provoking read, and though I haven’t had the chance to check out h...