Pod of the Gaps

Many Christians are naïve about the ways Islam has gained much ground within western society in recent years, influencing numerous spheres of culture, politics, and law. The vision of Islamic beliefs ruling all spheres of society (‘Islamism’) may not be adopted by all western Muslims, but it is a belief entirely consistent with Islamic tradition. Where Muslims are often very bullish about defendin...

More and more Christians in western society today see the ever-increasing need to reach Muslims with the Gospel. The problem is: how? In this special episode, Aaron is joined by Bob of Speaker’s Corner to talk through challenges, strategies, and related issues that come with taking seriously the Muslim mission field before us. Bob is known especially for his confrontational mode of engagement in s...

We've come to expect the politically correct and increasingly “woke” posture of many of the Church of England’s official statements and policies in recent years. Recent announcements on issues such as race, Islam, sexuality, and even evangelism, showcase a desire to “play nice” with the secular and multicultural political establishment rather than offering a genuinely prophetic voice. But is the C...

What are Christians supposed to do about the erosion of the Christian foundations of Western culture? Sometimes evangelicals have reacted by retreating from the call to be salt and light in the world, withdrawing into a narrow vision for the Gospel which limits its wider societal impact. But isn't trying to change the world something that liberals tend to focus on? Does working for social change r...

Week after week, year after year, churches spend inordinate amounts of time producing, presenting, and discussing sermons. Yet sermons are far less influential upon the average Christian’s life, faith, and beliefs than ever before. Why? The loss of pulpit authority? The loss of creativity in communication? The encroaching pressure of secular beliefs? The rise of podcasts and other digital media? M...

In keeping with the now ancient Pod of the Gaps tradition, Andy and Aaron kick off the new year by identifying their collective key challenges for the Church to face up to as it seeks to meet this cultural moment in light of the Word of God. As they reflect on what the Church has already been facing and look forward to some of the more significant implications lying ahead in the near future, they...

Evangelicals are renowned for using crazy-sounding adjectives to highlight the outlandish nature of God’s grace. This is often appropriate when speaking of God's love, but an overuse of such language potentially opens Christians up to progressive infiltration of the Gospel. Under the auspices of God’s grace being so “outrageous” that it overcomes all prior categories, some professing “evangelicals...

In these secular times, Christmas is ever in danger of being hijacked by the fairy-lit glitz of advertising and consumerism. Christians often find themselves dragged into alternative versions of Christmas which bear little connection to the Christian story. But while Christians rightly lament the problem of worldly materialism, are there also dangers that we also miss something vital about the “ma...

In this wide-ranging special episode of Pod of the Gaps we cover a number of vital issues in/around the challenges of leadership, mission, apologetics, and ministry. In particular, Andy Bannister and Joe Boot both reflect on their similar experiences of working as directors for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. These reflections include the problematic patterns they noticed in the organizat...

The Israel / Gaza conflict generates all sorts of political and religious opinions in recent times, with many Christian leaders (including the Archbishop of Canterbury) seeming to follow the popular left-wing consensus of calling for an immediate ceasefire. Whilst this might seem the obvious course of action, is it really the best option? Whilst all wars bring tragedy, are all wars avoidable? When...

In recent years forces have been gathering to stand up and push back against the progressive (“Woke”) revolution in the modern West. The infamous Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson has been at the heart of this, recently launching the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC). In this special episode, we engage with one of his viral speeches from the inaugural ARC conference and dissect it pie...

For many Westerners today it would be “unthinkable” to not have a legal right to abortion. But for Christians, shouldn’t abortion itself be as “unthinkable” as chattel slavery? What can churches and pro-life organisations do to change public opinion on abortion? In this special episode of Pod of the Gaps we’re joined by John Deighan, CEO of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children to disc...

An age-old tension within many churches is the extent to which they can or should join in with the reams of "para-church" organizations, mission agencies, charities, and evangelistic enterprises that do not fall under the governance of the Church but often seem to be far more fruitful in mission. Whilst the answer may seem obvious, it brings up far more questions and connects to numerous related i...

One of the most defining things about Christians is that we sing songs together. The kind of songs we sing, and the way we sing them, has an incredible impact on a Christian's life, faith, and theology. Contemporary band-led worship services often result in a set of expectations for what can or can't be sung, similarly to the older tradition of a particular order of hymn-singing. There is, however...

When speaking about fatherhood, it is common to neutralise the role played by fathers within a household. Due to various societal and ecclesial differences of opinion we tend to equivocate over precisely what fathers are for, and what they are supposed to do. Following on from the previous episode which discussed the loss of fatherhood in general, this episode sees Andy and Aaron each live-reveal...

In our society, fatherhood is under attack. The crisis of masculinity leads many fathers to abdicate their responsibility for their children, and for those around them. Men are regularly condemned for aspiring to the virtues that once inspired good men to be good fathers. What do we lose when fatherhood is reviled? What is the impact of feminism on how fatherhood is seen today? How can churches en...

Some Christians (including some prominent leaders!) have begun to desscribe the Biblical depiction of God the Father as "problematic". Whilst there are many who find the idea of God's fatherhood difficult to accept due to their own negative experiences of human fatherhood, what do we risk by projecting those negative experiences onto Scripture? Is it now inescapably difficult to accept God's fathe...

A shift seems to have begun to occur in recent years regarding religion. As many public intellectuals have seen the philosophical and moral foundations of western society crumbling away, a new yearning has begun to arise for a greater, more transcendent story to make sense of life. This trend is increasingly leading people to reconsider Christianity. On this special episode of Pod of the Gaps, we...

Amidst a flurry of new developments within the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) many are wondering about the future effects of this kind of technology upon our societies. There are ongoing concerns about negative effects upon people's jobs as well as deeper issues around human identity itself, and even our survival. Whilst there are many efficiency benefits to AI programmes such as ChatGPT, a...

At a time of significant socio-political unrest across the western world, many Christians today are asking the question about the extent to which Christians should or shouldn't be involved or invested in political issues. A recent (and somewhat controversial) political conference on small-c "conservativism" in the UK has sparked fresh debates about the role Christianity has in helping to address t...

As the Church in the West faces some of the most fundamental ideological assaults on its beliefs in centuries, Christian colleges and institutions have become increasingly impotent to challenge them. Whilst universities have been on a progressive slide for decades, recently even evangelical "Bible" colleges have begun to distance themselves from Biblical perspectives on many key issues. What's gon...

How should Christians defend their faith when their beliefs are under attack? What counts as an "appropriate" or "inappropriate" way for Christians to engage in discussions or debates? Too often Western Christians have decided that being "winsome" is the only correct posture, as if there were an authorised code of conduct for all. Many prominent and famous apologists in recent years have emphasise...

What is "revival"? This term has been making the headlines in recent times, sparking fresh interest in what it does (or does not) mean, and why it may (or may not) matter. After the remarkable events at Asbury University in the US, many flocked from around the world to get a taste of what was happening, whilst many more wondered what the wider implications of such events might be. At a time in whi...

The wonders of modern technology mean many men now spend most of their working lives sat at desks or screens, exerting very little physical energy. We now pay money to do the kind of labour for which our forebears were themselves paid. What are the hidden costs of this today? Have we become less active, less fulfilled, and less purposeful in the world as a result? The "Muscular Christianity" movem...

Immigration has been a political hot potato for at least half a century. As is often the case, the loudest and most extreme voices at either end tend to shape the perception of the key issues in the debate. This leaves a vast majority of people in the middle who don't quite know what to think, nor who to believe on either side of them. It has become a difficult issue to even talk about publically...