The Shock Absorber

Resiliency in discipleship is the name of the game as Stu, Tim and Joel chat about how intergenerational relationships can improve it, based on the research in Faith for Exiles. Are rosters and a highly specialised church environment lead us to only be pleasant strangers? The Bible calls us to be more than that where the church community can be transformed by the Spirit's sanctification. The probl...

Tim and Joel as sit down with Anthony, who, along with his wife Trudi, is preparing to move to Ethiopia. Partnering with CMS and Kale Heywet Church, their attention is to equip and develop future leaders in the country. In this episode, Anthony shares the story behind their call to Africa, highlighting the incredible work God has already done and continues to do in Ethiopia. He gives us an insight...

Joel and Stu chat about why cultural discernment is an essential skill of a resilient disciple and what kind of posture we can adopt towards it and be equipped to engage with it? Key to this is applying Biblical wisdom, but in a world where we are educated by search engine, what place does wisdom have and will it even be listened to? How do we build the muscles of cultural discernment - slow down...

Tim, Joel and Fi talk about what it takes to be a resilient disciple because God doesn't owe us an easy life. Resiliency reveals itself through a certain form of resistance, which as a Christian, can only come from an intimate relationship with Jesus. The book Faith for Exiles helps the discussion on what gets in the way of that relationship - religious clutter, individualism, layering Jesus over...

Tim and Joel continue the discussion on the intersection of technology and discipleship. Topics range from applying Vygotsky's theories to faith formation, a Christian response to the creator economy, and whether we exist in a digital Babylon in Australia as posited by Mark Matlock and Dave Kinnaman in their book Faith For Exiles. 00:00 Intro 01:15 Tim's expedition to Chicago 14:36 Applying Vygots...

Tim, Fi and Joel are here to discuss video games and what the difference is between escapism and rest. Where do video games and other forms of escapism fit into the ordered, disordered and unordered parts of the world? And are we bypassing God's intended order for our productivity and contribution to the world? 00:00 - Intro 01:04 - CULTURAL ARTEFACT: Twitch Jesus and streamers 13:43 - If we need...

Stu, Tim and Joel are back together to discuss individualism, progress for progress' sake and how it affects mission and discipleship. Why do we shy away from costly discipleship? Why are we reticent to do hard things when we know it's the only way to grow? Are we becoming less reliant on each other as we become more reliant on technology? Some of the answers lie in a willingness to open our lives...

Stu is back from writing leave and joins Fi and in continuing the discussion on discipleship. They re-iterate that the most important thing is a personal relationship with God, but then move on to discuss how that relationship can be expressed individually and corporately. There are formal and informal ways of doing it, and perhaps some have been lost because either mission and discipleship can be...

Tim and Joel continue the discussion on discipleship and how our approach has been clouded by the rise of individualism and how personal habits more often than not trump corporate habits. Such a current worldview leads to an assumption that discipleship is only an individual pursuit , but conversely, we are also designed by God to be corporate Christians. 00:00 - Intro 01:26 - The Third Space Stud...

Fi drops into the Shock Absorber to continue the discussion with Joel and Tim on discipleship and growth. They talk about how there is something wrong if we aren't growing as Christians and that is healthy to have the expectation of continual growth. They also discuss that it is essential to be in community to grow because we are made for and need each other. 00:00 - Intro and CULTURAL ARTEFACTS 1...

Tim and Joel re-convene to discuss the much talked about topic in Christian circles: discipleship. What is it? Do we grow beyond the initial growth? Has the post-industrial world mechanised and intellectualised it so much that we are allowing it to be what God intends it to be? They talk about how discipleship can be spiritual growth in community and know that in his complexity God shows us the wa...

This week we bring you an episode from Soul Revival Church's other podcast - Chip Lunch. Our most recent guest was Craig Pring, who is part of the leadership team at Miranda Congregational Church. Hear about how God has worked through Craig's life and also his perspective on why Miranda Congregational Church looked to establish a relationship with Soul Revival and what ultimately lead to MCC votin...

Following the book launch of Australian Evangelical Perspectives on Youth Ministry, Joel, Tim and Joey discuss a more wholistic approach to teaching young people about sin. We don't do good actions to please God, but because our identity is in Christ and how children can gain solidarity as Christians in secular environment. They then re-visit a previous episode on sleep and ministry thanks to a gr...

Tim returns to the podcast to initially chat about his upcoming trip to Chicago but also to discuss how art and even entertainment has been subsumed by a distracted and addicted culture. Which leads to the question: Do Christians first need to critique culture in order to create it? And how have changes in culture impacted children and decisions we now make as parents... 00:00 - Intro & Tim's...

Sleep or lack of, can often be over-spiritualised but if we don't sleep are we actually trusting God? Brayden joins Joel and Stu to discuss rest for those working in ministry, and in particular sleep. They talk about different ways culture has disrupted sleep but also what changes you can implement to get a good night's rest despite the variables ministry throws up. 00:00 Intro 03:28 CULTURAL ARTE...

Long time Soul Revivalist Fiona makes her debut on the podcast as they discuss whether Taylor Swift may be re-uniting the generations with her music and culture. Is it because she is viewed as being safe by parents? Or because parents are fearful of losing the relationship with their kids? They also talk about friendships and how they are formed and the impact they can, doing ministry together as...

Jon Dunbier from Grace Anglican Church joins the podcast to discuss IGM and unintended consequences of a variety of church and cultural changes and the Frankenstein type church communities they often create. They again delve into creating Christian cultural goods whether that means teaching Christians to be resilient, making church exciting with those who are committed to be there or moving forwar...

Joel accidentally introduces the podcast as Chip Lunch. That's our other podcast which you can listen to here . Following the He Gets Us Campaign during the Super Bowl, Stu, Tim, and Joel look at what it means to have both truth and love when presenting the gospel - when does it turn into a caricature? And when is one or other missing when Jesus is both? The discussion then takes a turn into the d...

After a quick chat about Gladiators, Stu, Tim and Joel dive into a X thread by Dave Adamson. What follows is a wide-ranging discussion on church, culture and their impact on church leaders. Is Australian society antagonistic towards Christianity with it obviously being in the minority now? Does the reduction of the original sacred canopy to an umbrella and continued secularisation mean that pastor...

Stu, Tim and Joel return to the Shock Absorber for 2024 to talk about Soul Revival's Vision Weekend. They discuss starting from the foundation that Jesus Changes Everything, that He is more interested in our salvation than we are and so we only need to partner with Him as He sanctifies us throughout the year. They further discuss how we can be prepared for God to grow us and what that means for So...

Tim and Joel get together to record the last Shock Absorber of 2023. Christmas is the inspiration, and so they discuss what a successful Christmas Eve children's service looks like and Soul Revival's recent carols event. This leads to a wider discussion on what appeals to outsiders and why making church as attractional as possible may not be the ideal approach. The finish up with a quick chat abou...

Stu comes back on the podcast with Joel to chat about what's been taking up most of his time lately. It includes a trip to Christmas carols in Brewarrina and what is starting to emerge from his PhD since drafting the first chapter. They discuss grassroots church, what posture does the church have towards culture, a theology and ecclesiology of friendship and how it might help the church work toget...

Tim and Joel jump on for a shorter episode but jam packed with some tasty content. They talk Bonhoeffer, Tim's article on youth ministry being more than just future fruit and why he titled his last sermon "The World Is Hurtling Towards Hope". Also let us know where you're from! 00:00 Intro 02:00 CULTURAL ARTEFACT: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy 11:52 The world is hurtling towards hope 21...

SORRY ABOUT THE POOR AUDIO QUALITY! It gets better as the episode goes on. Joey and Joel sit down to talk about Joey's journey after finishing college. His is not the most normal experience of a Bible college graduate, with his first role being the pastor of a church plant within a church that has only been established for 10 years. They talk about developing as a preacher and the importance of fa...

After a short absence from the pod, Tim rejoins Joel to rejoice in young people learning about Jesus and how different music scenes have impacted culture. It leads to the question, could numerous grassroots Christian scenes have an effect on culture? For the action to be in the church, we cannot just copy culture, but it must costly to us. 00:00 Intro 01:05 Where's Tim been? 17:11 Music scenes 29:...