Nomad Podcast

Dave Andrews has committed his life to serving the poorest and most marginalised people in Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal for more than forty years. His wisdom and humility made him one of our most popular interviewees of 2014. In his Christmas reflection, Dave draws out some fascinating and surprising insights from the example of the Wise Men.  If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.  Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page. As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to recon

Carl Medearis - one of our favourite interviewees of 2013 - kicks off Nomad's 12 Days of Christmas. Carl was a missionary in Beirut, Lebanon for 12 years and now works as an international expert in the field of Christian-Muslim relations. He's uses Christmas as an opportunity to reflect on the 'fear' of God.  Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out t

Nomad made a commitment a while back to have a lot more women on the show. So we thought it was about time we looked at the theology behind that decision. Jenni Williams lectures in Old Testament Studies in Oxford, is an Associate Minister in the Anglican Church, and wrote 'God Remembered Rachel'. So she seemed like a pretty good person to ask, 'why not women?'.  “The relationship with God is what is being drawn out of these stories. And that’s where we find our value – not in our role of childbearing, or our role of being married, or our role of having a great job, or whatever.” - Jenni Williams Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of s

Alister McGrath is the master of apologetics. With three doctorates under his belt and ranked among the '20 most brilliant Christian professors', he's publically locked horns with the likes of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. “In the past, we tended to say it’s important to stress Christianity is right. Today it think it’s very important to stress that Christianity works – in other words, that it really can engage with experience and also with the deep questions of life that we wrestle with.” - Alister McGrath Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nom

Richard Rohr is a Catholic priest and a Franciscan Friar. He is well connected and respected across Christian traditions (including the emerging church), so he seemed like the perfect person to speak to about what the emerging church can gain from Catholic spirituality. “The Protestant Reformation pretty much reacted against the right brain and they’re only coming to realize that now. You can’t communicate great mystery merely by sermons, which keeps you in the left brain, keeps you argumentative. And that’s why there’s 30 000 Protestant denominations. You can’t hold groups together without symbol and ritual which touch the unconscious.” - Richard Rohr Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad R

Phyllis Tickle has her finger on the pulse of the emerging church like no one else. So if you're interested in why the emergence of a new kind of church is both inevitable and necessary, and the vital role of the Holy Spirit in this, then tune in. “For some reason, every 500 years Christianized culture goes through a huge upheaval...the whole of society goes ‘whoop’ and tosses everything into the air. We’re in the 21st century and this is what’s being called ‘the Great Emergence.” - Phyllis Tickle Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted

Sara Miles was an atheist. Then one day, out of idle curiosity, she wandered into a church, had a bite of bread and a sip of wine and God came crashing into her life. Her response was to take the principles of communion and set up a food distribution centre around the altar of her church for anyone and everyone to enjoy. So tune in for some fascinating insights into what it means to eat at God's table.  “I think the way that communion changes everything is precisely because of the universality and the catholicity of it – that it’s impossible to have this meal by yourself. This is the only meal in the world you can’t buy and you can’t eat it alone. So, all the business of religion that’s about exclusion or boundaries or drawing lines is subverted by this meal that’s offered for free to people who don’t deserve it, to people who aren’t prepared for it.” - Sara Miles Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. B

Dave Andrews has committed his life to serving the poorest and most marginalised people through small, local Christian communities. He's clearly a man who knows Jesus intimately, and has gained tremendous experience and wisdom. So why doesn't he consider himself, or even strive to be, a 'great man of God'? “I have deliberately chosen to locate myself in my local community and see myself not as a great man of God, but as a little brother of Jesus – trying to do little things with lots of love, which is a lot healthier for the people round about me because my approach is less imperial. And it’s a lot healthier for me, because I think it’s much more spiritual.” - Dave Andrews Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Ref

Dr. Bex Lewis is a research fellow in social media at Durham University and author of the popular book Raising Children in the Digital Age. So we thought we'd have a chat with her about what it means to live well in a digital world. “It is very easy to go into a discussion and not know when to let go. So, if you’re chatting in a pub with someone and they just get really rude, you can maybe go, ‘I’m not going to talk to you anymore.’ Online, people just kind of keep going.” - Bex Lewis Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Liste

Robin Parry is an evangelical, but unlike the majority of evangelicals he doesn't believe that Hell and death is the end of the story for the majority of humanity. Instead he believes the Bible teaches that we will all ultimately be reconciled to God and enjoy eternity with him. Tune in for a fascinating conversation. “Universalism occupies this space between heresy and dogma. So, it’s not heretical – it’s not outside the bounds of orthodoxy – but nor is it a central issue for orthodoxy. It’s something orthodox Christians can believe while remaining orthodox.” - Robin Parry Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to

Krista Tippett has built a career on listening. Through her award-winning public radio show and podcast, On Being, she listens to people from all religious and spiritual traditions, learning about what it means to be human and how to live life. So she seemed like the perfect person to speak to about the lost art of listening.  “The thing about listening – about real listening – is that it involves vulnerability. If you are really open to asking an honest question and you really want to hear the answer, you have to create the possibility that you will be surprised and that you might be changed. Not necessarily that you will change your mind, but that your perspective will become nuanced.” - Krista Tippett Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad

David Benjamin Blower is a prophet in the Old Testament tradition. Using music and the written word, he creatively and insightfully points the finger at himself and the world around him railing at the injustices he sees.  “I think the image of God is rooted in the love of other and to base the economics of your society on self-interest creates a very uncomfortable place for me to live in as someone who’s trying to follow the two greatest commandments: love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Capitalism just turns that completely upside-down: love yourself, then your neighbour, and then God (if you believe in Him).” - David Benjamin Blower Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited.

Gail Dines is a professor of sociology and women's studies. She has been studying porn and its effects on society for over 20 years, and has become one of the world's leading anti-porn activists. Why has she dedicated so much of her life to this one issue? Because she believes the effects of porn is one of society's main public health issues. “If you use porn and you become addicted to porn, what you do is you give up the ability for intimacy and connection – the very things that make us human. It’s really getting to the core of who we are as human beings. Your sexuality is not just one side of you. It speaks volumes about who you are in the world.” - Gail Dines  Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections,

Richard Wilkinson is professor of social epidemiology (that's the distribution of disease within a society, in case you were wondering!). His book, The Spirit Level has caused quite a stir, because he believes he's answered a very long-standing question. Why are we increasingly blighted by so many social problems when we're materially better off than we've ever been? Tune in to find out the answer!  “People have misunderstood the importance of inequality for a long time. They’ve thought of it as mattering only if it creates poverty. People think poverty is the only thing that matters, but actually what inequality does is create feelings of superiority and inferiority – it strengthens the effects of ‘social hierarchy.” - Richard Wilkinson Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as we

Nadia Bolz Weber is anything but boring, Raised in a fundamentalist church, she rebelled, immersed herself in a hedonistic lifestyle, found faith again, and now leads House for all Sinners and Saints. Tune in for a fascinating interview, full of insight, wisdom, and gritty honesty. “I’m why we have bishops. Someone like me should have a bishop. I shouldn’t be doing my own thing out there. I would give it three months before it turned into a ‘Heart of Darkness’ situation.” - Nadia Bolz Weber Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved

Bob Ekblad serves immigrants, inmates, homeless people and people struggling with addiction in the US. What's even more interesting about Bob though is how he seamlessly combines social justice with a miraculous healing ministry! “What’s happening that’s most exciting to me in the larger body of Christ is the cross-pollenization and the coming together of people from different camps to learn from each other for the benefit of the world, for the benefit of the unreached and the marginalized.” - Bob Ekblad Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our c

Lecturer in evangelism, theology and Chrisitan spirituality and author of The Mystic Way of Evangelism, Elaine Heath joins us on the show. We chat with Elaine about contemplative prayer, and the healing and outreach that naturally flows from it. So tune in if you want to know how to experience God and change the world. “We have been so captured by rationalism since the enlightenment – it’s really shaped how we think about our faith. And we’ve bought into the idea that to have faith is to ascribe intellectually to a set of doctrines and hopefully behave yourself along the way.” - Elaine Heath Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of suppor

Theologian, church leader, and author Greg Boyd is back on the show. Greg believes a call to non-violence is at the heart of the gospel. He also believes this call impacts how we relate to animals. That's right, Greg's a vegetarian. Check out the interview to find out why. “Legalism sees the rules as an end in and of themselves and therefore there are no exceptions, whereas a holistic life principle always has love as the driving thing – what’s the loving thing to do? Usually, the loving thing to do, for me anyways, is to not eat meat.” - Greg Boyd Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You mig

Sharon Baker is a theologian and author of the controversial Razing Hell. Sharon takes issue with the traditional understanding of a violent atonement and hell, and instead holds to universal reconciliation where all people are refined by God's love. “I don’t believe that God desired the violence of the cross. I think that the violence of the cross was our doing. It was a human endeavour and not required or desired by God at all, because that in itself is a grave injustice. And I don’t think God is unjust.” - Sharon Baker Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a

Pete Rollins is a philosopher, writer and founder of the Ikon community. Pete believes that unless we die to certainty and embrace doubt then God becomes just another consumer product. God, in effect, becomes an idol. Sounds interesting! “Often the church looks at the Bible or theology and says, ‘What’s the right answer?’ When really, perhaps we should look at it more like a work of art and say, ‘It’s about engaging with a conversation with the work of art, seeing its beauty, being open to being transformed by it, being open to being ruptured by it.” - Pete Rollins Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patr