Blessed Are the Canceled

In today’s episode, “Scapegoat: How We Try to Save the Ones We Love,”  we’ll take you behind the scenes of Josh’s resignation from his church, and explore how internal leadership fractures can surface when an organization comes under the pressure of a firestorm. 

We’ll unpack a theology of scapegoating and discover it’s far more complex than the way the word is usually used. (Spoiler alert: Josh didn’t just experience scapegoating, he participated in it himself.)

We’ll see how Jesus meets us in unique and powerful ways when following him becomes costly.

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Blessed Are the Canceled is a podcast about how being rejected, mocked, and discarded can become a pathway into the presence of God. 
 
Through personal stories, Scripture, and theology, the show explores shame, betrayal, forgiveness, exile, and spiritual formation. 

🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
📬 Read along on Substack
🎧 Season One Soundtrack Playlist on Spotify
 
Edited by Ryan Biermann 
Theme music by Tents 
Intro music by Orchid Rainbow 
 
If you found this episode meaningful, consider subscribing and sharing it with someone who might need it. 
 
#BlessedAreTheCanceled #ChristianPodcast #FaithInSuffering

What happens when people pull away?

In today’s episode, “Contagious: Why No One Wants to Be Around You,” we take you behind the scenes of Josh’s exit from The Keller Center at The Gospel Coalition, then zoom out to explore a theology of disgust.

In Leviticus, the Bible uses language like clean and unclean—categories that can feel strange, even offensive to modern ears. But they turn out to reveal something unsettling and surprisingly helpful about the social mechanics of cancel culture.

We’ll name four marks of contagiousness from the psychology of disgust, so you can understand why public shame doesn’t just wound you. It isolates you.

But there’s good news: You are not contagious to Jesus. He moves toward you.

You can’t make him dirty. He can only make you clean.

Several of the insights and illustrations in this episode were inspired by Richard Beck’s book Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality.

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Blessed Are the Canceled is a podcast about how being rejected, mocked, and discarded can become a pathway into the presence of God. 

Through personal stories, Scripture, and theology, the show explores shame, betrayal, forgiveness, exile, and spiritual formation. 

🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
📬 Read along on Substack
🎧 Season One Soundtrack Playlist on Spotify

Edited by Ryan Biermann 
Theme music by Tents 
Intro music by Orchid Rainbow 

If you found this episode meaningful, consider subscribing and sharing it with someone who might need it. 

#BlessedAreTheCanceled #ChristianPodcast #FaithInSuffering

What happens when your world falls apart?

In today’s episode, “Storm,” you’ll hear a behind-the-scenes account of the moment Josh’s world unraveled—the experience of being canceled, and what it actually felt like from the inside.

This episode explores what we mean by “canceling,” why it’s more complex than we often assume, and how Scripture reframes these moments—not just as loss, but as a potential pathway into the presence of God.

Your storm doesn’t have to be the end of your story.
It can become a place where God meets you.

--

Blessed Are the Canceled is a podcast about how being rejected, mocked, and discarded can become a pathway into the presence of God.

Through personal stories, Scripture, and theology, the show explores shame, betrayal, forgiveness, exile, and spiritual formation.

🎧 Listen:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033hheN3Kko4W76zRWXqxv?si=nX1kLMUKSMSokNVUDBp3bg 
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blessed-are-the-canceled/id1896762098

📬 Substack:
Brenna Blain: https://brennablain.substack.com/  
Josh Butler: https://joshuabutlerpdx.substack.com/  

📚 Books:
Brenna Blain: https://brenna-blain.vercel.app/  
Josh Butler: https://joshuaryanbutler.com/books/  

🎧 Soundtrack:
Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/24mOo6kVrgnOlKCJBnKvEj?si=1-wnL72_SJ-VwnobCa8sIg&pi=XLyMtzbvTfmqh

Edited by Ryan Biermann  
Theme music by Tents
Intro music by Orchid Rainbow

If you found this episode meaningful, consider subscribing and sharing it with someone who might need it.

#BlessedAreTheCanceled #ChristianPodcast #FaithInSuffering

What happens when your world falls apart?

Blessed are the Canceled is a podcast about how being rejected, mocked, and discarded can actually become a pathway into the presence of God.

Hosted by Brenna Blain and Josh Butler.

Launching May 26.

New episodes every Tuesday.

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

🎧 Listen:
Spotify: Coming soon
Apple Podcasts: Coming soon

📬 Substack:
Brenna Blain: https://brennablain.substack.com/
Josh Butler: https://joshuabutlerpdx.substack.com/

📚 Books:
Brenna Blain: https://brenna-blain.vercel.app/
Josh Butler: https://joshuaryanbutler.com/books/

📱 Instagram:
Brenna Blain: https://www.instagram.com/bunonmyhead/
Josh Butler: https://www.instagram.com/joshuabutlerpdx/

🎧 Soundtrack:
Spotify Playlist: Coming soon

Edited by Ryan Biermann
Music by Orchid Rainbow