Hi there! This is a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

Talking without any real idea of where we're going with our conversation is how we start today off. And we catch each other up on novel writing, listening to music and discussions of movies and movie directors.

The curious thing that we found is that the entire time we've been building towards making the most profound statement we can yet - fun is FUN!! And all the elements of life that seem trivial are indeed the things where the most meaning potentially is and, ergo, where the most FUN is!

We discuss this in terms of how we've gone through life being far too worried about life in the past, and we compare our Anglo/White perspective with the perspectives other people of other races and simply from other countries around the world to draw out where real rest and fun is taking place. Ben even declares that European culture, with its emphasis on philosophy and its background in probing the depths of life, might be the best example we have out there of humanity balancing rest, philosophy, intellection and fun.

And we always put all of these insights in terms of our relationships with God. We always put it in that context, and not with any difficulty. It's quite literally our natural instinct and inclination to do so.

Ladies and gentlemen...
Boys and girls...

Well... probably NOT boys and girls...

This is one of the LESS serious episodes of Life plus Faith equals Mess.

In this one, we start with our audio out of synch and end with Michael trying to start talking about a serious topic and failing immensely in the face of Ben not wanting to.

So... yeah.

Hi there! This is a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

We're delving into the Apostle Peter in this convo. This second half delves specifically into the nature and person of the Apostle Peter, and how this nature and personhood has manifested in Christians and forms of church all throughout the generations. And how, both in spite of and because of that, Peter's example seems to always be eternal and helpful for us as Christians to continue to move forward in our journey. And it should also always be the shining light to the non-believer of how we ought to expect life ought to be as a Christian, as well as seeing that we're all as flawed as he is, making the prospect of a relationship with God even more attractive.

Hi there! This is a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

We're delving into the Apostle Peter in this convo. This first half is mainly to do with church leadership as we see it and understand it in what's termed "the Protestant Church" today. All facets are covered, from pentecostal to other denominational expressions.

Hi there! This a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

We've been wanting to look at the history of what we know of as "modern church" for a while now because we know that one of the biggest problems these days is that Christians don't know the history of how and why their church life and the things said by the pastor each week have been informed by very specific history that has altered and shifted and re-purposed itself for the last 500 years. We are going to present all 500 of those years in all their pain and glory, shedding light on why certain churches these days believe what they believe.

This episode delves into how it all started; the Protestant Reformation, but also how we have both been fed very thin histories in our respective church backgrounds. The opening section of this podcast very much delves into how modern church circles are very shallow and limited with regards to what is offered up to us in terms of how doctrines have formed historically and how churches we've ended up in have become what they've become. However, we also delve into how knowledge of the history of Martin Luther and Protestantism sheds light on the fact that nobody is perfect in this fallen life, therefore they should never be either fully trusted or fully dismissed. We apply this to our current lives and journeys after realising that this has been the truth forever, and we particularly see this truth demonstrated in the person of Martin Luther.

Michael is often amazed simply to discover the most basic elements of its formation and the nature of the movement as started by Martin Luther and all the other events happening throughout the rest of the world at the same time. Perhaps even more important than this, why there was so much societal change at the time beyond simply the nature of "new doctrines" and ideas; that there was a lot that led to this moment.

Also, Thomas Cranmer - the true father of the Anglican Church - is covered as a way to point out the movements that occurred both in England and throughout the rest of Europe.

Hi there! This is a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

We've been wanting to look at the history of what we know of as "modern church" for a while now because we know that one of the biggest problems these days is that Christians don't know the history of how and why their church life and the things said by the pastor each week have been informed by very specific history that has altered and shifted and re-purposed itself for the last 500 years. We are going to present all 500 of those years in all their pain and glory, shedding light on why certain churches these days believe what they believe.

This is the final beat, and the final straw for the modern Pentecostal church, which, in many circles, sees itself as the only true church and the only one that has no real roots in any history because the advent of the spiritual manifestations - healing, speaking in tongues, prophecy, etc. - were so new at the time.

This episode extends the history of evangelicalism from the previous episode to demonstrate the fact that Pentecostalism has to do only with the manifestations of spirituality, not to do with salvation or theology. As such, we say that the wings of Calvinism and Arminianism within the Evangelical Churches throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries had far more to do with the theologies that ended up existing within the Pentecostal Church than is admitted. As such, we expose how dangerous and incomplete a lot of current church teachings are, as they are all continuations of or responses to this new expression known as "Pentecostalism".

We also begin to note that even before this - with the advent of Evangelicalism and Protestantism - church for the last 500 years has always been a retaliation against itself, never drawing on the true nature of God to really determine its path. As such, literally none of the doctrines can be trust fully. Only discerned.

Hi there! This a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

This is a much more personal ep as we delve into Ben's journey with pursuing a possible diagnosis for autism (in his case, "Asperger's"), learning that he is indeed actually autistic. We delve into what this knowledge means for him now looking back into his past, and how this affected his journey as a Christian.

Hi there! This a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

We've been wanting to look at the history of what we know of as "modern church" for a while now because we know that one of the biggest problems these days is that Christians don't know the history of how and why their church life and the things said by the pastor each week have been informed by very specific history that has altered and shifted and re-purposed itself for the last 500 years. We are going to present all 500 of those years in all their pain and glory, shedding light on why certain churches these days believe what they believe.

This episode furthers what was uncovered about the Protestant Reformation; how the socio-political nature of the movement gave way to something much more theological by the works of John Calvin. As such, "Calvinism" was invented, which is a term that denotes the theological belief in certain principles regarding God's election and predestination.

This then leads into clarifying the movement that countered this, Arminianism, formed by Jacobus Arminius, which sought to suggest that one's salvation still depends on performance in life after receiving spiritual knowledge of election.

These two strands of thought are what led to the two most prominent figures of the first Evangelical Revival of the 18th Century, John Wesley and George Whitefield, as Wesley was an Arminian and Whitefield was a Calvinist. Both men had such a huge impact on the world that these worldviews were adopted by those they preached to, causing evangelicalism to fall under the two brought camps of "Calvinist" or "Arminian".

Ladies and gentlemen...
Boys and girls...

Well... probably NOT boys and girls...

This is one of the LESS serious episodes of Life plus Faith equals Mess.

In this episode, we discuss important elements of life regarding what we did throughout the week and cap it all off with an oral delivery of Ben's newly delivered letter regarding how to enrol to vote in his area; mandatory listening for anyone in Australia and, let's face it, the world.

So... yeah.

Hi there! This a podcast where two guys talk about the journey of life and faith. We explore issues in the world together, and issues in Christianity. And how they're more messy than they seem!

This is one of two parts of one complete conversation that we had together.

The conversation that took place basically centres around life as worship, as was discussed in a previous conversation, and how that looks in terms of sleep, sleep patterns and how that idea has manifested in different cultures around the world. We also delve into the area of art and how that concept of sleep and rest in cultural contexts has manifested in art, and has allowed us both to embrace the idea of art as a particular element of that rest that is actually vitally important and not just "optional".

In this particular episode, Ben delves into some of his personal inspirations about art and in particular a film critic by the name of Armond White who, for him, has come to represent "quality" art. People may not be aware, but Armond White is a Christian voice, and a Christian voice in the arts - especially in the realm of the critical arts - is a rare voice indeed. A YouTuber by the name of Jonathan Pageau is also recommended. He is an Orthodox Christian who delves into the realm of symbology in church history and as it has manifested in the rest of culture.