Such an enlightening conversation with Dr. Mark Braverman, an internationally renowned peacemaker who grew up Jewish and was introduced to Jesus by Palestinian Christians persevering under the boot of Empire. We discuss how Christian Zionism (the number one theological killer / software of Palestinians - including Palestinian Christians and children) is anti-semitic and colonial in its roots.

To learn more from Dr. Braverman’s wisdom on this very relevant topic, you can take his summer school course at St. Stephen’s University this May, titled ‘Zionism, the Church’s Colonial Legacy, and the Palestinian Call’. Register here!

Course description:

With Palestine as the entry point, we will focus on the church's struggle to reclaim the core of the gospel given its historical entanglement with colonialism and Empire. We will train a critical theory lens on Christian Zionism in light of the philojudaic revisionism that theologians and church leaders have undertaken in the post-holocaust era. We will enter deeply into the kairos theology of the South African church struggle and the flowering of Palestinian kairos theology, and understand the weapon-ization of antisemitism in the context of Christian nationalism through the lenses of scripture, public theology & church history.

You can also follow along with Mark Braverman on his newly launched Substack for more of his insights and wisdom.

Hey friends -

I wanted to introduce to you my dear friend - Canadian theologian and pastor, Dr. Jon Coutts who is teaching some fascinating courses on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and AI’s connexus with Empire / Authoritarianism at St. Stephen’s University’s (SSU) Summer School program this Summer - two timely courses for our time that are sure to open up your worlds!

SSU Summer School is online and open to anyone who wants to audit or take a class for graduate level credit. Do watch this conversation and sign up here whenever you’re ready.

Here are the course descriptions for the two courses:

Theology in Turmoil: The Life and Thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This is a study of the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as it grew against the grain of early twentieth century German nationalism and American racism. Through lectures and text discussions, students will learn about Bonhoeffer’s historical context and his political theology, thereby enabling them to consider how they engage the world today.

DATES: MAY 17 – AUGUST 8, 2026

A.I. vs Humanity: A Theology of Technology

This is a study of the theologies of humanity and of technology through the lens of modern developments in AI, or Artificial Intelligence. The particular AI in view will be that of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (GPTs), analyzed in light of theological anthropology, disability theology, and political theology.

DATES: MAY 17 – AUGUST 8, 2026

About Dr. Jon Coutts:

Jon Coutts lives in Calgary where he has pastored and taught theology in a leading seminary for many years. Prior to this, he pastored churches in the Christian and Missionary Alliance and most recently taught ethics in England. He is the author of the SCM Studyguide to Church Leadership and of A Shared Mercy, a book on forgiveness in the church published with IVP.

Such a joy getting to talk about my new role at St. Stephen’s University (SSU) as our Director of Fundraising & Advancement + Instructor in Public Theology, Peace & Justice with my new colleagues, Dr. Bradley Jersak (Principal of SSU) and Steve Schallert (Director of Marketing and co-host of Good on Wood Podcast!

We discuss our incredibly rich Summer School online course offerings that are open to anyone and everyone for graduate school credit / audit. Instructors (apart from myself and Bradley Jersak) include Dr. Randy Woodley, Lisa Sharon Harper, Shane Claiborne, etc. And courses range from Christian Zionism, to Bonhoeffer, to AI, to Indigenous Theology, to Jesus, Justice & Empire (my first course at SSU!).

Register for Summer School here. Hope to see you in class!

I first heard of Jarrod McKenna years ago (right before my public platforms blew up) when a particular ex of mine said to me, “You’ve got to check this Jarrod McKenna guy out! Watch his videos. He seems brilliant about this justice stuff.”

I responded, “Sure,” as I was generally unsure about anything this particular ex recommended.

But this recommendation was massively different. I’ve been hooked onto Jarrod and his wisdom ever since!

Then, about 3 years ago, one of my Australian Paid Subscribers here (also a parishioner of Jarrod’s) messaged me saying, “How do you not know Jarrod? He’s my Pastor. Let me introduce you both because you should absolutely be friends.”

Jarrod has been more than just a friend over the past three years. He’s been a wise mentor-figure (with at least a decade more of peacemaking experience than myself) and one of my biggest encouragers. Really, he’s been incredibly priestly towards me as a friend - even if our deep chats are mostly him Instagram video calling me while dropping his sweetest little boys off to school in the morning (my evening). And even if we’ve failed at planning my Aussie trip twice now.

Our worlds are colliding even more now given both of our shared work at St. Stephen’s University - especially as Jarrod co-hosts our incredible podcast (Good on Wood Podcast) alongside fellow South African peacemaker, Steve Schallert.

I hope you enjoy this rare conversation where we got to invite others into our wrestling. We might even do another one soon to discuss how the American Empire tried to suppress Liberation Theology movements across the Global South Church by propping up evangelicalism as its Empire-endorsed brand of Christianity.

PS: If you enjoyed this conversation, go subscribe to Jarrod McKenna’s incredible Substack Transfiguring Power with Jarrod McKenna!

Such an honour to get to engage in conversation with one of my heroes and gurus in the justice & peacemaking space - Lisa Sharon Harper! If you’ve read my book (The Justice of Jesus), you’ve seen me quote Lisa repeatedly throughout it.

Tune into this conversation to discuss Lisa’s upcoming summer school course at St. Stephen’s University on Fortune: Genealogy, Revolution & Repair (based on her must-read book, Fortune). This course is a much needed space for anyone (especially our white settler siblings in the US & Canada) to unpack our complex family histories (the Shalom, the brokenness, and the trauma) with Lisa as their teacher and guide.

Because as Lisa shared in our conversation, “Power without rootedness is how you get Donald Trump.” People so disconnected from their ancestors and Creator-given identities (stolen from us by Empire) that they spill over towards their neighbors in harmful ways.

But things don’t have to be this way. Because peacemakers like Lisa and I have found healing, compassion, and courage by reconciling with the stories of our own ancestors - inner healing work that has been critical in both of our formation journeys as peacemakers.

Seriously - don’t miss out on this rare opportunity to learn from Lisa Sharon Harper’s wisdom in this classroom community at St. Stephen’s. Learn more about this course (including dates, fees, etc.) and register for it here!

This is a terrific course to be taking alongside my summer school course at St. Stephen’s - Jesus, Justice & Empire.

We hope to see you in class soon!

Join me for my next live video in the app.

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video with Jonathan P. Walton about his newest book, Beauty + Resistance! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Fr. Joash P. Thomas sits down with his dear friend and fellow South Asian Christian author, Amar Peterman to talk about Amar's newly released book - Becoming Neighbours: The Common Good Made Local.

Buy your copy here or wherever you get your books: https://bookshop.org/p/books/becoming-neighbors-the-common-good-made-local-amar-d-peterman/99c7eb7b80390fc3?ean=9780802884121&next=t