Marcus leads us in the fourth Lectio Divina of this season from the passage Matthew 6:5-13.

Lectio Divina is a contemplative way of reading the Bible. It is a way of praying the scriptures that leads us deeper into God’s word, dating back to the 6th Century.

It is not Bible study or an alternative to Bible study but something radically different. The practice understands Scripture as a meeting place for a personal encounter with the Living God. It is a practice we come to with the desire to be changed on all levels. It operates very much on the emotional rather than the purely cerebral level. It is perhaps hearty rather than heady. Through it we allow ourselves to be formed in the likeness of Christ; it is about formation rather than instruction.

adapted from www.anglicancommunion.org

After a 7-month hiatus, we're back with part 2 of our conversations with Andrew. The first episode was released back in July 2021. We start this week's podcast by talking about the times we justify our actions against our neighbours because of previous grievances. Andrew talks about the role pastors play in helping their congregations examine hurtful actions against others.

Andrew then goes into a model for short-term missions and how missions can be done in a manner that dignifies the communities we want to serve. Finally, we wrap up our time with Andrew with his thoughts on not being the face of an organization that he co-founded and serves in.

Marcus and Japheth speak with Dr. Andrew DeCort, an American living in Ethiopia and his life as an ethicist and public theologian, having studied Bonhoeffer extensiely. Andrew shares with us about the movement he co-founded with his Ethiopian counterpart called the Neighbour Love Movement that emphasizes the human connection between people over identity politics.

Andrew shares with us foundational principles on loving our neighbour and how we can lead others to a loving God through our just and kind treatment of each other. This is the first episode of a two-part series with Andrew.

Ruth Rigden leads us in the third and final Lectio Divina of this season from the passage Matthew 5:38-48. Ruth is a friend of Marcus who grew up in India as a missionary kid. In 2019, Ruth graduated from Cambridge with a degree in linguistics. She now lives in the coastal English town of Kent, working as a teacher.

Lectio Divina is a contemplative way of reading the Bible. It is a way of praying the scriptures that leads us deeper into God’s word, dating back to the 6th Century.

It is not Bible study or an alternative to Bible study but something radically different. The practice understands Scripture as a meeting place for a personal encounter with the Living God. It is a practice we come to with the desire to be changed on all levels. It operates very much on the emotional rather than the purely cerebral level. It is perhaps hearty rather than heady. Through it we allow ourselves to be formed in the likeness of Christ; it is about formation rather than instruction.

adapted from www.anglicancommunion.org

This episode is hosted by Marcus and Lauren. We speak with Johnita Dickerson, a former colleague of Lauren, about her Black experience in America and her time in Malaysia as an English teacher. Johnita reflects on the whitewashing of Black folk and shares the story of her faith journey with us. We then have a candid conversation about her decision to vote for Trump in 2016 and then Biden in 2020.

We also speak with Johnita about the syncretism of nationalism she has been noticing in many churches in America and her departure from White Evangelicalism as she attempts to redefine her faith for the future and Marcus shares how Lauren introduced him to Christian rap and recounts a funny story from their college days.

Click on the SHOW NOTES hyperlink below to connect with Johnita.

In this epsiode, Marcus and Japheth speak with Dr. Dion Forster about his role in co-initiating the Global Day of Prayer, and his experience of being a Methodist minister in a Black Methodist denomination in 90s apartheid South Africa. He introduces us to a concept of holiness in Methodism (social holiness) and we talk about his work in helping South African followers of Jesus express their faith identity through the pan-African philosophy of Ubuntu, emphasizing the humanity that being in society affords individuals through the statement “a person is a person through other people”.

We also talk about interpreting scripture responsibly as it pertains to the question of sexuality and gender orientation, and the importance of creating a Christlike sexual ethics that does not place hetero-normativity in the centre of human sexuality.

Click on the SHOW NOTES hyperlink below to find out more about Dion and his work

We are joined by Sarah Joy Seb, a Pastors’ Kid, worship leader, wife, and mother. Sarah Joy shares her story with us about her own journey as a PK, marrying a non-believer, and mothering a toddler in the age of online church. Sarah Joy also shares about a community of new mothers she is part of from her church and how it has encouraged her in her spiritual development.

We talk about what “church” means in the digital age and what counts as having “done church”. Sarah Joy shares briefly about what she is learning in her church’s connect group that meets online and how it is challenging her to be more compassionate and gracious with people who are not yet believers.

In the second episode of a two part series with Melanie, we talk about the need for an Southeast Asian expression when it comes to the act of theologizing, specifically in the field of contextualization. We also talk about ideas on reframing church membership around “belonging before believing” and pursuing common mission and ventures together as a central point of community.

The conversation then shifts to a lighter note about our interests in personality tests and funny stories. Marcus and Japheth end the episode by reflecting what Church means to us. Marcus also brings up the sin often not talked about in church - structural sin.

In this episode, Marcus and Japheth reflect on the COVID-19 SOPs in Malaysia and lament a recent event involving a train accident in Malaysia. We are then joined by our friend and guest, Melanie Lim, who speaks to us about lifelong learning and her efforts to reimagine church community as part of her research program for her M.Th at the Asia Graduate School of Theology Alliance. Melanie gives great insight into the process of reimagining a way for church communities to exist that is conducive for people who may see their mission as being outside of a church ministry.

This is part one of a two part series with Melanie Lim. Melanie’s bio can be found in our show notes.

We’re back this week with another guided Lectio Divina led by our good friend, Janice Jesudasan. Janice serves on the leadership team at the KL House of Prayer (KLHOP).

Lectio Divina is a contemplative way of reading the Bible. It is a way of praying the scriptures that leads us deeper into God’s word, dating back to the 6th Century.

It is not Bible study or an alternative to Bible study but something radically different. The practice understands Scripture as a meeting place for a personal encounter with the Living God. It is a practice we come to with the desire to be changed on all levels. It operates very much on the emotional rather than the purely cerebral level. It is perhaps hearty rather than heady. Through it we allow ourselves to be formed in the likeness of Christ; it is about formation rather than instruction.

adapted from www.anglicancommunion.org