The Dip Chew Podcast

In the second episode of our two part series with Dr. Ng Oon-Ee, we talk about the myth of certainty many Christians have that entraps us in our entrenched views. Oon-Ee shares about his process, learning from writers and activists from other faiths, and how he attempts to have conversations with his church co-leaders on certain topics.

Oon-Ee briefly reflects on the demographic of the Malaysian Church and the dangers of aligning ecclesiological praxis with political ideology. We also attempt a conversation about LGBTQ+ and the complexities of navigating the question in Malaysia (context: homosexuality is criminalized). We end the conversation with a fun bit, talking about our online posts and all the “trouble” Japheth and Marcus stir with our posts.

You can find the first episode of this two part series on all our streaming platforms. Visit our show notes page to find out more about Oon-Ee and to connect with him.

Note: We apologize for the poor audio quality of the first fifteen minutes of the podcast.

In the first episode of a two part series, Marcus and Japheth reflect on the guilty verdict from the Derek Chauvin Trial. We are then joined by Ng Oon Ee in the 15th minute, an academician in Malaysia who also serves as a millennial leader at his local church. We explore the impact Western influences has on how we theologize and the lingering effects of colonialism on the education system in Malaysia.

Visit our show notes page to find out more about Oon-Ee and to connect with him.

This episode is an honest, and raw conversation that has been lightly edited for coherence, but is otherwise "as is".

Marcus and Japheth reflect on the meaning of community from our conversation with Sarah and talk about some pretty heavy stuff relating to hypocrisy from the pulpit, mainly how churches claim to be safe spaces to fail but reject people who fail. We briefly mention Ravi Zacharias and how church leaders need to be more apparent about their own failures as they are unfolding, instead of pretending just to keep the show going.

Trigger Warning: There is one swear word used twice.

If you are a church person/leader, this will definitely sound harsh and may even offend you. Please listen for the heart of where we are coming from - even if your church experience has been great, many have had their trust betrayed by their leaders and are hurting with little to no one acknowledging the truth of it all.

In this episode, we spoke with Sarah about her life in Rome and living as a follower of Jesus in a post-Christian cultural context. Sarah shared about the amazing things she is seeing God do in Europe through Christian community. We also briefly discussed the RZIM report and the grieving process that happens when the truth of a trusted leader is different from their projected image.

Find Sarah’s bio in the show notes.

Following our previous conversation on mental health, our friend Ashley Niemann - a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from Minnesota, guides us on a mindful breathing meditation, using the four square breathing technique (also known as box breathing).

Box breathing helps relax the mind and increase focus and clarity through resetting one's breath. This technique is effective in helping the body leave fight-flight or freeze mode and decreases stress in the body. Mindful breathing helps us connect our body, mind, and spirit and brings us into a fresh appreciation of the "now".

Find a quiet spot, get comfortable, and participate in this 7 minute guide. Special thanks to our dear friend, Ashley for taking the time to record this audio guide for the podcast.

On our fourth episode, we speak with singer-song writer, Lester, about stepping back from ministry roles as a pastor’s kid and worship leader to work on his mental health journey and maps out how he sought professional help that led to the creation of his EP, this is how it felt. We also reflect on the preferred extroverted style of leadership we find in churches today, burn out in ministry, and discuss our own struggles with performance as worship leaders. Marcus and Japheth conclude the episode with our honest thoughts about our own struggles as worship leaders.

Lester’s bio and the link to his EP on Spotify can be found in the shownotes.

We put a pause on conversations with guests this week for a guided Lectio Divina led by Lauren Usherwood Dip Silas. 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.

On our second episode, Marcus and Japheth recap our Chinese New Year celebrations. We are joined by Tim and we speak about his work moving faith forward and the need for a new Evangelical movement. We talk about deconstruction and its role in spiritual growth. Tim shares about his own faith journey and we end the episode with some encouraging words from Tim for those who are currently going through deconstruction.

On the first episode of our podcast, Marcus and Japheth talk about why we decided to start a podcast. We share a bit about ourselves and explore some of the themes that we will discuss on Season 1.

The original music for this episode, titled "In the Beginning", was composed by John Dip Silas for the podcast. All rights reserved by John Dip Silas and The Dips Collective.