After a late night road trip full of nostalgia, Josh has questions about what music brings us back to the good ol' days. Especially within the Christian genre, we meander through many songs, bands, and eras of the Christian music we grew up with: good, bad, and cringy. We try to name the silliest Christian song, the silliest Silly song, silliest camp song, and take some serious shots at grifters like Kanye. So enjoy!
And enjoy this TREASURE TROVE of music linked below recommended by each of the hosts!
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It's a boys night! Josh and Stephen are left alone to talk about religion in the workplace. It felt fitting, after all, to let the pastor have a break for this one, considering her workplace IS her religion. We get into public shows of faith at work, evangelism in the cubicles, and what exactly "makes us different."
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There are still quite a few things we've never done here at Ravel. One of them was playing games on air. So we change that today, as Stephen leads us through a bracket style challenge game, pitting 32 ancient and modern heresies against each other in order to find the ultimate ICK! Grab a drink, play along, and learn a little bit about what Christians through the ages have cared about enough to condemn certain ideas as (scare quotes) HERESY!
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... but we're actually not going anywhere! Just different.
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Natural disasters often ignite spiritual reflection, but what if the apocalypse isn’t destruction, but transformation? In this episode, we trace the line between eschatology and ecology, questioning the theology that sees disaster as divine judgment and exploring what it means to live as responsible stewards in a world crying out for renewal.
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We're back, and we explore whether transitional beliefs are helpful or harmful in faith journeys. We dig into slippery slopes, the power of personal values, and how openness (not rigidity) often shapes a healthier spiritual life. Along the way, we debate if progressive Christianity is truly an “off-ramp” out of faith, or just a new way to stay on the road.
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***CW: There is a brief mention of suicide at 39:48 and a story involving the following memorial service lasting until 41:20.
If you or a loved one are experiencing mental health struggles, please call or text the Crisis Lifeline at 988. Please listen gently and carefully.***
Allow us to set the table for a classic Christian conundrum: who gets to come to the table and partake in Communion? Do the gluten-free get to have an option in this highly symbolic act of worship and ritual? What about those with food allergies? Or that youth group camp that is forced to use corn chips and yellow lemonade in their communion service? Or perhaps you enjoy a meal in remembrance of a loved one with boxed wine and McDoubles? What COUNTS?
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Truly, this is just one of those episodes you have to listen to to believe. Josh does a book report on The Xanue: Befriending the Bigfoot Forrest People (no link provided because we don't actually think you should buy the book).
Bigfoot is a missionary for the gospel of Christ Jesus.
There are warring factions of shapeshifters fighting to confuse and terrify THAT ARE DEFINITELY NOT NEPHILIM.
The Garden of Eden is the name of an extragalactic planet where the progenitors of humanity (Adam and Eve) FAILED the test while the Xanue people PASSED and became ascended, unfallen beings of the universe.
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In this episode, we volley interpretations around the story of Pharoah not letting the Israelites go because of his "hardened heart." What does it mean? In the light and heat of YHWH, was Pharoah more like mud baking dry rather than wax melting smooth? And what the heck do we do with the New Testament's "Unforgivable Sin"? And ultimately, are we looking at the same thing in Pharoah?
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WHO'S YOUR DADDY??? Ravel is back from the unplanned break and ready to gooooo! We're bringing you an episode that was, admittedly, recorded months ago, but it is no less fun. We're getting into the reading of the Hebrew word "ABBA" as we try to figure out where the heck this whole "daddy" business started as it's used to refer to God.
(FACT CHECK: Stephen goes the entire episode talking about the "ABBA, Father" verse as if Jesus was the one teaching it, while it was in fact, Paul in Romans 8:15.)
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Stephen says "there are a lot of god shaped ghosts in my attic." Josh takes the idea and runs with it, saying that "we will always be haunted by the Holy Ghost, but it is up to us whether it's like Casper the friendly ghost or like a poltergeist."
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Thank you for your supreme patience while we took an unscheduled break for a couple months! We're back with a conversation about the historical Jesus! Specifically, we're avoiding talking about "the Christ," instead focusing on the ideas of Jesus' humanity. Speculations include: as a devout Jewish man, he was likely married; he was likely born in Nazareth and not Bethlehem; and he was almost surely a stonemason and not a woodworker.
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***This episode includes discussion of nihilism, meaninglessness, and suicide. If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts or a crisis, please contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. Please listen with care.***
Josh wonders if we ever escape nihilism. Stephen is ready to embrace the existential meaningless in a joyful, stoic way. Emily sees meaning in literally everything.
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When does honest and earnest transparency tip into oversharing and misplaced attention seeking? (the podcasters ask, fully acknowledging what irony this invites...) What is gossip actually? How can information shared amongst a community be helpful for reinforcing good boundaries and expectations without tipping into harmful rumor-mongering?
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Really though? When it's essentially the only human experience that is truly universal, that we all will die, why do we have such a bad relationship with it? Stephen wonders if the fear of death is something religion does to inspire fear to win converts. "Oh death, where is your sting?" Perhaps we got it all wrong and what we thought was a sting was a kiss all along!
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It's about time we check in on our thoughts on money, huh? A lot has changes since the teen episodes of our podcast and Josh is wondering "does it matter where money comes from?" Unsurprisingly, we talk about the implications of philanthropy, giving vs tithing mindset, the churches that are greasy and gross about money, and the ones who could be doing it better.
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Why don't more people wonder about what Jesus himself thought the church would be? Would Jesus like what we've done with the place? Or would he think we completely missed the mark from what he had in mind when he told Peter "upon this rock I will build my church"? These questions and more as we grapple with the greek ecclesia and play a wild hypothetical when Stephen asks Emily what would happen if Jesus showed up at the church she pastors!
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Stephen has officially entered his atheist Philosophy Era (think Taylor Swift's Reputation Era with equal amounts of confidence with a dash of ennui-bordering-on-nihilism) and wants to play with the classic thought experiment presented by Blaise Pascal: the famous "wager." We discuss the misconceptions and misapplications as used by evangelical Christian apologists as well as Pascal's thoughts on uncertainty.
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We at the pod are using the classic New Year energy to reevaluate priorities and goals and have come to a decision to dial back the pod to an every-other-week release schedule. We have additionally decided to retire our social media presence as @ravelpod. Stay subscribed and look forward to a new episode next week!
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We're starting the year off right by talking about the cRiNgE thrown around by Christians and atheists alike. What's at the root of the cringe response? Why do we hate it? What do we love to hate it?
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