For those of you who support us on Patreon, you’ll already be familiar with David Benjamin Blower’s music. Each month he responds to a guest’s reflection with music and song. And out of these Devotionals…
Christianity in the West is collapsing. Poet, peacemaker and scholar John Philip Newell believes we can either deny it’s happening, try to shore up the foundations of the old thing, or we can radically reorientate…
This months Devotional explores the title found in Psalm 145 “God of All Flesh” – God as the loving Maker of all, across tribal, religious or ethnic boundaries, or boundaries of purity and taboo. Dave Andrews reflects on his work alongside Muslims and his conviction that Jesus has no religious gatekeepers.
Vicky Beeching was the darling of the Christian worship scene. For a decade she wrote hit albums and toured American mega-churches, leading worship for thousands of people every week. Her songs become some of the…
“If we want our world to be more beautiful, kind and fair, then shouldn’t our activism be beautiful, kind and fair?” It’s obvious when you hear someone say it. So why is so much activism…
This months Devotional explores themes of nomadic wandering alongside themes of home and dwelling. Thomas Oord reflects on living a life of love and Rachel Held Evans talks about the process of deconstruction and reconstruction.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware is considered by many to be the leading theologian today in the Orthodox Church. He is perhaps best known as the author of the book The Orthodox Church, and more recently the…
Talk of freedom (or what we will refer to as liberation) can send shivers down the spines of different people for a whole array of reasons. For some, the suspicion of freedom is really rooted…
Rachel Held Evans has had quite a journey. Brought up in the ‘buckle of the Bible Belt’ she inherited a conservative evangelical faith and was a self-professing ‘Bible Nerd’. But shaken by the realities of…
With the help of Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann, this month’s devotional explores the themes of “friendship,” “knowing” and “abiding”… What is the language of friendship with God really about? How do friendship with God and friendship with neighbour intersect? How are they kept together?
Political theologian Stephen Backhouse believes that the earliest Christians tended to see patriotism as a vice – a temptation to guard against. Now it seems most Christians assume it is a virtue. Many of us, for…
Danielle Shroyer believes that more than any other idea, the doctrine of original sin has “slowly eroded our understanding of our relationship with God”. Not only that, she believes it is unbiblical, and was rejected by…
Poet and priest Malcolm Guite helps us mark the death and resurrection of Jesus with poems from his series on the stations of the cross, and with his reflections on the Messianic Event. Nomad’s David…
Professor Thomas Oord has spent years wrestling with the problem of evil. Why, if God is all powerful and all loving, is there so much evil in the world? This question has brought Thomas to…
This month Georgia May takes us around some of the corners of the Bible that have meant the most to her in her commitment to radical hospitality.
‘Have you ever read 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 and wondered what Paul is going on about? I hope, if you have read it, that you did find it confusing. If you did, it means you were…
Georgia May’s parents had an open-door policy. Literally. Most of the time the front door of their home was left open, so that people would feel welcome at any time. Consequently, Georgia grew up with a…
Jayme Reaves grew up in a home and a church that weren’t safe environments. This later led to a passion to study and experience true hospitality. Through her studies and her experiences in the former Yugoslavia and…
This month theologian Jayme Reaves tells us the incredible story of how one community of Christians and Muslims stood by each other during the Bosnian war. David Blower then explores this with readings, music and songs.
Nomad favourite Brad Jersak was in town recently, so we seized on the opportunity to hang out, and quiz him about his faith journey. And it’s a very interesting faith journey, taking in charismatic evangelicalism, anabaptism,…
John Swinton is a Scottish theologian and founder of the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. After years of work as a mental health nurse, John became an academic in order to process all that…
This devotional welcomes in the new year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s poem New Years Day, which is here set to song. The poem, alongside others, can be read in Letters and Papers from Prison. The song For Thy Mercy is adapted from the hymn by Henry Downton. With reflections from Ruth Nash and readings from Hannah Nash.
Here’s the final part of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian Elaine Storkey reflects on Advent in the context of those on the margins. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams finishes the Advent readings,…
It’s week three of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian Elaine Storkey considers how Advent might be Good News to the Poor. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams continues to work his way through…
Here’s the second part of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian Elaine Storkey bases her reflection around the idea of Peace Across Borders. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams again brings the readings along…
If you’re one of our Patreon supporters, then you’ll already be familiar with our Nomad Devotionals. Every month we ask a guest to reflect on a topic, and then we unpack it with music, song, readings,…
Dave Randall has played guitar for some huge acts, including Faithless, Dido and Sinead O’Connor. As he’s reflected on his career and the industry he’s been a part of, he has begun to see the huge potential of music…
The podcast I was listening to cut out halfway to my Aunt Hilda’s funeral. Like a switch being flicked, I suddenly saw my surroundings. I saw the greyness of the sky, the blankness of the…
Muhanad Al Qaisy’s grandfather, grandmother and seven children fled their home in Palestine and ended up in a refugee camp in 1948. Nearly 70 years later, the family is still struggling to make a life…
Well, this is it, Dave Ward’s final episode. After six years of podcasting, he’s decided to go on to other things (probably something to do with horses…). In his final episode, we’re chatting with Nick…
A recent report into human trafficking revealed that the problem is significantly worse than previously thought. In fact, it is believed that in the UK alone, every large town and city will have trafficked people…
Elizabeth Edman believes she has learnt more from the LGBTQ community about what it means to be a Christian, than she has from the Church. Why? Well, she believes the church has forgotten what it means to…
Malcolm Guite is a poet, priest and theologian. Years of inhabiting these roles has led him to the belief that we’re relying far too much on reason and thought in the formation of our faith, and are overlooking the…
I know, we only just interviewed Walter Brueggemann! But he’s just brought a book out entitled Money and Possessions and we’ve still got unresolved questions after our chat with Justin Welby on that subject. So why not spend another hour in the digital presence of one…
If we are going to follow Christ, we need to repent of our Christianity. Granted, there is no such “thing” as Christianity–Christianity has always been a messy constellation of ideas and traditions. But, for the…
Walter Brueggemann is widely considered to be one of the most influential theologians of our time. So who better to help us get a handle on the idea of the Sabbath. Especially as he wrote…
My criteria for writing a book is simple. I write what I cannot not write. I don’t rummage around in my mind for a topic, I don’t attempt to divine the whims of the market,…
For the last 20 years Shane Claiborne has been trying to follow Jesus in a deprived area of Philadelphia. This journey has led him to a commitment to non-violence, ‘from womb to tomb’, which has…
“The battle to be like Jesus is won or lost in milliseconds.” That’s a quote from my recent podcast with Tim and David about “Why We Don’t Love Like Jesus.” I was making the point…
It’s pretty clear what Jesus was about. Love you neighbour (and if that’s not challenging enough, love your enemies) was at the top of his manifesto. So why do we find it so hard to follow his example? Professor of Psychology…
When Christians hear the word ‘grace’, they take it to mean ‘unmerited favour’ or ‘unconditional gift’. If Christ died for sinners (so Romans 5.6-8), the grace of Christ is not a reward for merit but…
In many ways Brian Zahnd is like many of Nomad’s guests in that he deconstructed (although he doesn’t like that term) what he came to see as a very narrow faith, and reconstructed something much deeper…
Time is all around us. It shapes and forms our lives, gives substance to the rhythm of our intentions and provides us with the boundaries within which we live, love, care and die. Time is…
Every now and then we like to interview a fellow podcaster who, like us, is creating a space for an open and honest exploration of the Christian faith. And Justin Brierley is one such person….
In many ways, Nomad has been quite an intellectual journey. And as much as we love some good old fashioned theological cut-and-thrust, we’ve increasingly aware that if this journey is going to be sustainable, it’s got to…
If ever there’s a time for radical theology, it’s now. Why? Because we must dig beneath the surface of our western system or nothing will permanently change for the better. Why is it that so…
What actually is prayer? What happens when we do it? What difference can it make, if any, to the events and circumstances we find ourselves in? Should we expect to sense God in prayer, or…
You may have heard the moving story recently of Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a children’s author from the United States who discovered she had ovarian cancer. Sensing she had precious little time left, she wrote a…
I’m on a quest to make some sense of God and life. The journey isn’t easy. I seek help from the sciences, arts, literature, cultures, sages and saints, and wisdom traditions. I also read theological…
Greg Boyd is back on the show! This time he’s tackling the thorny issue of violence in the Old Testament. How is it, for example, that the God revealed in Jesus loves his enemies and lays down…
When I was 22, I had almost everything completely figured out … about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, theology. Strange … by 30, I knew a little less, and the certainty/mystery ratio has…
At our recent offline Gathering, Mark Vernon – former Anglican Priest, turned atheist, turned Christian agnostic – led us in a Buddhist inspired meditation. To get the full benefit from this, you might want to sit near…
We recently celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. This was an invitation to reflect, and while there is much good fruit, one unmistakable post-Reformation reality is that there are now an estimated 47,000 protestant…
This podcast comes to you from Nomad’s first offline Gathering. We had a great weekend of food, drink, conversation, music and meditation. We also interviewed Mark Vernon. Mark was an Anglican priest but developed deep…
