Gravity Commons Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Jonathan Foster: Tending to Our Grief Through Poetry Feb 25, 2025

Show notes

We talked with podcaster and author Jonathan Foster about indigo: the color of grief, his book of poems that came from processing the painful loss of his daughter.

Jonathan is the partner of one and father of three, founder of lovehaiti.org, podcaster, and award-winning author with some degrees in open and relational theology who loves to hike. You can connect with Jonathan and his work at jonathanfosteronline.com.

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Marc Alan Schelske: The Path of Other-Centered, Co-Suffering Love Feb 18, 2025

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We talked with pastor and author Marc Alan Schelske about the practicalities of following Jesus on the path of other-centered, so-suffering love.

Marc's new book Walking Otherwardis a forty-day devotional (just in time for Lent!) that follows the Gospel texts of Jesus' final weeks before his crucifixion. Each entry invites you to try on Jesus' attitude, setting aside self-centered, ego-defending ambition in exchange for other-centered, co-suffering love.

Marc Alan Schelske writes at the intersection of grace and growth. He hosts the Apprenticeship Way podcast and writes books about the inner life and the other-centered, co-suffering way of Jesus. He serves as the pastor of Bridge City Community Church and lives in Portland, Oregon. You can find out more about him and his work at marcalanschelske.com.

We've talked with Marc a couple times before on the podcast:

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Liz Charlotte Grant: Seeking God after Losing Faith in the Bible Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

Essayist Liz Charlotte seeks to “read life” into the Bible, a text long limited by rigid evangelical notions of biblical inerrancy. In her book Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible, rshe draws on a broad range of sources to unpack the first 32 chapters of Genesis in a remarkably fresh way.

Liz Charlotte Grantis an award-winning writer whose work has been published in The Revealer, Sojourners, Brevity, Christian Century, Christianity Today, Hippocampus, Religion News Service, US Catholic, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Her essays have twice won a Jacques Maritain Nonfiction Prize. She also writes The Empathy List, a popular newsletter that has been nominated for a Webby two years running and garnered an honorable mention from the Associated Church Press Awards in 2023. Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible is her first book.

You can connect with Liz and her work on her website, and subscribe to her newsletter The Empathy List here.

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Leaving White Evangelicalism, Part 3: Experiments and Transgressions Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

Matt and Ben continue reflecting on the process of leaving the white evangelical spaces they both came to faith in.

Show notes:

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Leaving White Evangelicalism, Part 2: Theology Vs. History Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

Matt and Ben continue reflecting on the process of leaving the white evangelical spaces they both came to faith in.

Show notes:

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Leaving White Evangelicalism, Part 1: What is Evangelicalism? Jan 21, 2025

Show notes

Matt and Ben reflect on the process of leaving the white evangelical spaces they both came to faith in.

Show notes:

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Christy Penley: What Do Emotions Have to Do With Spiritual Formation? Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

We talk with pastor (and Gravity Commons Podcast co-host!) Christy Penley about how our emotions relate to living faithfully as disciples of Jesus (the subject of her doctoral dissertation).

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Creating and Cultivating a Rule of Life for 2025 Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

On the cusp of a new year, Christy talks with Ben and Matt about what it means to create a "rule of life" that is helpful and freeing, rather than burdensome.

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Christmas Extravaganza and the Gifts of 2024 Dec 24, 2024

Show notes

As the year draws to a close, Christy, Ben, and Matt open some Christmas gifts and talk about some of the "gifts" of 2024. Merry Christmas, everyone!

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Post-Election Commitments For Justice and Solidarity (Part 2 of 2) Dec 17, 2024

Show notes

Ben, Matt, and Christy continue their discussion from last week of a few post-election commitments that are crystalizing for them as they contemplate what it means to live as followers of Jesus in the coming season. Here are the commitments we discuss in this episode (listen to Part 1 for the ones at the beginning of the list):

Stay awake. Don’t numb your longing for the world to be made right.
Keep caring for one another.
Keep telling the truth about systems of injustice and evil.
Refuse contempt - don't let them get you to hate them.
Learn from the great cloud of witnesses.
Learn to organize in solidarity with the marginalized.
Learn to notice God at work in your ordinary life.
Get as healthy as you can so you’re not triggered into harmful ways of relating.

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