Amity Podcast with Jono & Lauren Jono and Lauren Macfarlane

In this episode we talk through the question of whether Christianity is a religion or a relationship. Folks will more often lean to the relationship side and describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious" or having a relationship with Jesus but no need of the religion. We chat through these view points and look at portions of James 1, Acts 11, and more. 



We discuss this famous spoken word YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY



Jono has preached on this topic from Acts 11 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ILjId7qGo0



Our Instagram page can be found here https://www.instagram.com/amitypodcast/ 

We're back! Or at least, we're trying to be! We've missed podcasting, but in this season of our lives, it takes very intentional time and planning to make it happen. We want to be here, but we can't promise a specific schedule right now. If you're still here, we thank you so much for listening.

On today's episode we discuss one of the books Jono has read in recent months. Henri J. M. Nouwen's "The Wounded Healer" may seem like an odd choice, but Jono talks through how this short book was helpful as a pastor and is a recommended read for others pursuing ministry.

We never meant to take a 9 month break from recording, but here we are, back again! We talk a bit about what we've done and experienced over the last 9 months and a little about the future of this podcast. Mini series/seasons are in the works! But the bulk of our conversation is walking through the timeline of the Covid pandemic in NZ, what our ministry response has been and how it's affected our church. It gets uncomfortable at times. These are stressful things to talk about for both of us. And we bare our souls a bit about how discouraging this season has been. Our episodes won't all be this long, but this should catch you up to where we've been and where we're at. We'd love for you to join us going forward.

Sometimes we don't have a topic at hand in order to do a deep dive, but we're always reading, thinking and talking. So this is the first episode in an irregular series where we just open our front door as it were, and allow you a glimpse into our conversations. 

We talk about reading fiction, preparing to study and preach sermons, and more! We then spend quite a lot of time discussing the topic of "common grace" and end by talking about some of Jono's reading on authoritarianism, power and abuse in the church. 

Thanks for listening!! If you have any topic suggestions, comments or questions, contact us via our instagram @amitypodcast 

Check out the Kaisis podcast series on Common Grace https://kaisis.buzzsprout.com/1660195/8640216-the-kingdom-of-god-and-common-grace

We recommend Dr. Diane Langberg's book "Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church."

We're back! Or at least we hope we're back. And we're talking through the topic of knowing God's will. This is a topic Jono has preached on several times but we find it's a frequent question on people's minds. We hope this episode can encourage you as you walk in the grace and freedom God has blessed you with. 



We recommend checking out the Kaisis podcast' especially their episodes on Common Grace https://kaisis.buzzsprout.com/1660195/8640216-the-kingdom-of-god-and-common-grace



Kevin DeYoung's book :Just Do Something" is also a helpful resource on this issue.