Think Question Believe

Kevin O'Brien
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This is the Think, Question, Believe podcast where we look at the Christian faith from a progressive and inclusive perspective - and that means taking the Bible seriously but not literally, honouring the past, but looking to today and into the future, and seeking to build an affirming church that serves all people with love, tolerance and acceptance. Coming from St Nicholas Church, Adare, Church of Ireland - a progressive and inclusive church. We feature in the feedspot list of most popular religious podcasts in Ireland: https://blog.feedspot.com/ireland_church_podcasts/

  1. 11H AGO

    Time to rise up

    Patriarchal societies and let’s face it most still are, to a greater or lesser extent, can sometimes be very unjust, especially to women.  It beggars the imagination that a man can deem himself more manly because he oppresses and is violent towards someone who is physically weaker than himself, but such has been the culture and practice of countless numbers of men throughout history – who have bullied, abused, intimidated and dominated their way through life, when in fact it was a woman who bore them and gave them life and so often extend to them acts of kindness that they little deserve. History and church teaching has served Joseph badly. Sadly, consigned to a bit part, and rarely depicted as anything other than a dutiful attendant, in reality, he must have been a remarkable man who proves himself to be a very resourceful protector and guide. He cares for his family, protects them and provides for them, and moreover he provides such a model of fatherhood, that when Jesus seeks to name God, he uses a word that he utters with respect and love, Abba, Father. He stands in stark contrast to the terrible scourge of violence in the home and in close relationships – the places that should be the safest we know, that we should see as a haven, sanctuary – our homes – not places of refuge at all. And our church communities are by no means immune. That is why it is so important that we take a lead on this issue in the church since it is so easy for certain people, certain neighbourhoods and classes to feel that it has nothing to do with them. Victims and their abusers are everywhere, among us, standing right next to us – and we might never know. It is time for us as individuals and as communities to rise up against this terrible betrayal of violence and abuse….

    10 min

  2. 5D AGO

    A Christ of Mercy - not guns

    John the Baptist presents a heroic but tragic figure. Crying out in the wilderness, giving voice not only to his own heartbreak, but also to the pain and suffering of all his people. However much the Romans might be bravely resisted, it was almost inconceivable that they might be repelled. Almost. For men like John still tried, still hoped, still preached that whatever worldly power the Romans might possess, nothing could withstand the might, in echo of Isaiah’s words, of ‘the one who is to come’, the promised Messiah. For some Jesus was a disappointment, those for whom military might could be the only mark of the Messiah. Far from Isaiah’s notion of the Suffering Servant, they expected nothing less than a second King David, a victorious warrior, triumphant general, a kingdom of this world.   Jesus was an impossible claimant to the title; impossible and scandalous. A betrayal of the very ideal. Today new fractures are emerging. In certain countries and certain political cultures we are seeing the emergence of what might be called Christian Nationalism, where the faith of Jesus is being twisted and contorted into a reversal, a perversion of all that he stood for – hatred in place of love, racial discrimination instead of compassion , the glorification of the obscenely rich and the denigration of the poor, the celebration of the gun instead of peace.

    13 min

  3. 5D AGO

    Lives of meaning and purpose

    More people go to their GP suffering from depression than any other affliction. Mental health problems among all ages, but also increasing among the young are ever rising. Now we can point at the alarming political news daily on our screens; we can cite workplace stress, the accelerating pace of modern life, the commoditisation of people in our aggressive materialist economies, a breakdown in traditional community structures, so many people living on their own, in fact a whole host of distressing reasons But least part of the answer, was taught to us over two thousand years ago, but sadly as G.K. Chesterton once commented:  “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” Of course we need to put food on the table, clothes on our backs. Of course, we want ourselves and our loved ones to be safe and healthy and happy. But is the relentless, single-minded, blinkered pursuit of possessions the means to fulfilment and peace, of truly realising our human potential? Do we work on the state of our souls, our precious inner spirit, do we devote as much time, attention and care to the person that we are and might yet become, as we do to the accumulation of the so-called treasures of this world? So what is Jesus trying to tell us, and why don’t we listen?

    11 min

  4. MAY 2

    The Kingdom - almost

    ‘….the kingdom of heaven has come near.” These are the words of a young man named John, a young prophet of wild and dishevelled appearance preaching to the people of his time, about the saviour who was to come: ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ’ John presents a very odd picture indeed. Matthew describes him as wearing clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt to hold his ensemble together – eating locusts and wild honey – we can imagine dishevelled hair – a wild man, shouting, accusing almost raving. When today we see John as the forerunner we vastly underestimate his significance, For John was very great indeed, there were many religious groups and movements around the Judean wilderness, but John’s charismatic preaching and baptism attracted vast crowds including Jesus himself. There was also a rivalry between the followers of John and Jesus that persisted well after John’s death. Lives and relationships are complicated, even, sometimes especially, in the most important and profound relationships. And whilst the voice of the leader of any organisation and movement must usually take priority over those of their followers, nevertheless other voices can carry messages of great value and significance.

    11 min

  5. 12/14/2025

    Living for tomorrow - today

    Apocalyptic writing is sometimes called the “literature of the dispossessed”. It is the product of a people oppressed and alienated who have little chance of fighting back against those who dominate them with political, economic and military power.Sometimes the oppressors are their own corrupt politicians, sometimes outside ‘foreign’ regimes. And sometimes the stranglehold that our western companies have on their economies and their industries. A stranglehold in which we as consumers, demanding lower prices in the shops, are sadly complicit.And this is should be the goad, the spur for us to reflect upon, and change, our own behaviour, towards each other and within our world. Scripture, and our own eyes, tell us what injustice, cruelty and greed look like, we can also recognize the opposite. So if we say we want to see the Kingdom, and in our prayers we claim that we do, might we not anticipate what the Kingdom might look like, as best we can, and start to behave that way now. And not to wait for others to start, that way the delay is forever, but instead consider our hoped for place in the Kingdom and start to behave as if it were already here, that way, we might have some hope of actually seeing the Kingdom, of catching even catching some glimpses of the way of peace, justice and love, that we claim to desire so much.

    22 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    Turning the world upside down

    Luke’s story of the boastful Pharisee and the repentant tax-collector addresses the theme of what we might call ‘holy reversal’.That the standards of this world, the values of so much of our world, the one with which we are so familiar, in which some of us deem themselves so successful and dominant, are in fact but the shadows of the true reality to which we are called.Up is down and down is up.But what of our present world?Daily on our news we see the Christian faith upended into a cult of greed, pride, hostility and hate – lovers of guns and violence parading Jesus as their hero and guide. But when once we might have at least contented ourselves with the belief that these things happened far away, and in cultures different to our own, now we see, that the sickness has spread rather closer to home, the emergence of enmity and prejudice, no doubt deceiving itself that it is something else.How are we to contend with this challenge both within our world – and within ourselves?

    22 min

  7. 12/06/2025

    Rescuing Jesus

    In recent years, we have seen the Christian faith equated with arrogant nationalism, worship of the gun, of money, power and status; and the faith appropriated as an expression of animus and division, prejudice and bigotry. Daily, we can see such distortion and twisting of the faith, so contrary to the teachings of Jesus, that we can only stare bewildered at the mental gymnastics required to turn the carpenter who counselled turning the other cheek, into a belligerent bully.The much-celebrated theologian and Pauline scholar Anglican Bishop Tom Wright once cautioned how first-time visitors to a church might exclaim “Well, if that’s how God’s representatives behave, I suppose the whole thing’s a waste of time!”.In one of the most graphic descriptions of punishment anywhere in the gospels, Jesus warns that it would be better for a millstone to be placed as a collar around the offender’s neck dragging them to the bottom of the ocean, rather than face their rightful punishment for injuring a person’s vulnerable faith, any spiritual comfort that they might have received, negated by the behaviour of the so-called faithful.

    10 min

  8. 12/03/2025

    Finding the time to pause

    ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven’, says the first line of Ecclesiastes chapter 3.Except it seems, when it comes to Advent.Over most adult lifetimes, especially for those of us in later life, we have seen the degradation of the season of Advent, as our modern-world has become increasingly restless, impatient and unable to wait or postpone.Christmas trees now appear in shops, pubs and hotels from mid-November. When I was a child Advent calendars were very exciting, but we had to wait to open the serrated card window each day, to reveal a little picture – and the sense of build-up was real.Today, Advent calendars contain a chocolate for each day, so impatient are we to anticipate Christmas treats.And even in church life, we can become so wrapped up in preparation for Christmas events and services, that even we can ‘no time to stand and stare’. We don’t keep Christmas properly any more – we have forgotten how. Forget the 12 days of Christmas where the feasting was prolonged and enjoyed after a long wait through long winter days – now we are almost in danger of being tired of Christmas, just as it starts.But this is to deprive ourselves of a priceless opportunity.

    12 min
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About

This is the Think, Question, Believe podcast where we look at the Christian faith from a progressive and inclusive perspective - and that means taking the Bible seriously but not literally, honouring the past, but looking to today and into the future, and seeking to build an affirming church that serves all people with love, tolerance and acceptance. Coming from St Nicholas Church, Adare, Church of Ireland - a progressive and inclusive church. We feature in the feedspot list of most popular religious podcasts in Ireland: https://blog.feedspot.com/ireland_church_podcasts/

Information

  • Creator
    Kevin O'Brien
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    45
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Kevin O'Brien
  • Show Website
    Think Question Believe