In less than a month, The Wesleyan Church will be holding their 14th General Conference in St Louis, Missouri (live-streamed across the globe, for anyone interested ), and for some of you reading these words, this is a big deal. For others, you literally couldn’t care less. I empathize with both reactions, even though I’m firmly in the former camp, and my hope is that if you make it through this conversation with Dr JoAnne Lyon, you might see why the themes that will be present at this nexus of ...
Apr 29, 2022•1 hr 5 min
On this episode of the podcast I finally land a solid excuse to chat with friend and thought-wizard Jeremy MacDonald . Since he has lots of history working directly with students and now pours out his life working with people who themselves work with students, his perspective on rites of passage for young people and how they learn to “adult” in our current contexts is worth mining. We open things off by taking a cursory look at the third chapter of David Desteno ’s book ( How God Works ), then r...
Apr 22, 2022•56 min
Will Smith thought what Chris Rock was saying was a joke until he saw Jada’s response . New info caused him to reevaluate… which caused him to slap a man across the face. In this episode of the podcast, I talk about the concept often known as the hermeneutic circle , and how it’s not ONLY important for Bible scholars and philosophers, but also for anyone who’s got road rage or uncouth uncles. I reference this interview with Dr Steve Lennox partway through, and thus figured I should link it, sinc...
Apr 01, 2022•25 min
You guys, I am so jazzed this week to present what has turned out to be the first part of a (at least) two-parter with Dr Brannon Hancock from Wesley Seminary. I first stumbled across Brannon’s work via this talk which he gave for Wesley Seminary’s webinar series, a presentation that instantaneously had me enthralled. The types of questions we setup in this conversation centre around the technologies we are comfortable employing, those we are not comfortable employing, and whether or not we can ...
Mar 25, 2022
“The reader must have patience with me, as I have with myself when writing about things of which I know nothing; for really I sometimes take up my paper, like a perfect fool, with no idea of what to say or how to begin.” (Mansion I, Chapter II) For the last number of years, I have tended to drift off to sleep at night by reading a little from a book. Depending upon how tired I am, the amount of text I get through before my eyes slam shut is anywhere from shockingly little to laughably little. As...
Mar 18, 2022•12 min
In this episode of the podcast, we revisit a sermon I preached not that long ago about the Wisdom of Job (as part of Moncton Wesleyan ’s “Finding Wisdom” series). Oh, and I chat about some of the reading I’ve done this week on holiday. First up was Jon Hurd’s Jesus Farted (and Other Uncomfortable Thoughts) , which I was pleasantly surprised by. What I was more so surprisingly surprised by was my reading of The Epistle Of Barnabas , from this edition . If you have any familiarity with this text, ...
Mar 11, 2022•50 min
FIRST THINGS FIRST: Is my son right? Did God “create” his (current) favourite video game platform, Roblox ? He’s got an argument to try and prove it (which I outline near the top of this pod), but… I’m not convinced. You? Comment & let me know! Beyond that philosophical query, in this episode we also talk a little about Aleksander Solzhenitsyn’s “ Gulag Archipelago ”, specifically this quote: “…let the reader who expects this book to be a political expose slam its covers shut right now. If o...
Mar 05, 2022•23 min
Almost two weeks ago, I was fortunate to have had a conversation with interdisciplinary scholar (and hyper-specialist in Canadian evangelicalism) Dr John Stackhouse . He and I literally live down the road from each other, yet haven’t really chatted before this, and so it was a great opportunity to ask him some questions and get to hear part of his story. We talk about the university where he currently teaches , we talk about what he considers “liberal Christianity” to actually be, he tries to as...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Howdy folks! This episode is a bit of an unusual one, in that it’s a conglomeration of two previously recorded conversations ( this one and this one ) that were recorded as part of an arts fest that we run hubbed out of our local church we’re calling “ Imagine ‘22 ”. This year’s rendition will go “live” on Saturday, Feb 19th, at 7pm AST (and will remain online thereafter), so you should definitely go check it out. These two conversations (featuring my friends Katie Doiron , Jason Muir , Leanne P...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 44 min
On this episode of the podcast I catch up with everyone’s friend, the magnanimous Paul Baloche ! Paul has written worship songs that can now rightly be called “ classics ”, and yet is also still active in the scene. Not only is he a writer and a leader, though, he is also a pastor, and that shepherd’s heart is on full display in this conversation. We have a wide-ranging conversation about specific aspects of worship leadership (key words will be “multitracks” and “high energy videos”), but we al...
Feb 11, 2022•1 hr 3 min
On this episode I record an “official” chat with my longtime unofficial conversation partner, Dennis Prescott . It would not take much Googling to find out who this man is, but an excellent place to start looking for him is probably Instagram (even though he’s got a handy presence on most socials). He’s a creative in the food space, yet he’s also worked on several humanitarian fronts, and he and I grew up together playing music and trying to (mostly) avoid mischief. The kernel of thought that sp...
Feb 04, 2022•50 min
In this episode of the Jolly Thoughts podcast I’m joined by University president / Biblical scholar / all-around good-guy Dr Steve Lennox. We talk about “the abyss” of scripture, the double-edgedness of the Reformation(s), when one becomes educated “enough”, and… well, a lot of other things that I found quite interesting, and perhaps you will too! Thank you for engaging with this conversation! This post is public, so if you’re enjoying it, feel free to share it. Oh, and leave a comment/question,...
Jan 28, 2022•58 min
Welcome to Episode Thirteen of the Jolly Thoughts podcast! On this episode we chat with worship leader / songwriter / neuroscience-enthusiast Elias Dummer about anglocostalism, the chemical effects of group singing, the latin etymology of the word “performance”, and… a heavy handful of other things. If the main kernel of this conversation interests you, I’d encourage you to check out some of Elias’ other work on the topic, like this YouTube video, for example: “Worship” v “Performance”👇 You can...
Jan 21, 2022•57 min
On today’s episode, I read excerpts from an article I just republished about the similarities & distinctions between a church and The Church, and I talk about why that might matter now as much as ever, if not even slightly-more-than at some times in our past.If you’re tracking along with this conversation at all, I would really value hearing from you: In what ways does the definition of a church discussed in this pod (“… a church is a gathering of two or more people in the name of Jesus …”) ...
Jan 14, 2022•23 min
As we move into 2022, I muse on the idea of what you’d want to distract yourself with on your deathbed (and whether or not it should be the morally questionable antics of Jerry & his gang), I read an article I just typed out , and I give you a micro-heads-up for what’s comin’ down the pipe… all in FIFTEEN MINUTES!!! Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substack.com/subscribe...
Jan 07, 2022•16 min
Merriest of Christmases to you!!! On today’s episode I open up a little about why this Christmas is extra-bitter-sweet, I provide some background as to why “O Holy Night” is a little extra-saucy as far as Christmas songs go, and I play another one of the ol’ Christmas classics I’ve been able to retackle over the years. Link to the video version of this “Songs We Pray” — Link to The Silent’s “O Come O Come Emmanuel” — Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substac...
Dec 24, 2021•26 min
Greetings my friends! On this week’s episode I wax ineloquently on the rhetorical effectiveness of sharing inflammatory memes online. Below, you will see the meme I reference in the pod. Also, here’s the link to Schenck’s exhaust ive (not exhaust ing) look at logical fallacies , here are the links to the Outpost Theology pod and the Conversation On Contemporary Worship pod I reference, and since MidiVert barely has an online presence, I’ll also link over to the man/myth/legend that is Jeff Somer...
Dec 17, 2021•22 min
Y’all, we got a wide-ranging and exciting conversation on this episode with none other than Marc Martel, a fellow French-speaking Canadian with a “c” where the “k” so often goes. Marc spent a long time as the co-frontman for the band Downhere , and now he travels the world wowing audiences with the Ultimate Queen Celebration. He’s got at least one video on YouTube with like 50 million hits … oh, and when it comes to Christmas music, dude’s recorded and toured with juggernauts like Amy Grant &...
Dec 10, 2021•39 min
This week, I had the opportunity to connect with author, podcaster, and esteemed professor over at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, sir Josh McNall . My partner in crime ( Mike Tapper ) and I were being interviewed for his excellent podcast , and so I seized the chance to turn the tables and ask him a few questions about his most recent book, Perhaps , one of the few books I’ve ever “pre-ordered”... which, I suppose, might out me as a bit of a fan. But hey, this book in particular is definitely wor...
Dec 03, 2021•28 min
Happy American Thanksgiving! Hey, what better way to celebrate than by assessing just how much we can trust our educational institutions??? In today’s episode, I converse with my friend and mentor, Dr Ken Schenck , about a few things, but primarily about Tom Nichols ’ book “The Death Of Expertise” … and Ken does NOT mince many words ‘bout it. I found this book to be quite generative, such that I did a little writeup and video about it a few months back, as well (which you can check out here , if...
Nov 26, 2021•52 min
Guys, episode five (?) features a ranging conversation with fellow Maritimer, Tanya Nace , about her experience and research into the state of senior female leadership in our home denomination, The Wesleyan Church… and it’s a doozy. Hope you find it enlightening, challenging, and encouraging. In it, I reference this article I wrote about Beth Allison Barr’s “ The Making Of Biblical Womanhood ”, if you’d like to dig in further. Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoe...
Nov 19, 2021•46 min
In this episode of the podcast I reflect a little on why I think Dr Aaron Perry’s new book ( Kairos Care ) is important for all of us, then I chat with him briefly about it, and close off by reading an article I wrote a few weeks back about the fragility of retrojectivity. Fun! Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substack.com/subscribe...
Nov 12, 2021•34 min
This week’s episode is an interview with Dr Steve Dunmire, who is a teaching pastor at (what is, at the time of publication called) Watermark Wesleyan Church in Hamburg NY, and has done adjunct professor work in several avenues, including Houghton College (which is where we met). He’s a father of 4, a husband of 1 (Tammy)... and a Eugene Peterson super-fan, thus today’s conversation. He’s on Twitter @DrSteveDunmire and other places, so if you want to follow his wit & wisdom, have at it. He h...
Nov 05, 2021•55 min
Here’s a 2nd kick at the podcast can, looking at an ooooooldie but a strangie, “The Shepherd of Hermas”. For the accompanying article, check out this link . Oh, and I mention Halloween, but nothing about my favourite candy… what’s YOUR favourite candy??? Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substack.com/subscribe...
Oct 30, 2021•29 min
I hesitate to call this an “episode”, but since it’s the label most often thrown around for podcastery, here we are! Consider it a bit of an intro on “Why podcast?”, a bit of a rambling about “What ‘podcast’?”, and then a trial of a format of me reading through a post I wrote last week, reflections on Douglas Murray’s Madness Of Crowds . Leeeeeet me know y’all’s thoughts! Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substack.com/subscribe...
Oct 22, 2021•25 min
Behold! Yet another brief experiment in this podcast venue. This is an audio capture of the video response I rambled through regarding John Walton’s Lost World Of Genesis One (o’er here ). Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substack.com/subscribe...
Oct 05, 2021•9 min
Just wanting to experiment with how this podcasting platform works. It’s highly unlikely anyone will stumble upon this, but if they do, my advance-apologies for wasting roughly 40 seconds of your time. 🙏 Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substack.com/subscribe
Sep 22, 2021•41 sec
