Podcast
The Shock Absorber
Hosted by Soul Revival Church · EN
Thinking and doing church a little differently...
27episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Organised messiness - An element of grace beats efficiency every time
2w ago01:00:21Tap to summarizeIs efficiency a godly value? And if the Good Shepherd leaves 99 sheep to find the one, what does that say about how we should be running our churches?The guys open with King Charles's surprisingly funny speech to the U.S. Congress, a masterclass in soft power, humour and resetting an agenda without throwing a punch, before getting into the real conversation: how do you manage a church well without accidentally turning it into a business?Stu unpacks Soul Revival's approach to project management — organised messiness, ministry slide, double-up meetings and why grace has to be baked into the structure from the start. Tim brings in Andy Crouch's cultural postures and Marshall McLuhan's medium-is-the-message warning about what happens when corporate metaphors quietly reshape how you think about ministry.Timestamps00:00 Welcome — fake arrogance, King Charles and the Churchill bath story08:30 Soft power, constitutional monarchy and why Charles reset the agenda without throwing a punch17:30 Church project management — theology, strategy and practice21:00 The African church vs the Sydney church — context shapes everything25:00 Metrics, growth and the danger of deterministic ministry thinking31:00 Andy Crouch, Marshall McLuhan and why corporate metaphors aren't value-neutral37:00 Organised messiness — Stu's philosophy of church management43:00 The Good Shepherd, the 99% and why efficiency isn't a godly value47:00 Isaac Gordon's late arrival and what it taught Soul Revival about grace54:00 Ministry slide — a practical framework for holding people and mission togetherDiscussed on this episode:King Charles III addresses US CongressAndy Crouch - Culture MakingMarshall McLuhan - The Medium is the MessageColin Marshall and Tony Payne - Trellis and VineSubscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to Joel at joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →Jesus is the synthesiser
3w ago00:59:04Tap to summarizeTony Abbott wrote a history of Australia called, wait for it, Australia. Tim has been reading it, which sent him down a rabbit hole about celebratory versus critical history, cognitive dissonance, steel-manning both sides, and why we're so terrified of changing our minds.Joel and Tim work through black armband versus three cheers versions of Australian identity, and what Christian Smith's critical realist personalism has to do with welcoming newcomers at church. Then they land somewhere that ties it all together: Jesus is the synthesiser. Not a middle ground between two political tribes, not a careful hedge, but the total truth above and beyond all of it, which is exactly what a generation exhausted by polarisation is starving for.Plus: two Michael Jensen articles on how not to be weird to newcomers, the difference between a hobby and a practice, and Tim's takeaway on being genuinely curious about other people.Timestamps00:00 Welcome — adventures, new creation and Tim's AI-generated book cover05:00 Tony Abbott's history of Australia and the history wars09:30 Black armband vs celebratory history, why we can't hold both at once16:30 Steel-manning both sides with Claude and the danger of always complexifying22:00 Christian Smith's critical realist personalism: objective truth, subjective engagement28:00 Michael Jensen on how not to be weird to newcomers at church34:00 The regulars and irregulars problem: when community becomes a closed circle43:00 Hobby vs practice: Brad Stulberg on getting 1% better at welcoming51:00 God's sovereignty and our practice: the both/and of sanctification56:30 Tim's takeaway: be genuinely curious about othersDiscussed on this episodeTony Abbott - Australia: A HistoryChristian Smith - What is a Person?Sean Nolan - The Way He WalkedMichael Jensen - How Not to Be Weird to Newcomers at ChurchMichael Jensen - How to Be Normal to Newcomers at ChurchBrad StulbergCal Newport - How To Build Discipline in a Distracted WorldThe Antilibrary: The Hidden Value of Unread BooksJoin the Shock Absorber Network: shockabsorber.com.auSubscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to Joel at joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →School, church and the home: Who's actually responsible for your kids' faith?
4w ago01:22:29Tap to summarizeEvery Christian parent has felt the tension. Do you send your kids to a Christian school? They're plugged into kids church right? The faith formation is happening right? But is it? And whose job is it really?Joel, Stu and Tim are joined by David Stonestreet — Principal of Shire Christian School and Soul Revival member number 009, to work through the history of Christian schooling in Australia, what sets a covenantal Christian school apart, why church attendance in the Sutherland Shire has dropped from 11% to around 1% in a generation, and why the school-church-home partnership is more urgent now than it's ever been.They also end up somewhere unexpected: a conversation about transcendence, immanence, why young people are flocking to ancient liturgical churches, and what the seeker-sensitive movement got wrong about a generation that hates its own life.Timestamps00:00 Welcoming Dave and some old Soul Revival stories06:30 Francis Schaeffer, L'Abri and why Christianity doesn't require intellectual suicide13:30 What sets a Christian school apart, David unpacks the covenantal model20:30 Tim's school choice story, pro and con lists, a billboard and vanilla Christianity28:30 The offload problem: why sending kids to Christian school isn't enough34:00 Church decline in the Sutherland Shire: the statistics that should concern every church leader44:00 Schools and churches working together: the partnership model54:00 Has state school become more hostile to Christianity?1:07:30 Transcendence and immanence: why young people are flocking to ancient churchesDiscussed on this episodeShire Christian SchoolAbraham Kuyper's sphere of sovereigntyFrancis Schaeffer and L'AbriFrancis Schaeffer's The Great Evangelical DisasterNCLS Research: How Religious Are Australians?NCLS Research: What draws newcomers to church?Kendra Creasy Dean's Practicing PassionJoin the Shock Absorber Network: shockabsorber.com.auSoul Revival Church: soulrevivalchurch.comSubscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to Joel at joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →Is it all a laugh?
Apr 1400:59:33Tap to summarizeIs banter just harmless fun — or is something deeper going on beneath the surface?Joel, Stu and Tim open with Easter reflections, including JoelChristian humour, banter and friendship, male friendship theology, tall poppy syndrome Australia, hegemony church, belonging and identity, Andrew Huberman friendship, banter church community, shock absorber podcast, soul revival church, church leadership podcast, intergenerational ministry, Christian culture Australia, microaggression, theology of joy, fruit of the spirit joy, church and culture, adolescent belonging, Easter baptism, Christian banter baptising his own son at the river service, before diving into a clip from Andrew Huberman's podcast about male friendship and the role of humour in building trust and loyalty.What starts as a straightforward conversation quickly gets complicated: tall poppy syndrome, hegemony, the Cronulla riots, a bucks party gone wrong, a proverb about flaming arrows, and the question of whether Jesus ever actually made a joke.This is one of the most honest and wide-ranging conversations the Shock Absorber has had. If you've ever wondered how to think Christianly about humour, banter and belonging, especially with young people, this is worth your time.Timestamps00:00 Welcome and Easter reflections09:30 Andrew Huberman on male friendship — does banter build trust and loyalty?13:00 Tim's cautions: power imbalances, adolescent vulnerability and passive aggression17:00 Stu's story: family of origin, words of affirmation and learning banter as a foreign language20:30 NT Feather, tall poppy syndrome and the Australian pressure to cut people down27:00 The bucks party: stocks, a hacksaw and being expelled from the group40:00 Hegemony, racism and the Cronulla riots — the darker thread in Australian banter culture48:00 Does Jesus ever make a joke? What does God's laughter mean?54:00 Tim's takeaway — joyfulness, the fruit of the Spirit and what redeemed humour looks likeDiscussed on this episodeCultivating Awe & Emotional Connection in Daily Life | Dr. Dacher Keltner and Andrew HubermanNT Feather on tall poppy syndromeMiroslav Volf's Exclusion and EmbraceChester Pierce on microaggressionsGramsci's concept of hegemonySubscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to Joel at joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →Stop making church more like the world. Build this instead...
Mar 3101:04:01Tap to summarizeMost churches have spent the last sixty years trying to lower the cultural barriers to Christianity. Clean car parks. Professional music. Seeker-sensitive services. The logic made sense at the time. But has making church more like the world actually worked and is it still the right strategy?Joel and Stu work through the tension between institutional and organic church structures, unpack the history of the attractional church model from Donald McGavran to Willow Creek, and explain why Soul Revival has deliberately gone the other direction — building a countercultural, intergenerational Yellow Submarine that goes beneath the surface of daily life.They also answer two great listener questions from Julie about Bonhoeffer's friendship circles: whether they include non-Christians, and how kids and youth factor into church numbers.Timestamps00:00 Sharks gear, Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley and tribal fan culture05:30 The AGM and the juxtaposition of formal polity in a time of crisis08:30 Organic vs institutional structures: what's the difference and why it matters15:00 The attractional church model — McGavran, Willow Creek and the homogeneous unit principle22:00 The Yellow Submarine: Soul Revival's countercultural intergenerational alternative29:00 How Soul Revival's governance actually works43:30 Listener questions from Julie: Bonhoeffer's friendship circles and non-Christians51:30 At what stage do kids and youth count in your numbers?54:00 The Blitz, the fuel crisis and the Christian response to economic pressureDiscussed on this episodeStu Crawshaw - The Yellow SubmarineSkip Bell — What is Wrong with the Homogeneous Unit Principle?Karina Koremsky — The Fallacy of the Homogeneous Unit PrincipleBill Hybels — Becoming a Contagious ChristianMark Senter — The Four Views of Youth MinistryKendra Creasy Dean — Practicing PassionDonald McGavran — homogeneous unit principle overviewJump in at shockabsorber.com.au — and send your thoughts to joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →Is boring people with the Bible a sin?
Mar 2400:52:06Tap to summarizeJim Rayburn, the father of modern youth ministry, said it was a sin to bore a kid with the gospel.Joel, Tim and Stu work through a sharp distinction from a new book on kids theology: distilling versus simplifying. Distillation keeps the essentials and removes the unnecessary. Simplification removes the complexity, and sometimes the truth along with it. The difference matters enormously for anyone trying to pass on a faith that lasts.They also talk about Lee Strobel's adolescent drift into atheism, why apologetics isn't landing the way it used to, e-bikes and teenage rebellion, and what it actually looks like to be a non-anxious adult presence (a wall of a swimming pool, for a generation that's pushing hard against everything)Subscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to joel@shockabsorber.com.auVisit the website and join the Shock Absorber Network: shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →Don't let them hate Jesus because of you
Mar 1701:11:22Tap to summarizeHalf of kids surveyed say their parents should be worried about their screen time. Jonathan Haidt thinks he missed something big in his own book. And Meta allegedly knew about the damage it was doing to children for years — and said nothing.Joel and Tim work through a raft of confronting data about childhood today, wrestle honestly with the collective action problem of smartphone culture, and then land somewhere unexpected: a conversation about preaching John 15 that produces one of the sharpest applications you'll hear.Don't let people hate Jesus because of you. Let them hate you because of Jesus. That's the order. And getting the order right changes everything about how you show up as a disciple.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro02:20 Wes Huff on Diary of a CEO — communicating the gospel to a curious generation12:00 After Babel — 30 facts about childhood today15:30 No siblings, no cousins — and what the church can offer instead28:00 Screen time, double standards and the collective action problem of smartphones44:00 Preaching John 15 — preparation process and the difference between teaching and preaching1:03:30 Don't make them hate Jesus because of you — the sharpest application of the episodeWes Huff on Diary of a CEOWes Huff on Joe Rogan30 Facts About Childhood TodayUnsealed court docs allege Meta knew for years about harms to young users, even as they fueled its growthThe Great Cousin DeclineComing of Age in a Fully Connected WorldYour Marriage Has a ThirdSubscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to Joel at joel@shockabsorber.com.auWebsite: shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →A new movement: Re-launching The Shock Absorber network
Mar 1000:43:12Tap to summarizeJoel, Stu and Tim are relaunching the Shock Absorber Network, and this episode explains what it is, why it matters and how you can be part of it.Ministry was never meant to be done alone. But for a lot of church leaders, that's exactly what it feels like, isolated in your local context, carrying the weight of cultural change without anyone to process it with.Stu traces the thinking all the way back to his first PhD at UNSW, where he was studying Christian youth ministry as a social movement using new social movement theory. That research, and thirty-plus years of doing exactly this kind of relational networking through Soul Revival, is the foundation of what the Shock Absorber Network is trying to build. Not an institution, not a franchise, not a brand. A relational, non-competitive, theologically grounded space where ministry leaders can pray together, share ideas and learn from each other across churches and denominations.Tim unpacks Archie Poulos' research on why networking is actually essential to long-term ministry health, not a nice-to-have when you've got spare time, but a genuine factor in whether you and your ministry survive and flourish over the long haul. The alternative, as Archie points out, is that isolation tips into competition, and competition is the opposite of what Jesus prays for in John 17.Practically, it starts simply: a new website at shockabsorber.com.au, a mailing list, and a Zoom prayer meeting once a term. No money, no compulsion, no franchise. Just friends in ministry, gathered around Jesus.Timestamps01:45 Relaunching the Shock Absorber Network — what it is and where the idea came from05:20 Memories of the Treehouse — what church networking has looked like at Soul Revival09:30 Archie Poulos on why networking is essential to ministry health17:45 Are movements dangerous? New social movement theory explained28:00 The biblical foundation — loving your neighbour, John 15 and Matthew 2236:00 What the network looks like practically — website, Zoom prayer meetings and how to joinDiscussed on this episodeThe High-Level Skill of Ministry Networking and Collaboration, by Mikey LynchWe need to get better at networking - Archie Poulos on The Pastors' HeartNew Social Movement TheoryCollective IdentityCollective Identity and Social MovementsJump in at shockabsorber.com.au — and send your thoughts to joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →With or against the grain of God's design
Mar 301:09:37Tap to summarizeEveryone's chasing the algorithm. More clicks, better thumbnails, optimised titles, short-form funnels. So what does a Christian do with all of that?Joel and Tim start with football, Real Madrid vs Barcelona, identity, rivalry and what success actually means, and end up somewhere and end up with a biblical framework for thinking about metrics of success in a world that rewards inflammatory, clickbaity and often dishonest content.Along the way they work through the cultural mandate in Genesis 1 and 2, the trifecta of good, true and beautiful, Proverbs' wisdom about living with the grain of God's design, and whether Christians should be on these platforms at all — or whether the algorithm has simply evangelised us instead.If you're wrestling with digital content, social media, and what faithful presence online actually looks like, enjoy!Timestamps00:00 Intro: trains, voyages and retractable stadium pitches05:40 Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Real Madrid, Barcelona and what success actually means17:55 Chasing the algorithm: what ChatGPT says about podcast success24:45 The cultural mandate: why content creation starts in Genesis32:00 Good, true and beautiful: a biblical filter for everything you make42:30 Should Christians be on these platforms at all? McLuhan, Haidt and the pub analogy51:30 The quiet revival and Tim's takeawayDiscussed on this episodeReal Madrid's retractable pitchTottenham Hotspur's retractable pitchFear and Loathing in La Liga, by Sid LoweThe Anxious Generation, by Jonathan HaidtIndistractable, by Nir EyalThe Sirens' Call, by Chris HayesAmusing Ourselves to Death, Neil PostmanThe Medium is the Message, by Marshall McLuhanCross Formed Kidmin PodcastSubscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to Joel at joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →Life and loyalty with Jesus
Feb 2401:02:36Tap to summarizeRichard Dawkins likes Christmas carols. Tom Holland calls himself a Christian. Robert Greene thinks religion is great for transcending the banality of social media.Joel and Tim trace a thread from Bluey, through the culture war trap of coding everything left or right, into Skye Jethani's four distorted postures toward God, and land on the one thing that separates Christianity from every other self-improvement and philosophical framework: Jesus himself.Timestamps05:47 Bluey is not a normal kids show25:44 We can progress and conserve39:51 Life with God58:56 Tim's Takeaway - Seek the kingdom above all elseDiscussed on this episode‘Bluey’ Is the Most Conservative Show on TV, by Louise PerryBluey Takeaway Bud Light BoycottRobert Greene, Religion's True PurposeTom Holland on UnHerdWith, by Skye JethaniParenting in God's Family - Volume 2Subscribe, leave a review, and send your thoughts to Joel at joel@shockabsorber.com.au
Transcribe →