Postconsumer Reports Podcast

Today's episode features and interview with Doug Chu on multicultural worship, the Asian-American experience, and a segment I like to call "I wish white churches would..." Doug was kind enough to play along. Doug is a musician and worship leader based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a volunteer worship team leader at Madison Square Church's Ford campus. An American-born Chinese, Doug was raised in Singapore. As a worship leader, his interests include multicultural worship for congregations seeking racial reconciliation and the intersection of charismatic and liturgical worship.

Ted Yoder is a recording artist, composer, and hammered dulcimer player. He's released five albums, has another one on the way, and regularly tours the country playing concerts. Ted Gained much acclaimed when his cover version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" became a Facebook Livestream sensation. I sat down with Ted after his concert at the Gebhard Woods Dulcimer Festival in Morris, Illinois. The beginning of the episode features a brief interview with Peggy Peryam, one of the organizers of the festival and herself a musician, teacher, and dulcimer player. You can find Ted's music and tour dates at: www.tedyoder.com and you can find info about the dulcimer festival at: http://www.gebharddulcimer.org/

Episode 47 features an interview with Dr. Lester Ruth on the history of contemporary worship in the Church. The research professor Christian worship at Duke Divinity School, Dr. Ruth co-authored his new book Lovin' on Jesus: A Concise History of Contemporary Worship with Dr. Swee Hong Lim, assistant professor of Sacred Music at Emmanuel College in Toronto. Our interview covers numerous topics related to contemporary worship, including differences how "Mainline" and "Pentecostal" churches do contemporary worship, some of the little known figures in the early contemporary movement, and whether or not we have made music into a sacrament in contemporary worship. You can find Dr. Ruth's personal page here: https://divinity.duke.edu/faculty/lester-ruth   You can purchase Lovin on Jesus at Amazon or Cokesbury.

Quinton Thomas is a Peoria, Illinois based artist. His work is a convergence of numerous influences all at once, creating a blossoming artistic vision all his own. Our conversation covers his upcoming show at the gallery Ear in the Envelope, various possible interpretations of his work, and our thoughts on the new TV show Dear White People. You can find images of his work on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Quinton2017/ and on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/Qthomas1990/

Brooks McDaniel is a professor of philosophy and religion, now retired from Illinois Central College. He is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian church (PCUSA) and a writer and poet. Brooks was actually one of my own teachers in college and we sat down to talk about faith, spiritual experiences, and what he would like written in his obituary.

Natalia Villaneuva Linares and Earl Power-Murphy are the founders of Yaku Peoria, an organization intent on restoring the beautiful Hale Memorial Church of Peoria, Illinois and turning it into a center for arts and culture in the city. You can find out more at their website:http://www.yakupeoria.org/ and read their magazine at: http://www.ukayzine.org/ Natalia is herself and artist whose work you can view extensively here:  http://www.nati.work/ Our interview details their ongoing work on the building and where Natalia draws inspiration for her art.

Jimmy Bridgeman is the owner and operator of Rock Solid Studio, a professional Peoria based recording studio. With his business partner Jeremy Moser, Jimmy offers a space that can take an artist through the whole recording process, from recording, producing, mixing, and mastering. In our talk we cover all our mutual friends and acquaintances as well as our mutual love of the iconic Cornerstone Music Festival. You can find out more or even book some studio time at: https://www.therocksolidstudio.com/studio

Alec DeJesus is a Peoria, Illinois based artist. His works seem to come from another time while also drawing from pop culture. They are familiar and otherworldly, earthy and sacred. In our conversation we covered where he draws inspiration for his works and how he has had to work hard and think creatively in order to make a living as an artist. You can find Alec on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/alecdajesus/

In the latest episode of our Dialogues With Brandon series, I chat with Brandon about all aspects of the fear of missing out or FOMO. There are many layers to this phenomenon from missing out on moments with your friends or missing out on great life experiences. I become a bit manic in the process but Brandon keeps everything on balance and offers us a way out of a tortured life of the FOMO. This episode is notable as being the first dialogue we were able to record in the same room together.

Kagan Masters is an artist from Central Illinois, specializing in painting with coffee. Her light and dark contrasts are accentuated by the deeply dark reddish brown tones from the coffee base and her subjects range from whimsical animals drunk on coffee to pop culture homages. And yes, they all smell good too! You can find her work at: http://redeemedink.com/index.html, or you can visit her workshop at the Sunbeam Building at the Studios on Sheridan in Peoria (http://ciaopeoria.com/studios-on-sheridan/). This Saturday she'll be offering a coffee painting class for those who want to learn her technique (contact her for more info).

Musician Jared is releasing his new album Masters on March 3, 2017. This podcast extra features a few minutes of our previous conversation that didn't make the cut for episode 38. We talk about "hard" music and hearing loss. Visit https://jaredgrabb.bandcamp.com/ to stream and purchase the new album.

In celebration of Valentine's Day, here is my conversation with Pastor Dan Leman about sex, relationships, and overcoming sexual sin. Dan is the pastor Faith Evangelical Free Church in Germantown Hills, Illinois. Our friendship goes all the way back to high school, so needless to say, we've been talking about sex for a long time.

Jared Grabb is a musician and songwriter from Peoria, Illinois. On March 3rd he releases his third full length album Masters, which you can purchase at: https://jaredgrabb.bandcamp.com/. Along with his solo work Grabb is also a member of Angry Gods and formerly a member of Scouts Honor and the Forecast. Our interview gets into the making of the new album and his career as an independent artist.

This archive episode of the podcast features my February 2014 interview with director, actor, and writer David Leo Schultz. We discussed Ragamuffin, the biopic he made about the life of singer-songwriter Rich Mullins. It was officially the 4th episode of the podcast, made back in the unofficial days.  David's been busy since we first talked. Along with directing the Brennan Manning biopic he also starred in a number of online shorts, started the Ragamuffin Retreats ministry, and is even in the development stages of doing a film about St. Francis. You can find out more info here: http://colorgreenfilms.com/    

Michael Danner is the Executive Minister of the Illinois Mennonite Conference. Last fall we sat down to talk politics but ended up having a long side conversation about what it means to be a Mennonite in the 21st century and what the state of the Mennonite Church in America is. Whether you are Mennonite or not, if you are interested in how churches work and where church culture is headed, this episode is for you.

My friend Trey Mowder and I spend this episode trying to narrow down The Beatles' White Album onto a single disc (which means we have to cut out songs, as if such a thing were possible!). On top of that, I also give my year end best of lists (music, TV, films, podcasts) and some highlights for PostConsumer Reports from this past year (2016).

Chris released his Christmas album The Hopes and Fears of All the Years last week on his music page, which you can download for $1 throughout the Christmas season at: chrismarchand.bandcamp.com. This episode features excerpts and commentary on the songs and recording process. 

This fall filmmaker Ron Howard released a new documentary Eight Days a Week about the touring years of The Beatles. Trey Mowder and I sat down and discussed what we thought of the film. Part commentary, part movie review, part love letter to the Fab Four, consider this the semi-definitive guide to the new film. 

Michelle Van Loon is an author who recently released Moments & Days: How Our Holy Celebrations Shape Our Faith through Navpress Publishers (click on the link for a free excerpt). A regular contributor for Christianity Today and the Her.meneutics blog, you can find more of her writings on her website: http://michellevanloon.com/ or at her blog:  http://www.patheos.com/blogs/pilgrimsroadtrip/. Our interview focuses mainly on the new book, what Christians can learn from the Jewish feast (along with all my many questions about them!), and how we modern people can slow down follow a different order of time.

Pam Destri was on call as a volunteer EMT the night Rich Mullins died and Mitch McVicker got seriously injured. Many fans have wondered for years what happened on that night. While Pam doesn't have all the answers she does offer her experience, what she witnessed on that night, some surprising revelations about that night, and why she thinks God brought her there in those moments. Part of the episode features talks from Chris Marchand and Pastor Mark Schoenhals about Rich Mullins, a talk from Pam, and then an after-talk interview with Pam.