We love books! And reading is a key part of how we’ve grown and been formed as followers of Jesus. To mark the start of the new year, then, Kristi and Luke sat down to chat about some of the things they’ve read over the past twelve months; what they’ve enjoyed and how it all intersects with their faith. Some of the books are Christian books and others are not. We hope you enjoy listening to it—we had fun recording it!

You can have a listen for free on the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

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Some of the worst and best experiences we’ve had in ministry have been in seeking to collaborate with others. It can be messy, and bring out all kinds of unwelcome things in everyone involved, but it can also be quite beautiful when it comes off.

Dave Benson and Luke Cawley have both spent much of their adult lives designing and developing projects and contexts where diverse groups of Christians can work together towards a shared goal. In the latest episode of the invisible castle podcast, they chat about their experiences, convictions, and some of the practical approaches they’ve found most helpful for collaborating with others.

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

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This has all ended up being quite timely. Over the past week, with the media spotlight on the death of a public figure known for being a vocally professing Christian, the question has risen to the surface of what it looks like for Christians to be public about their faith in a healthy and attractive way. And especially how we do so in settings where many people may disagree with us or have completely opposing views.

In the latest episode of the invisible castle podcast, we discuss a public faith—why we need to be public, what the pressures are on us and others to keep it private, and what in practice it looks like to do so in our current pluralistic settings.

Dave Benson and Luke Cawley, who feature on this episode, bring a wealth of firsthand experience in this area to the conversation, as well as their own respective academic studies in the area of public theology. It wasn’t recorded in response to the events of last week, but does speak into some of the questions underlying current conversations. Hopefully it’s one you find helpful!

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

And… if you wanted to check out some stories of Christians living out their faith in a range of tricky situations, you might take a look at Luke’s book Campus Lights: Students Living and Speaking for Jesus Around the World. Available directly from the publisher, from Blackwells, Eden Books, Barnes and Noble, your local Amazon site, and most places you buy books. The Spanish version, Luces en el campus: Estudiantes que viven y hablan de Jesús en todo el mundo, is also available via Amazon.

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We are slightly belated with this episode, as Luke’s mother sadly passed away last month, and his focus has understandably been elsewhere the past month or so.

A few weeks before she passed we had a recording session for the invisible castle podcast, which we are finally able to share with you. It’s all about the relationship between doubt, certainty, and faith, as well as some of the practical ways we can help others in these areas.

Three of us—Luke Cawley, Kristi Mair, and Dave Benson—are on the sofas for this one, and it made for a rich conversation. We hope you enjoy it!

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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Creating safe spaces for newcomers to explore faith is, in our experience, crucial. We need relaxed environments free from pressure and manipulation, and yet rich with opportunity to consider and encounter Jesus. The latest episode of the invisible castle podcast explores the how and why of developing these kinds of safe spaces.

We are especially delighted that Dave Benson, of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, is part of this and three more upcoming episodes. You can see him sporting his stylish Pope Francis t-shirt in the video below. Kristi took a pause for this one, but returns next month with both Luke and Dave.

We hope you enjoy this episode; we loved recording it! It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

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This is what we think: It’s not enough to simply show people that the message of Jesus is true. We need to also help them experience him as both someone beautifully attractive and also tangibly present in the lives of people they know.

In the latest episode of the invisible castle podcast, Luke and Kristi chat about their own journeys to faith, and the role these three elements—truth, beauty, and embodiment—can play in our communication about Jesus, so we can better lean into the ways people actually come to faith.

We hope it will be a fascinating conversation for you to join! It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

And, if you’re enjoying the podcast, you might want to consider grabbing a copy of Luke’s new book, Somethingism: Exploring Our Sense of More, which is out now from the Good Book Company, and available most places books are sold.

Order 'Somethingism' (UK)

Order 'Somethingism' (USA)

Order 'Somethingism' (Australia)

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We’re excited to let you know that the second full episode of the invisible castle podcast has just arrived. This month our conversation is entitled '...first we need to grapple with our own questions...', and it’s all about how we wrestle with our own questions, as well as those of others.

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen.

The video version is also available exclusively on this site. Just click on the video below to watch.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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We just wanted to let you know the exciting news that the first full episode of the invisible castle podcast has dropped, and is now available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Red Circle, and most other places you listen.

We loved recording this opening conversation, which is entitled ‘to be alive is to experience God’, and which explores some of the surprising ways a clearer understanding of Jesus reshapes our apologetic practice.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively to all free subscribers (if you’re reading this article, then that includes you; just click on the video).

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

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Welcome to our latest update. It’s been a while, but we’re excited to share the news that we’ve begun recording our first series of podcasts, which we hope will launch in March 2025.

This opening series is aimed at anyone helping others consider why they should take Jesus seriously as an option for their lives, and why they might begin following and trusting him. We’re calling this series ‘apologetic practice’, and in it we propose ten propose key emphases for engaging the ‘why’ question.

Each episode during this series, we’ll explore one of these ten emphases in a conversation between the two of us (or one of us, and a guest co-host), which we’ll upload as a podcast, in both audio and video format.

You can discover more by watching our short entrée episode, (above) or by listening to the audio version on our site, on Spotify, Pocket Casts, Red Circle, Amazon Music, or on Apple Podcasts. If you have other suggested platforms for the podcast, please do let us know!

The video version of the podcast will also be available for free exclusively on this site to all subscribers to invisible castle (if we emailed this update to you, then that’s you!). As fresh episodes release, we’ll continue posting them here and on those other platforms.

If you're subscribed to invisible castle (it's free), then we'll let you know whenever a fresh episode drops. And we definitely won't spam you!

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