NILS VON KALM listens to Christian organisation Manna Gum’s MannaCast…
MannaCast
Manna Gum
Jonathan Cornford, his wife, Kim, and their family, have been following Jesus for decades. And when I say “following Jesus”, I mean that in every sense of the word.
Screenshot of the MannaCast website.
“If you’re anything like me, you will be fascinated with the real-life, down-to-earth topics that MannaCast dissects. The podcast is described by its creators, Jonathan and good friend, Jacob Garrett, as one which discusses the intersection of Christian faith, ecology and economics.”
The Cornfords are the sort of people who really walk their talk when it comes to living out their faith. For them, being Christian is about living it in every aspect of your life, not just on Sundays and not just in your own personal morality.
In 2009, they started the Manna Gum movement, which, as per its website, helps Christians reclaim and practise Biblical teaching on material life; and promotes understanding of the ways our economic lives impact upon ourselves, others and the earth.
Part of the multi-faceted ministry that is Manna Gum is the regular episodes of their podcast, MannaCast.
If you’re anything like me, you will be fascinated with the real-life, down-to-earth topics that MannaCast dissects. The podcast is described by its creators, Jonathan and good friend, Jacob Garrett, as one which discusses the intersection of Christian faith, ecology and economics.
One of the topics the podcast gave a lot of time to recently was Christianity and politics. In an election year here in Australia, this four-episode series was hugely relevant! The episodes looked at such questions as what we mean by ‘politics’ from Biblical times into early church history, politics in the so-called “Christian West”, the good, bad and the ugly of politics in Australia, and what Christian political witness might look like.
An attractive feature of this podcast is that it doesn’t look at these issues through a detached, intellectualised lens. The whole Manna Gum movement stems out of the Cornfords working and campaigning on development issues in Laos and Cambodia, working with the homeless and drug dependent in Melbourne, leading Bible studies, exploring Christian expressions of responsible living in the inner city, and participating in ecological restoration work. Again, these folks live what they talk about. And for years now they’ve also been living amongst disadvantaged people in Long Gully in central Victoria.
Other topics the podcast looks at include the impacts of the Industrial Revolution, Sabbath Economics, Christian vocation, Christianity and the rise of capitalism, downshifting, climate change and Catholic social teaching. All central Gospel issues. The Cornfords have a strong conviction that in God’s economy, there is enough for everyone. So, anything that takes away from that needs to be challenged, just as anything that promotes that needs to be celebrated.
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The inspiration behind the name, Manna Gum (and from that, the name, MannaCast) is drawn from the main indigenous group from the Melbourne region, the Wurun Djeri people. As the Manna Gum website states, the Wurun Djeri people “take their name from the word “wurun” meaning Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) which is common along the Yarra River (Birrarung), and djeri, a grub found in the tree.
The Manna Gum was so named by Europeans after the manna the ancient Hebrews collected in the wilderness (Exodus 16), because it produces a sweet, white edible gum. The Biblical story of manna provides one of the foundational lessons in God’s economics: collect what you need; none shall have too little; none shall have too much; don’t store it up; there is enough for all!”
The podcast is hosted by Jonathan and is ably produced by Jacob Garrett who, along with his wife, Andi, are also courageously putting themselves out there in sacrificial living for the sake of the Gospel.
It’s said in the Gospels that Jesus spoke with authority. The Message version says that after Jesus gave His famous Sermon on the Mount, the people were amazed as they realised that He lived out what he was saying.
In the same way, when the Cornfords speak, they speak with authority because they live out what they’re saying. That’s why the MannaCast is a podcast to be listened to and taken seriously, because that’s exactly what the people who produce it do.
