Sound thinking & a dash of wit

The year-end review of the podcast Christ the Center is a great introduction for new listeners. It has become my favorite podcast due to its unashamed discussion of historic reformed theology, critique of modern evangelicals, and a good dose of humor and wit. If that sounds possibly interesting, give it a listen and see what you think.

Good Audio

Mars Hill Audio's latest edition looks interesting. Here’s a quick rundown:

Maggie Jackson (Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age), on how attentiveness is central to human flourishing and why it’s getting harder to be attentive

Mark Bauerlein (The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future), on how the social experience of young people renders the larger contexts of culture and history increasingly irrelevant

Tim Clydesdale (The First Year Out: Understanding American Teens after High School), on how teens spend the first year of college learning to become efficient managers of their lives (and thereby ignore the content of classrooms)

Andy Crouch (Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling), on the material aspects of human culture and why theories of culture aren’t enough

Jeremy Begbie (Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music), on how our understanding of music can grow so that music can become a way of understanding the world and its Maker

Christ the Center

Christ the Center is a fairly new podcast led by a panel of PCA and OPC pastors; I've grown to really enjoy learning more about the reformed faith this way. Here's a list of recent episodes:

The Eschatological Views of the Westminster Divines
Cultural Relevance, Mercy Ministry and the Social Gospel
The Pastor and the Academy
The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century
Recovering the Reformed Confession
Union with Christ and Twofold Grace
Reformed Church Growth
Reforming or Conforming?

Curse words

I want to recommend something for you to listen to; I know it's hard to make time for sitting and listening to something so I wouldn't suggest you do this unless it was really that good.

R.C. Sproul's message at the recent Together for the Gospel conference stood out from the rest. His message is titled “The Curse Motif of the Atonement”. He arrested my attention as he spoke as a man gripped by the realization that God's curse had been removed from him and put upon another able to bear it. His powerful doctrinal exposition and discerning pastoral application of the truth combined to produce a deep spiritual impression on my soul.

This is one of the best sermons I have ever heard, and I am grateful to my Lord for what He has done for me, and for allowing Dr. Sproul to preach about it with excellence.

Ear Gate Update

I spent another week in the Mojave desert last week. I was cut off from the Internet but kept my iPod charged and got through some notable audio material.

For those interested in a Forrest Gump view of the last 50 years or so of struggles to restore a faithful Presbyterian witness to the South, Mickey Schneider's lectures offer an insightful first-hand account.

If the recent movie Amazing Grace piqued a desire to know more about William Wilberforce, Ken Myers reads a definitive essay by John Pollock on how this man literally changed his times.

Converse with Scholars interviewed the editors of the recent reprint of three of John Owen's works, demonstrating that Owen is a physician of the soul that Christians should schedule an appointment with.

9Marks interviewed Joshua Harris on his ministry within the Sovereign Grace movement and explained why he should be read by more than 13 year old girls.