Mar 21, 2006
Podcasting has really changed my life. Really. I know that sounds cheesy and a bit of an overstatement but I have been greatly encouraged by great audio content over the last several months that I don't feel weird saying that. Driving back and forth to my office and around town to meet with people affords some time in the car. What better time to fill the mind with some edifying stuff...or at least some fun stuff. The more I have listened to good content from podcasts, I have found I listen to thinks like "talk radio" much less often. The stuff on talk radio really can be filled with such vitriol and guile that it bums you out and just can make put you in a funky state of mind. The effect of talk radio (left wing or right wing) on the soul will be saved for perhaps another post.
In all seriousness though, I thought I would share a few of the podcasts that build up my life. For those who are new to podcasts, I'll include an intro at the end of the is post.
Desiring God Radio - This is the radio broadcast of Desiring God Ministries featuring the biblical teaching of John Piper. It comes in 25 minute segments so you can chew reasonable sized bytes (sorry for the pun). The teaching of Piper could be described as theological exposition which aims to provoke the mind and the affections towards God. In short - it just fires me up and points me in a godward direction.
Feed URL:http://rss.salemweb.net/oneplace/ministries/podcasting/356.xml
Click Here to Subscribe Using iTunes
Mars Hill Featured Audio - I listen to this for the Film and Theology discussions as well as the weekly teaching of Mark Driscoll. Driscoll is a bit abrasive for some but I really enjoy his mixture of humor, theologically driven messages, and a nack for communicating to our generation. Current series is entitled Christians Gone Wild: 1 Corinthians. The messages are usually about an hour.
Feed URL:http://feeds.marshillchurch.org/feed/featuredaudio/rss.xml
Click Here to Subscribe Using iTunes
This Week in Tech - This is one of the most popular podcasts out there. This is basically a bunch of techno geeks and tech journalists talking about all things geeky. The show consists of news, commentary, banter, humor and cool stuff coming out in tech world. Being one who has some past education in Computer Science this makes me feel still part of the club. Even though for the most part I am now a wanna be geek. Shows are about an hour each week.
Feed URL:http://leoville.tv/podcasts/twit.xml
Click Here to Subscribe Using iTunes
Stand to Reason - STR just entered the podcasting world but has quickly picked up a good following. Last week they had climbed to #1 in the religious/spirituality category in the iTunes Podcast directory. The show is a big two hours long and contains the audio from Greg Koukl's weekly call in show. For those interested in discussions of ethics, theology, philosophy, culture and apologetics, add this to your queue.
Feed URL:http://www.str.org/podcast/weekly/rss.xml
Click Here to Subscribe Using iTunes
Now for the newbies. The following was written by my friend Neal Joseph and tweaked by yours truly. I think it is a good overview for non techie people who are new to podcasts.
What Is a Podcast?
A podcast is a subscription format designed to deliver audio or video content directly to your computer. The advantage to podcasting is that you don't need to remember to go back download the newest media from your favorite online source. Once you subscribe to the podcast it will automatically update new content to your reader as it becomes available. The readers are usually free or low cost. The most common podcasts deliver audio files in the MP3 format, syndicated through an RSS (XML) file. Other formats and other types of files, such as video, are increasingly being podcasted. The content is downloaded to your PC, Mac or mobile device. It's not streamed, so you can access the content whenever you want. You may subscribe to podcast feeds by using a Podcast client program. Once it is installed on your local computer, the program will regularly check for and automatically download the new audio content to which you have subscribed. Any computer with audio-playing software can play podcasts. You can also download the mp3 files to any portable mp3 player to take it with you.
Finally, here are the URL's for the Podcasts from Fellowship Bible Church, where I serve:
- For Sunday Morning Messages, use: http://www.fellowshipnashville.org/messages.xml
- For Inversion (this is where my teaching lives), use: http://www.inversionfellowship.org/inversion_podcast.xml
Comments
I only podcast Truth For Life. Unfortunately, the quality is not the best. I hear the sound quality of podcasting is pretty poor in general. Is this is a problem you've found?
Posted by: BV | March 23, 2006 02:58 PM
Ben, it depends on the production expertise and equipment of the people producing the podcast. First, some encode the mp3 at a very low bit rate to save disk space. The lower the bit rate, the lower the quality of the audio. Second, the equipment used to record the original audio also effects it. Mics, mixers, etc. The ones listed above have pretty good quality.
I think Begg would be great to listen to...but I have already cut Ravi Zachariasfor a season - one of my absolute favorite dudes to listen to...because I could not listen to it all in a week :) There can be "sermon overload" but even then the accumulative effect is helpful even if all is not digested at the same level...
Going to speak on the Biblical and Theological view of sex in about an hour. Pray for me.
Posted by: Reid | March 23, 2006 06:30 PM
So. Is it possible to get too much info / input / data even from good sources? Can we, for example, podcast silence? I have so many books laying around, so many bookmarked sites, so many mp3 messages in the queue that I feel maxed sometimes. Silence is nice, so is a timely sudoku (like sun chips for the mind). Man, I like it all and I haven't stopped downloading but I'm thinking I like the sound of the mockingbird out my window.
Speaking of which I was in a big [unnamed] bookstore and I couldn't find a poetry section. Technology, self-help, computer/software, novels, etc., etc. No poetry. Need to think on some haiku's or something. Or, maybe... get back to the Word!!
Love ya bro. Just venting.
Posted by: Sandy | March 24, 2006 03:24 PM
Sandy, great points, good vent. Amen on poetry. Yes, I don't want to fill the air with noise, but I do want to fill my commute with preaching. I pray my early mornings may find silence. But I probably do need to shut it all off in the car as well. I mean in Old Geneva they got 7-9 sermons a week. I only get 2 or 3 with my podcasts...and a little optional geek fun, and a little optional apologetics.
Good press though...I feel exhorted in a really good way
Yours for silence, solitude and sudoku (though I have not sudokued yet). I hear it is about as addictive as they come. Mohler recently confessed he was an addict.
Appreciate you brother, discursive venting is good - in the presence of God, on a knee.
Posted by: Reid | March 24, 2006 05:37 PM
www.websudoku.com
it even keeps your average time and shows the time distribution.
i do not take responsibility for hours lost
Posted by: BV | March 24, 2006 06:52 PM