Recommended Podcasts
Most of the time when I am not working, in front of my computer, or reading a book, I am listening to a podcast. Driving, in the shower, getting dressed, etc. I love to learn. Since one of my primary "sacred pathways" (thank you, Gary Thomas) is the intellectual pathway, learning helps me to connect with and worship God.
Things Above: (podcast series) by James Bryan Smith. Smith founded The Apprentice Institute at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. The Things Above podcast is The Apprentice Institute's podcast and is hosted by James Bryan Smith. The idea of the podcast is "mind discipleship", learning to focus on "things above", the good and beautiful and true. From this podcast come two of my favorite quotes, "I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights." and "I stand in the firm and unshakable kingdom of God. It is not in trouble, and neither am I." Thinking of a community of Christ-followers who share Our God-Bathed Life, I like to say "We are ones in whom Christ dwells and delights. We stand in the firm and unshakable kingdom of heaven. It is not in trouble, and neither are we." (Matthew, in his gospel, prefers "kingdom of heaven" over "kingdom of God". This, too, seemed to be the preferred phrase for Dallas Willard when he wrote "The Divine Conspiracy", which focused on Matthew's telling of the Sermon on the Mount.)
John Mark Comer Teachings Podcast: (podcast series, link is to Spotify) by John Mark Comer, author and founding pastor of Bridgetown Church in Portland, OR. I only came across John Mark Comer a couple of months ago as I write this May 9th, 2023, and when I did I had already put a whole lot of time and effort and resources into Our God Bathed Life. And when I heard him I said to myself, "Well, I may as well shut it down and just link to his stuff." Not really, as I think that I have a little bit of a different point of view on some things, and cover some things he doesn't. But he is brilliant, a great communicator, and I highly recommend listening to him! I hope to read his books somewhere along the way as well.
Become New Podcast: (podcast series) by John Ortberg, author and podcaster who was previously a pastor as well. I have read a few John Ortberg books and they were quite good. John Ortberg, John Mark Comer, and James Bryan Smith all consider Dallas Willard to have been a mentor of theirs in one form or another. All three are brilliant. In this podcast series, John Ortberg does a quick daily devotional in podcast form that lasts typically from 10-15 minutes.
Bridgetown Audio Podcast: The audio podcast of the sermons and lectures of Bridgetown Church in Portland, OR. I was introduced to John Mark Comer on another podcast, maybe the Things Above podcast? And I looked him up and found the John Mark Comer Teachings podcast. From that I learned that he was the lead pastor at Bridgetown Church. That is how I found this. John Mark Comer has since moved on to start PracticingTheWay.org, but Tyler Staton is quite good and he is the lead pastor that took over for John Mark Comer. Tim Mackie of the Bible Project goes to that church and occasionally speaks there now as well.
Van City Audio Podcast: The audio podcast of the sermons and lectures of Van City Church in Vancouver, WA. I was introduced to senior pastor Josh Porter through the Bridgetown Church audio podcast. He is slightly more (self-proclaimed) "punk rock" than the pastors of Bridgetown and slightly more edgy, though not enough so that I think anyone would find him offensive. As I write this in October 2024, I started at the beginning, circa 2015/2016, and have currently listened up to September of 2017. I think Josh is a gifted communicator, and his message ties very closely to that of Bridgetown Church.