by Stephen Rodgers

So I guess it falls to me to wrap this all up. We hope that this has been helpful for some of you; if nothing else, you’ve gotten a little insight into the listening habits of Richard, Cesar, and myself.

What you might not have realized is that we did a little polling behind the scenes to make sure that we didn’t repeat ourselves and wind up recommending the same podcasts over and over again. And truth be told, there was very little overlap with a couple of exceptions:

• Every single one of us recommended The Briefing with Al Mohler.
• 2 out of 3 recommended The Dividing Line with James White.

So, if you’re unsure where to begin, those seem like crowd favorites. And there’s always the LBC Sermon Archive as well.

Other than that, here’s a handy table of the podcasts that we discussed. If you’d like to see more “Tag Team” articles, then let us know. (We’ve got a few ideas, but we’d like to hear how we could be of help to you as well).

Happy listening!

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Since I’m the last to post my top three, it comes with the assumption that at least one of the previously mentioned podcasts would have been listed on mine (*cough*James White*cough*). In any case, here would be my choices:

1. Stand to Reason – Greg Koukl is a stellar example of an ambassador of Christ, one who represents the King well in this world. If you’re familiar with his ministry, that is one of the focuses of Stand to Reason: a combination of knowledge, wisdom and character makes for an effective ambassador, and Greg displays all three aspects every week on this podcast. He is deeply insightful in giving answers to the current apologetic issues of our day, and interviews some of the leading Christian scholars on giving informed responses to specific attacks on the Christian faith. You’re bound to learn not only helpful responses, but also how to do so with grace. This would be the top podcast for every believer, especially the collegian who is often challenged or presented with different perspectives antithetical to the Christian faith.
2. 9Marks – Though geared toward pastors, this podcast has more to do with church life that I think everyone can benefit from. Mark Dever, pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, usually leads a roundtable discussion with pastors along with a special guest to either discuss something they’ve written, or about ministry issues that they have considerable wisdom worth imparting. From missions, to expository preaching, to discipleship, there is much to learn from a group of wise and godly men. You don’t want to miss out on this one.
3. CCEF – What better place can you get short but meaty discussions on various issues in biblical counseling than CCEF’s weekly podcast? It seems like nothing is really kept from being brought up in discussion, no matter how difficult the issue. Unfortunately, this podcast has not had an update in about a year, but they have nearly five years worth of podcasts dealing with a range of problems, such as how to counsel someone who has suffered abuse, to trusting God in our parenting, to counseling non-Christians. If you have any interest in gaining insight from some of the leading voices in the biblical counseling movement, this is a great place to start.

I know there’s more, and I’m not necessarily sure if we’re going to debate the merits of our list against the others’, but I hope this is helpful to all who have read through our posts. Looking forward to the next series!

by Richard Shin

So when Cesar and I signed up for this Tag Team bit, I had no idea Stephen had initially considered doing any form of “lively discussion” or “robust debate.” If we were to pursue such a thing, I recruit Pastor Patrick into my team.

In any case, here are my top three.

1. Ask Pastor John – If The Briefing is “gold” (per Stephen), then this one is platinum. Desiring God, the organization that produces this podcast, receives a slew of questions from everyday Joes and Janes like us on a regular basis. In response, John Piper addresses one question every weekday. The topics can range from current events to theological questions to counseling issues to whatever else you can think of. Each podcast is usually 5-10 minutes long, and Piper does a good job of tackling the heart of the issue in that short time. If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis of the finer points, this is not it, but it serves as a good launching pad for you to study the topic on your own, as you should.
2. The Dividing Line – James White is an apologetic genius. He not only knows his Greek and Hebrew, but he studied Arabic to read the Quran and debate Muslims (uh… what?). I was introduced to him when I first came to Lighthouse, and he has not yet disappointed. I remember devouring his debate videos one after another until my eyes and my brain couldn’t handle anymore… until the next day. His podcasts are often a hodgepodge of random unconnected topics, but they generally revolve around getting to the truth through fact-finding and biblical exegesis. His podcasts usually go over an hour, but don’t be too scared of the length; if you follow the blog, White always follows up his podcasts with a quick recap of his latest session which is handy if you want to pick and choose. Furthermore, he has compiled a dangerous archive of videos, sermons, articles, and podcasts on his website aomin.org (or the old website, vintage.aomin.org) you can use at your disposal.
3. White Horse Inn – Are you like me who enjoys the panel discussions at conferences? The White Horse Inn’s motto is to help you “know what you believe and why you believe it.” A theological giant himself, Michael Horton hosts the weekly podcast which seeks to understand and apply truth through dialogue (similar to the Christ the Center podcast from Stephen’s set). The podcast is usually ~30 minutes long, which isn’t bad for a weekly production. The discussions that transpire are always informative, never dull and extremely enlightening, and they undoubtedly give way for a time of heartfelt reflection.

Stay tuned for Cesar’s post to be continued next Monday.

Coram Deo

by Stephen Rodgers

So, as I mentioned yesterday, we’re experimenting with a new type of series, where multiple authors all individually weigh in on a particular topic or issue. So, to start us off, we’re going to try to answer the following question:

“If you could recommend three (and only three!) Christian podcasts to everyone reading this, which three would you recommend, and why?”

Of course, there are a couple of rules:

1. You’re not allowed to pick the LBC Sermon Archive. Of course we all recommend that people keep a weather on that so that they know what’s being taught in the various classes / ministries at LBC. If we don’t stipulate that is off limits, then everyone will pick it and our top 3 will suddenly look a lot like a favorite couple.
2. Sermon archives are different than podcasts. We may do a series on those at a later date, but this is for podcasts only.

Alright, since it’s my job to get the ball rolling, here are my top three Christian podcasts that I would recommend to the folks reading this:

1. The Briefing with Al Mohler – Ok, this is pure gold. Seriously, I’m not messing around here; if you’re not already listening to this podcast you should be! Al Mohler really needs no introduction (author, speaker, theologian, president of the SBTS, etc., etc.) but what you might not know about him is that he also hosts several podcasts including “The Briefing.” In this daily podcast Dr. Mohler discusses newspaper articles and current events from a Christian perspective.  New episodes are released weekdays, and each weekend there is a bonus episode where people call in and Dr. Mohler does a Q&A. The average length is ~15 minutes.
2. 5 Minutes in Church History with Stephen Nichols – This is a neat little gem that I’m pretty sure Richard and Cesar won’t recommend. Stephen Nichols is an accomplished author and professor of church history, and he puts out a weekly podcast on various topics in (surprise!) church history. As the name of the podcast suggests, the average length is ~5 minutes, so these are interesting insights and tidbits rather than extended lectures.
3. Christ the Center from Reformed Forum – Ok, for my last recommendation I’m going to cheat (just a little bit). Reformed Forum actually puts out a whole slew of material (podcasts included), but my favorite ongoing series is “Christ the Center.” It’s a weekly podcast where a group of panelists discuss…something. Seriously, you never know what you’re going to get: sometimes it’s a book review, sometimes it’s an interview, sometimes it’s a doctrinal debate. Some of the episodes are better than others, and the vast majority of these folks are conservative Presbyterians (so we’d differ with then on a few issues like baptism), but it’s always interesting. The average length is ~60 minutes, and be sure to check out one of their older series, “Philosophy for Theologians.”

That’s it! Next time, we’ll see what Richard recommends…

by Stephen Rodgers

For the next couple weeks, we’re going to try a little experiment here on the Beacon: a new type of article series called “Tag Team.” Unlike previous series where a single author wrote multiple articles, we’re going to see what happens when we turn multiple authors loose on a single topic. In this case, those multiple authors are Richard, Cesar, and myself. Our hope is that we’ll succeed beyond our wildest dreams, but if we fail spectacularly and serve as an illustration for what exactly “and great was the fall of it” looks like on a blog, then that will be interesting as well.

I’m crossing my fingers for “succeed beyond our wildest dreams” though.

So…to inaugurate this new series, we had a few ideas:

1. A lively discussion as to whether the ghost of Samuel was actually Samuel or not.
2. A robust debate as to exactly what “the perfect’ is that Paul refers to.
3. A puff piece about Christian podcasts.

Since for our first time out of the gate we wanted the difficulty set to something like “Easy Mode” instead of what is colloquially known as “Nintendo Hard,” we’re starting with #3.

So tune in tomorrow. I’ll be introducing the rules for Tag Team and our first series on podcasts. You don’t want to miss it.