What number, please?
I’ve got two hours per day of train and pedestrian commuting time. That’s a fair amount of space to fill on my ipod. But if you commute in a car, if you exercise, if you spend time in the car or time mowing the lawn, even if you work on a computer in an office, an MP3 player can be a marvelous accompaniment.
There are a number of good podcasts to which I listen, but I’m always interested another good one. I’ll tell you mine if you’ll tell me yours, and if we come up with some goodies, perhaps we can make a separate page here at PlanetAugsburg.
Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod-specific
Pirate Christian Radio Streaming radio. Avast! And stop what yar listenin’ to, you scurvy rats! When Issues, Etc. was keelhauled and sent to Davey Jones’ Locker, we thought she was a’goner. But no! She be back from the dead, ‘n they built a whole new ship just to hold ‘er and a whole flotilla of upcoming confessional programming akin! Shiver me timbers, it may only be good for streaming internet radio, but it’s a great place to turn for Issues, Etc. and other great Lutheran programming. Blow me down!
Issues, Etc. Daily podcasts and on Pirate Christian Radio. Now surpassing 64 listeners, Issues, Etc. is the 900 pound gorilla of LCMS broadcasting and podcasting. Host Todd Wilken provides “Christ-centered Cross-focused Talk Radio” on a wide variety of issues, pursing in good Lutheran fashion heresies, unclear thinking and societal issues. Riveting guests and incisive commentary make you wish for more commuting time just to get through the ten hours of programming per week. It’s got good sermon reviews, too.
Fighting for the Faith. Daily podcasts and on Pirate Christian Radio. Chris Rosebrough is the captain of Pirate Christian Radio (Arrh, arrh, arrh) and he’s out for the blood of heretics! Never one to use the small hammer when high explosives will do, FFTF is a sarcastic, invariably entertaining but never irreverent romp through the fields of really bad Christianity. Really, really bad Christianity. A recent episode carried an exclusive interview with Satan, who turns out to have a soft spot in his heart for Jefferson Hills Church after all.
Kramer Chapel services at Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Daily, streaming only with Real player. A great source for services when school’s in session, with a full liturgy, a short homily and oftimes the sacrament of holy communion – something surprisingly comforting to listen to, even in recording. Audio quality is so-so but it’s reasonably listenable.
Bethany Lutheran Church‘s Sunday services. Weekly podcasts. As the audio editor it’s a shameless plug, but my home church’s service has a lot to offer. For one thing, it’s the full service (almost), not just the sermon. For another, we have great special music, a good organ, a talented cantor, confessional pastors, and a vigorous congregation. Sorry, no clowns or Harley Davidson’s in our services. Audio quality for the pastoral parts is very good, the audio for the congregational parts is okay. In the background, we make sure that people are coughing and babies crying so you’ll know it’s a real, Lutheran service.
Other Christian
Critical Issues Commentary. Weekly podcast. CIC does a lot of in-depth work on current fads and heresies in the church. While Bob DeWaay isn’t a Lutheran, I haven’t heard anything egregiously wrong.
White Horse Inn. Weekly podcast. This is a reformation-based program discussing Christian Theology and apologetics. Interesting because the shows hosts include reformed theologians, a baptist, and an LCMS professor but they rarely come to fisticuffs. It’s been on the air since 1990.
Other Other
In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg. Weekly podcast. I have no idea who Melvyn Bragg is, but I want his job. Produced by the BBC, ol’ Mel gets to speak in that cooly-sophisticated BBC way (“Jesus Christ returned today, accompanied by a large band of seemingly angry angels. In the studio to discuss these events we have…”). Each week he has a different subject matter and three expert guests, at least one male and one female. Don’t ask me who made the one-of-each-sex rule, it’s the UK after all. If you want to be the life of the party, if you want to be erudition on esoterica itself, at IOT you can learn about Occam’s Razor, the Poincare Conjecture, and The Enclosures. For the rest of you, you can go out on the deck and have a cigar with Pastor Rossow. But don’t throw the butts in the yard, the dog eats them.
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That’s all I’ll fess up to at the moment. If you’ve got a favorite program, write a review in the comment section and tell us why it’s good. If there’s interest and a good selection, I’ll try to make up a set of links.
Planet Augsburg 
July 11, 2008 at 1:37 pm
we make sure that people are coughing and babies crying so you’ll know it’s a real, Lutheran service.
I was listening to a sermon on Pirate Christian Radio the other day and smiled when I heard a little one fussing in the background. I like that Lutherans trust the Word so much that we don’t freak out when a baby fusses a little bit.
I’ll echo the comments about your Cantor and add a word of praise for the Cantor’s lovely wife. She’s a friend of mine. 🙂
July 12, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Great blog, James! Why did it take a plug from Rev. McCain for me to find out about it? 🙂 I’m adding you to my links!
July 14, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Although I do have the Issues, Etc show now downloading each night and putting it on my player, 90% of my listening pleasure on my MP3 player comes from the Dave Ramsey show.
If you aren’t familiar with him, he helps people get their finances in order, spending less than you make, getting out of debt, getting on a plan and sticking to it. It’s really a great Stewardship tool and we have incorporated his Financial Peace University class into our church (check out his website at http://www.daveramsey.com or my blog site at http://livelikenooneelse.wordpress.com for more information).
I also have Family Life broadcasting podcasts on my player, which is an outstanding listen to get your home in order from a Christian perspective. Their website is http://www.familylife.com.