Pontificast

Again this week Bumper came into the studio to talk politics with us. We talk politics, movies, sports, and anything else that can distract us from the topic at hand.

 

 Pontificast 008: Politics, Part 2! [33:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ryan and I sat down this week with Bumper Hidalgo, a personal friend and, remarkably enough, a Christian who’s actually thinking about the upcoming election and not just knee-jerk reacting to every political ad they see. Okay, maybe that’s a bit optimistic (or harsh), but it’s close.

So, calm your nerves and have a listen! And if anything we said totally riles you up, comment. We’ll continue the conversation below . . .

 

 Pontificast 007: Politics, Part 1! [32:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week we sit down and discuss the topic of tech lust. We look at who does it, where it comes from, and some guidelines to live by so we, as Christians, can live rightly. Feel free to leave your comments so we can continue the discussion.

 

 Tech Lust [35:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ryan and I sat down to talk about what we read over the summer. The books ranged from Neitzsche to Ludlum. Plus, we get into a heated discussion about the semantics of describing next Monday.

 

 Pontificast 005: Summer Reading List [24:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John Dyer (who is an awesome tech guy), Ryan, and I sat down again and talked about the effect of technology on relationships. As usual, there’s a half hour of unedited fun, off-topic conversation, and rabbit trails. Enjoy!

 

 Technology and Relationship [33:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week Joey and I sat down with John Dyer , web developer for Dallas Seminary and all-around cool tech guy. We talked about the effect of technology on people, and how we interact with technology. It’s 30 minutes of awesomeness. And as always, there’s no extra charge for awesomeness or attractiveness.

 

 Technology's Effect on People [32:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week Ryan and I sat down with John Dyer, web developer for Dallas Seminary and all-around cool tech guy. We talked about the effect of technology on our message, namely how a particular medium affects the content of the message. We threw around big names and big ideas, and no-one came out unscathed.

Books mentioned by John in the ‘cast:

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture

Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology

The Making and Unmaking of Technological Society

Habits of the High-Tech Heart

 

 The Medium is the Mesage [29:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Does any church get it? When did the exodus of artistic creativity happen within our churches? As an artist, I contemplate whether any church has purposefully thought through the role of the creative arts within church. Or to put it simply, does any church get it?

Having visited numerous churches, I repeatedly witness churches neglecting, withdrawing from, or outright rejecting the arts. Many churches across America today have drawn the curtain on wanting to see and participate in them. The arts, however, continue to thrive and mature. Painting, sculpture, architecture, drama, dance, writing, video/film, and others continue to develop their own voice within our culture, engaging and, at times, challenging our theistic worldview. But the question stands: can the church hear it? Can the church regain the level of dialogue and influence it once exerted over the arts?

How the Church Historically Heard
If we look back over the history of our faith we will undoubtedly discover that the Christian church, unmistakably, influenced the arts. History shows the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church engaged the artistic world. Inspiration for many of the High Renaissance masterpieces came from these churches. The Roman Catholic church, specifically, commissioned many of the most famous pieces of art—St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Michelangelo’s David, and Sistine Chapel, just to name a few.  The Greek Orthodox Church devoted much attention to the development of iconography, which continues to thrive today. As a whole the Christian church helped move art into new areas of technical ability.

These churches relied on art to communicate a message. That message was the Gospel. The art read much like a visual Bible, intended to help the average church attendee know and understand the Bible. The general public depended on art to aid them in their understanding of the Almighty. Art, for those living before the printing press, developed into a necessity, not an extravagance.

The Reformation changed all that, however, as it attempted to put the Bible into everybody’s hands. No longer did the body of Christ need to rely on a select few to teach the truth of Jesus Christ. They could now find out for themselves. Each church attendee could have a copy of the Word of God.
The Reformation did not remove all of the arts, some remained. In particular, the Reformation began to place a heavy emphasis on preaching. The Reformation viewed the preached word as the preeminent medium of communication. Hearing meant believing. The use of art within church slowly eroded so that it no longer held its privileged place. Over time churches viewed art as an unnecessary extravagance, not a necessity. As the Protestant church developed out of the Reformation we carried with us the belief that the art of the spoken word triumphed as the distinguished form of communicating the Gospel.

The long awaited first episode of Pontificast is here!  Ryan and I introduce ourselves, talk about what we’d like the podcast to do and become, and generally provide eight minutes worth of boring introduction to ourselves.

 

 Pontificast Episode 001 [7:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

One of the topics that interests me right now concerns environmental issues. I’m trying to work out in my own thinking the responsibility that Christian’s have in regard to the environment. Hopefully we can talk about this sometime on the show, but for now, I would encourage you to be thinking about it too.

Here are some of my questions:

What responsibilities do Christians have in regard to our (the United State’s) dependence on foreign oil, or dependence on oil in general? Should we buy cars with higher gas mileage, ride bikes or walk instead of drive, and/or support alternative energy research?

What about global warming? Should we reject the entire concept simply because “Al Gore supports it”? Or do we have a responsibility to research the topic and make intelligent choices concerning carbon emissions, amount of trash we use, etc.

Should Christians be “green”? What exactly is “green” and why should we care?

I hope these questions pique your thinking.

Meantime, check out some of these cool things:

Planet Earth - this is an absolutely amazing series. Watch it in HD if you can.

Interesting TED Talk on “What’s Wrong With What We Eat.”

Start thinking!