The moment you’ve been waiting for! We are proud to present the final recording from our recent conference in New York City — and the first of what we hope to be many official conference videos — our very own Jady Koch (JDK) speaking with Dr. Michael Horton:
Many, many thanks to Mark Babikow for capturing it on film and putting everything together so beautifully!
1. Last week I mentioned a recent study exploring the physical impact of keeping secrets, and by implication, the biological necessity of confession (to say nothing of absolution). This week, that study has become manifest in an alarming way. A Reddit thread which asked the question, “What Secret Could Ruin Your Life If It Came Out?” has turned into a stomach-churning tour of the darkest recesses of the human heart and experience, with people anonymously confessing to things as innocuous as petty theft and faking an illness (e.g. “I once helped out my a female friend’s family by taking care…
A major thank you to everyone who helped put on this past weekend’s conference in New York! We could not be happier or more grateful for how it all went. We are offering the recordings free of charge again this year; we only ask that those who were not able to attend this year *consider* making a donation to Mockingbird to help cover the cost of the event. Download links are followed by an in-line player for each recording.
Thursday April 19th
Devotion 1 – Jacob Smith
“The Zoolander Antidote: Telling the Truth (About You)” – Aaron Zimmerman
Friday April 20th
Devotion 2 – Jacob…
via Flikr Jen and Tony Bot
When people are first introduced to the distinction between Law and Gospel, there is often some hesitancy towards it because of what it seems to imply, i.e., that the speaker is against the law. This concern, that somehow the law will be dismissed, evokes more fear and trembling in people than just about any other. Interestingly, this fear is exposed on both the “right” and the “left” of the theological spectrum. For example, some people are all too ready to reject the “law” insofar as it applies to areas of traditional morality, but mention to…
1. A pair of terrific book reviews have appeared in The NY Times over the last couple weeks, the first being Generation X author Douglas Coupland‘s inspiring riff on Hari Kunzu’s opus, Gods Without Men, and the exciting new genre it epitomizes (“Translit”). Ironically enough, he makes a number of Twitter-ready observations:
[We are living in a] “state of possibly permanent atemporality given to us courtesy of the Internet. No particular era now dominates. We live in a post-era without forms of its own powerful enough to brand the times. The zeitgest of 2012 is that we have a lot of…
This year’s Mockingbird Conference–April 19th-21st—marks our 5 year anniversary, and it is fitting, in many ways, that our main speaker is Dr. Michael Horton. As I’ve already mentioned here, Dr. Horton has been one of a few “voices in the wilderness” for many years whom we can only hope to, ahem, mock. Within modern Christianity, there are few people who seem to embody the theological vision behind what we are attempting to do through our discussion of culture, movies, music, sports and Whit Stillman, i.e., connect the message of the historic “faith once delivered,” with the actual lived lives of…
It is hard to overstate how excited we are about this year’s Mockingbird conference main speaker, Michael Horton. Through his work as the Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, Ca, editor of Modern Reformation and host of The White Horse Inn radio program, he has encouraged, educated and inspired countless people around the world to, in the words of the apostle Peter “be prepared with a ready defense for the hope you have within you” (1 Peter 3:15). I can think of few other people whose work and ministry more embodies the intention of…
1. A couple of hot-off-the-presses reasons for living. First, pre-registration for the 2012 NYC Mockingbird Conference (4/19-21) opens on Monday! Again, the theme this year is “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts: Honesty, Humility and the Grace of God” and our keynote speaker will be none other than Michael Horton, Reformation Impresario Numero Uno and all around Gospel guru. He’ll be joined by Aaron Zimmerman, myself and a host of other birds of various stripes. Keep an eye on our events page. Second, and equally important, the trailer for Wes Anderson’s new film, Moonrise Kingdom, hit the web yesterday and it’s world-class.…
The following is a list (in no particular order) of some of the most interesting theological books published in 2011. Needless to say it’s been a banner year.
Lutheran Theology by Steven Paulson
What is Lutheranism? Rather than answering this question by outlining the history and development of Lutheranism, Paulson goes back to Luther himself to rediscover its long-lost soul, using Luther against Lutheranism and its many failed representatives throughout history. By far, this book is Lutheran theology at its best. Positively, this Lutheran theology is a theology that must be preached and therefore it is the message of the justification by…
1. Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish produced a stirring little meditation earlier this week which brought together two of our favorites, philosopher Michael Oakeshott and social psychologist Daniel Kahneman, under the dynamo Oakeshott-inspired title “The Deadliness of Doing.” He speaks about Oakeshott’s lifelong project of trying to recover was a way of doing things which was as unselfconscious as possible. It’s not terribly different from the dynamic described in Tullian Tchividjian’s book we reviewed earlier this week, that true spiritual progress consists in being liberated from self-reference as much as possible, i.e. becoming less fixated on the me-centered notion…
1. Hopefully you got a chance to read our recent e-newslettter. We made a number of announcements about upcoming events and projects, including our next Spring Conference in NYC, which will happen from April 19-21, 2012, and at which none other than Michael Horton has agreed to be our keynote speaker! Needless to say, we are super excited. For those of you unfamiliar with Dr. Horton, our friend Tullian Tchividjian has posted a superb four-part interview with him over at The Gospel Coalition, in which the distinction between the Law and the Gospel is hashed out at considerable length, among…
[Update 1/10/12: We are very pleased to announce that Michael Horton will be the keynote speaker at this years Mockingbird Conference in NYC!]
I thought the title should go ahead and communicate what I thought from the outset:) Almost 10 years ago now, I read a lecture by Rod Rosenbladt called The Gospel for those broken by the Church, which introduced me to him, Michael Horton and the other members of what is known as the White Horse Inn radio show. In no small way, the aims of this show—to bring together people of different confessional and even theological commitments who…
1. A couple of addiction-related articles worth drawing your attention to this week. The first is The NY Times article about the now infamous St Anthony Residence, a so-called “wet house” in St. Paul where alcoholics are given shelter while drinking themselves to death. Plenty of food/drink for thought. The second is a short essay on The American Scholar by William Deresiewicz about Alcoholics Anonymous entitled “The True Church,” in which he describes an AA meeting in the following way, ht WRB:
What I saw there was religion stripped to its bones, austerely beautiful like a piece of Shaker furniture.…
“Someone asked Martin Luther what we contribute to salvation, and he said, ‘Sin and resistance!’”
-Michael Horton, in a Christianity Today interview by Mbird’s 2011 conference speaker Mark Galli
1. Wrapping up this week’s heavy film talk, I thought I’d post some provocative recent thoughts from controversial New York Press film critic Armond White. If you’re not familiar with White, he’s a bit of an agitator – frequently unfair but never boring and definitely coming from a sympathetic point of view (ht LF):
“. . . from early on, I knew I was different. Our parents raised us Baptist, then they got saved and became Pentecostal. There was always a lot of religion around. It had a big effect on me. I’m a believer. I think God is the force…
Rebecca Todd: Well, I am sure both of you would win a debate so I'm not going there....
Jim McNeely: Rebecca, I agree, great comment! Yummy. Here are my thoughts.I thi...
Sam: Isn't the empty tomb proof? I remember a debate that involved Christo...
Zach: Wonderful jewel of honesty amidst the dregs of mealy pap spewed from l...
Rutger-Jan Heijmen: *Conan's...