Reading Rundown
Camden runs through many of the books he’s read in the last few months.
My Amazon Author Page Is Live
I was mildly surprised to see my forthcoming book Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: A 12-Week Study (Crossway) available for pre-order on Amazon. A while back, a friend of mine told me about setting up an Amazon author page. After a little digging around, I created my profile, and my Amazon author page is now live.
The Book You Need: Deep Work by Cal Newport
I absolutely loved Cal Newport’s Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. From beginning to end, Newport cuts through the mess and offers a genuine way to engage in “deep work,” through penetrating and sustained thought. If you feel crippled by incessant emails, text messages, and social media, which cultivate low-value “shallow work” done in a state …
Prayer Is the Breath of the Soul
Prayer is the breath of the soul.
Our breathing is a constant source of renewal to our bodies. We eat three or four times a day. But we breathe all day long, all night too.
As impossible as it is for us to take a breath in the morning large enough to last us until noon, so impossible is it to pray in the morning in such a way as to last us until noon. Therefore, too, the apostle says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Let your prayers ascend to Him constantly, audibly or silently, as circumstances throughout the day permit.
—O. Hallesby, Prayer (pp. 147–148)
The Life of Study
The life of study is austere and imposes grave obligations. It pays, it pays richly; but it exacts an initial outlay that few are capable of. The athletes of the mind, like those of the playing field, must be prepared for privations, long training, a sometimes superhuman tenacity. We must give ourselves from the heart, if truth is to give itself to us. Truth serves only its slaves.
—A. G. Sertillanges, O.P., The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods, p. 4.
Recording Better Podcasts
Cast looks like a promising service for recording podcast multi-enders. When recording podcasts with remote guests I’ll usually record my mic directly and then record Skype from the computer—either feeding the computer’s output to a mixer or using a program like Audio Hijack. Either way, the audio I’m recording of my conversation partner has been …
Podcast Recommendations
Reformed Forum has been producing podcasts since 2008. But we’re not merely producers, we love to listen to podcasts ourselves. I had a great time talking with Jonathan Brack and Jared Oliphint about some of our favorite (and most embarrassing) subscriptions. Read more and listen
Open Source Library Software
We’ve begun to compile a church library. We have a place to put the books, but we’re looking for a system for organizing the books and facilitating checkouts. Some churches don’t do anything. You just take a book and bring it back when you’re done. Others use a makeshift card catalogue. I’ve been looking at open source software to handle the job. Koha looks promising.