Andrew Montonera joins PostConsumer reports to discuss his new book By Life or By Death: The Life and Legacy of John and Betty Stam. The Stams were missionaries to China and were tragically martyred in 1934, an event which shook people around the world, partly because their infant daughter survived. Andrew has written a new history of their lives and the events surrounding their death, including numerous pictures, personal writings, poems, and accounts not included in previous biographies of the Stams. You can learn more about him at his website: https://www.andrewmontonera.com/
If you would like to purchase a signed copy of his book you can order one here.
His publisher's page through Moody can be found here, and you can order through Amazon here.
Peter and Grace Assad make up Poems of Grace, a duo singing songs rooted in Scripture and willing to wrestle through the wilderness journeys of life. Just in time for Advent, this episode features Peter discussing their two releases from the past year Rivers to Eden and Not Here Yet. You can find out more of their story and purchase their albums and artwork at https://www.poemsofgrace.com/.
It's celebration time! For the 100th episode of the podcast Fernando Ortega returns to discus his new album For All the Saints. We also have a thorough discussion about his book Fernando's Birds bird watching in general, what it means to be rooted to a place and home, and how he has learned to grieve loss and embrace the joys of life over the years. It's a wonderful discussion to have for this milestone episode.
Fernando also appeared on episode 52 of the podcast to discuss his previous album The Crucifixion of Jesus, which to this day remains the most listened to episode of the podcast.
PostConsumer Reports as a podcast will be winding down over the coming series of episodes. For anyone who has listened to these discussions surrounding art and faith over the years, thank you so much for taking the time. I hope the conversations have been enlightening and joy-filled and I also hope it has provided a platform for artists to spread the word about their work and life. I'm not exactly sure how many have listened or who continues to listens, so I'll just throw this bottle out into the ocean a few more times and see what happens. Finally, thanks Fernando for answering my questions all those years ago, giving me the encouragement to start this podcast, and being such an amazing guest.
Reverend April McClure Stewart join PostConsumer Reports for the 99th episode, which also happens to be our annual Christmas episode! It's the last show of the year and the last show before we put together something special for the 100th episode. April is a Disciples of Christ pastor and has served in various leadership positions over the years. But what really makes her qualified for this particular topic is all of the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany traditions she celebrates with her family each year. This interview features a number of ideas people should consider implementing into their own annual traditions. You can find out more about her church here.
You can find my book Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas here or most anywhere you purchase books. Thanks again to Magic Word for the lovely Amazon review.
Musician, composer, and professor Wally Brath joins the podcast to discuss his new album Connexion a Jazz Psalter. The album consists of nine compositions that set the words of the Psalms to music and along with Brath features the lead vocals of Nikki Lerner and the bass of John Patitucci. You can stream the album everywhere or purchase it on Bandcamp or at his website www.wallybrathmusic.com.
Melody Green was featured on a previous episode of the podcast, also talking about Tolkien. Also, Professor Mike Foster, who was influential in so many people's lives as a teacher of Tolkien and who died this past year, was on an earlier episode discussing his life and love of Tolkien's works.
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Caroline Cobb joins episode 93 of PostConsumer Reports to discuss her new album Psalms: The Poetry of Prayer. Our conversation is a deep dive into the music and background behind the songs, her other Scripture-based albums, and her life as a working musician. You can stream her music wherever it is available or discover more of her work at: www.carolinecobb.com or https://carolinecobb.bandcamp.com/.
You can listen to the episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts:
Related Podcast Episodes:
Ep 90: Brian Doerksen on his song "215"
Ep 85: Singer-songwriter Rick Lee James
Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem
Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor
Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship
Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard
Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor
Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship
Related Podcast Episodes:
Ep 90: Brian Doerksen on his song "215"
Ep 85: Singer-songwriter Rick Lee James
Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem
Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor
Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship
Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard
Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor
Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship
You can find Joel's book here and anywhere you purchase books and you can find out more about his writing and work at his website: https://www.joelhenghartse.com/
You can find Chris's old article on Plankeye's The Spark here.
Related Podcast Episodes:
Ep 90: Brian Doerksen on his song "215"
Ep 85: Singer-songwriter Rick Lee James
Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem
Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor
Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship
Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard
Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor
Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship
Also, I've released a new Christmas song for the end of 2021. It's my electronic version of "What Child Is This?" Go have yourself an Xmas dance party! You can find my older Christmas album here. Also, here is last year's Christmas episode! (You're welcome!)
Oh hey, did you know I wrote a book about Christmas! It's all about the Christmas Culture Wars! And by the end of it, I've certainly won them. All of them. I am the victor. Here are all the places displaying the spoils of my victory:
Amazon
Christian Book Distributors
Wipf and Stock
Barnes and Noble
Google Play
Faithlife
Cokesbury
Lagron Miller (Roman Catholic book, gift, and vestment store in Peoria, Illinois)
Thrift Books
It's the REAL war on Christmas! It's THE real war on Christmas! It's the real WAR on Christmas! It's the real war on CHRISTMAS! You get what I'm saying? If you're interested in part one of this talk about resting and debauchery at Christmastime, please see the Tent Talks podcast.
Brian Doerksen is a songwriter, worship music leader, and teacher who recently wrote "215" a call for lament and repentance from within the Canadian church for the atrocities committed against Indigenous children at numerous church and state run boarding schools. He joins PostConsumer Reports to discuss his process in writing the song, what it means to write from a place of sorrow and loss, and to reminisce with Chris about his past worship songs (those he still sing and those he's moved on from. You can discover Brian's music at his website as well as find out how to watch his "Christmas at Our House" concert film.
Related Podcast Episodes:
Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem
Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor
Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship
Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard
Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor
Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship
Brian Doerksen is a songwriter, church music leader, and teacher who recently wrote "215" a call for lament and repentance from within the Canadian church for the atrocities committed against the Indigenous children at numerous church and state run boarding schools. He joins PostConsumer Reports to discuss his process in writing the song, what it means to write from a place of sorrow, and to reminisce with Chris about his past worship songs (those he still sings and those he's moved on from). You can discover Brian's music at his website as well as find out how to watch his "Christmas at Our House" concert film.
Martin Matthews is the author of four published novels, including The Dream Chasers trilogy and the Pencraft Award-winning The Graveyard Girl and the Boneyard Boy. The final book of his trilogy, Moria Versus the Universe, was just released in November 2021. Martin is a friend of mine (Chris) and we have had numerous discussions over the years about writing, the creative process, God, grief, not feeling like we belong anywhere, being consummate curmudgeons, politics, and schmolitics. Our conversation for this episode continues in that line, though here he goes into detail about the world building of his trilogy of novels, how it is a meditation on the possible future of humanity, and why exactly Stephen King is an utter failure (you heard it here first!). Martin came along in my life at a particularly pivotal moment. I was transitioning out of a job and had no idea where I was going. As our friendship formed he offered me a lot of encouragement and the simple excitement of talking with someone about writing, creativity, and all the ideas that fill our heads. For that I will always be grateful.
You can discover more about Martin at his website: https://martinmatthewswrites.com/ or purchase his books through his Amazon author page.
Martin Matthews is the author of four published novels, including The Dream Chasers trilogy and the Pencraft Award-winning The Graveyard Girl and the Boneyard Boy. The final book of his trilogy, Moria Versus the Universe, was just released in November 2021. Our conversation goes into detail about the world building of his trilogy of novels, how it is a meditation on the possible future of humanity, and the process and craft of novel writing.
