Here are a few things on my desk:
- New Issue of Critique – this fine, free publication, edited by Denis Haack, Director of Ransom Ministries, promotes spiritual discernment on cultural issues. This issue contains a nice editorial by Haack on the brokenness of everything, and the hope of restoration of all things, “Heaven working backwards” (Lewis). The book review on Hidden Worldviews piqued my interest, and the review of The Road by McCarthy includes some good discussion questions (see my review).
- “The Protocol Society” – this Op-ed piece by David Brooks is intriguing. He compares and contrasts the protocol economy with the “physical stuff” economy. Protocols are “sets of instructions”, that our technological world relies upon, from binary code to suped up automobiles. But protocol isn’t merely technological; it is economical. It drives the production of new drugs. The up front cost is in coming up with the right pill, but the cost of reproduction of that right pill is minimal. The protocol is what was costly. Physical stuff is subject to scarcity, whereas protocol isn’t. New ideas are spread quickly and easily, pushing the economy in a decidedly intellectual direction. A lot of this isn’t new. Sounds like old observation of our economic shift from “skilled worker” to “knowledge worker” (compare Detroit to Austin), but with a nuance of protocol. It’s a certain type of knowledge that seems to be driving our economy. Where will that leave us, open and unguarded or flourishing and advanced?
- It Might Get Loud – DVD that traces the careers of guitarists Jack White, the Edge, and Jimmy Page. So far, so good. On a side note, starting this year I am taking a discipline a year and trying to read deeply. Art, and music in particular, is my focus for 2010. Feel free to drop some recommendations in the comments.
- Contact: Who is Jesus – the quarterly publication of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, with some insightful contributions from Sean McDonough and Alvin Padilla.
…and now they are off my desk!