I recently wrote about attending an Orthodox Church. I also wrote something on the different cultural and philosophical roots, and therefore mindsets, of the Eastern and Western Churches. I have been doing a fair amount of reading* on Orthodoxy and listening to various podcasts. One of my favorite podcasts is At the Intersection of East and West. The show is a collection of talks given by Michael Hyatt, a Deacon in his Orthodox Church and Chairman of the Board for Thomas Nelson Publishers. I appreciate his perspective and insights. He is a convert to Orthodoxy from an atheist then agnostic then Baptist then Presbyterian (Calvinist) background. I was a Baptist and have been a kind of quasi-Calvinist for many years. Deacon Michael’s take on the typical reformed Protestant culture rings true to me.  His understanding of what a first-time visitor to an Orthodox Church service also rings true to my experience. Here are two of my favorite of his talks (but he has a lot more that are equally great):

Conversion Story:

10 Things I Wish I Knew:

More shows are available at the website link above or in iTunes.

* Here are some of the books I’ve been reading:

• The Orthodox Church and The Orthodox Way, both by Bishop Kallistos Ware.
• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky.
• For the Life of the World by Alexander Schmemann