Jul
29
2010
Audio and Video for D. A. Carson’s The God Who Is There
On February 20-21 and 27-28, 2009, Don Carson presented a 14-part seminar entitled “The God Who Is There” at Bethlehem Baptist Church’s North Campus in Minneapolis. This series will serve the church well because it simultaneously evangelizes non-Christians and edifies Christians by explaining the Bible’s storyline in a non-reductionistic way.
The series is geared toward “seekers” and articulates Christianity in a way that causes hearers either to reject or embrace the gospel. It’s one thing to know the Bible’s storyline, but it’s another to know one’s role in God’s ongoing story of redemption. “The God Who Is There” engages people at the worldview-level.
And now MP3s (full) and video (10-minute previews) are available for Carson’s 14-part series:
- The God Who Made Everything | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Does Not Wipe Out Rebels | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Writes His Own Agreements | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Legislates | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Reigns | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Is Unfathomably Wise | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Becomes a Human Being | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Grants New Birth | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Loves | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Dies—and Lives Again | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Declares the Guilty Just | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Gathers and Transforms His People | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Is Very Angry | MP3 | Video Preview
- The God Who Triumphs | MP3 | Video Preview
These talks correspond to the following book and leader’s guide:
D. A. Carson. The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010. 
D. A. Carson. The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story: Leader’s Guide. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010.
The DVDs are currently in production, but ten-minute video previews to each of the fourteen sessions are available on Vimeo. Here’s the opening session:
36 Comments
[...] Update on July 29, 2010: Audio and video are available. [...]
How can we get the video series?
I have a friend who was fortunate to be able to attend every session and said it was an incredible series.
I have been waiting a long time for the audio to come out.
Thanks for passing it along.
[...] Andy Naselli provides the full MP3s and 10-minute video previews for D.A. Carson’s 14-part series on “The God Who Is There.” (The DVDs will be available for purchase later this fall.) [...]
[...] Carson’s series on “The God Who Is There” is now available for download in both audio and video formats. According to the website, [...]
[...] Well, years later, the book is finally here! Though I haven’t yet read “The God Who Is There”, I anticipate it being a great resource. I think it will be particularly valuable as a tool for those who have unsaved friends interested in Christianity, for parents who might want to work through this material with their teenaged children, and for those discipling newer believers. A Leader’s Guide is also available. Later this year, a DVD containing all 14 messages will be released. You can hear/download all 14 messages in MP3 format, for free, here. [...]
[...] get an appetite for Carson’s book, Andy Naselli has posted the audio from Carson’s 14-part seminar at Bethlehem Baptist Church’s North Campus in [...]
Thank you very much for making this entire series available. I recently purchased the book, so the audio will be a reinforcing learning environment.
But I have one question/complaint: why are the mp3 files so huge? Well, obviously it’s the high bit rate. I don’t think that is necessary for teaching, conference, or sermon messages. The size makes it unwieldy for download and storage.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful in my comment above. The mp3s are free (and didn’t have to be), and of great benefit. Again, thank you very much; I’m actually very appreciative to have these.
My complaint was motivated by the growing trend toward very large mp3 files. That assumes all users have access to fast internet connections and large storage devices. But that is not always true, particularly in developing countries. In such cases, large files can be quite a challenge.
Scott:
I can’t speed up your internet connection, but once you have the files (yes, they are pretty hefty, but thanks for posting them :) you can always reduce the bitrate, and thereby the file size.
I often use FairStars Audio Converter, but there are many freeware utilities that will do this for you.
The first file of the series is encoded at 160bps and is 71,040,480 bytes long … 1/10th of a CD!!! I converted it to 32bps and it shrunk to 14,204,928 bytes, ie. 1/5th the size (160/32=5), with no noticable loss in quality.
Keith, many thanks for your very helpful effort. I’m with Scott about the file size; 160bps is really not necessary – 32bps is really excellent for listening purposes. I know of many in less developed locations and who have limited access to good Christian resources would greatly appreciate the 32bps downloads. Thanks again to all who have made Carson’s latest contribution available on-line. Blessings!
Thanks very much, Keith — that’s very helpful. I’ll try it with Audacity.
I think the bigger file sizes are better.
This is so inaccurate and untrue. Bigger is NOT better – particularly for sermon/speech files.
[...] The God Who is There >>> [...]
[...] [The above is re-posted from the Gospel Coalition Blog. Read the rest of the original blog post by Andy Naselli here.] [...]
This is so INCREDIBLY EXCITING!!! I can’t wait to get the DVD series…thank and praise God for such a Christ-honoring and useful resource.
[...] August 1, 2010 by Aaron Armstrong Leave a Comment D.A. Carson’s “The God Who Is There” Audio Now Available [...]
[...] and video for Don Carson’s The God Who Is There became available three days ago. These talks correspond to two of Carson’s books that Baker released last [...]
[...] and video for Don Carson’s The God Who Is There became available three days ago. These talks correspond to two of Carson’s books that Baker released last [...]
[...] The first stage, the initial training in Biblical and theological knowledge is critical, and must not be glossed over. In the past I have used a few different supplementary texts at this point. MacArthur’s Fundamentals of the Faith study has been the most comprehensive, and yet accessible that I have used. Recently,however, I came across this book by Carson which just might replace MacArthur’s. The God Who Is There is an introductory work designed to bring connectivity to the overall story of redemption that can be found in some form in each of the books of the Bible. Carson’s writing is nearly top shelf in accessibility, but with a little thought, it is easily understood. Written to be an evangelistic aid, as well as a tool for discipleship, this book will likely become my new standard text. As an added bonus, the entire book has been presented by Carson himself in mp3 format, and made available for free here. [...]
[...] he gave at Bethlehem Baptist Church in February 2009 (The Gospel Coalition has generously posted the audio for free, as well as short video clips from each [...]
Does anyone know when the DVDs will be releaed?
I’m with Scott on this one. The first MP3 is 67MB. I presume from this size that the lecture went for about 2 hours?
Otherwise a wonderful resource !!!
[...] preparing pickles, embroidering, and the like. (I’ve been listening to D.A. Carson’s audio seminar of “The God Who is There”. Follow the link to get all 14 sessions in MP3 format for FREE. This is a great [...]
[...] Andy Naselli from → Books, Ministry Resources ← Staying Encouraged to Preach No [...]
[...] to Brian from Apologetics315 for this great find! This found at the Gospel Coalition blog: D.A. Carson’s “The God Who Is There” series simultaneously evangelizes [...]
[...] MP3′s may be found at The Gospel Coalition (which is itself a phenomenal resource). A brief note: these [...]
[...] winsomely that I very much enjoyed listening. Carson is very good. BTW, these are all available as free downloads as well from the Gospel Coalition site. Files are large (not compressed?) so it takes a while, but [...]
[...] Click here [...]
I need a hard cpoy of the book how can I get it in Kenya- Nairobi?
I hope that you make this resource available on Blu-ray because I would purchase. MP3s are the right size–hard drives and bandwidth are getting bigger. Thanks for the resource.
Adam, you missed my point on the mp3 file size. Yes, if you have the bandwidth you are cool. But many people don’t have that and won’t any time soon — particularly in developing countries. In my field location in S.E. Asia, a city of 100,000+ people, we still have slow dialup connections, no access to what you would recognize as “broadband”; on bad days it can be a struggle just to download our email. People in other places pay per Kb of data and/or per minute of connection time.
There are also indirect effects of huge file sizes, such as increased server storage and slower traffic speed for the internet system as a whole. Those burdens are borne by all users, though we are generally unaware of them. And this is a growing trend.
That could be reasonable if there was some necessity or advantage in having huge, high bit rate mp3 for sermons or conference messages. But there isn’t (music yes, but this isn’t a concert). As mentioned by others, 32bps is plenty good for the purpose, and frankly even 16bps is fine. Just because we have the ability to go high end doesn’t mean we should, especially when it creates a burden for some in our community.
[...] Andy Naselli On February 20-21 and 27-28, 2009, Don Carson presented a 14-part seminar entitled “The God Who [...]
Is session 12′s link correct? It seems to be linked to a session “Naming God”. Please verify. Thanks.
[...] Don Carson’s new book The God Who Is There is available online, it now transpires that you can download the 14 original talks on which the book is based (each is an hour – accompanied by a 10 min video [...]