Who Are You Listening To?

This episode is more than simply asking: who are you listening to? We really dive into the subject of life-long learning. To join me in this task is Executive Editor at DesiringGod, David Mathis. In addition to being a husband, father, pastor, and editor at DesiringGod, David spends a lot of time writing articles on various subjects of life and faith. In our conversation, he helps set us up so we can engage the news and subjects of this world in a way that ultimately glorifies God. In short, David sets us on the trajectory to become life-long learners – or, as I like to say it, perma-students.

Episode Links

David is Executive Editor at DesiringGod (personally, I, Isaac, have received much benefit from reading, watching and listening to resources produced by them).

Also, check out David’s new(ish) book, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines. Also, watch what John Piper says about it.

Read It

*Below is an edited transcription of the audio.

Well it’s great to have David Mathis with us on the show today. David is Executive Editor of DesiringGod, a pastor at Cities Church in Minneapolis, adjunct professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary, and also the author of Habits of Grace. I’m not sure if you have any free time! But anyways, thank you for being here with us today David.

The most important thing, other than being a follower of Jesus Christ, is being a husband to Megan and then a father of four. Megan is about 35 weeks pregnant right now as we do this interview, we’re due here coming up. I have twin boys that are six years old, they’ll be seven, God-willing, this summer – Carson and Coleman. And we have a two-year-old daughter named Gloria.

Wow, awesome. So you definitely don’t have any free time I presume!

A little bit here and there, but I do love spending as much of my “free time” as possible with my family. They are a great delight for me.

That’s so good. And I’m learning that too. I’m just over a year married to my best friend. And honestly, I almost feel a little bad to my other friends, because I would love just to be able to hang every single day with my wife. I need to block out some time for my friends as well, because I need that.

Apart from family, do you have any hobbies? What do you enjoy to think about or do?

Yeah good question. I am a sports fan – there’s virtue and vice in that. For my whole life, I longed for the Clemson Tigers to win the college football championship, which they just did a couple months ago. And so, in terms of being a sports fan, which is such a small thing, I can die happy now that the Tigers won the national championship.

I’m a Minnesota Twins MLB fan. I do love baseball, played a lot of baseball growing up. My six-year-old boys love baseball, we just do baseball all the way during spring and the summer. And in Minneapolis we live on the public transit rail, it’s called the Lightrail, we live on a stop, and so we can just jump on the train and it’ll go right to Target Field where the Minnesota Twins play, so we love spending time in the summer going to Twins games – beautiful stadium downtown Minneapolis. When in Rome, I’ve tried to become a Vikings fan as well.

I do love to run. I try to get in at least three runs a week – I really enjoy that. It helps my mind stay clear. I think I sleep better at night when I’m running.