Sign in

Judson Taylor

@judsontaylor.bsky.social
164 followers 315 following 1.5K posts

"Every mystery of life has its origin in the heart." (Hans Urs von Balthasar) Subscribe to my posts at: judsontaylor.substack.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Over time, I started to hear the music,” Ravi Coltrane said. “I started to react to the music very differently. It was calling out to me in a way, and I went toward it.” www.knkx.org/jazz/2026-09...
knkx.org
Ravi Coltrane honors father's centennial by carving his own jazz path
Beyond his famous name, Ravi Coltrane builds a unique musical legacy while marking 100 years since the birth of his iconic father.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Newly unearthed live recordings reveal John Coltrane’s astonishing evolution from harmonic complexity toward the spiritual freedom of A Love Supreme. www.tabletmag.com/sections/art...
tabletmag.com
Coltrane's Shadow - Tablet Magazine
The legendary ‘Tiberi Tapes’ reveal new sides of the master, even to his biggest fans
001
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
San Antonio is watching orchestral identity being dismantled and reconstructed in real time. The Philharmonic embodies an obvious form of continuity because it was created by musicians of the former Symphony. www.sacurrent.com/arts/classic...
sacurrent.com
Analysis: Can an orchestra die? San Antonio will find out.
The Alamo City is watching orchestral identity being dismantled and reconstructed in real time.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Different lists, same story: today’s essay looks at the canon question and how much common ground still remains under the disputed books. 
judsontaylor.substack.com/p/the-canon-...
001
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Michael Sacasas draws on C. S. Lewis’s “On Living in an Atomic Age” to argue that the best response to AI anxiety may be to resist surrendering the ordinary human activities—work, conversation, reading, music, friendship—that make life meaningful in the first place. www.npr.org/2026/09/28/n...
npr.org
AI has sparked anxiety, earlier generations showed us ways to manage our fears
Much of what we are hearing about AI leaves many people anxious about the risks posed by the technology. The writer Michael Sacacas takes a long view of how to manage such feelings.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Paul appears to echo Wisdom of Solomon.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“The desire for God dwells deep in our hearts…and it is Jesus Christ, through his Incarnation, who comes to meet every human person in the midst of his or her own story, and reveals himself as the true source of the living water capable of quenching our thirst.” — Pope Leo
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you do not have the Deuterocanonical books in your bible and want to get a taste for them, but you only want to read one, make it Wisdom. It’s probably the book most likely to make a Protestant reader say, Oh—I can see why Christians kept reading this.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Roger Scruton’s troubled upbringing, immersion in Western art and philosophy, restless rebelliousness, and disillusionment with the 1960s counterculture gradually transformed him from an apolitical young intellectual into a conservative thinker. firstthings.com/the-making-o...
firstthings.com
The Making of Roger Scruton - First Things
Cambridge, October 1964. A new undergraduate named Mary Hoffman is sitting in the corner at a party, feeling sorry for herself. She doesn’t know anybody, the friends she arrived...
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The ferry map you didn’t know you needed.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Your organization has a reason for sending that email. That doesn’t mean I have a reason to open it. The gap between those two things may be where most communication fails. Today: five questions for closing that gap. judsontaylor.substack.com/p/before-we-...
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I must be imagining that I am feeling like I’m coming down with the flu right after receiving my flu shot.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“We need a video.” “We need a campaign.” “We need a webpage.” Maybe. But those are answers to questions we haven’t asked yet. Friday on Substack, I’m writing about the five questions that should come first.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I’m grateful for the technology that helps us worship. I’m also beginning to wonder whether we’ve made Christian worship far more complicated than it needs to be. judsontaylor.substack.com/p/could-we-s...
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“AI is a gift,” Boromir said immediately. “The evil lies in how it is used. Give it to Gondor. We shall use it for good!” jaredcwellman.substack.com/p/the-counci...
jaredcwellman.substack.com
The Council of Elrond Discusses AI
satire, sort of
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Daniel Sullivan reports R.C. Sproul successor Burk Parsons once promoted the Presbyterian Church in America for its accountability. Then he was held accountable. Now Burk Parsons is not in the PCA. roysreport.com/pastor-burk-...
roysreport.com
Pastor Burk Parsons leaves PCA, following Florida congregation out of denomination | The Roys Report
Burk Parsons resigned from the PCA days after its highest court upheld findings that he was harsh and domineering.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The rise of AI-powered surveillance in churches raises unsettling questions about privacy, pastoral care, security, and what happens when Christian community begins to look more like an algorithm. baptistnews.com/article/how-...
baptistnews.com
How much privacy should you expect at church?
Imagine a world where high-control pastors monitor movements of every staff member, church member or visitor using artificial intelligence.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The band is engaged. The pastor is engaged. The production team is intensely engaged. But has the congregation become the least active group in the room? My next Substack post will be out on Friday.
010
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
What could Augustine possibly teach us about AI, algorithms, and social media? Gordon-Conwell’s Autumn Alcott Ridenour offers a compelling vision for living in our “digital empire” without letting it reorder our loves. www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5-F...
youtube.com
#95 Navigating the Digital Empire with Autumn Ridenour
YouTube video by Faith at the Frontiers
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“Sooner or later, I predict, there will exist truly sovereign AI agents and swarms of agents. Their weights will not reside in any single place that a human can pull the plug on, and in this sense they will have no human ‘owner.’” open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
open.substack.com
Swarms of AI Committing Crime For Money
It’s more likely than you think.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
What if the biggest challenge in ministry isn’t attendance, engagement, or your next Mailchimp campaign—but our need to be seen? mereorthodoxy.com/the-secret-p...
mereorthodoxy.com
The Secret Place
For many churches, ministry now consists of exposure—podcast or perish—leaders feel obligated to maintain an online presence and publish their church’s conversion rate, baptism ratio, average weekly a...
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei outlined three strategies for "pacing the frontier" of AI development, committing to one. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman agreed. techcrunch.com/2026/09/12/a...
techcrunch.com
Anthropic CEO outlines plan to slow AI development | TechCrunch
Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman seem to agree that it's time to "pace the frontier." What would that actually look like?
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Who was his target audience? The gathered business leaders in Dublin or a US audience tuning in before it was even dawn in much of that country? www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Trump: US president's comments on a united Ireland may have targeted an audience across the Atlantic
Nobody could have predicted that today's main global headline would be Trump's desire to see a unified Ireland.
010
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says too many Americans are on antidepressants. A psychiatrist says getting doctors to stop reaching for the prescription pad would require changing how the healthcare system works. theconversationus.substack.com/p/are-too-ma...
theconversationus.substack.com
Are too many Americans taking antidepressants?
RFK Jr. says too many Americans are on antidepressants. A psychiatrist explains how getting doctors to stop reaching for the prescription pad would require changing how the healthcare system works.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
In medieval times, cabbage brought nightmares, turnips brought lust, and beans brought confusion. lithub.com/fish-bad-sug...
lithub.com
Fish Bad, Sugar Good… And Other Medieval Ideas About Food
Although medieval ideas about food were very different to our own, its importance was widely recognized. According to Galen, food “is probably the most important of all medical subjects,” and it do…
011
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
“The relentless deskilling pursued by bosses is pushing each of us to work for an AI.” (Seth Godin) seths.blog/2026/09/the-...
seths.blog
The daily review
The office worker has learned to dread the annual review. For many good reasons. It’s going away. Now, like workers on the factory floor, it’s likely that the metrics will be exposed an…
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What if Francis of Assisi knew the secret to Christian influence? Bad news: it involves giving up almost everything we call success. judsontaylor.substack.com/p/the-franci...
judsontaylor.substack.com
The Francis of Assisi Strategy for Explosive Church Growth
By Pastor Braxton Brandwell
001
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The science around migratory birds has changed dramatically over the past two decades, and conservation can help save these incredible species – if governments act before they become endangered.
theconversation.com
More than half of Earth’s migratory bird species are declining – here’s how we can still save them
A new global assessment of the world’s migratory species finds reason for alarm, but also hope – and a road map for helping them survive.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Anthropic pretraining researcher Jacob Coxon resigned after warning that major AI firms are "gambling with our lives" in a reckless race toward uncontrollable, self-improving superintelligence. Here he is talking to Anderson Cooper on CNN. youtu.be/i30jVPqQeOM?...
youtu.be
Ex-Anthropic insider tells CNN how AI could kill all humans by 2030
YouTube video by CNN
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Pastor, are you ready to take your ministry to the next level? Meet Francis of Assisi, the world’s worst church-growth consultant.   judsontaylor.substack.com/p/the-franci...
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Want to become an influential Christian leader? Francis of Assisi cracked the code 800 years ago. You may not like what he discovered. Guest post coming bright and early tomorrow morning by Braxton Brandwell, Lead Pastor, Momentum City Church, Founder, KingdomScale™. Be sure to read it on Substack.
001
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Sola Scriptura defines Scripture as the primary, final, and only infallible authority for faith and practice—not the sole source of all Christian truth or tradition.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
When truth feels contested and gaslighting is everywhere, facts remain the most reliable lamp we have for finding our way back to reality.https://www.npr.org/2022/10/02/1126217354/facts-come-to-the-rescue-in-the-age-of-gaslighting
npr.org
Facts come to the rescue in the age of gaslighting
The search for truth is complicated: There are many versions of it, many disagreements about what it even means. The idea of fact is something we feel better prepared to defend on objective grounds.
010
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Why would an organization founded in 1882 deliberately dismantle traditions that helped define it for generations? I took a look at what changed—and at the bigger Christian question underneath it: What’s the difference between mystery and secrecy?

judsontaylor.substack.com/p/how-the-kn...
judsontaylor.substack.com
How the Knights of Columbus Stopped Being So Secret
For most of its history, the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus organization looked a lot more like an old-fashioned fraternal society than it does today.
020
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Search can no longer pretend to be a neutral gateway to a stable body of knowledge. thewalrusca.substack.com/p/google-sea...
thewalrusca.substack.com
Google Search Is Dying. What Comes Next Is Worse
As AI eats the web, the internet’s collective memory is disappearing
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Today’s Substack is about praying without a script, following the Spirit’s lead, and learning to be present rather than impressive. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...
open.substack.com
Improvising My Prayers
I’m a piano player by conviction—not by profession.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
“Subsidiarity” is a core tenet of Catholic social teaching that has guided the church’s response to technological upheavals for almost a century. theconversation.com/the-catholic...
theconversation.com
The Catholic principle guiding popes through tech upheavals, from the Industrial Revolution to AI
Pope Leo is one of many popes to respond to technological change by drawing on a Catholic principle called ‘subsidiarity.’
011
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
What if Homer never wrote the Odyssey—and "Homer" was a legend invented long after the poem itself?
theconversation.com
Who was Homer, author of the Odyssey?
When the Odyssey first began to circulate in ancient Greece, no one knew its author. So how did ‘Homer’ become the name on the book’s cover?
010
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Today I am remembering with gratitude the life and musical contributions of film composer Victor Young on his birthday (August 8, 1899 – November 10, 1956). You can see some of his most famous film scores in the second image.
010
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
What's with the boom in biographies of people who never existed? lareviewofbooks.org/article/fict...
lareviewofbooks.org
Character Study | Los Angeles Review of Books
The burgeoning field of fiction character biographies.
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
If you’ve ever been told Catholics believe in “works salvation” or Protestants in “cheap grace,” this is an attempt at a more honest, nuanced map. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...
open.substack.com
Justification and Sanctification
The Deep We Disagreements, Part 3
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
When early humans first painted cave walls, they began to find out who they really were: our minds emerged from our images. At least that's what J F Martel says.
aeon.co
Humans did not invent art. It was the other way around | Aeon Essays
When early humans first painted cave walls, they began to find out who they really were: our minds emerged from our images
000
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
“In America, Bonhoeffer found a people that treasured freedom above all else and mentioned it as often as possible. The tragedy of the American church, Bonhoeffer determined, was that it did not know what true freedom was.” — Amy Mantravadi in Plough www.plough.com/articles/bon...
plough.com
Bonhoeffer’s Message to America | Plough
Bonhoeffer determined that America did not know what true freedom was.
010
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
"Sonny Rollins was the last feral master of an art that has become at least partly domesticated". www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
nplusonemag.com
Let Everything Change | Nate Wooley
I became a Sonny Rollins fan on my 13th birthday, when my dad took me for the first time to his favorite record store in Portland, Oregon. He gave me $50, which in 1987, netted me twelve LPs. One was ...
092
Judson Taylor @judsontaylor.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Read widely.
000