Aug 14, 2010

Some Resources on Acts


Nicholas Batzig has a fairly full list of books on Acts with links. Some of the links are to Westminster Bookstore and others to Google Books.
You can access the Nicholas' list here.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature


The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:


Steven L. Bridge
Getting the Old Testament: What It Meant to Them, What It Means for Us
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7167
Reviewed by Robert Wallace

Robert R. Cargill
Qumran through (Real) Time: A Virtual Reconstruction of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7241
Reviewed by Eibert Tigchelaar

Frances Flannery, Colleen Shantz, and Rodney A. Werline, eds.
Experientia, Volume 1: Inquiry into Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6785
Reviewed by David Maas

Greg Schmidt Goering
Wisdom's Root Revealed: Ben Sira and the Election of Israel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7386
Reviewed by Ibolya Balla

Joel B. Green, ed.
Methods for Luke
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7442
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek

Bernd Janowski, Bernhard Greiner, and Hermann Lichtenberger, eds.
Opfere deinen Sohn! Das 'Isaak-Opfer' in Judentum, Christentum und Islam
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6545
Reviewed by Paul Sanders

Edith Lubetski and Meir Lubetski, eds.
The Book of Esther: A Classified Bibliography
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6926
Reviewed by Mayer I. Gruber

Nathan MacDonald
What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat? Diet in Biblical Times
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7068
Reviewed by Raz Kletter

Mark S. Smith and Wayne T. Pitard
The Ugaritic Baal Cycle: Volume 2: Introductioni with Text, Translation and Commentary of KTU/CAT 1.3-1.4
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7313
Reviewed by Frank H. Polak

Roger E. Van Harn and Brent A. Strawn
Psalms for Preaching and Worship: A Lectionary Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7174
Reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia


Aug 13, 2010

The Noahic Covenant


Steven Coxhead has some interesting thoughts on the Noahic Covenant here.

Aug 12, 2010

Signs That You Are Losing Your Audience


See this
post by Peter Mead.

Commentaries: Great Servants, Lousy Masters


See this
post on using commentaries by Tim Challies referencing Phillip Jenson.

Aug 11, 2010

More Young Adults Going into Ministry/ Seminary


See this USA Today
article.

Varner on Psalm Resources


William Varner has a brief but interesting
post on resources for the Book of Psalms, especially in praying the Psalms.

Personal Ambition and Waiting on God


See this
helpful reflection on personal ambition and waiting on God.

Aug 10, 2010

Interview With Bryan Chapell


See this
interview on expository preaching by Bryan Chapell.

100 Best Magazine Articles Ever


This is a bit different from the usual post here, but some may be interested in checking out this list of the 100 best long-form magazine articles ever. If interested you can access it
here.

Aug 9, 2010

Reflections from Teaching Jeremiah


I recently wrapped up a twenty-hour exposition of the Book of Jeremiah. Although I have taught surveys of this book, this was my first detailed exposition of the book. As I think through this experience here are five reflections.


1. I found the narrative sections easier to exposit than the prophetic oracles. This may not at first seem all that revelatory, but narratives can be tricky, especially by way of application. The narratives related to the symbolic acts (e.g., the visit to the potter's house) are helped by the fact that the purpose and/or the meaning is given.

2. I think that I would have been better served to spend a bit more time on the front end discussing some recurrent phrases (e.g., "sword, famine, and plague," used around twenty times in the book) and some difficult concepts (e.g., the imprecatory statements).

3. I struggled more than I expected with identifying the person speaking (the prophet, God, the city, the people, the invaders, etc.) in a given oracle. Knowing Hebrew is of some help here, but there are still a number of places where it is ambiguous.

4. Working through the book again has led me to the conclusion that there were at least three recurring sins committed by Judah: (1) rejecting God's Person (idolatry), (2) rejecting God's presence (social injustice), and (3) rejecting God's power (relying on foreign nations rather that the Lord for protection).

5. Working through the book again also helped clarify that Judah failed to remember three important facts involving the past, present, and future: (1) Past: Judah failed to remember what God had done for them (e.g., the Exodus, Conquest), (2) Present: Judah failed to remember that keeping covenant was the responsibility of every generation, and (3) Future: Judah failed to remember that the covenant curses (Deut 28
29) would be a future reality for breaking covenant.

New Hosea Commentary and NICOT Series on Sale


Westminster Bookstore has two offers which may be of interest to reade
rs. The first offer is for 45% of Andrew Dearman’s new commentary on Hosea in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT) series. The offer is only good until August 19. Click here.

Westminster is also offering the rest of the volumes in the NICOT series for an extra 10% off of every NICOT volume's already discounted price with a purchase of two or more. Click here.

Aug 8, 2010

A List of Essays on Using Greek in Ministry


See Rod Decker's list of classic essays on using Greek in ministry
here.