Lessons Related to Ministry from Romans 1:11–15

Recently as I was preparing to teach Romans, it struck me that the introduction contained some important principles related to ministry. Here is a list that I observed.

• Ministry is about people (“I long to see you,” v. 11)
• Ministry is about giving (“that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,” v. 11)
• Ministry should be mutually encouraging (“ that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith,” v. 12)
• Ministry does not always go as planned (“I have often intended to come to you [but thus far have been prevented], v. 13)
• Ministry is like reaping a harvest (“that I may reap some harvest,” v. 13)
• Ministry often includes both believers and unbelievers (“among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles,” v. 13)
• Ministry should be ethnically inclusive (“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, v. 14) 
• Ministry is about the proclamation of the gospel (“I am eager to preach the gospel,” v. 15)

Lecture by Richard Bauckham

The video below was recorded at The Lanier Theological Library. Here is a description of the video.

"In the theology of early Judaism there is “one God” who has “one people.” The Gospel of John takes the remarkable step of including Jesus the divine Son in the unity of the one God. The goal of Jesus’ mission is to include humans within the open unity of the divine love. From the intimate personal communion of the Father and the Son with believers derives the loving unity of the people of God. Thus the revelation of loving intimacy “within” God at the end of the Gospel’s Prologue leads to Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his people in chapter 17."

The Future of Libraries

I thought this infographic was interesting.

Please include attribution to Open-Site.org with this graphic.

Ray Clendenen’s Old Testament Bibliography

You can access Ray Clendenen’s recently revised 385-page Old Testament bibliography here. Note: you have to have an account with academia.edu to access it but if you don't already have an account,signing up is free.

HT: Rusty Osborne

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below.
 
Wendy J. Cotter
The Christ of the Miracle Stories: Portrait through Encounter
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7857
Reviewed by Teresa Okure

Zev Garber, ed.
The Jewish Jesus: Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7963
Reviewed by J. Edward Wright

Jaco Gericke
The Hebrew Bible and Philosophy of Religion
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8714
Reviewed by Steven Dunn

Christine Hayes
Introduction to the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8717
Reviewed by James Bos

Jens Kamlah, ed.
Temple Building and Temple Cult: Architecture and Cultic Paraphernalia of Temples in the Levant (2.–1. Mill. B.C.E.). Proceedings of a Conference on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Institute of Biblical Archaeology at the University of Tübingen (28th–30th of May 2010)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8753
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Hanna Liss and Manfred Oeming, eds.
Literary Construction of Identity in the Ancient World: Proceedings of the Conference Literary Fiction and the Construction of Identity in Ancient Literatures: Options and Limits of Modern Literary Approaches in the Exegesis of Ancient Texts, Heidelberg, July 10–13, 2006
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7655
Reviewed by Jean-François Racine

Melvin K. H. Peters, ed.
XIV Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies: Helsinki, 2010
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9117
Reviewed by Sean Adams

Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger and Elisabeth Birnbaum
Das Buch Kohelet
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8497
Reviewed by Detlef Dieckmann

Peter Spitaler, ed.
Celebrating Paul: Festschrift in Honor of Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, O.P., and Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8468
Reviewed by Nijay K. Gupta

Jonathan Stökl
Prophecy in the Ancient Near East: A Philological and Sociological Comparison
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9153
Reviewed by J. H. Price

Jozef Tino
King and Temple in Chronicles: A Contextual Approach to Their Relations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7467
Reviewed by César Melgar

Pastor or Professor?

David Murray lists 21 reasons to choose the pastorate over professorship here. There are some very good points made here but I am not sure that professors have to lose as much as is suggested. That being said, these thoughts are worth pondering.

Also, lest one think that David is against the teaching ministry, he identifies 10 benefits of being a professor here.

Landing the Theological Airplane

Marc Cortez uses the analogy of landing an airplane as a helpful reminder of reaching theological conclusions and taking theological stands here.

Video Sermons Infographic

Dunn on the Oral Gospel Tradition

The Eerdword blog (the blog for Eerdmans) has posted an interview with James Dunn related to the oral gospel tradition.

Free Daniel and Romans Commentaries

You can download a free 84-page PDF copy of the Daniel and Romans commentaries from the forthcoming Moody Bible Commentary (release date: Feb. 1, 2014). The Daniel commentary is written by Michael Rydelnik and Romans is written by Michael Vanlaningham. You can get the PDF here.

SBL Job Report

The Society of Biblical Literature has released its "second Jobs Report, tracking employment listing data in biblical, religious, and theological studies from 2011 through 2012. This report, which you can view and download from this link, adds to the report released in November 2012 on data from 2001 through 2010."

Teaching the Bible

The Atlantic Monthly recently posted an interview with the historian Eric Foner entitled, "You Have to Know History to Actually Teach It." At the end of the interview Foner states in response to the qiuuestion, "Do you have other specific advice for what teachers can do to more effectively instruct history students?"

"The first thing I would say is that we have to get away from the idea that any old person can teach history. A lot of the history teachers in this country are actually athletic coaches. I mention this in class, and students always say, 'Oh yeah, Coach Smith, he taught my history course.' Why? Well, Coach Smith is the football coach, and in the spring he's not doing much, and they say, 'Well, put him in the history course, he can do that.'

"They wouldn't put him in a French course, or a physics course. The number-one thing is, you have to know history to actually teach it. That seems like an obvious point, but sometimes it's ignored in schools. Even more than that, I think it's important that people who are teaching history do have training in history. A lot of times people have education degrees, which have not actually provided them with a lot of training in the subject. They know a lot about methodology. [That’s] important, but as I say, the key thing is really to love the subject, to be able to convey that to your students, and if you can do that, I think you'll be a great teacher."

I think that what Foner states about history could also be stated about teaching the Bible. To borrow and modify Foner's words, we have to get away from the idea that any old person can teach Bible. For one to teach the Bible they have to first know the Bible. I am not trying to be elitist here. Nor am I arguing that people must have Bible college and/or seminary training order to qualify. (In fact, some of these institutions major on teaching about the Bible and not the Bible itself.) I am also not arguing that one must know the Bible perfectly in order to teach it. If that were the case, then no one would qualify. What I am asserting is that not everyone is qualified to teach it. I take seriously Ephesians 4:11 that teaching is the gifting and responsibility of some and not all. My admonition is simple. If you teach the Bible then know it and if you know the Bible then teach it.

Crazy Pastoral Stunts

See this Huffington Post article entitled, "12 Craziest Stunts Pulled By Pastors." I just have to shake my head. Yes, the world may be watching but is also must be laughing. I also wonder how these stunts relate to a passage like 2 Timothy 4:5. 

G. K. Beale Books on Sale

The Westminster Bookstore is offering some good deals on G. K. Beale books. You can buy a 4-volume set consisting of Temple and the Church's Mission: Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry, The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism: Responding to New Challenges to Biblical Authority, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New for $64 (52% off) here. And since this is over $49 you score free shipping as well.

You can also order individual volumes at 40-50% off. Here are some options.


Temple and the Church's Mission: Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God at $15 (50% 0ff) here.

We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry at $13 (50% off) here.


The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism: Responding to New Challenges to Biblical Authority at $11 (50% off) here.


A New Testament Biblical Theology at $30.24 (45% off) here.

Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (ed. with D. A. Carson) at $32.99 (45% off) here.

Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation at $10.79 (40% off) here.

Daniel Infographic

Readers might be interested in this infographic introducing the Book of Daniel.

New Website: Biblical Studies Online

The new Biblical Studies Online website looks interesting. It seems that they have a little bit of everything. Check it out here.

HT: Mark Goodacre

Cover-to-Cover Contest

I don't mention very many contests or promotions on this blog but readers might be interested in this one by Moody Publishers. Five people will win a library package—more than 80 books over the course of 2014! Not only that but everyone who enters can choose a free e-book download from four of Moody Publishers' best titles in 2013.Check it out here.

What Is Expository Preaching?

Peter Cockrell identifies seven qualities here to help answer this question.

Best iPhone Apps for Pastors

Pastors who own an iPhone might be interested in this.

Maximizing Your Seminary Experience

Recent graduates from seminary or those who are about to graduate might want to read this post.

Pragmatic Textual Analysis

Dr. David Allen has a good post discussing text-driven preaching and pragmatic textual analysis here. Make sure to read the entire post but see the conclusion below to whet your appetite.

"In summary, text-driven preachers will do their exegetical homework to determine what the text means. Text-driven preachers will engage in creative exposition to explain the meaning of the text to a contemporary audience. Text-driven preachers will seek to become master communicators with an understanding of their audience and communication techniques that will make for the most effective preaching of Scripture with the goal of life transformation effected by the Holy Spirit."

God's Hiddeness as Self-Revelation

I have been making my way through a set of essays on the Psalms and was struck by the following comment made by Allen Ross concerning lament psalms (my bold).

“All of this recognition that God’s hiddenness is a part of his self-revelation. Since only a God who reveals himself can hide himself, hiddenness is an important aspect of divine revelation. The reports of the psalmists’ struggles with a hidden God remind us that God is not predictably accessible, that his self-disclosure is the result of his free and sovereign self-determination. He is not at the ‘beck and call’ of people; neither is he automatically accessible through the sanctuary ritual. Rather, God’s promise of making his presence known to the afflicted is a call for faith (Pss. 34:18; 145:18).”

Allen P. Ross, “The ‘Thou’ Sections of Laments,” in The Psalms: Language for All Seasons of the Soul, ed. Andrew J. Schmutzer and David M. Howard Jr. (Chicago: Moody, 2013), 137.

Review of Apostle for the Last Days: The Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul

C. Marvin Pate, Apostle for the Last Days: The Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2013).

C. Marvin Pate is professor of Christian theology at Ouachita Baptist University and an author and editor of a number of books related to biblical studies including Four Views on the Book of Revelation, The Writings of John, Romans, and From Plato to Jesus. In this present work, Pate argues that, “Paul’s life, letters, and theology are unified by the theme of the overlapping of two ages—this age and the age to come.” The book is divided into two unequal parts. The first and larger part relates to the life and letters of Paul. The second and smaller part draws conclusions from the first part in an attempt to outline Paul’s theology. The book is well organized and there are numerous helpful tables and lists.

There are several reasons that I like this book. First, I appreciate the fact that this work seeks to understand Paul in both a Jewish and Greco-Roman context. While Pate often shows how Paul differed from both Jewish and Greco-Roman positions, his treatment frequently identifies the contingent links in Paul’s epistles. Second, Pate does not follow the critical tendency to pit the epistles of Paul against Acts. He tends to view Acts as a complimentary, rather than competitive, source for understanding Paul. Third and similarly, Pate rejects the typical critical position that there are only seven genuinely Pauline epistles. This is refreshing and of course affects the conclusions that one draws about Paul’s theology.

By way of critique, several points could be made. First, this is not an easy read. This is not exactly a criticism, but one should know that it is probably beyond the comfortable reach of most lay-readers. Second, the subtitle (The Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul) seems a bit misleading. There is comparatively little about the life of Paul and those seeking a discussion of Paul’s theology outside of eschatology will likely be frustrated. Third, and again not necessarily a critique, but I am not sure that eschatology is the center of Paul’s theology. Fourth, while this work is clearly well-researched, there are no indices or even a bibliography. Finally, there are a number of typos in the work. The most obvious one is the repetition of the author’s summary of his final chapter in the introduction (see pp. 31-34)

However, these critiques do not rob the book of its value. Those who have some academic training in biblical studies and an interest in Paul or eschatology will likely benefit from Pate’s treatment.

You can read an excerpt of the book here.

Thanks to folks at Kregel for providing the review copy utilized in this unbiased review.

ELearning Trends That Dominated 2013

See this article on eLearning trends that dominated 2013.

Preaching and Authorial Intention

Ben Simpson has a good post here about respecting authorial intention. Too often it seems that we are willing to sacrifice what a passage means contextually for what we might wish it to mean pastorally or communicatively. A great illustration, poem, song, video, etc. should not be allowed to trump the contextual meaning of a text. I am thankful that Ben knows that.