The Sufficiency of Human Language

“Theologically we must assess human language as a gift of the speaking God. The idea is that it is inadequate to convey truth about God and his purposes is one of the non sequiturs of both liberalism and neo-orthodoxy. While we recognize that there is mystery in God and his ways, and that the human mind and spirit cannot plum the depths of God’s being, it simply does not follow that human language is not able to express such truths as God means to reveal to us. Such a negative assertion is itself a use of human language to say something meaningful that is supposed to be meaningful about God. If God chooses to reveal himself and his plan of salvation, and if he chooses to regenerate the minds of his people to receive such revelation, there is no need for us to claim exhaustive knowledge in order to understand it, for we know that the truth we have is from the one who alone has exhaustive knowledge.”

Graeme  Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2012), 49-50.
 

Asking Questions of the Text

  

"The art of biblical exegesis, put very simply, involves learning how to ask questions of a biblical text. Two major problems can cause this to go awry: (1) We can ask 'trick' questions, or (2) we can ask good questions but refuse to listen to the responses that the text gives. When we ask only questions which we think we already know the answers, these are nothing but trick questions. When we dare to ask real and open questions but then resist being surprised or troubled by what the text replies, we have shut our ears to its voice."

Thomas G. Long, The Witness of Preaching, 2nd ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2005), 81.
 

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.

Milton Eng
The Days of Our Years: A Lexical Semantic Study of the Life Cycle in Biblical Israel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7968
Reviewed by Paul Korchin
 
John Fitzgerald, Fika J. van Rensburg, and Herrie van Rooy, eds.
Animosity, the Bible, and Us: Some European, North American, and South African Perspectives
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7265
Reviewed by Miriam von Nordheim-Diehl
 
John Horman
A Common Written Greek Source for Mark and Thomas
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8266
Reviewed by Simon Gathercole
 
Ian Christopher Levy, ed.
The Letter to the Galatians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7967
Reviewed by Ian J. Elmer
Reviewed by Akio Ito
 
Kristen H. Lindbeck
Elijah and the Rabbis: Story and Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7757
Reviewed by Sonya S. Cronin
 
Mikeal C. Parsons, Martin M. Culy, and Joshua J. Stigall
Luke: A Handbook on the Greek Text
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7937
Reviewed by John DelHousaye
 
Hayim Tadmor; ed. Mordechai Cogan
"With My Many Chariots I Have Gone Up the Heights of the Mountains": Historical and Literary Studies on Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8230
Reviewed by R. Russell Mack
 
Leigh M. Trevaskis
Holiness, Ethics and Ritual in Leviticus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8005
Reviewed by James W. Watts
 
Leslie W. Walck
The Son of Man in the Parables of Enoch and in Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8154
Reviewed by Donald Senior

Analogies to the David Story in the ANE?

   

I found the following point interesting, especially the last sentence.

 

"Assessments of David as king range from Machiavellian scoundrel to a combination of saint and political genius, and there is much to be said for both portraits. The biblical story of David is ‘warts-and-all’ blunt, especially from 2 Samuel 11 to 1 Kings 1. His affair with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) was no mere peccadillo. He was guilty not only of coveting and adultery but also of committing murder to cover up his misdeeds. There is no analogy for this sort of story in ancient Near Eastern fiction, lending credibility to the claim that such traditions about David are grounded in historical memory.”

George E. Mendenhall, Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context, ed. Gary A. Herion (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001),112.

  

Zondervan Atlas of the Bible on Sale

  
Christian Book Distributor's Mid-Week Markdown sale has the Zondervan Atlas of the Bible on sale at 63% off which comes out to $14.99. In my opinion, this atlas is one of the better, if not the best general atlas available.
 

The Aim of 1 Peter

I am always interested to see how other interpreters sum up a book of Scripture. Here is one for 1 Peter.

 

“It was the common practice of the early Church commentaries on the Bible to identify the aim of a given biblical book right from the start. What then is the aim of 1 Peter? Peter writes to the churches in five regions (see 1:1) to prepare them for suffering in imitation of Christ. As members of God’s household, they need to know their new identity in Christ, learn how to relate to others both within and outside the Church, and be ready to undergo affliction for their faith. In fact, the characteristic feature of the letter is the sharp contrast between the sober call to suffer in imitation of Christ and the ‘indescribable joy’ (1:8) that is ours because of our new standing in Christ. Like a sympathy that moves back and forth between major and minor keys, 1 Peter oscillates between the expression of profound joy on the one hand and the call to endure trials on the other. Peter’s aim is to show that the Christian life, characterized by a living hope and deep joy, will also be marked by suffering for the sake of Christ.”

Daniel Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 17–8.

  

Flint Striking Steel in Preaching

  

"In the final analysis, effective application does not rely on techniques. It is more a stance than a method. Life changing preaching does not talk to people about the Bible. Instead, it talks to the people about themselves—their questions, their hurts, fears, and struggles—from the Bible. When we approach the sermon with that philosophy, flint strikes steel.  The flint of someone's problems strikes the steel of the Word of God, and a spark emerges that can set that person on fire for God."

Haddon W. Robinson, Making a Difference in Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999), 94.

 

F. F. Bruce on the Gospel

 

I enjoyed reading the following excerpt from Tim Grass' recent biography on F. F. Bruce.

So for Bruce, an evangelical was one who embraced the grace of God offered in the gospel. But what was the gospel? He answered this most fully in an early Rylands lecture, ‘When Is a Gospel Not a Gospel?’ In it he differentiated between true and false gospels, as Paul on occasion had to do. On the one hand he distinguished the reliable accounts of the life of Jesus found in the canonical gospels from non-canonical documents bearing the title 'Gospel' such as the Gospel of Thomas, which some argued offered alternative sources for understanding the life and teaching of Jesus. On the other hand he argued that a distinction between true and false gospels could be made with reference to the way in which hearers were said to benefit from the events proclaimed in them: 'The gospel which was no gospel probably did not differ from Paul's gospel with regard to the basic recital of saving events. Where it differed was with regard to the terms on which the benefits accruing from the saving events might be enjoyed.'" In Bruce's understanding of the New Testament evidence, a gospel was not a gospel when (i) it became detached from the Jesus of history; (ii) it gave little or no place to the passion of Christ; (iii) it exalted human achievement rather than the grace of God; (iv) it added other conditions to what God required; and (v) it treated righteousness and purity as things which those who were spiritual had outgrown. It was a gospel when (i) it maintained contact with the Jesus of history; (ii) it embraced 'the offence of the cross'; (iii) it extended grace to human beings for their acceptance by faith; (iv) it relied on the Holy Spirit to make its preaching effective to hearers; and (v) it issued in a righteous life sustained and directed by the love of God. 

Tim Grass, F. F. Bruce: A Life (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 154-55.

Grass is drawing from F. F. Bruce, "When Is a Gospel Not a Gospel?" BJRL 45 (1962-3): 319-39.

  

A Review of Paul through Mediterranean Eyes

  
Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011).

Let me begin by noting how much I appreciate the work of Kenneth Bailey in general. I feel that I have benefited from the insights that he brings to the text drawn from his experiences of living and working in the Middle East and especially enjoyed his Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes which was published a few years ago.

So I was really looking forward to going through Bailey’s most recent book, Paul through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians. Having gone through the book now, I am still generally enthusiastic, but this volume is hard to evaluate because it does not claim to be a commentary. Yet, in many ways it reads like a commentary. Introductory matters are addressed, the argument and basic structure of the book are outlined, the text is explained, and practical implications are identified. This raises the question as to whether a work that does not claim to be a commentary (p. 19) but acts like one should be evaluated. Having wrestled with the issue, I have decided to follow the well-known aphorism that “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck” then it is a duck. So “cultural studies” notwithstanding, we will treat Paul through Mediterranean Eyes as commentary on 1 Corinthians.

As a commentary, there are a number of features that make Paul through Mediterranean Eyes a helpful contributory tool for studying 1 Corinthians. One valuable, and really unique, contribution is Bailey’s interaction with a number of Arabic resources in the form of translations and commentaries (e.g., pp. 52, 82, 200, 204, 215, 237,287, 331, 354, 377, 379, 466, 497, 498). Bailey also brings interesting Middle Eastern cultural insights to the discussion (e.g., his discussion of the foot, p. 341). Another contribution is Bailey’s insistence that 1 Corinthians is better read as Hebrew rhetoric which often results in a ring/chiastic structure with paired cameos (pp. 33-53). While this reviewer is not convinced that the structural suggestions made in this work always work, the focus on structure is sometimes overlooked in some commentaries. A third feature that I appreciated was Bailey’s admission that Paul through Mediterranean Eyes is a confessional commentary in that Bailey writes as a Christian for Christians (p. 18). As such, he does not hesitate to tease out the theological and practical implications of the text at hand, especially at the end of his analysis (e.g., 71, 100-1, 323-24). Finally, it is clear that Bailey is interacting with top-shelf resources on 1 Corinthians (e.g., Barrett, Conzelmann, Fee, Murphy-O’Conner, Thiselton, Garland) but he does his own work and makes his own contributions. One might be able to say a number of things about this work, but “rehashed” is not one of them.

My criticisms of the work are fairly minor. I have already noted that I did not find all of the ring/chiastic structures to be convincing, and I sensed at times that the suggestions were a bit forced and thus, artificial. As with any commentary, readers will disagree with certain points. For example, some interpreters will not agree with Bailey’s presentation of agape/agapaō as a “higher level of love” (p. 349). As D. A. Carson and others have noted, such distinctions might be exegetically fallacious. In sum, Paul through Mediterranean Eyes is a book worth considering as a supplementary text for those that want to dig a bit deeper into 1 Corinthians or those who are already well-versed with the standard resources.
   

Geographical Boundaries and the Old Testament

I was recently reading through a section of Davies and Rogerson’s, The Old Testament World and came upon the statement below.

“An important point to bear in mind when reading about countries in the Old Testament is that traditional states did not have borders in the way that modern states do (see Giddens 1985:49–53). Modern states have borders defined both on maps and on the ground and claim total authority within those borders. In the world of the Old Testament countries were defined by border towns often sited near natural boundaries such as mountain ranges. Possession of a border town by a small garrison of soldiers enabled a monarch to claim to rule the whole country. In practice, very little actual control was exercised. This fact explains why the account of the “conquest” of Palestine by Joshua is so incomplete; for even if one doubts the historicity of the account, it will have made political sense to the writers and readers/hearers. It was necessary only for border towns such as Hazor and Lachish (Joshua 10:31–32; 11:10–13) to have been captured in order to claim that the whole land had been taken into possession, even though other conquests are also claimed in Joshua. Similarly, the heated arguments about whether or not David created a small empire may be seen in a different light if it is realized that it was necessary to capture and minimally garrison only a handful of border towns in order to claim control a number of surrounding nations. It is true that the book of Joshua contains descriptions of some of the tribal boundaries of an idealized Israel, but these are literary creations obtained by imagining lines running between towns claimed to belong to different tribes. These boundaries did not exist on maps (there were no maps in the modern sense) and were not boundaries in the modern sense (see Rogerson 1999: 116–26)” (Philip R. Davies and John Rogerson, The Old Testament World [Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2005], 21–2.

While I tend to agree with the suggestion concerning the reality of fluid borders in the ancient world, I am not sure that the conclusions drawn from this by the authors is necessary or persuasive. Take for example the assertion that,

“This fact explains why the account of the “conquest” of Palestine by Joshua is so incomplete; for even if one doubts the historicity of the account, it will have made political sense to the writers and readers/hearers. It was necessary only for border towns such as Hazor and Lachish (Joshua 10:31–32; 11:10–13) to have been captured in order to claim that the whole land had been taken into possession, even though other conquests are also claimed in Joshua.”

Not only does this not square with the claims in Joshua 15–19, but it also difficult to explain the explicit recognition that the conquest was incomplete (Josh 9:14–15; 16:10; 17:12–18; 19:47; 23:7, 12–13; 24:23; cf. Judg 1:19–36). Indeed, one of the important theological points in Joshua and Judges is not that Israel could claim to have completed the conquest because it held the major border towns but rather that Israel had failed to complete the conquest of the land that God had given them.

One could also critique that statement that:

“Similarly, the heated arguments about whether or not David created a small empire may be seen in a different light if it is realized that it was necessary to capture and minimally garrison only a handful of border towns in order to claim control a number of surrounding nations.”

This statement is problematic for at least three reasons. (1) This argument implies that the ancient writers weren’t honest and the ancient readers were gullible. (2) This statement does not really do justice to the biblical text. For example, 2 Samuel 8 states that David put garrisons “in” the Aramean kingdom of Damascus and “throughout” Edom. These nations didn’t pay large tribute because David had a “minimal” number of men in a border town on the periphery of their territory; they submitted because their nation was subdued. (3) I am not sure how this “different light” really addresses the core issues that create the “heated arguments.” Such arguments typically involve whether David actually had a significant kingdom as the Bible seems to suggest or not. I do not believe that resorting to a geographical fiction, even if one could make a case for it culturally, really addresses that issue.

Finally, I am puzzled by the suggestion that,

“It is true that the book of Joshua contains descriptions of some of the tribal boundaries of an idealized Israel, but these are literary creations obtained by imagining lines running between towns claimed to belong to different tribes. These boundaries did not exist on maps (there were no maps in the modern sense) and were not boundaries in the modern sense (see Rogerson 1999: 116-26).”

Why would the author of Joshua resort to literary creation if it were not necessary to do so since the audience would not require it? Why would one draw imaginary lines running between towns if such lines were not the way boundaries were perceived in the culture? It seems like the authors of The Old Testament World want their cake and eat it too. Rather, one could just as easily argue that the reason why boundaries/borders were fluid is not because they could not be defined (or because ancient people could not conduct a survey), but because tribes and nations were often disputing the border (e.g., Judg 11; 1 Kgs 15; 2 Kgs 9). The very fact that there were border disputes indicates that borders were recognized and important.

   

Daniel and the Stele of Nabonidus

  
Leon Mauldin has a brief post on Daniel and the Stele of Nabonidus here.
 

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.

Christopher B. Ansberry
Be Wise, My Son, and Make My Heart Glad: An Exploration of the Courtly Nature of the Book of Proverbs
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8245
Reviewed by Anne W. Stewart
 
James B. Charlesworth
The Good and Evil Serpent: How a Universal Symbol Became Christianized
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7451
Reviewed by Volker Rabens and Rosel Pientka-Hinz
 
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner
The First Letter to the Corinthians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7856
Reviewed by Jeffrey Cayzer
 
Richard E. DeMaris
The New Testament in Its Ritual World
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7692
Reviewed by Jason T. Lamoreaux
 
David L. Eastman
Paul the Martyr: The Cult of the Apostle in the Latin West
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8026
Reviewed by Lee M. Jefferson
Reviewed by Shelly Matthews
 
John T. Fitzgerald, ed.
Passions and Moral Progress in Greco-Roman Thought
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6860
Reviewed by Douglas A. Hume
 
Elim Hiu
Regulations concerning Tongues and Prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14.26-40: Relevance beyond the Corinthian Church
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8075
Reviewed by Lars Kierspel
 
Beate Pongratz-Leisten, ed.
Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8216
Reviewed by Michael B. Hundley
 
Hanne von Weissenberg, Juha Pakkala, and Marko Marttila, eds.
Changes in Scripture: Rewriting and Interpreting Authoritative Traditions in the Second Temple Period
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8251
Reviewed by Ian Young

  

The First Quotation in the Gospel of Mark

  
Rikk E. Watts has a good explanation here of the the problems associated with the first quotation in the Gospel of Mark.
 

Hamilton on Preaching the Minor Prophets

  
See James Hamilton's brief post on preaching the Minor Prophets.
   

The Philippians of the Old Testament

  

I have a recurring interest in the book of Ecclesiastes. Recently, I was browsing through my seminary's library and William Barrick's 2011 commentary on Ecclesiastes caught my eye. I knew I had to check it out when I read the book's subtitle: "The Philippians of the Old Testament." This title of course tips Barrick's hand on how he understands the book. That is, he sees the book as primarily positive rather than negative. I happen to share that conclusion, but to be honest, I had not really thought about it that way before. The comparison is a bit overstated in my view since joy/rejoicing is more explicit in Philippians than Ecclesiastes and the latter is certainly darker than the former, but the subtitle did what it was probably designed to do, that is, get my attention and make me want to read more.

William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible (Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2011). 
  

Finding Themes in Acts

  

Walter Liefeld has noted that there are two ways to identify themes in a book. He notes that themes may be identified either inductively or deductively. An inductive approach would involve examining the text carefully and then summarizing and generalizing the data. That is, noting themes that appear bubble up from the text. A deductive approach begins with specific categories (prayer for example) and then working through the text to see what it has to say about that particular category. Students of the Scriptures have utilized both methods with different degrees of success. One might want to begin deductively and then follow it with an inductive investigation.

Walter L. Liefeld, Interpreting the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 79–80. 

  

Three Clearance Titles from Westminster

  

The Westminster Bookstore has three titles at a 60% discount which might be of some interest.

Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes: Foundations for Expository Sermons by Sidney Greidanus @ $10.40 (60% off). This a helpful resource, especially as a supplement to other more comprehensive commentaries. I used this book when I went through Ecclesiastes earlier this year. 

Ephesians, BECNT series by Frank Thielman @ $18.00 (60% off). I have used parts of this commentary here and there and have found it to be pretty solid.

Speaking God's Words: A Practical Theology of Preaching by Peter Adam @ $7.98 (60% off). I have not used this resource but it looks interesting. I appreciate the work of Dick Lucas and he has written the forward.

Shipping is free If you spend at least $49.
  

Elements of Good Preaching

  
Check out what Shayne Looper has to say about good preaching here.
 

Witherington on PhD's

  
Those who might be considering a Ph.D. might want to read Ben Witherington's post here.
 

The Vigin Birth: A Cautionary Tale

 

Ben Myers has an interesting post here about a post he had written seven years ago and his view now concerning the virgin birth. Here is one paragraph from the post that I think aspiring bloggers and budding theologians should read carefully.

"I guess all I'm trying to say is that I used to be a lot more cynical and sophisticated than I am today. As one of the saints has said, "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." Nowadays, to be honest, I'm just very grateful to be a Christian at all. Three-legged tables are fine, as far as they go. But you can rely implicitly on the ones with four legs; that's the kind you want when you're sitting down in the comfort of your own home, day after day, a table just like the one your grandfather used, and just like the one your great-grandchildren will use too, long after you've left the world and gone to that big dinner table in the sky."

Make sure to read the rest of the post as well. 
 

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.

Robert B. Coote and Keith W. Whitelam
The Emergence of Early Israel in Historical Perspective
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8006
Reviewed by Aren M. Maeir
 
Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Tikva Frymer-Kensky
Ruth
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8327
Reviewed by Peter H. W. Lau
 
Zev Garber, ed.
The Jewish Jesus: Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7963
Reviewed by Walter Brueggemann
 
Jason B. Hood
The Messiah, His Brothers, and the Nations: (Matthew 1.1-17)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8335
Reviewed by M. Eugene Boring
 
Kelly R. Iverson and Christopher W. Skinner, eds.
Mark as Story: Retrospect and Prospect
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8165
Reviewed by Adam Winn
 
John Kampen
Wisdom Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7970
Reviewed by Devorah Dimant
 
Brent Landau
Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7944
Reviewed by Craig A. Evans
 
Cotton Mather; ed. Reiner Smolinski
Biblia Americana, Volume 1: Genesis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8097
Reviewed by Mark Elliott
 
Roland Meynet
A New Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8151
Reviewed by Tobias Hägerland
 
Stanley E. Porter and Cynthia Long Westfall, eds.
Empire in the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8054
Reviewed by Torrey Seland

  

Currents in Biblical Research 10.3

  

The June 2012 issue Currents in Biblical Research contains the following main articles.

Continuing the Engagement: Psalms Research Since the Early 1990s
J. Kenneth Kuntz

Recent Challenges to the communis opinio on 1 Corinthians 15.29
Joel R. White

The Second-Century Reception of John: A Survey of Methodologies
Dan Batovici

Kerygma, Catechesis and Other Things We Used to Find: Twentieth-Century Research on Early Christian Teaching since Alfred
Benjamin Edsall

Current Trends in Targum Research
Simon Lasair   
  

The Limits of General Revelation

I was recently teaching about the difference between general and special revelation and came upon this helpful statement from Robert Lightner.

“God’s revelation in the world does not possess power to alter man’s conduct. Also, it is very limited and restricted in its extent and purpose. God did not give it to correct man but to communicate to him his need for correction. Neither does the revelation of God in the world include the cure or the basis for cleansing man’s sin. Only God’s revelation in the Word provides these necessities. Furthermore, the revelation God gave of Himself in nature and in the conscience of man is limited. Man’s lost condition, his need of a substitute for his sin, and Jesus Christ as the only Saviour from sin are only revealed in Scripture. Neither does general revelation tell man how to live. Even to our first parents God had to speak before they knew what to do and how to live. The beauty and splendor of the garden did not communicate such knowledge to them.”

Robert P. Lightner, The God of the Bible: An Introduction to the Doctrine of God (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1973), 53.
  

The Israel Collection Giveaway

  

Todd Bolen at BiblePlaces.com is giving away two copies of the Israel Collection (volumes 1-5) from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.You really should enter this contest and hope/pray that you win. You can read more about the contest here.

I have been having fun going through Pictorial Library of Bible Lands. I have been to Israel five times and I am still seeing things in these pictures that I have not seen or noticed before. If you teach the Bible you really need to get the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.
  

Hamilton on His First Pastorate

  
James Hamilton has a post worth reading on some lessons he learned from his first pastorate here.