27 Easter Sermon Ideas

  
See this article.

D.A. Carson: Christian Reflections on Suffering and Evil

  

Those in or around the Houston area might be interested in hearing D.A. Carson: Christian Reflections on “Going Beyond Cliches: Christian Reflections on Suffering and Evil.” You cat more information and register here.

 

Eerdmans 60%-Off Sale

  

Eerdmans currently has a 60%-off sale running until March 31. You must enter the promo code 614 at checkout to activate the sale prices. Postage is free if you purchase three or more items. Here are some items that might be of interest.

A History of Biblical Interpretation, Vol. 2: The Medieval through the Reformation Periods by Duane F. Watson and Alan J. Hauser: $20

Biblical Interpretation at Qumran by Matthias Henze: $10.40

Exodus by Thomas B. Dozeman: $24

1 Corinthians Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators by Judith Kovacs: $16

Isaiah Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators by Robert Wilken: $20

The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians by Leon Morris: $11.20

A Commentary on Micah by Bruce Waltke: $11.20

Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke  by Seyoon Kim: $9.60
  

SMH New Testament

  
Some of you may have received an email yesterday from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announcing the publication of the New New Testament. I am calling this the SMH version, that is, the Shaking My Head Version. Here is part of the publisher's statement.

"To create this New New Testament, Hal Taussig called together a council of scholars and spiritual leaders to discuss and reconsider which books belong in the New Testament. They talked about these recently found documen the lessons therein [sic], and how they inform the previously bound books. They voted on which should be added, choosing ten new books to include in A New New Testament. Reading the traditional scriptures alongside these new texts—the Gospel of Luke with the Gospel of Mary, Paul’s letters with The Letter of Peter to Philip, The Revelation to John with The Secret Revelation to John—offers the exciting possibility of understanding both the new and the old better. This new reading, and the accompanying commentary in this volume, promises to reinvigorate a centuries-old conversation and to bring new relevance to a dynamic tradition."

 

In Defense of the Lecture

  
A lecture is not the only way to teach or disseminate truth and it is not the best way to teach certain things, but I think that some of the criticisms of the method are unfair. Read Bruce Ashford's piece here.
 

Leadership Resources

  
David Murray has followed up his helpful post on preaching links here with 200 more links on leadership 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. 

Ulrich Berges Jesaja: Der Prophet und Das Buch
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9104
Reviewed by Francis Landy

William G. Dever
The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: Where Archaeology and the Bible Intersect
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8543
Reviewed by Diana Edelman
Reviewed by Aren M. Maeir

Mari Rapela Heidt
A Guide for Writing about Theology and Religion
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8655
Reviewed by Margaret E. Ramey

Siegfried Kreuzer, Martin Meiser, and Marcus Sigismund, eds.
Die Septuaginta: Entstehung, Sprache, Geschichte. 3. Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 22.-25. Juli 2010
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8613
Reviewed by Hans Förster

Halvor Moxnes
Jesus and the Rise of Nationalism: A New Quest for the Nineteenth Century Historical Jesus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8578
Reviewed by Hans Leander

Douglas E. Oakman
The Political Aims of Jesus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8610
Reviewed by Alicia J. Batten

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
Transforming Vision: Explorations in Feminist The*logy
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8348
Reviewed by Elizabeth Min Hee Kim

Stanley E. Porter and Beth M. Stovell, eds.
Biblical Hermeneutics: Five Views
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8579
Reviewed by Akio Ito

Lisa M. Wolfe
Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs, and Judith
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8438
Reviewed by L. Juliana Claassens

Jonah as Science Fiction

  
A video of Jonah as a science fiction epic has been produced by the creative team at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC.The video introduced the fourth message in Pastor Steven Furtick's sermon series, "InFin8." You can read an article on the video here. It is an interesting video but someone might have told the creative team that it is Nineveh not Ninevah.
 

Donald Hagner on the New Testament

  
Baker Publishing has produced two videos related to Donald Hagner's recently published New Testament introduction.

"Approaching the New Testament through Salvation History" I appreciate Hagner's comments related to the Old Testament.


 

"Faith Criticism and Certitude in the New Testament"

From Papyrus to Print

  
From Papyrus to Print: A Journey through the History of the Bible at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The video helps to highlight their Bible and archaeology museum.

The Cities of Refuge

  
David Murray has some interesting theological reflections on the cities of refuge (Num 35; Deut 19; Josh 20) here.
 

The Cyrus Cylinder

  
Some may know that the Cyrus Cylinder is currently touring the US. It has made its first stop in Washington DC. You can read about it here.
 

Preaching Resources

  
David Murray has an impressive list of 200 links related to preaching. Check it out here.
 

Preparing for a Holy Land Tour

  
Wayne Stiles has some good advice on "How to Prepare for a Holy Land Tour" here.
  

Titles in the Psalms

  
I know that it has become passé in some corners of biblical studies to reject the superscriptions or titles of the Psalms. But I believe this is a mistake. Apparently Gordon Wenham does so as well. In a chapter on reading the Psalms messianically he writes:

“The main assault on the Psalms took the form of discarding the titles. It was argued that the title were later additions to the text and were therefore worthless as a guide to the authorship of psalms or their content. At a stroke they were no longer the psalms of David or Asaph or the sons of Korah, dating from the time of the early monarchy—i.e., tenth century BC—but anonymous compositions mostly from the postexilic era down to the Maccabean era, roughly 500 to 150 BC. By writing off the titles in this way, skeptics eliminated the clearest marks of order in the Psalter. In the Psalms’ final form the sequence of titles does point to careful arrangement. For example all except one (untitled) psalm in Psalms 3–41are called psalms of David.”

Gordon Wenham, The Psalter Reclaimed: Praying and Praising with the Psalms (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 86.
 

Old Testament Commentary Recommendations

  
J. Paul Tanner has compiled a list of top evangelical commentaries on the Old Testament. The list was last updated in 2006 so it might be a bit out of date. But you can access the PDF here. 

By the way, Dr. Tanner has a number of helpful resources at his website here. Note that the PDFs are formatted to A4 size which might make printing a bit tricky.
   

Barnabas and Cyprus

  
See this interesting article on some of the Cypriot church traditions surrounding Barnabas.
 

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. 

Jeffrey Brodd and Jonathan L. Reed, eds.
Rome and Religion: A Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue on the Imperial Cult
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8384
Reviewed by Edmund Cueva
Michael Cameron
Christ Meets Me Everywhere: Augustine's Early Figurative Exegesis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8598
Reviewed by Blossom Stefaniw

Melissa A. Jackson
Comedy and Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible: A Subversive Collaboration
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8656
Reviewed by Kathryn D. Blanchard

Tremper Longman III
Introducing the Old Testament: A Short Guide to Its History and Message
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8551
Reviewed by Trent Butler

Dennis R. MacDonald
Two Shipwrecked Gospels: The Logoi of Jesus and Papias's Exposition of Logia about the Lord
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8565
Reviewed by John Kloppenborg
Reviewed by James F. McGrath

Steve Moyise
The Later New Testament Writings and Scripture: The Old Testament in Acts, Hebrews, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8517
Reviewed by Amy Peeler

James D. Nogalski
The Book of the Twelve: Hosea-Jonah
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8461
Reviewed by Beth Stovell

Kathleen M. Rochester
Prophetic Ministry in Jeremiah and Ezekiel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8537
Reviewed by Wilhelm J. Wessels

Thomas P. Scheck
St. Jerome's Commentaries on Galatians, Titus, and Philemon
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7934
Reviewed by Gerald Bray
 

John Oswalt Teaching Isaiah

  
The Francis Asbury Society is hosting a teaching series on Isaiah featuring John Oswalt. You can download class handouts here and access video here. 

The Tetragrammaton in Roman Catholicism

  
This is an interesting article on the use, or more accurately disuse, of the Tetragrammaton in Roman Catholicism.
 

Sin as a Scent?

  
The winner of the SMH award has to go to Kilian Hennessey's new collection of perfumes. This perfume had the following a write up in the February 21, 2013 edition of the Dallas Morning News.

"In the Garden of Good & Evil, plays on the myth of original sin with a trio of scents: Good Girl Gone Bad, Forbidden Games and in the City of Sin. Each swoon-worthy fragrance, a different blend of sweet fruit, spice and woody notes, is housed in a lacquered white clutch with a serpent ornament. Use with guile. 1.7 ounces, $245 at . . ."
 

Hurtado on the Gospel of Mark

  
Larry Hurtado has some interesting thoughts on its survival as a canonical Gospel here. Hurtado is addressing this as a purely historical question (which is fair). But the survival of Mark is for me is also tied to the fact that it is inspired Scripture. 
 

Pastoral Reading

  
Kevin DeYoung makes a good case that pastors should challenge themselves by reading "over their heads" on occasion. You can read his thoughts here.
 

Google Earth and the Exodus

Here is one attempt to use Google Earth to map out the crossing of the Red Sea as recorded in Exodus. Many Bible students know that the exact route of the Exodus in general and the specific location of the crossing is a matter of debate. Nonetheless this was an interesting read.
 

Ten Commandments of iPad Preaching

  
Not everyone uses an iPad or tablet in their ministry, but if you do there is some good advice here. Although this is written from the perspective of preaching, I think that most, if not, all of these "commandments" would apply to those who use an iPad to teach in classrooms or present at conferences.