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Sabbatical Progress – Week 2
Continuing what I began last week, I wanted to give you a little taste of what sabbatical has involved this week. Still a bunch of reading, but other stuff, too! God has been speaking through it all, answering prayers for wisdom and understanding, while at the same time challenging me in areas that I haven’t fully considered or in some ways hadn’t dared to consider. I’ve continued to keep ahead with my Hebrew work. I’m really enjoying Hebrew! The approach taken by the author (the professor) is quite engaging. The workbook is really helpful for cementing ideas after doing the memory work. I continue to make daily progress on 6…
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Sabbatical Progress – Week 1
So, today was the first Sunday of my September sabbatical. It’s been a restful time so far, and that time has also been put to some good use! Thought I’d stop a moment each Sunday and consider the week. Primarily, this is a help to me, helping me remember what God is doing. So, for starters, there has been a bunch of prayer. Prayer for my local church, prayer for my wife and kids, prayer for direction. Especially, I’ve been in prayer asking God to raise up leaders and servants, and to provide opportunities for purposeful discipleship. I actually jump-started my sabbatical finishing one of my first reading goals. The…
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Old Testament Wanderings: Worship, Personal Choice, and Vanity
In my last class, I picked up 6 Ways The Old Testament Speaks Today by Alec Motyer. It was meant as a book the student could read and review for extra credit. I fully intended, though I had no need ultimately, to do the extra credit. But, my failure to plan my time then means I have a great book now that I can use devotionally for a much more leisurely paced venture. Each of the main chapters addresses a particular “voice” in the Old Testament. They begin with a summary of the idea, then 6 days of bible readings and discussion, plus more readings in the back of the…
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How Flawed and Insufficient Your Love Is
I’ve now started into my next book, as I had mentioned in the last post. Chapter 2 of Discipling is titled “Oriented Towards Others”. A number of passages are addressed as Dever talks about the biblical pattern we experience in Jesus through the gospels, as well as the example Paul provides. But the one that stood out for me was Colossians 1:28-29. He looks at it through the lens of two different word pairs. The first pair is “toil” and “struggling”, reflecting on the need to engage, to work hard to see the gospel take root. Discipleship doesn’t just happen. It takes conscious effort, fueled by the work God is…
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How Membership Is The Same Everywhere
In the final chapter of “Church Membership”, Leeman discusses how locale and context affects church membership. In light of all that is going on in Afghanistan of late, but also the experience of churches in China and some parts of Africa, and increasingly here, this chapter reflecting on what membership looks like under different societal and political forces is helpful. It bears out the flexibility and wisdom Leeman brings, rather than a rigid set of rules. And as discussions of viruses and vaccines continue to dominate our lives, this section hits home: Now, Satan uses different devices in different locations to undermine Christ’s kingdom. A favorite device in the West…
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On Submitting to the Local Church
I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of Jonathan Leeman over the last few days, and I’m definitely benefiting from his skill in teaching. I’ve read him writing in a more academic tone, and loved it. Pleasant to find he can write equally well in a style that is more down-to-earth. I’m almost done with Church Membership, in the 9Marks series, and I would definitely recommend it for every Christian. This is a quick and easy read to situate the believer as a citizen of a kingdom and a member of a body, striking at both the structural and the organic nature of the church in the life of…
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The First Step – Reflecting on Nehemiah 2:17-18
I’m finished reading Nehemiah: A Pastoral and Exegetical Commentary, but am behind in sharing the few quotes that stood out to me. Many of the quotes that did so are longer, but this one, not so much: God often uses his messengers and his word to shine a light on matters in our lives that are unacceptable to God and yet have become accepted by us. Jerusalem is “desolate.” Perhaps they have grown accustomed to the disgrace. The first step in changing a situation is to honestly assess the situation. Only then will one recognize the need for the change. Nehemiah: A Pastoral and Exegetical Commentary, p.43 What in your…
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In The Mail – Elementary Hebrew Texts
Woohoo! Hebrew textbooks and Old Testament hermeneutics in the mail. Can’t complain about that. This upcoming semester I’m taking 20400 WW, otherwise known as “Elementary Hebrew”, with Dr. Garrett. There are two textbooks (really a book and an associated workbook), two recommended texts, plus an extra credit book. So, for text and workbook, and the extra credit, all pictured above, I’ll be working with: A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew and A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew Workbook and The Problem of the Old Testament: Hermeneutical, Schematic & Theological Approaches (Extra Credit) The “recommended” texts are A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia…
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The Conscience, As Illustrated by Ezra and Nehemiah
I’m currently reading Nehemiah: A Pastoral and Exegetical Commentary, as part of Introduction to Old Testament I (SBTS). Really enjoying it so far. It strikes a good balance between textual matters and application in the life of the church. In Chapter 2, in the section concerning 2:7-8a, I ran upon this section, that made me stop and think: Nehemiah basically makes two requests. The first request is for letters ensuring his safe passage to Judah. As noted in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Judeans faced stiff resistance and oppression from their enemies (see Ezra 4-6; Neh 4). Obviously, Nehemiah knows of the dangers and asks the king for help.…
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Planning For Travel
I just started reading Owen Strachan and Gavin Peacock’s The Grand Design: Male and Female He Made Them. So far, definitely enjoying it. But page 11 (really the first page of text) made me stop and remark on how Strachan gets me. That comment will take a brief explanation! When I travel, internationally, domestically, whatever, I like to plan ahead. And that planning includes something that many people likely find bizarre. I like to look for the best book stores in the area. So, I’ve drug Kim to bookstores in Italy (Libreria Acqua Alta, in Venice, for instance, and it was pretty awesome) and asked her wait for me as…
The Pleasant Study
Theology, Linguistics, Brewing and More
