Human sexuality is hotly disputed today, with many now contending that “gender” is a set of learned behaviors that have no intrinsic basis in a person’s sex. The idea is that being born with male body parts doesn’t require a male to obey Paul’s command to “act like men” (1 Cor 16:13), just as being born with …
Category Archives: Bible and Theology
So there could be a Jesus: TGC Interview on Ezra–Nehemiah
Hearty thanks to Kathleen Nielson for interviewing me on Ezra–Nehemiah for the TGC blog in the run-up to the National Women’s Conference on Nehemiah. Here’s a bit from one of my responses, reflecting on the way that their concern for the nation’s purity ensured the birth of Jesus: In the mystery of God’s providence, we …
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Jason Duesing on Taking the Gospel to the Unreached
I love Jason Duesing’s writing. I started to excerpt his first and last paragraphs, then urge you to go read the whole thing. I decided not to excerpt them because they are so much more powerful in the context of the whole. If you wonder what seminaries have to do with taking the gospel to …
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An Excerpt from My Ezra–Nehemiah Book
Broadman and Holman allowed me to put an excerpt of my new book on Ezra–Nehemiah on Christianity.com. The chapter excerpted deals with how to live a wartime lifestyle on a millionaire’s budget. Here’s a bit: Can you imagine slaughtering an ox a day? I don’t know how big Nehemiah’s herd of oxen was, but he …
Review of BibleWorks 9 for Mac Part 2: Guest Post by Dieudonne Tamfu
Searching on Bibleworks 9 for Mac BW9 offers several options to search the Bible and other texts (e.g. Apostolic Fathers, Josephus, Philo etc.). The most common and easiest search options to access are the right-click search option and the command window. When one right-clicks on a word or a selected phrase, BW9 offers different options …
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Review of BibleWorks 9 for Mac Part 1: Guest Post by Dieudonne Tamfu
BibleWorks 9 for Mac: Software for Biblical Exegesis and Research. Norfolk, VA: BibleWorks LLC, 2011, $359.00 Introduction I am so amazed at the wealth of the resources with which God has blessed this era to study his Word. No era before now has enjoyed the blessings of tools such as Bibleworks for easy, fast, and …
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CBMW National Conference
There’s a ton of good stuff available from the CBMW National Conference. Check it out here.
The Stone by The Gray Havens
Just in time for Easter, check out this creative lyric video from The Gray Havens: Available at Bandcamp (where they would prefer you get it) and Amazon.
John 7:53–8:11 Should Be in a Footnote, Not in the Text
Have you noticed the double brackets in the ESV that surround John 7:53–8:11? Those double brackets mean that the ESV’s translation committee does not consider this passage to be original to John’s Gospel. You also find double brackets around Mark 16:9–20. Do you know what it means that these passages are marked off–correctly–as not coming …
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The Woman, the Dragon, and the Baby Born King
Can you imagine anything more vulnerable than a woman laboring to give birth? Women in labor are completely occupied with giving birth. They are not thinking about defending themselves. They cannot strategize about how to escape from danger. They are focused on one thing: giving birth. The process of giving birth is a colossal struggle …
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The 2013 Issachar Award: For the Book that Best Understands the Times and Teaches What God’s People Should Do
Tis the season when the books of the year are being announced, and in that spirit here at For His Renown I’m inaugurating The Issachar Award, so named for the reference in 1 Chronicles 12:32 to the “the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do” (NAS). The Issachar …
Spanish Translation of “Were Old Covenant Believers Indwelt by the Holy Spirit?”
Saul Sarabia Lopez has come through again! Here is his translation of my essay, “Were Old Covenant Believers Indwelt by the Holy Spirit?” ¿Estaba el Espíritu Santo dentro de los creyentes en el Antiguo Pacto? Here are the other essays he has translated (links go to posts where the Spanish translations can be found): “The …
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We Watch Every Year, by Spencer Haygood
Spencer Haygood shared this Dr. Seuss style poem with me for the Christmas season. I loved it, and he gave me permission to post it here. Enjoy! We Watch Every Year! B. Spencer Haygood, Jr We all know the story, we’ve all heard it told, of the Who’s down in Whoville, and the Grinch, …
The Glorious Calling of the Mother
Just yesterday I was asked: does the Bible teach that women are to do anything more than schlepp kids and keep house? Proverbs 31 has lots to say about what wise women do, but this video turns the question on its head, capturing the profound majesty of mothering: 3 Queens from Matt Bieler on Vimeo.
Gunner’s Review of Wenham’s Psalms as Torah
Someone said: Only a Philistine could fail to love the Psalms. David “Gunner” Gunderson doesn’t just make last second shots, he thinks and writes well, and I’d encourage you to check out his important review of an important book, Gordon Wenham’s Psalms as Torah. Here’s a snippet: The Burden of the Book: The Shaping Power …
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Spanish Translation of “The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham”
Saul Sarabia L. has blessed me with Spanish translations of my essays “The Center of Biblical Theology in Acts” and “Biblical Theology and Preaching,” and now he has also translated “The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham.” If you know Spanish language students of the Bible, please do pass this on to …
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The Thrilling Adventure of Bible Reading
I’m honored to commend the new book by R. Reed Lessing and Andrew E. Steinmann, Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament, Concordia, 2014. Here’s my endorsement: To read the Bible is to risk a thrilling adventure through wild jungles with thunderous cataracts and soaring timbers teeming with life. Some …
Because He Gave His Son
We transgressed, defiled and raged, And he gave his son. For our filth and shame, staining sin, He sent the pure one. Bloodied hands and bloodsoaked lands, The Lamb—he held his tongue, His blood was spilt; the church was built, Because he gave his son. Now free from chains and all your pains To living …
How to Grow in Humility: Experience the Greatness of Jesus
Muhammed Ali said, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” He also said, “Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.” We see the opposite of that pride in John 3 from John the Baptist, and the reason John’s perspective is so different from Ali’s comes down to two things: …
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What Rowling Said about Dumbledore
I’m sure you’ve heard what J. K. Rowling said about Albus Dumbledore: “I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.” Dumbledore is a hero, one of the good guys through all seven novels. Unlike the way he is portrayed in the movies, Dumbledore is neither bumbling nor weak. He is commanding, authoritative, strong, sure, and only …