The week after I preached on 1 Samuel 17, it was my joy to preach 1 Samuel 18. You can listen here.
David Killed Goliath
A few weeks ago I had the great privilege of preaching 1 Samuel 17. You can listen here.
9News on Biblical Theology
The latest edition of 9News is out, also available in PDF here.
Here is the table of contents:
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
Where Is Your Story Written?
Conventional wisdom decries all grand stories of life and history. But Scripture presents the ultimate story of God’s work in creation and new creation. Michael Lawrence introduces his series in biblical theology with five short articles on this grand story which encompasses everything, even you.
-Everyone Loves a Story (Part 1)
-The Story of Creation (Part 2)
-The Themes of Creation (Part 3)
-The Problem of Creation (Part 4)
-The Destiny of Creation (Part 5)
By Michael Lawrence
Preaching and Biblical Theology 101 (PBT-101)
Feeling uncertain on why and how biblical theology should inform your preaching? Take Professor Schreiner’s 3-part class on the topic. If you’re just looking for tools for your toolbox, jump straight to part 3. Quizzes held every Sunday.
-Diagnosis—The Problem with Much Preaching Today (Part 1)
-Discovery—What is Biblical Theology (Part 2)
-Direction—How To Do Biblical Theology When Preaching (Part 3)
By Thomas Schreiner
The Glory of God in Salvation Through Judgment
At the heart of biblical theology is the glory of God in salvation through judgment, says Hamilton. Okay, we said to him, that sounds good. But what does that mean for the pastor when he goes to work on Monday?
By James M. Hamilton Jr.
A 9News Forum
We asked a roundtable of pastors and theologians one question:
“In what ways will a congregation’s understanding of salvation and the gospel be limited if their pastors do not have a good grasp of biblical theology?”
Answers by Andrew Davis, Graeme Goldsworthy, Phil Johnson, Aaron Menikoff, Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., and Stephen Wellum. A special, extended response from Bruce Waltke
Biblical and Systematic Confusion Yields Gospel Delusions
Does the gospel = “the proclamation of God’s kingdom” or “penal substitution”? Distinguishing our biblical from our systematic theology helps us answer that question.
By Jonathan Leeman
Recommend Books on Biblical Theology for Church Members
9News has compiled a list of books Capitol Hill Baptist Church recommends to its members and visitors on the topic of biblical theology.
CONVERSION
One of the Dirtiest Words Today: C——–n
Say the word “conversion” in public today and call condemnation upon your head. But is it biblical? Is it helpful for believers and unbelievers?
By Brad Wheeler
WHERE THE MEN ARE MEN
Book Review:
Why Men Hate Going to Church
by David Murrow
Reviewed by Jamie Dunlop
Book Review:
Why Do Men Not Go to Church?
by Cortland Myers
Reviewed by Ken Barbic
Book Review:
Manly Dominion: In a Passive-Purple-Four-Ball World
by Mark Chanski
Reviewed by Owen Strachan
Now Thank We All Our God
Once upon a time there was a gifted young scholar whose star was rising in the academic world. The young man had gone to premier schools, and he had even traveled to Germany to pursue a doctorate in the fatherland. He studied with the finest scholars, and his work was of the finest quality. His dissertation was published in a prestigious academic series. He landed a teaching job. He began to churn out scholarly books and articles.
And then something happened. That young scholar became more and more convinced that teaching the truths he was trading in was not enough. Such things had to be proclaimed, heralded, exposited. He had to preach.
So the rising young evangelical scholar who had written his dissertation in the field of New Testament, specializing in Jesus studies, left the lectern for the pulpit. He took his precise, academic training and sought to apply it to non-academic Christians.
For nearly thirty years his soul was refined by the Bible, the afflictions of life, the pains of the pastorate. For nearly thirty years he labored for language that would convince the mind and compel the heart. For nearly thirty years he preached and prayed, read and wrote, wept and rejoiced as a shepherd of the flock of God, in which the Holy Spirit had appointed him an overseer.
For nearly thirty years academic scholarship on Jesus continued to be produced. Learned and precise it was, but not always connected to the reality about Jesus. Quagmired in discussions of which Gospel was written first, which saying of Jesus was authentic, how and whether the Gospels can be shown to be historically reliable, and how Jesus really subverts or supports some modern political agenda, academic scholarship on Jesus often seems to miss the Messiah altogether. For nearly thirty years non-academic writing about Jesus continued as well, and in most cases it wasn’t any better. These non-academic books were intended to be devotional, but often they were painfully ignorant of historical realities, resulting in a distorted, modern, sentimental, not very Jewish and not very helpful portrait of Jesus.
The brilliant young scholar is now an aged pastor, and in him are conjoined the sensibilities of the historian and the wisdom of one who has been with the sheep. John Piper has given us a book on Jesus.
I urge you to buy and read What Jesus Demands from the World.
Prayer of the Month: 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
ESV 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Halloween Hustle
You are not going to believe this.
Someone bearing a strange resemblance to the Reverend Dr. Denny Burk does The Halloween Hustle.
Classic.
Imputation in a Nutshell
Anyone interested in a clearer understanding of 
what the word Imputation means,
how it relates to Justification,
and what the key texts in the discussion are
(and I hope a lot of people are really interested in these things!),
must go read this interview with Dr. Brian Vickers (scroll down to page 2 for the Vickers interview).
Dr. Vickers’ book on the topic, Jesus Blood and Righteousness, has recently appeared. The nutshell referenced above is the interview. This book is like a life giving tree.
Vickers has a unique ability to turn a phrase, which makes this interview not only easy to read but even devotional. C. S. Lewis held that the serious books are the most helpful spiritually. Here is rich food for the soul. Enjoy!
Justin Johnston: More Than Songs
My friend and fellow elder Travis Cardwell hooked me up with a new cd by Justin Johnston called “More Than Songs.”
We don’t often love music on first hearing, but that was our reaction to these tunes! If you want to check out this cd, which I recommend, you can email Justin at justin@justinjohnston.org.
The Kingdom of Christ
Many people want to bring more balance to the narrow focus on the individualistic aspects of salvation so prominent in yesterday’s evangelicalism. In some emerging circles there is so much focus on the community and the big story of the Bible that one wonders if individuals are still part of the picture at all. Yes God is shaping a community that will bless those outside it, and yes God is renewing the cosmos, but we also have to confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead (Rom 10:9).
Some confessional evangelical pastors, such as Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll, strike a healthy balance between the big story of salvation and renewal and the individual soteriological truths that must be maintained. In his book, The Kingdom of Christ, 
Dr. Russell D. Moore provides a thoroughgoing foundation for this balance between public and private aspects of the Gospel. Moore writes,
“The Kingdom theology proposed by some in the postwar evangelical movement called for a broader, Kingdom-oriented understanding of soteriology, one that is able to tie personal regeneration to the broader cosmic purposes of God” (The Kingdom of Christ, 81).
Ironically, some who want to emphasize the Kingdom aspects of the cosmic purposes of God assume that in calling for such balance they are denouncing the likes of Moore. We should all take this reality as a call to understand those we would critique before we weigh in against an impression we have of someone that is based firmly in our own imagination.
Another impression that is sometimes bandied about is that when very theological people weigh in on social and political issues they illegitimately politicize the Gospel. It is clear that Moore, however, understands the relationship between Gospel and culture to be mediated through the church. He writes:
“If the Kingdom is to be understood as having a present reality, and that reality is essentially soteriological, then the Kingdom agenda of evangelical theology must focus on the biblical fulcrum of these eschatological, salvific blessings: the church” (The Kingdom of Christ, 129).
I see Moore’s work as foundational for the argument that the best way to engage the culture is to pour oneself into local church health. As born again people walk in holiness in solemn covenant with the Lord and one another, the broader society sees and is served by a display of God’s glory. Much more could be said, but anyone interested in pursuing these issues should avail themselves of Moore’s book, The Kingdom of Christ.
Why Do Teens Go To Church?
Check out what Time has to say. Surprisingly, they don’t seem to go because they want to be entertained.
HT: Justin Taylor
Reinventing Jesus
Reinventing Jesus: What The Da Vinci Code and other Novel Speculations Don’t Tell You, by J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace. Kregel, 2006.
The subtitle of this volume might lead one to think it is mainly concerned with The Da Vinci Code, but that is not the case at all. The learned authors of this volume deconstruct the crazy things said about Jesus by pulling back the curtain on New Testament scholarship. This book is a robust introduction to a number of scholarly discussions. Targeted at the non-specialist, this is a straight arrow with full feathers and a biting tip.
The book has five parts. Part one is an up-to-date introduction to scholarship on the Gospels. It presents what most scholars think about how and when the Gospels were written, why they look alike and yet have differences, and how the authenticity of what the Gospels record can be tested. Part two lays out New Testament textual criticism. As the likes of Bart Ehrman allege “orthodox corruption” of Scripture, readers will be well served by the authors of Reinventing Jesus. This expert presentation of text criticism will help everyone from the layman who wants to understand the footnotes in his English translation to the seminary student coming at text criticism for the first time to the pastor who needs a quick reminder of what he forgot from his days in seminary. Part three discusses the issue of the New Testament Canon. Ever wondered why the Gospel according to Matthew is in the New Testament and the Gospel of Judas isn’t? Here is a fine discussion of the issues. Part four takes up the divinity of Jesus, and part five considers the proposals that the ideas in the New Testament were actually adapted from ideas in other ancient systems of belief.
This is a wide ranging book that sounds the note that those who believe the Bible have nothing to fear from the extravagant claims of unbelieving scholars. If you find yourself needing an answer to the claims of the critics (or if you know someone taking a New Testament course in college), this is the book for you. Buy it. Read it. Give it away. It is up to the challenges of our day, but—and this statement is not meant to detract at all from the value of Reinventing Jesus—never forget that the most powerful way to find the message of the Gospels authenticated is to read the Gospels themselves and taste the sweet honey of the word of God.
Is John Piper Bad?
Is the Song of Songs a Messianic Book?
I think so, and I try to lay out the case in an essay that appears in this fall’s Westminster Theological Journal. Here’s a PDF of the essay:
“The Messianic Music of the Song of Songs: A Non-Allegorical Interpretation,” WTJ 68 (2006) 331-45.
Review of Köstenberger’s Commentary on John
Review of Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, BECNT, published in Bulletin for Biblical Research 16.2 (2006) 368-69.
Review of Lincoln’s book, Truth on Trial
Review of Andrew T. Lincoln, Truth on Trial: The Lawsuit Motif in the Fourth Gospel, published in Bulletin for Biblical Research 16.2 (2006) 369-71.
Northbrook Conference Audio
Thanks to Eric Schumacher’s diligent efforts, the audio from The Northbrook Conference is now available here for free.
Session 1 – 1 Cor 3:10-17 – Building with Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones
Session 2 – What Is Indwelling? The Old Testament Background
Inscribe Them on the Tablets of Their Hearts. . .
As we’ve read books to our little ones over the last couple years, we’ve become so familiar with some of these children’s books that we can practically recite them.
There’s a great little book by Susan Hunt called My ABC Bible Verses that will make the memorization of your children’s literature an edifying experience. The book has a Bible verse for each letter of the alphabet accompanied by a story that will connect the truth of the verse to the life of the child. You might find these stories helping you be a better parent, too. May we heed the words of Deuteronomy 6 and talk about the word of God when we lie down and rise up, when we sit and when we walk by the way.
Prayer of the Month (3 weeks overdue)
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 (ESV)
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Life has been busy around the Hamilton home. We moved to a house closer to the school and our church the weekend of October 1, and as we unpacked boxes I was preparing to go to Iowa for The Northbrook Conference, which took place Oct 13-15.
Thus the posting of the prayer of the month nearer the end than the beginning. . .
Another Great Issue of CTR
Following their recent issue on the emerging church, replete with an enlightening article from Mark Driscoll, Criswell Theological Review now brings out an issue titled “Tongues on Fire.” So far you can access the editorial and an informative interview with Tom Hatley.
My Friend Denny Designed My New Header!
My dear friend Denny Burk blessed me with a new header image for my blog, and I’m publicly thanking him and praising God for his friendship! Hallelujah!
The image above was taken when I was 18 years old playing shortstop for Jacksonville Arkansas’s American Legion team sponsored by Gwatney Chevrolet.
Thanks Denny!