Apparently Zondervan is running sale on the commentaires in the NIVAC set! $4.99 on the Kindle! Check it:
Keener’s Revelation
Gary Burge’s John 
Doug Moo’s work on Romans
Walton’s work in Genesis
Block’s work in Deuteronomy 
Looks like the whole set is on sale! Get em while you can! lol! 
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words. (TNIV)
Indeed, why do we go on looking for the living among the dead? He is not there, he is RISEN!!
No Christian experience begins with walking, but always with a definite sitting down. The secret of deliverance from sin is not to do something but to rest on what God has done.
- Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand. (via Seth Bobbink‘s Facebook page)
there is always the temptation to think we, as small church pastors need to be cutting edge if we want our churches to grow.
Cameron Cole over at his blog The Rooted Blog talks aboutthe problem of trying to be cutting edge in youth ministry and I think his post is instructive for us as at Blue Chip Pastor on a number of levels. What he says about Youth Ministry is applicable to the Small Church setting. He writes:
In all spheres of ministry, the temptation lurks to be “cutting edge.” This enticement may exist more in youth ministry more than other sectors, due to the frequently evolving nature of teen culture, where the target seemingly moves every five to seven years. In a valuable manner, youth ministry people seek to keep a watchful eye on the most efficacious means by which to reach teenagers. It is part of what makes the field exciting and dynamic. At the same time, youth ministry can dedicate exorbitant amounts of attention to finding a magic bullet in our methodology.
The temptation is there. We all face it. And I think it can apply too to the Small church setting because, well, like youth ministry, small churches can tend to deal with high levels of turnover (hence a similarity to the constant evolving nature of youth culture – I remember feeling out of touch just not even one year after I graduated from High School). Too often, “cutting edge” = growing numerically. This just isn’t true. Cole goes on to say:
The longer I work with students, the more convinced I am that there is nothing sexy or cutting edge about effective youth ministry. I have annoyed many a colleague with my penchant for repeatedly saying, “There is nothing new under the sun: if you want to be cutting edge, go into biomedical engineering or particle physics, not ministry.” Effective youth ministry boils down to pursuing relationships, teaching scripture, proclaiming the Gospel, worshiping, and praying fervently. That is it. Ministry revolving around these five components has endless possibilities. Other parts of ministry, such as missions, social justice, and fellowship, can have great vibrancy with such a foundation. Ministry that lacks relating, exegeting, proclaiming, worshiping, or praying usually evolves into an exercise in futility or a practice in “playing church.”
Just replace youth ministry with small church ministry and I am not sure there is much difference. There is in fact nothing new under the sun, its all been done before just in different ways and means. In fact, Cole’s cutting edge approach of teaching, proclaiming, worshipping, and praying seem pretty timeless to me.
Lots of instruction here I think many a Blue Chip Pastor can take encouragement from. Let us flee the idolatry of “cutting edge” ministry and instead just continue in faithfulness and obedience to our pastoral vocations shepherding teaching, proclaiming, worshipping, and praying communities of faith.
Blessings,
Thanks to Kregel for the opportunity to read and do a review of Colin Duriez’ recent biography J. R. R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend
To be honest, I did not read the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings books when I was Highschool. I am not even sure I had heard of them. Further, I am not sure what was going on with me during those years but I was not even really interested in Literature much. It might have been part of the fact that I am more of a visual learning and things like watching TV were more how I learned than by reading books per se. Well, sometime during college that changed and I learned to read books as a way of learning and things like language and literature began to be more appealing to me. Learning NT Greek at my home church may have helped too.
When the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring came out, I decided to get the books and start reading them, from the beginning. I have a dear friend who I refer to as my resident Tolkien scholar and he was able to give me some direction and I was also able to talk and reflect on the stories with him as I went through. By resident scholar I mean he has read the stories some 20 times or more and owns and has read extensively all the back story material too – he KNOWS Tolkien inside and out. So I had The Hobbit, The LOTR set, The Silmarillion, and The Unfinished Tales along with a Guide to Middle Earth! I was set.
Additionally I took a weekend seminar on Tolkien in Seminary and learned quite a bit about the context and background and various interpretations of the legends of Middle Earth. So I was happy to have a chance to read Colin Duriez’ biography.
In this biography you learn much not just about the man but you learn about how he thought and the major events in his life that in the long run all in some way contributed to his developing the world and wonder of Middle Earth. Many elements of the Shire represent the area where Tolkien grew up. He and his brother led a Scouting for Boys group that contributed to qualities and characteristics of characters in the stories. Samwise Gamgee telling Gollum there was only one way to properly cook Coney (rabbit) would be one example of Scouting skills that found its way into the story.
I think most people know that the Elvish languages spoken in stories were all invented by Tolkien. Tolkien had three passions in his life: Old Norse, festivity, and classical philology. He began his studies in the Classics but eventually found himself (and by way of his mentors) better suited to Comparative Philology and that helped him go deeper not just into the languages but also the history of languages and their development (he could site read old Icelandic saga straight off the pages with no helps). The classical romance seen between Aragorn and Arwen is in many ways a reflection of the relationship between Tolkien and the love of his life, Edith. The were forbidden to be together for quite a few years by Tolkien guardian who was concerned that Edith would prevent Tolkien from being successful in his academic pursuits and so be able to have a career and provide for her. They would meet secretly and haphazardly until they were allowed to marry.
Tolkien took a summer trip to the Alps once, this could have provided background for scenes in the various mountains in the stories. We know that he was involved to some degree in both world wars, and so there are ties to that. He was not a fan of modern technology and preferred the quiet life of Oxford, which is reflected in the life of the Shire. The Shire represents all that is good and Mordor and Isengard represent the onset of modernization that Tolkien didn’t care for. It also reflects the awfulness of war.
From the Back cover: “Tolkien had a difficult life for many years: orphaned and poor, his guardian forbade him to communicate with the woman he had fallen in love with, and he went through the horrors of the First World War. An intensely private and brilliant scholar, he spent over fifty years working on the languages, history, peoples, and geography of Middle Earth, with a consistent mythology inspired by formidable knowledge of early northern European history and culture. J.R.R. Tolkien became a legend by creating an imaginary world that has enthralled and delighted generations. This engaging and accessible biography brings him to life.”
Honestly, this sort of thing is probably only going to satisfy and interest the devoted Tolkien fan. Many people have seen the movies and so stopped reading the stories but I think those who have allowed themselves to keep reading the books, will enjoy learning more about the man and the life behind it all!
Blessings!
It is with thanks to the author and my former seminary Dean, now President of Northwest University in Kirkland Washington, Joe Castleberry for a review copy of his book, Your Deepest Dream: Discovering God’s True Vision for Your Life
Current trends show that as much as 83% of Americas live lives and work jobs they do not like and do not find fulfulling. For a variety of reasons, many folks are not living out their deep dreams, if they even know what it is. And maybe that is where the mix up is. Many of us tend to think life is all about us and fulfilling our dreams. The back cover tells us, “Life isn’t about fulfilling your dreams – it’s about discovering the dream that will fulfill you.”
Do you have a dream? Do you know what that dream is? Are you able to express it, see it, have an idea what it might look like? Have you discovered what it is? If you know what it is, are you in pursuit of it? This book is about you. It is about you and you discovering your deepest dream, whatever that is. I can hear some people saying, its not about me, it’s about God. Stop right now. That’s not what this is about. You can have a dream and being in process of discovering it and living it out and still be in full pursuit of God – because really, that is what your deepest dream is, to be in pursuit of God, following hard after him in whatever way you can. It is okay to dream. It is okay to have a dream and live in pursuit of it. We all have one, deep down inside of us. One of us has a dream that either we are in process of discovering or re-discovering.
How do you discover your deep dream? You need to know yourself, you need to know God (its the deepest desire of us all)(this is where Dr. Joe gets into the heart of the gospel message and calls us all to repentance in him – this is not at all a “Your Best Life Now” kind of book), embrace your destiny (we all have one), be a leader (we all are in our own way), serve others, live a life of integrity (this is the most important part), be humble (connected to knowing yourself and knowing God), be tenacious (have what some call “sticktoitiveness,”), stay forgiving (this is the next most important thing), keep that chin up and stay positive. Be shrewd. ”God has placed that dream deep within you. It’s so much more than earthly aspirations and includes a strong moral center, experiencing a vital relationship with God, and living a rich, satisfying life with godly character.” (again from the back cover).
Are you unsure of what your deep dream is, or how to come about realizing what it is? Reading this book will help set you on the path to discovering or even re-discovering your deepest dream.
It is a good and even challenging read! I know I needed it, and I know others do too. If you or someone you know needs it, don’t hesitate, be sure they get this book.
Congratulations to our fellow blogging pastor Mark & Beck Stevens on the birth of their son Samuel James Stevens born yesterday afternoon at 4:24pm weighing 8 pound 10.5 ounces! Happy New Year to them!!
Hope you have a Happy and Blessed New Year!
I wanted to share a FB post from Frank Macchia (I hope he won’t mind):
Okay, I couldn’t resist. My seven words of wisdom for the new year:
1) Doing your best varies from circumstance to circumstance, so learn to celebrate small successes.
2) Failures reveal something about you but will kill you if you cling to them, so throw them away once they’ve divulged their hidden treasures.
3) Generosity is the most underrated and neglected joy in life; hoarding the most overrated pleasure.
4) What you say to someone is often filtered through that person’s past experience, so a hostile response rarely has much to do with you.
5) Take each task on your plate every day as an opportunity to show gratitude for all that you’ve received so freely. The daily grind will flow much more smoothly.
6) Resting, dreaming, enjoying, and contemplating is not a waste of time if you value your creativity. Resist the tyranny of production.
7) Put to death in you that which cannot be improved in your goal of following Christ. Real change depends on this.
I think these are wise words and well worth your consideration!
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—[b]
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Here it is in the Hebrew:
In the case of theological education, it seems rather simple. Perhaps theological programs can start to intentionally prepare students for careers outside the academy, beginning with ministry in the “church,” (broadly conceived). I’ve argued before that churches need more ministers who are deeply theologically trained–not so they can re-state the old theological positions so much as think creatively and contextually and help their congregations to do “local theology” together as they collectively respond to the impulses of the gospel in their lives. Disclaimer: Obviously not everyone is “cut out” for church ministry, and churches certainly don’t need ministers who are there because they couldn’t achieve their real dreams.
