An Encounter with Jesus: Miles Mullin on John 9

My colleague here at SWBTS Houston, Miles Mullin, recently preached an insightful sermon at the church of which he is a member, Heritage Park Baptist. HPBC is pastored by Trent Henderson, who brought a good word of piperian exposition in our chapel at SWBTS Houston this week.

You can listen to Mullin on John 9 here.

May the Lord prosper his word!

A Beautiful Mind: Clint Armani’s New Blog

My brother in law has been a huge blessing to our family. The Lord smiled on the Hamilton clan when he brought Clint Armani to my sister Dayna. Clint is one of the most careful thinkers I know. He’s a Major in the Air Force with a Master of Science in Engineering from Purdue, and he’s now working on a Ph.D. in Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology.

More encouraging, however, than what C. J. Mahaney would refer to as his “stats,” are his love for the Lord and his desire to understand the Bible and theology. What a joy to know a carefully trained scientist who loves to talk theology! This guy knows more about the physical universe than I have begun to imagine might be there, and yet he remains humble, gentle, inquisitive, and teachable. What a work of God’s grace!

All that to say, my brother in law Clint, who is an officer and a gentleman, a scientist and a philosopher, a follower of Christ and a theologian, a great husband and father, has now started a blog named Lured by Infinity. You’ll want to check out the first post where he explains the name of the blog.

The Ross King House Show

The other night we had the privilege and joy of going to a friend’s home for a house show done by Ross King. It was a great night with friends and good music.

You can check out some of the action here, here, and here.

We’ve been enjoying Ross’s new CD, and I particularly appreciate the song called “Happy,” the lyrics to which go like this:

Fourteen thousand members and me,

Watch the preacher up on the screen,

I have never shaken his hand,

My two-dimensional pastor-man,

Welcome to America.

 

Doesn’t matter if I am here,

In this crowd I could disappear,

Pastor-man is all that we need,

Preachin via satellite feed.

 

I can watch it all from my pew,

Til the presentation is through.

You will have to pardon me,

But this cannot be all there is,

I can’t imagine God would be,

Happy about this.

 

Smiling people up on the stage,

Everyone prefers it that way.

Smiling people out in the crowd,

No questioning or doubting allowed,

This is our America.

 

Where everyone is pretty and clean;

Where everything’s rehearsed and routine.

You will have to pardon me,

But this cannot be all there is.

I can’t imagine God would be

Happy about this.

 

What if Jesus disagrees

With how you measure your success?

Would you find a way to still believe

He’s happy about this?

What if he’s not happy about this?

 

The church is now the body of Christ,

And every part is equally prized.

The eye can never say to the hand:

All we need is this preacher-man.

 

Would you notice if I was gone?

How easy would it be to move on?

You will have to pardon me,

But this cannot be all there is.

I can’t imagine God would be

Happy about this.

 

Cause crowds don’t necessarily

Mean that God is truly blessed.

I think there is a chance that he’s

Not happy about this.

What if he’s not happy about this?

What if he’s not happy about this?

 

Jonathan Edwards Sale at Desiring God

You won’t find a cheaper price on the 2 vol. Works of Jonathan Edwards than the one offered here.

Hurry, the sale ends tomorrow, Sunday, October 7, 2007.

Free Christian Audio Book: The Life of David Brainard

 From ChristianAudio.com:

Free Audiobook of the Month America’s greatest Theologian, Jonathan Edwards, had a heart for missions. And Edwards deeply respected David Brainerd, who gave his life for missions to Native Americans. The Life of David Brainerd is an inspiring tale of one of the most notable missionaries in American history.

Use the coupon code OCT2007 to receive the Download Format of The Life of David Brainerd

for free in the month of October.

Our Price: $0.00
List Price: $25.98

Mark Dever Interviews Simon Gathercole and Peter Williams

Get the interview here.

The ESV Literary Study Bible

The ESV Literary Study Bible arrived on my doorstep a short while ago. Here are some initial thoughts:

• As Study Bibles go, this one seems light on the notes–which is not necessarily bad. One complaint I’ve heard about Study Bibles is that they lead people to read the notes rather than the Bible, but in this case the notes don’t seem as plenteous as in other Study Bibles. Most of the space on the page is taken up with the actual text of the Bible, which I think is very positive. Reading all the available notes would not keep you from reading the actual words of the Bible for very long.
• There are no cross references. None. This is an advantage if one is looking for an unencumbered “read straight through” kind of text, but it is not so helpful for more detailed study.
• There are no maps. None. This is a little surprising to me since maps take up very little space, and even works of literature such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings come with maps!

The particular strengths of this Study Bible, from my initial soundings, seem to be as follows:

• Clear and helpful structural overviews at the beginning of each book.
• Brief orienting comments interspersed throughout the text.
• Consistent focus on where a particular narrative fits in the story of the whole Bible.
• Attention to the twists and turns of the story, with all its suspense and drama.
• A nice glossary of literary terms that help us classify and describe the contents of the Bible.

Crossway has provided a text-interview with the father and son general editors, Leland Ryken and Philip Graham Ryken, here.

Justin Taylor gives these details on the online version:

The Literary Study Bible is now online for browsing. Here’s how it works:

You can browse the notes free for thirty days.

If you own (or have ordered) a print copy of the Literary Study Bible, you get free access for six months.

Once your free trial period has expired, you can buy continued online access for $19.99, or $9.99 if you own a print Literary Study Bible.

The Westminster Bookstore has the print version of the Bible (hardcover) on sale for $29.99 (40% off of retail).