Peter O’Brien on Hebrews — coming soon

From Don Carson’s preface to Peter O’Brien’s forthcoming commentary on Hebrews in the Pillar series –

“Among commentary readers Dr. O’Brien is doubtless best known for his commentaries on Paul’s prison epistles, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. The volume on Ephesians, of course, is published in the Pillar series, and it has become one of the “standard” works on that letter, not least for those preparing to teach and preach the text. Here Dr. O’Brien branches outside the Pauline corpus. The most recent six years of his life have been devoted to Hebrews, a book not always easy to understand but demonstrably important for Christians who want to know how first-century believers read the old covenant Scriptures. Such inquiry is the first step in building up a profoundly biblical theology, a profoundly canonical theology. It would be difficult to find a more helpful guide than Dr. O’Brien, or a guide better endowed with his combination of competence and genial wisdom. It is a pleasure to commend this work by a dear friend.”

– It’s worth reading all of Dr Carson’s comments, in the 77 page excerpt from the book on the Westminster Books website (PDF file).

(h/t Andy Naselli via Michael Bird. Photo: Ramon Williams.)

Update: Justin Taylor writes:

“Here’s one tried and true rule of thumb for buying New Testament commentaries: If it’s written by D.A. Carson, Douglas Moo, or Peter O’Brien, buy it. It’s never failed me yet.”

Recycled lies in time for Easter

ACL President Mark Thompson writes –

“We’ve become quite used to sensationalist denials of central Christian truths at Easter…

No surprise then that Philip Pullman should time the release of his new book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2010) for Easter this year. …

Christians have absolutely no need to be concerned that these suggestions are being rehearsed yet again. The recent historical work of Richard Bauckham, Paul Barnett and John Dickson all demonstrate that the evidence moves entirely in the opposite direction…”

– Read Mark’s full post about the same old tired assertions.

Colin Buchanan UK Tour 2010

Readers in the UK may be interested to know about Colin Buchanan’s UK Tour – starting next week.

Details here. (Don’t say you weren’t warned! Great for kids, fun for their parents. Highly recommended.)

J. Gresham Machen: Christianity and Liberalism

Reformed Audio has made available audio recordings of J. Gresham Machen’s important 1923 book Christianity and Liberalism.

Hear or download it all here. Much that is relevant today.

Related posts.

(Image of J. Gresham Machen: The Theologian. h/t Reformation21.)

Wired for Intimacy

Tim Challies reviews Wired for Intimacy.

“Much has been written in recent years about pornography. But new to store shelves is a book that is different from all the others, at least all of the other books targeted at a Christian audience. William Struthers’ Wired for Intimacy looks not primarily to the heart but to the brain. He shows how the male brain is hard-wired for intimacy and relationships and how pornography affects the male brain…

Wired for Intimacy is a book we need. With pornography increasingly reaching epidemic proportions, this book helps us understand it at a whole new level. And it calls us to deal with human sexuality in a way that acknowledges all of its dimensions—moral, ethical, psychological, spiritual and physical. I give Wired for Intimacy my highest recommendation.”

– The book is not widely available in Australia just yet, but Moore Books has some copies for $22.95.

Related:
Review by Albert Mohler.
‘Anti porn posters and DVDs’ – Eternity newspaper on the coming poster campaign from Outreach Media.

When will Gay Couples be able to take vows in the Church of England?

“Events in England this week have underlined the wisdom of envisaging an alternative focus of leadership for the Anglican Communion. As regular readers of these articles will know, I believe that the current Archbishop of Canterbury is promoting an illusory unity which accommodates false teaching and endangers the whole Communion.

But there is another reason for calling into question the role of Canterbury and the Lambeth institutions which is not so much to do with Rowan Williams himself, but with the relentless erosion of orthodox faith in the Church of England by the deeply secularized culture of the liberal establishment…”

– Charles Raven writes at SPREAD. (Photo: Church of England.)

Depth and Weight: Augustine’s Sermon Illustration

“Augustine suggests that Paul is like a loving father who breaks open the nuts for his children to eat—his teaching is the nut cracker that unlocks scripture’s mysteries. Augustine’s appreciation of Scripture’s depth was the foundation of his theological approach to sermon illustration…”

– In this article from Churchman, Spring 2008, republished online by Church Society, Peter Sanlon argues that preachers need to be a lot more thoughtful in their sermon illustrations. Worth reading (PDF file).

Albert Mohler: Developing a Christian response to Islam

Last week, Dr Albert Mohler spoke at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky, on ‘Developing a Christian Response to the Challenge of Islam’.

The very helpful and informative 71 minute talk is available from the iTunes Sojourn Church podcast – link here. (Photo by Chuck Heeke, h/t Justin Taylor.)

Backwards Christian Soldiers

“The cause for biblical Christianity took a backward step in the General Synod of the Church of England this past week, or rather exposed itself as having already departed from biblical truth and practice. The General Synod passed a motion awarding pensions to civil partners of deceased clergy…”

– Bishop Glenn Davies writes at SydneyAnglicans.net

Don’t let the facts…

“Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.” So goes the old saying. In Sunday’s Sun-Herald, Simon Webster writes –

“A vicar has sparked outrage in Britain by distributing a pamphlet urging women to do as their husbands tell them. Reports could not confirm whether he got his wife to deliver them for him. … Not to avoid members of the media – they would have been the least of his worries – but to steer clear of Mrs MacLeay. God only knows how she reacted when she read her husband’s musings.”

It would have been relatively easy to go to the St Nicholas’ website to hear the ‘offending’ sermons or to read this (which was posted a week ago) – The Rector of St. Nicholas’, Angus MacLeay, writes:

“On a different point another strand of headlines speak of the Rector telling women to be silent and of a leaflet written by him being distributed around the congregation in January. The reality is that I have written no leaflets, nothing has been distributed and no-one has ever told women to be silent.”

It’s worth reading both the article and the letter in their entirety, and then listening to the sermons (31 January and 14 February 2010).

And if this comes up in conversation, it’s a good opportunity to speak about the Lord Jesus, as Mark Oden does at the start of the first sermon.

ABC Radio spot on Christians and sainthood

Last night, ABC Radio’s PM spoke with Bishop Glenn Davies and others on the impending canonisation of Mary MacKillop. Transcript and audio here. (Photo: Wikipedia.)

Shock! Horror! Church Believes The Bible!

“At the heart of all the press coverage is the very ordinary fact that at St Nicholas Sevenoaks, as in many other evangelical churches up and down the country, we engage in an expository preaching ministry which requires both preacher and people to engage humbly with God’s word, the Bible.”

– Angus MacLeay, Rector of St Nicholas’ Sevenoaks, writes about the fuss in the UK media last week over some sermons on marriage. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)

Building Healthy Churches: 9 Marks in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Last week, Mark Dever, Mike Gilbart-Smith and Colin Adams (who runs Unashamed Workman), spoke at the 9Marks Conference in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.

The audio has been posted online and will be there for 60 days.

Last weekend, Mark Dever spoke at another 9Marks conference – this one in Scotland. That audio is now online on the website of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh.

Not a good sign

“Dissident Uniting Church minister Francis MacNab has posted a giant billboard over the Monash Freeway with pictures of Florence Nightingale, Martin Luther King and himself as model leaders…”

– from Barney Zwartz in The Age. All a bit sad.

Falling on Deaf Ears?

“In many churches, there is almost no public reading of the Word of God. Worship is filled with music, but congregations seem disinterested in listening to the reading of the Bible.”

– Albert Mohler reflects on why so many congregations in the US aren’t all that interested in hearing the Bible.

Could the same be said for your church?

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