A wonderful thought from the autobiography of F.F. Bruce: To hear the voice of God in Holy Scripture oneself, and to help others to hear it, is a worthy cause to which to devote one’s resources; to be commissioned to devote them to this cause is a sacred trust, not to be undertaken lightly, not to be refused irresponsibly, but to be fulfilled thankfully. (In Retrospect, 312). Read more

I am currently working on a book called The Gospels of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus (forthcoming with Eerdmans in 2013). So I’m reading a stack of books on the formation of the Jesus tradition, social memory, eyewitnesses, orality, and so forth. I’ve already written a bit on these topics in previous articles in BBR and WTJ back in the mid naughties. But now I’m exploring them anew and revising stuff in light of... Read more

I have given into requests from friends and I have opened a twitter account. @mbird12 This bird will finally tweet! Read more

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you might to save; through Jesus Messiah your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, non and for ever. Amen. Read more

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent is taken from Matthew 4:1-11, the story of Jesus temptation in the wilderness. In the first full week of Lent we are invited to reflect on the gospel of Jesus’ temptation and the victory over the devil secured by the Word of God. The opening line of the story, which provides the setting, is very telling. Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt... Read more

Stuff to note around the biblioblogosophere D.A. Carson offers and evaluation of Theological Interpretation of Scripture. The CSCO gives the top ten books for graduate students in NT to read. Joel Watts is again nearly persuaded by the progressive reformed view on justification. Nijay Gupta reports on a conference/festschrift for Anthony Thiselton, Eckhard Schnabel of TEDS is going to Gordon-Conwell as reserach prof,  and ponders about the Colossian heresy. Mark Goodacre also podcasts on the criteria of authenticity in historical... Read more

At our Crossway College Chapel I lead a short devotional for lent speaking from Galatians on Three Crucifixions (approx 12 mins). You can listen to the whole thing at the Crossway resources page. But note, for some reason, I can only get it to work using the Firefox browser (Google Chrome won’t take it for some reason). Read more

Don’t forget the St. Andrews Conference on Galatians with some top speakers.  It is scheduled for 10-13 July 2012. It’s a lovely place in Scotland to visit. The Cathedral ruins are fantastics, lovely cafes, and some good papers to attend. Main papers include: Main Papers Jean-Noël Aletti Lewis Ayres John Barclay Ivor Davidson Beverly Gaventa Bruce McCormack Volker Rabens Thomas Söding Kendall Soulen Timothy Wengert Simeon Zahl So wish I was going, but I’m having a sabbatical year from international... Read more

In the words of the Book of Common Prayer, I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer. Read more

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Messiah our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more