In episode #147 of the Christ is All podcast, bestselling Frank Viola gets personal about what the life of an author is like. He also talks firsthand about his premium online training for authors called SCRIBE. Brian Russell (the interviewer) attended the live SCRIBE training (which is now online) and gives his honest reflections. If you are an aspiring or accomplished author, you’ll want to hear this. The interview is only 37 minutes. Listen for Podbean (for Androids) Listen on... Read more

When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision by Joseph H. Hellerman (2009) is a book written by a scholar who seeks to present (in a popular way) that the early church functioned like a family and that Christians today ought to capture this same vision. In my 2008 book, Reimagining Church, I devote an entire chapter on the church as family. In it, I point out biblically that the dominating image for the church in the New Testament... Read more

The Pharisees is a new 500-page book edited by Joseph Sievers and Amy-Jill Levine. Note that scholars disagree regarding the specific relationship that the Pharisees had with Jesus in the New Testament as well as their overall disposition. This book favors certain perspectives. And it does a great job in that endeavor. I caught up with the editors to ask them some questions about their robust new volume. Enjoy! What provoked you to write this book and how does it differ from... Read more

The research for the revision and expansion of The Untold Story of the New Testament Church has been daunting. My study/writing studio is full of books by scholars and historians, and I’m notating everything I’m finding for the book’s documentation. Prayers would be appreciated as this work has been daunting. And I often feel overwhelmed, especially since I’m not a fast reader. Also, please don’t get the old version of the book. The new version of The Untold Story is... Read more

In a past blog post, I reviewed the New International Commentary of the Old Testament. This commentary is also available on Logos. If you’re not familiar with Logos Bible Software, see my review of it HERE.   Read more

Recently, I received The Rose Chronological Guide to the Bible. This is a 178-page large spiral bound primer on the entire Bible. Filled with charts, maps, and beautiful photographs, the Guide gives you a solid introduction of the biblical story in chronological order. Aside from a few disagreements on the chronology, I found the guide to be accurate on the whole and a delight to thumb through. Note that this is not a detailed work by any means, it’s a... Read more

Thomas Nelson recently send me their NKJV Comfort Print Single-Column Reference Bible (Premier Collection). This is a gorgeous Bible. The goatskin cover is incredible. And the single-column format is super easy to read. It truly is a treasure. I’ve put this one on a special shelf, side down. (You never want to store premium Bibles vertically as you would most books. Goatskin covers are too precious for that.) The Scripture references on the side are both helpful and cosmetically appealing,... Read more

Recently, the publisher graciously sent me a copy of The Berean Study Bible for review. The version I received has the soft leather-like cover (which is what the link above will bring you to). I really like the look and feel of this Bible. The translation is pretty accurate as well. It’s a fresh rendering. This isn’t the kind of study Bible that has commentator notes. Instead, the notes give insight into manuscript differences and divergent renderings. The Bible is... Read more

The NRSV Single-Column Reference Bible, Comfort Print is a Bible in the premium line that Zondervan publishers, which is an amazing line of Bibles. I love the look and feel of this Bible. Like Zondervan’s other premium Bibles, it has a goatskin leather cover. Goatskin is far superior to cowhide. Out of all the major translations, I’ve used the NRSV the least, but it’s a solid translation that I will be using more in my reading. This Bible also features... Read more

The ESV Preaching Bible, Verse-by-Verse Edition published by Crossway is a beautiful Bible. The layout is elegant. The verse-by-verse format makes it super easy for preaching, and the one-column design is cosmetically appealing, making it an easy read. The way the Bible is put together is top-notch also. The only complaint I have, which is a minor one, is that the goatskin leather cover is a bit thin. But hey, it’s goatskin. And goatskin leather covers are always premium. Here’s... Read more