Missing in Action?

I know I have not been blogging for a while - to be precise, 24 days - and this has given rise to speculation of my missing in action.

Some say I have found a girlfriend and am now busy spending time with her (you wonder how people can come up with such a reason!).

Some say I have been too busy having vacation (can one be too busy vacationing?).

For whatever reasons, I have been busy - and I have been away from home for some time.

But I am now back. And I am back blogging. More to come soon!

Busy TEE Weekend

Over the next two weekends (8-10th May and 15-17 May), I will be busy teaching a course on Biblical Interpretation for the seminary's Theological Education by Extension programme at the Petaling Jaya/Kuala Lumpur centre.

As at last count, there are a total of 25 students who have signed up for the course. The number for this class is slightly bigger than usual, partly due to the fact that this is a core course for the TEE programme.

I look forward to having a good time with the students this coming two weekends. It's no rest for the wicked budding NT scholar!

Publish or Perish? OR Publish then Perish?

Some months ago, I had a rather interesting conversation with a faculty member teaching in a theological institution in the country. The conversation went something like this:

Lecturer A: "So what have you been busy lately?"
KY: "Proof reading my book, and at the same time, hoping to get my other book done by September."
Lecturer A: "Why are you so busy writing books?"
KY joked: "As an academician, its either publish or perish!"
Lecturer A: "You should stop writing and go and do some ministry."
KY: Speechless......

What is ministry? Isn't book writing also constitutes a form of ministry? Since when do we have such a narrow view of 'ministry'? Is this an indication of the health of our theological institutions in the nation?

Some food for thought

Moving From Youth Camps to Family Camps.....

About 6-10 years ago, I used to speak regularly at youth and young adults meetings and camps. These days, there is hardly (if any) invitation to speak at youth and young adults meetings and camps.

But on the other hard, I find invitations to speak at family camps have been increasing in recent months.

What does this suggest? It can only mean one thing - that I am fast aging.....

Review of Biblical Literature, 29 April 2009

The following new reviews have been added to the Review of Biblical Literature:

William S. Campbell, Peter S. Hawkins, and Brenda Deen Schildgen, eds.
Medieval Readings of Romans
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6528
Reviewed by Francis Dalrymple-Hamilton

Adrian Curtis
Oxford Bible Atlas
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6734
Reviewed by George Athas

Lois M. Farag
St. Cyril of Alexandria, a New Testament Exegete: His Commentary on the Gospel of John
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6274
Reviewed by Hennie Stander

Terence E. Fretheim
Abraham: Trials of Family and Faith
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6633
Reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia

Susan Haber; edited by Adele Reinhartz
"They Shall Purify Themselves": Essays on Purity in Early Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6736
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

Justin K. Hardin
Galatians and the Imperial Cult: A Critical Analysis of the First-Century Social Context of Paul's Letter
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6651
Reviewed by Mark D. Nanos

Susan R. Holman, ed.
Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6597
Reviewed by Preston M. Sprinkle

Cornelia B. Horn and Robert R. Phenix Jr., eds. and trans.
John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6705
Reviewed by Pauline Allen

Henry Ansgar Kelly
Satan: A Biography
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5590
Reviewed by James A. Metzger

Dale B. Martin
Pedagogy of the Bible: An Analysis and Proposal
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6609
Reviewed by Renate Viveen Hood

R. J. R. Plant
Good Figs, Bad Figs: Judicial Differentiation in the Book of Jeremiah
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6432
Reviewed by C.A. Strine

Regards croisés sur la Bible: Études sur le point de vue (Actes du IIIe colloque international du Réseau de recherche en narrativité biblique Paris, 8-10 juin 2006)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6101
Reviewed by Jean-François Racine

Kenneth Schenck
Cosmology and Eschatology in Hebrews: The Settings of the Sacrifice
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6593
Reviewed by Jason A. Whitlark

F. Scott Spencer
The Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6499
Reviewed by Gregory E. Sterling

Ivar Vegge
2 Corinthians-A Letter about Reconciliation: A Psychagogical, Epistolographical and Rhetorical Analysis
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6980
Reviewed by Laurence Welborn

Off to Camp

In a short while, I will be heading off to Harvest Haven, Gopeng, speaking in a family camp. I am looking forward to having a good time with members of the Faith Evangelical Free Church.