Biblical Studies Carnival 29 by Jim West

Dr Jim West has posted the Biblical Studies Carnival 29 at his website. Be sure to check it out for some of the latest happenings in the blogging world of biblical studies in April 2008.

My posting on the Romans Symposium with Robert Jewett made it to the list under "Conferences."

Thanks, Jim, for the great work done.

Is Seminary All about This ?

Does the above aptly describe what happens in a theological seminary?

Bibleworks Classroom Tip #16

The folks at Bibleworks has just released another Classroom Tip:

Tip 1.16 Using the Graphical Search Engine: Part 2

The Graphical Search Engine is a powerful, though sometimes overlooked, search tool. This Classroom Tip builds upon Tip 1.12 and explores more of the useful search features you can use to enhance your classroom teaching and preparation. In this Classroom Tip we will use the Graphical Search Engine to find different ways that an adjective can relate to a noun when an article is present in the relationship.

The following searches only find the most common classroom definitions of the adjective positions based upon word order. Because there are exceptions to the constructions, not every hit is valid, and not every valid hit will be found by these searches. But these search hits will be a good start for showing samples to your students, and these searches will show some of the searches possible using the Graphical Search Engine (GSE). Included under each search is a link to a GSE search query file that you can use in the GSE for your own searches....

Click here to read the entire tip.

Last Minute Sunday Sermon

I have just received a phone call from the church office today, informing me that due to family emergency, my Senior Pastor will not be able to preach this Sunday. So yours truly would have to take the pulpit.

Oh dear....What to preach....?? Looks like 2 Tim 4:2, "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season..." is not a reality in my life at the moment....

Let's pray that the sermon this Sunday will be relevant for the church - else it would be like the following cartoon!

Review of Biblical Literature April 30, 2008

The following new reviews have been added to the Review of Biblical Literature:
Martin Beck and Ulrike Schorn, eds.
Auf dem Weg zur Endgestalt von Genesis bis II Regum: Festschrift Hans-Christoph Schmitt zum 65. Geburtstag
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5946
Reviewed by Klaas Spronk

Beate Ego and Helmut Merkel, eds.
Religiöses Lernen in der biblischen, frühjüdischen und früjchristlichen Überlieferung
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6030
Reviewed by Wilhelm Pratscher

Eldon Jay Epp
Junia: The First Woman Apostle
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=4958
Reviewed by Nancy Calvert-Koyzis

Alice Hunt
Missing Priests: The Zadokites in Tradition and History
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5958
Reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Lenka Karfíková, Scott Douglass, and Johannes Zachhuber, eds.
Gregory of Nyssa: Contra Eunomium II: An English Version with Supporting Studies, Proceedings of the 10th International Colloqium on Gregory of Nyssa (Olomouc, September 15-18, 2004)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5876
Reviewed by Mark Weedman

Ivan Shing Chung Kwong
The Word Order of the Gospel of Luke: Its Foregrounded Messages
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5903
Reviewed by Steven Runge

Adriane B. Leveen
Memory and Tradition in the Book of Numbers
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6153
Reviewed by Thomas B. Dozeman

Morwenna Ludlow
Gregory of Nyssa, Ancient and (Post)modern
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6173
Reviewed by Ilaria Ramelli
Reviewed by Kevin D. Hill

Philip L. Mayo"Those Who Call Themselves Jews": The Church and Judaism in the Apocalypse of John
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5405
Reviewed by Jack T. Sanders

W. David Nelson, ed. and trans.
Mekhilta De-Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5861
Reviewed by Steven D. Sacks

Christoph Nihan
From Priestly Torah to Pentateuch: A Study in the Composition of the Book of Leviticus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6341
Reviewed by Eckart Otto

Armand Puig i Tàrrech, ed.
Imatge de Déu (Catalan)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5771
Reviewed by Philippe Guillaume

William M. Schniedewind and Joel H. Hunt
A Primer on Ugaritic Language, Culture, and Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5978
Reviewed by Robert D. Holmstedt

John Howard Schütz
Paul and the Anatomy of Apostolic Authority
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6082
Reviewed by Graydon F. Snyder

Tommy Wasserman
The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5824
Reviewed by Stephen D. Patton

Fundraising for STM Scholarships: PJ Youth Chamber Orchestra

If you long for an evening of good music, why not plan to visit STM and enjoy A Musical Splendour with the PJ Youth Chamber Orchestra. This year, the PJYCO is doing the concert as part of our fundraising project for STM scholarships for needy students. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Tickets available at RM30.

Date of performance: June 22, 2008

Time: 7.00pm

Venue: Multi Purpose Hall, STM

For further information, please click here.

The Devil's Beatitudes

It's coming to the end of the semester at the seminary. Stress level is high. Deadlines are looming near. Exams are coming soon. Thesis writing students are wondering why they never start working on their thesis earlier. So perhaps it is a good time to take a short break, and enjoy some humour, one that I received from my colleague.

The Devil's Beatitudes

If the devil were to write his Beatitudes, they would probably go something like this:

Blessed are those Christians who are TOO TIRED, TOO BUSY, too distracted to spend time with their fellow Christians in Church -
for they are my best workers and candidates to backslide.

Blessed are those Christians who WAIT TO BE ASKED and EXPECT TO BE THANKED -
for I can use them to slow things down.

Blessed are those Christians who are TOUCHY; with a bit of luck they may STOP GOING TO CHURCH and get others to quit -
they are my missionaries.

Blessed are those Christians who are VERY RELIGIOUS but GET ON EVERYONE'S nerves -
they are my most effective stumbling blocks.

Blessed are those Christians who are TROUBLEMAKERS -
they are my best wrecking crew.

Blessed are the COMPLAINERS -
they are my best discouragers. I'm all ears to them.

Blessed are those Christians who have NO TIME TO PRAY -
they are easy prey for me.

Blessed are they who are bored with the minister's mannerisms and mistakes -
for they get nothing out of his sermons.

Blessed is the church member who expects to be invited to his own church -
for he is a part of the problem instead of the solution.

Blessed are they who gossip -
for they shall cause strife and divisions that pleases me.

Blessed are they who are easily offended -
for they will soon get angry and quit.

Blessed are they who do not give their offering to carry on God's work -
for they are my helpers.

Blessed is he who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister -
for he shall be with me forever.

Blessed are YOU when you read this and THINK IT IS ABOUT OTHER people and not yourself -
I've got you!

Revival in Penang - What Would St Paul Say?

Penang, the Pearl of the Orient, has been in the news in recent years. There have been "prophecies" that revival would come to Penang before spreading to the rest of Malaysia.

This morning, I received an email from someone providing links to Youtube showing glimpses of revival in Penang - people are being healed of their infirmities, set free from bondage, and filled with the Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues.

Check out the following videos: People were being slained in the Spirit; shook uncontrollably ; jumped up and down; spoke in tongues; danced in circles; and were made to roll on the floor. This obviously happened in a Chinese speaking church, and I am not sure which church this is (perhaps Steven Sim could provide a lead?)

There are also incidents where people were asked to place their hands on the side of the pulpit to be prayed for. There was a young man running in circles in the church hall. There was also this case of a gentleman who laid on the floor, and he was made to roll from one end of the hall to the other, and then was made to roll back again. Is this evidence of him being set free?

Is this true revival? I have often been asked whether revival only takes a particular form of charismatic expression, and this is one question I have great difficulty in answering. I wonder if St Paul were to visit this particular church, what would he say?

Back from Banting: Part 2

As mentioned in my earlier post, I was in Banting last weekend, teaching in the Banting Chinese Methodist Church. I thought that it would also be good for me to test out my new mobile phone by taking some shots (I lost my mobile phone last year while preaching in a church - I left my phone on the pew while I was preaching, and it was gone after the sermon! And it took me more than 6 months to get my new phone.)

I was very encouraged by the ministry of Banting Chinese Methodist Church. It has a very strong children ministry, with an average attendance of more than 200 children every week. Considering that the church has an average adult congregation of 130, the strength of the children ministry is very impressive indeed. The church reaches out to the neighbourhood by carrying out Sunday schools in 3 different locations in the neighbouring villages. This has become an important outreach where a large number of the children come from families who are not believers.

One of the classes from the Sunday School having a good time

Another area that strikes me is the balanced number of different age groups in the congregation. This church has a fairly good number of youths and young adults in addition to those in the 30s, 40s, and 50s and above. In Malaysia, as a result of the large migration to large urban centres, it is difficult to see vibrant youth and young adult ministries in some of the secondary towns in the various states in Malaysia. But not in Banting. With a strong children ministry, and the balanced number of different age groups in the congregation, I am very confident of the tremendous potential of the church, and I pray for the continuous growth and ministry of this church in the locality. May you be a shining beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After from church ministry, the Pastor-in-charge took me around Banting. It was a great afternoon to go away and to visit some of the highlights of Banting. I took some shots of the newly opened Impiana Resort at Morib Beach. I think I am very impressed with both the resort and my new mobile camera....

A very tiring, but fulfilling weekend indeed.

Back From Banting: Part 1

In my last post, I mentioned about my struggles in preparing for my sermon that I was to preach at the Banting Chinese Methodist Church yesterday. Perhaps it is a good thing that I did not manage to read Steven's comments on the Rites for Speakers without a Sermon in my previous post before I left for Banting, else I might just do what he suggested.

Thanks to all who encouraged and prayed for me.

I had a good time over the weekend in Banting. I was invited to do a series of teaching in the Chinese Methodist Church, a bilingual church in the heart of the town of Banting. The topic that was given for me was Biblical Sacrifices and Offerings.

I must confess I was a bit apprehensive at the beginning, as I would be dealing with an area that is beyond my specialisation - Old Testament. (This makes me wonder whether specialisation in theological education is a good thing after all...anyway, this is another topic for a another post for another time....)

But as I reflected on this topic, this is not really an OT topic. It is as much an NT topic as well. In order for one to adequately deal with such a topic, it requires sufficient knowledge spanning both the testaments (hmmm...perhaps like what Tony Siew said, one would need to have a good grasp of OT first before embarking on NT Studies....).

As such, I decided to structure my 3 teaching sessions over the weekend based on the theme of "Jesus: The Lamb of God."

I began my first session on Saturday evening (April 26) by considering the declaration of John the Baptist: Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:26). Then I moved on to consider Jesus, the Lamb who redeems us from slavery (1 Peter 1:18-19). In this session, I demonstrated that the idea of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away sins and as the Lamb who redeems us is rooted in the OT sacrificial system, and how Jesus is the final fulfillment of the OT sacrifices for sins. The emphasis in the first session is what Jesus has done for us as individuals.

In the Sunday (April 27) sermon, I spoke from Romans 12:1-2 on the topic: "Can a Sacrifice be Living?" giving emphasis that our appropriate response to God's bountiful mercies for us is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord. I paid special attention to the notion of living sacrifices, and not, dying sacrifices. The emphasis in the sermon is how we should respond as individuals to the mercies of God.

Then on the final session on Sunday evening, I turned our attention to Jesus, the Passover Lamb that has been sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). I made some parallels how the early church perceived Jesus to be the Passover Lamb with reference to the first Passover celebrated by the Israelites in Exodus 12, and how the institution of the Lord's Supper has taken a new meaning for us today by considering some of the background and problems in the Corinthians church (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). The emphasis in this final session is how, as a church, the body of Christ, we are to respond to God's mercies.

Despite my struggles in preparing for the sermon and the sessions, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed spending my time with the church. I hope that they too, would have found the sessions beneficial for their spiritual growth.

Lord, have mercy....