Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Announcing Emma Elyse Naselli

by

God has graciously given us our third daughter: Emma Elyse Naselli was born this morning!

(click image to enlarge)

About Her Name

Emma is from emunah (אֱמוּנָה), the Hebrew word for faithfulness.

Elyse is from eleos (ἔλεος), the Greek word for mercy. The Greek translation of the Old Testament typically uses this word (213 of 248 occurrences) to translate the Hebrew word chesed (חֶסֶד), which refers to loving loyalty or loyal love based on a committed relationship that results in kind deeds.

For the LORD is good and his love [KJV: “mercy”; Heb. chesed; Gk. eleos] endures forever;
his faithfulness [Heb. emunah] continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5)

The cadence of Emma Elyse fits with our other girls: a four-syllable name with the emphasis on one and four:

  1. Kara Marie
  2. Gloria Grace
  3. Emma Elyse

The Back-story

Emma Elyse’s name will constantly remind us of God’s mercy and faithfulness. Here’s part of the back-story, lightly edited from a blog post that Jenni wrote on February 1:

[Read more…] about Announcing Emma Elyse Naselli

Free New Book Edited by Kevin Bauder

by

This book is available for free in PDF and Kindle formats:

Kevin T. Bauder, ed. Heart, Soul, Might: Meditations on Knowing and Loving God. Minneapolis: Central Seminary Press, 2012.

“It is a collection of poems, prayers, and essays in devotional theology or, if you prefer, theological devotion” (p. iii).

The authors are the faculty of Central Seminary in Minneapolis. More info here.

There are 38 articles: [Read more…] about Free New Book Edited by Kevin Bauder

Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

by

The front matter of Robert H. Gundry’s A Survey of the New Testament (4th ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003) lists Todd Bolen’s Pictorial Library of Bible Lands in his “permissions and credits.”

I looked into it, and I recently obtained a complete set of the newest edition of Todd Bolen’s Pictorial Library of Bible Lands (18 vols.). It released in May 2012, and it’s selling now for $389. [Read more…] about Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

My Favorite Four Bible Atlases

by

I have 17 Bible atlases in my library, and I’ve used several others. I’m very much an amateur at this (I still haven’t visited the Middle East!), but for what it’s worth, these are my favorite four Bible atlases:

  1. Beitzel, Barry J. The New Moody Atlas of the Bible. Chicago: Moody, 2009. See my book note (Themelios 34 [2009]: 367) and a later Themelios review.
  2. Rasmussen, Carl. Zondervan Atlas of the Bible. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. Themelios review.
  3. Currid, John D., and David P. Barrett. Crossway ESV Bible Atlas. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.  This expands on the maps and related notes in the ESV Study Bible.
  4. Brisco, Thomas. Holman Bible Atlas: A Complete Guide to the Expansive Geography of Biblical History. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1998. This was my text for an undergraduate course on Bible geography. Good graphics.

Related:

  1. Todd Bolen’s Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
  2. The Gospels: Photo Companion to the Bible

Voting as a Christian

by

These two books are shortened versions of Wayne Grudem’s larger book Politics :

Cf. my coauthored review of Grudem’s book Politics.

Some Kevin DeYoung MP3s

by

I’ve recently listened to several MP3s by Kevin DeYoung, and they’ve all been outstanding:

Two lectures on preaching at Westminster Theological Seminary (November 2011)

  1. How Can a Biblical Sermon Be So Boring? Part 1: The Case for Clarity, Specificity, and Authenticity
  2. How Can a Biblical Sermon Be So Boring? Part 2: The Case for Ingenuity, Spontaneity, and Authority

Two sermons and an interview from the NEXT conference (May 2012)

  1. The Church and Friendship
  2. The Church and Holiness [focus on the conscience]
  3. A Conversation Between Friends | interviewed by C. J. Mahaney

A sermon and a panel discussion at T4G (April 2012)

  1. Spirit-Powered, Gospel-Driven, Faith-Fueled Effort [video]
  2. Contextualization: Lost in Translation? [video] | panel

A sermon series on 2 Peter (March–November 2010)

Covenant Eyes

by

This is a guest post by Joe Tyrpak, one of my accountability partners.

I use Covenant Eyes on my desktop and laptop computers, and I agree with Joe that it is outstanding accountability software.

* * * * * * *

Fighting Lust, Inviting Accountability, Using Covenant Eyes

Fighting lust is an all-out war. Even though it’s not the only front on which the battle is fought, one crucial strategy for fighting lust is accountability. And even though the Internet is not the only place where a guy struggles with temptation, Internet accountability is one of the most crucial aspects of accountability today. [Read more…] about Covenant Eyes