Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Jim Hamilton on Revelation

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If you’re preaching through Revelation, you’ll want to include this book on your shortlist of helps:

James M. Hamilton Jr. Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches. Preaching the Word. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012. 457 pp. (20-page sample PDF)

Jim embraces historic premillennialism.

His sermons in print follow this basic structure (pp. 15–16, formatting added):

In the introduction I seek to do five things:

  • (1) Grab attention.
  • (2) Raise awareness of a real need that people have, a need that is addressed by the teaching of the text. The goal is to make people feel that they need to listen closely. Ideally, the need we have will be connected somehow to the opening attention-grabber.
  • (3) State the main point of the text. [Read more…] about Jim Hamilton on Revelation

The Torn Veil

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This is the most thorough resource I’m aware of that explains why the temple’s curtain tore in two when Jesus died:

Daniel M. Gurtner. The Torn Veil: Matthew’s Exposition of the Death of Jesus. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 139. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

It focuses on Matt 27:51a but takes into account the other Synoptic references and the explanations in Hebrews.

Dan Gurtner teaches New Testament at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and serves as an elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church (where John Piper is pastor for preaching and vision). He earned his PhD at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland under Richard Bauckham, and this book is the published version of his dissertation on the tearing of the temple’s curtain in Matthew 27:51a. [Read more…] about The Torn Veil

Sex Ethics in 1 Thess 4:3–8

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Bob Yarbrough has authored two articles on what 1 Thess 4:3–8 teaches about sex:

1. Robert W. Yarbrough, “Excellence in Christian Living: Sex Ethics à la First Thessalonians 4:3–8,” Reformation and Revival 5:4 (1996): 67–76.

Outline

  1. A Modern Ancient Problem
  2. Paul’s Commitment to True Excellence
  3. God’s Will: Sex Ethics at Center Stage
  4. The Gravity of Sexual Misconduct
  5. Paul’s (God’s) Call to Excellence Today [Read more…] about Sex Ethics in 1 Thess 4:3–8

Thank God for Gifted Professors and Students

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There’s almost always at least one person who is more gifted than you are at something.

  • It may tempt you to be sinfully discontent with your gifts and jealous of others.
  • It may fuel godly ambition.
  • It may fuel humility and thankfulness.

Would you believe that this happens in seminary—where people are taking classes about the Bible and theology?

It does. [Read more…] about Thank God for Gifted Professors and Students

Emotional Intelligence

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Jenni and I are listening to the seven Harry Potter books again, and it’s even better the second time.

While listening to book 5, this dialogue—in which Hermione is explaining to Harry and Ron how Cho Chang is feeling—made us laugh again:

“Well, obviously,

  • she’s feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying.
  • Then I expect she’s feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can’t work out who she likes best.
  • Then she’ll be feeling guilty, thinking it’s an insult to Cedric’s memory to be kissing Harry at all [Of course, I think that such recreational, self-gratifying, romantic involvement between immature teens is foolish, but that’s not the point of this post!],
  • and she’ll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry.
  • And she probably can’t work out what her feelings toward Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that’s all very mixed up and painful.
  • Oh, and she’s afraid she’s going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she’s been flying so badly.”

A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech, then Ron said, “One person can’t feel all that at once, they’d explode.”

“Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have,” said Hermione nastily, picking up her quill again. (ch. 21, formatting added)

Listening to this coincided with another book Jenni and I were both listening to:

Daniel Goleman. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. 10th Anniversary ed. New York: Bantam, 2005.

I really needed to read Emotional Intelligence because I don’t have very much of it. My wife’s EQ, on the other hand, is off-the-charts genius-level, yet she read the book twice because she enjoyed it so much. She says that it has helped her understand everyone around her so much better.

Her skills sure come in handy when we’re together with other people because afterwards I can ask her what really happened. I tend to hear words; she tends to read people. (Yes, I’m jealous.)

Douglas Wilson on Parenting

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Here are three short books by Douglas Wilson on the family:

  1. Standing on the Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing. Moscow, ID: Canon, 1997. 170 pp.
  2. Federal Husband. Moscow, ID: Canon, 1999. 110 pp.
  3. Future Men: Raising Boys to Fight Giants. 2nd ed. Moscow, ID: Canon, 2012. 199 pp.

   

I’ve appreciated much of Doug Wilson’s other works—including a pithy one on writing—but I have not read his controversial writings on federal vision or slavery. I’ve subscribed to his “Blog & Mablog” for years.

My wife carefully read Wilson’s The Case for Classical Christian Education (Wheaton: Crossway, 2003).

Reading Wilson may evoke one of three responses: [Read more…] about Douglas Wilson on Parenting

Dramatized Bible Stories for Kids

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Several months ago I learned about audio resources for children from “Your Story Hour.”

I can’t speak for their other products yet, but we’ve enjoyed listening to “The Bible Comes Alive Series,” 120 dramatized Bible stories for kids (2.1 days worth of audio):

About the stories: [Read more…] about Dramatized Bible Stories for Kids