MLK's letter from Paul to America

Michael Gorman quotes Martin Luther King's fictitious letter from Paul to American Christians (the Stanford site has both the full text and the audio of King delivering this sermon). It is a compelling and insightful read, with penetrating words that still ring true. This little gem jumped right out at me:

I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may….

If that doesn't fly in the face of much popular American Christianity, I don't know what does. King's letter will almost certainly make you uncomfortable, but that is a good thing.

The future of publishing and the e-book

Since I have worked in academic publishing, and since I continue to do so as a freelancer, I have a lot of interest in the future of the book. As an avowed bibliophile, I have personally shuddered in horror at the thought of replacing a beautiful bound volume with a plastic tablet with e-ink (they're very cool by the way, and I may even consider getting one in the coming years). Or even worse, replacing a beautifully filled shelf (or even room) in the same way. But while e-books are certainly here to stay, and are indeed putting pressure on an already tight-margin enterprise, I hold out a lot of hope that the book's demise is not anywhere in the near future. And, a great quote I read on the IVP Addenda & Errata blog this afternoon put the current e-reader trend in great perspective. Dan Reid of IVP writes, "As IVP’s Andy Le Peau likes to say, “The e-book is the new mass-market paperback.” That, at least, is a snapshot of e-publishing in the fall of 2010." And I think it's both true and somewhat encouraging. The books I'd consider putting on an e-reader are quick-read fiction, like Dan Brown or John Grisham, books most readers buy in mass-market editions (which aren't very lucrative for publishers anyway except in large quantities). So the landscape of publishing is certainly changing, but some of the new developments may not be quite as dire as the may at first seem. Long live the book!

IVP Black Dictionaries of the NT Compendium

While browsing my local academic library, I came across a volume I didn't know existed, a relatively immense one-volume compendium of the critically acclaimed dictionary series from IVP. It's about one thousand pages, and has selected entries from the four NT dictionaries. The entries aren't shortened, they've just been selective in which ones they include (which is a huge plus, leaving the entries in tact). And here's where I almost fell off my chair. When I got home, I found it on Amazon. And it's available new for $13.32! Each one of these dictionaries retails for $37.50, and you can't find them used for much less than that. So, yes, you may get less; I already have the Paul volume and I'd love all the others. But this may be a great solution in the mean time, a way to get some really great scholarship in a readily accessible and easily affordable format!

Just arrived: Thielman's Ephesians

Frank Thielman's new commentary on Ephesians in the BECNT series just arrived on my desk, and I'm very excited about it. I've greatly appreciated his scholarship and his take on Paul. I was first introduced to him through his excellent commentary on Philippians in the NIVAC series, and subsequently have read his two books on the Law, Paul and the Law and The Law and the New Testament. I've only begun to skim this commentary, but I was immediately struck by the closing lines of the Author's Preface:

My prayer is that the commentary would quickly get out of the way after bringing the reader to the text, and that the text would, in its turn, help the reader understand the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ.

That beautifully wrought sentiment is certainly my own prayer for all of my studies of the Bible and of theology (even if it is too often unrealized), and it is encouraging to see it so well articulated at the outset of a commentary. I look forward to jumping in.

Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.

I loved this book! And I hope you read it. That's the only way I can start this review. Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, has written a powerful apologetic for that important Christian ministry, but more than that, he has challenged evangelicalism to espouse a fully orbed gospel of the kingdom.

The book is part testimony and autobiography, with Stearns recounting his own journey from new Christian to successful corporate executive to president of World Vision. And it is a great story, easy to relate to, and well told. I found it easy to relate to Stearns' journey, his excitement for the gospel but also his reluctance to step out of his comfort zone into new territories. His story is written with obvious honesty and candor, and I thin it lays important groundwork for and integrates well with the book's overall message about broadening the way we understand the gospel and our role to spread the gospel to the world.

The core vision of the book is about getting beyond a traditional view of the gospel as an "otherworldly" message of hope for the hereafter to a Jesus-centered kingdom vision about changed lives, spiritually and physically. We are called not only to preach but to also embody the gospel. "This gospel that we have been given—the whole gospel—is God's vision for a new way of living. It inaugurates the reality of God dwelling within us, His followers, no longer in a temple in Jerusalem. . . . God's kingdom was going to begin on earth through the changed lives of His followers, and its hall markes would be forgiveness, love, compassion, justice, and mercy" (276).

Stearns is well aware of the dangers of preaching a "works" righteousness, and he addresses that concern a couple of times in his writing. He is also aware that some may want to read his message as a call away from traditional evangelistic preaching to a social gospel, a charge he anticipates and subverts a number of times as well. In all, I think Stearns has done the church a great service in writing this call to follow Jesus in his kingdom ministry. For if God truly loves the world, aren't we going to do everything in our power to overcome disparity, disease, poverty, and oppression as we do everything we can to overcome spiritual blindness, poverty, and oppression. And, in fact, the two can't and shouldn't be separated. For each side of the gospel fits with the other: a preaching without works of love is only words, and a life of compassionate action is one of the best apologias for the gospel we preach. Highly recommended.

Free MP3s on Amazon

I've got to say one of my favorite Black Friday deals in past years from Amazon has been $3 in free MP3 downloads, and they're at it again. They've sent out their code by email, but in case you're not on their email list, here it is: GET3MP3S. Click on one of my two suggestions to the left, a couple of deals I picked up (you won't have to buy one of them, but they'll take you to the MP3 portion of Amazon's site). On the right hand side of the page, there is a green box with two big buttons, "Buy this MP3 . . ." and "Give this album . . ." Click on the text link below those that reads "Redeem a gift card or promotion. Then cut and past the code above into the box. It should credit your account $3, which you can then use to download anything from Amazon's site. That means three totally free .99 MP3s, or three dollars off any album. You'll only have to pay if you spend more than $3, but the first $3 is totally free and without obligation. So pick up a few of your favorite songs.

Great Deal on Amazon on Fee's Philippians

I stumbled on this spectacular deal on Amazon while I was browsing the NICNT list, and just had to pass it along. They are currently listing Gordon Fee's wonderful Philippians commentary in the NICNT at 50% off, selling for $22.18. I greatly appreciated his work in this commentary, with both helpful scholarship and warm pastoral insight. Plus his extensive discussion of Philippians 2:6-11 is well done. So pop over and get this one if you don't have it already.

Government in Isaiah

On this US election day, a few words from John Oswalt's (excellent) commentary on Isaiah 1-39 in the NICOT series, which I am working my way through in conjunction with a Bible Study Fellowship study on Isaiah this year.

"That pride and arrogance which exalts humanity issues in an adulation of the 'great' men of society. But that very adulation renders them less and less able to lead their people. For just leadership can only come from persons who know their own weaknesses and corruptibility. Furthermore, when such a person knows that he or she is ultimately responsible to God, the task is approached with awe and dedication. But the person who believes, consciously or otherwise, that humanity is ultimate can all too easily accept the glowing things that people say about him or her . . . and the only goal is to keep them saying those things. 'Government' disappears as the leaders pander more and more to the ever-changing whims of a fickle people." (253; on Isaiah 9:12-16)