Books

Book Review: Commentaries for Biblical Expositors

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rosscupWhat are the three best commentaries on the Book of Isaiah? Where can I find a devotional on Romans? How can I compare a premill and amill approach to Revelation? Whatever kind of commentary you’re looking for, Commentaries for Biblical Expositors will help you find it fast.

This book is a goldmine for students and teachers of the Word. It’s like a Consumer Reports for Commentaries — a no-holds barred review of every major evangelical commentary on the market.

After a brief introduction, Rosscup gives an overview of Commentaries on the Whole Bible (pp. 20-35). “Synthetical” is a way to group more general, survey works and “Analytical” refers to more in-depth, technical commentaries. The author then moves to Commentaries covering the entire Old Testament (pp. 36-38) and on the Penteteuch (pp. 39-40). Finally, we get into the meat of the book with a concise review of every commentary on every book of the Old Testament (pp. 41-195) and New Testament (pp. 196-351).

Here’s a sampling of the kind of content you’ll find inside. This comes from Rosscup’s review of John Stott’s commentary on the Book of Acts:

This evangelical exposition is verse by verse, and it also takes up key questions such as charismatic gifts, signs and wonders, baptism in the spirit, etc. After his introduction, Stott has four divisions … As he usually is, Stott is very articulate in capturing the message, showing the flow, and letting the text come alive. This and the works by Phillips, Kistemaker, McClain, Ryrie, Scroggie and Toussaint are lucid for lay people and also helpful many times for pastors (p. 248).

Now in its third edition (2004), this book should really be re-published every decade or so to stay up to date with newer works being released. (Maybe one of Dr. Rosscup’s protege’s could take up this task?)

Tim Challies has also been doing a great series on “Best Commentaries.” His most recent post was on the Book of Daniel. I usually consult his recommendations too. But it’s really nice to have Dr. Rosscup’s lifetime of learning and thoughtful analysis consolidated into one volume.

We’re all on a budget, and this book will ensure you’re investing your time and money on only the very best commentaries. I can’t think of a better way to spend fourteen bucks.

(I noticed the book may be out of stock right now at Amazon. You can also buy it directly from the publisher, but the price is considerably higher. )

Question: How do you decide which commentaries to buy? Click here to leave a comment.

Theology

Some Thoughts on Redemptive Hermeneutics

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I was talking recently with a friend about the centrality of Christ in Scripture, and how all the Bible finds its fulfillment in Jesus.

This is explicitly taught in passages such as Luke 24:27. As the Lord walked with two of his disciples along the road to Emmaus, it says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Read through the Bible for yourself, and you simply can’t miss this overarching theme. Christ is the greater Adam, the seed of the woman, the ark of God’s rescue, the substitutionary lamb, the scapegoat, the righteous branch of Jesse, our great high priest, our Sabbath rest, and so much more.

The one thing we have to be careful of, however, is pushing this “magic key” of redemptive hermeneutics too far, at the expense of a literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of the text.

This is the problem with many Reformed scholars such as Graham Goldsworthy, Ed Clowney, Kim Riddlebarger, Sam Storms, etc. They interpret God’s promises to ethnic Israel so redemptively that they smother a plain, literal reading of the Old Testament text. Christ and His church become the “new” or “true” Israel. Heaven becomes the true “land of promise.” Salvation and the Eternal State become the true “kingdom.”

We see this, for example, in Vern Poythress’ “Overview of the Bible” in the ESV Study Bible. He says, “The promises and blessings [of the Old Testament] point forward to Christ, who is the fulfillment of the promises and the source of final blessings.” So far so good, but later, Poythress adds, “The OT, when it pays attention to physical land and physical prosperity and physical health, anticipates the physicality of the believer’s prosperity in the new heavens and the new earth.” This all sounds very spiritual and wonderfully Christocentric, but it is a gross misinterpretation of God’s irrevocable promises to real people living in a real place in real time and history.

Yes, Jesus is at the heart of Scripture, and God expanded the benefits of his kingdom and covenants to include or “graft in” the Gentiles. But that never replaced or superseded His original promises to the chosen remnant of the Jews (see Romans 9-11). For a more technical discussion on this, check out Thomas Ice’ article “Dispensational Hermeneutics.”

I know many will disagree with my dispensational view, but I would encourage people to exercise discernment in the area of redemptive historical hermeneutics. There is so much good in it, but we have to use caution and not to press it too far.

Question: What have you found helpful about redemptive hermeneutics? Click here to leave a comment.

Photo credit: a.saliga

SBC

How Can I Get More Involved in My Denomination?

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Dr. Walter Price speaks at a panel during the 2013 CSBC Pastor’s Conference.

I strongly encourage churches to cooperate with other evangelical churches in their community and to get involved in their denomination if they belong to one. A couple weeks ago, a friend asked for more details on this subject:

“I was challenged at T4G to be more involved in SBC life and want to act on it. So I scheduled to make all my pastor luncheons for my association, go to the executive board meetings, and pray regularly. … I want to know your thoughts on how to be a helpful participant in our state and national conventions. I’m new to denominational life and don’t understand it as well as brothers like you. Please help!”

Here was my reply…

That’s great that you want to get more involved in SBC life. I believe it will give you a lot of opportunities to be an encouragement, team player, and positive influence to other pastors. I was completely new to the SBC when I became pastor of First Southern Baptist Church eight years ago. I quickly discovered that our SBC identity was important to some of the people in our church, and thus it needed to become important to me. In the process, I learned more about God’s goodness to our convention and both opportunities and threats that loom on the horizon.

What I found helpful was to learn more about the convention on my own while also taking advantage of times to meet and build relationships. Some things you may want to do…

  • Books. Read a book on the history of SBC and the reasons for cooperation. For a biography of key historic leaders, check out Theologians of the Baptist Tradition. For a theological case for cooperation, read Southern Baptist Consensus & Renewal. For the story of Southern Seminary and its wider implications in the SBC, read Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
  • Publications. Begin reading denominational publications. Many of our SBC entities publish newsletters, magazines, and blogs like the CSBC, IMB, NAMB, ERLC, Lifeway, and our SBC seminaries. Subscribe to the CSBC weekly e-newsletter. And subscribe to your associational newsletter if they have one.
  • Meetings. Ask your local Director of Missions (DOM) if you can take him out for breakfast to thank him and get to know him. Attend Associational annual meetings and events.  Go to associational breakfast fellowship (if they have them). Attend the CSBC Annual Convention. Attend the SBC Annual Meeting. I’ve attended the last five consecutive years, but will not be going this summer because it is rather cost prohibitive. I still hope to go every couple years. Consider other state conferences like On Target, Small Church Workshop, etc.
  • Social Media. Become Facebook friends with some of our state convention leaders and your fellow pastors. There are many Twitter feeds by people and organizations such as IMB, NAMB, Al Mohler, Ed Stetzer, Thom Rainer, Russell Moore. There are also many blogs and podcasts available by these organizations.
  • New Pastor Orientation. Some states offer a New Pastor Orientation. You can call your state office to learn more. I know the CSBC used to offer this for free, and it was a great way to get acquainted with those in the convention.

Denominations are a vast and complicated world. You won’t have time to do all these things, but pick a couple off the list and you will quickly find more specific ways to get more involved. 

Question: What are the benefits of denominations in the 21st century? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Leadership

Stay On Target

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Men’s Discipleship is one of the top priorities of the church. The past couple years, I’ve met once a month on Saturday afternoons with a group of guys. We called it SaLT for “Servant Leadership Training.” We had some great discussions on the Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and Biblical Eldership. But I’ve long had a desire to do more.

As I recently preached from the book of Titus, we need more of our men to aspire to leadership in their families and in our church (you can listen to the sermon here if you missed it). But it is not fair to ask them to aspire to something if we are not also providing opportunities for them to get the necessary training.

Finding the right time for discipleship is a challenge. Weekdays are pretty much out of the picture because our guys in the military are simply too busy and their schedule is unpredictable. Saturday afternoons have worked OK, but are not really convenient for anyone.  So, we’re going to switch to Saturday mornings from 8 to 9am.

Along with the time change, we’re also switching up the format. There will be 30-40 minutes of teaching on some aspect of doctrine or leadership, then 20-30 minutes of table group discussion. My goal is to dismiss after one hour so our men can be out by 9 and return to their family and ministry duties.

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To signify this change, our group has been renamed On Target. This name captures our desire to help every man in the church stay on target with God, with his family, and with the world.

Our first meeting will be this Saturday, April 26, at 8 am. If you live in the Yucca Valley area, you’re welcome to join us. We’ll probably meet 2-3 times per month. This is not intended to replace our expository study of the Book of James in Men’s Bible Study, but rather to help us dig deeper in matters of doctrine and ministry training the rest of the month.

I’m praying this new program will strengthen the men of our church, and am eager to see what the Lord will do.

Question: What do you find most difficult about discipling men and raising up leaders? Click here to leave a comment.

Photo credit: U.S. Army Europe Images

Counseling

Too Deep?

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[In 2 Timothy 3:16-17], Paul is telling Timothy that the Scriptures are able to equip him totally for each ministry he will ever have to perform. Counseling is clearly one of those good works Paul had in mind when he wrote these assuring words to Pastor Timothy.

“Yes, but aren’t some problems too deep for a pastor to handle?”

Those problems are usually too deep for a pastor not to handle: ‘For the Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the division of soul and spirit …’ (Heb. 4:12). You cannot get to a deeper part of human personality than the division of soul and spirit. ‘… and it (Scripture) is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ You cannot get to a deeper level of human motivation than the thoughts and intents (or motives) of the heart. Only a man of God equipped with Scripture is capable of discerning those deeper thoughts and motivations. All that is necessary to equip the pastor to fulfill his ministry of changing people is found in the Bible.

-Lou Priolo on “Presupposition Four: The Bible and Psychology,” The Journal of Modern Ministry 2.1, p. 65.

Thoughts on Life and Leadership