Category: Recommended

yep, I recommend this link, article or whatever it is

“Hebrews (Life Application Bible Studies, NLT)”

~ Bob Hayton

Tyndale House has expanded the reach of its excellent Life Application Study Bible through its line of Life Application Bible Studies. These study books offer the text from the Life Application Study Bible for a specific book of the Bible, and add a study guide and workbook. The result is a perfect Bible Study booklet for use in small group Bible studies.

I was privileged to get the Hebrews NLT Life Application Bible Studies booklet through my participation in the Tyndale Blog Network. This study booklet on Hebrews is packed full of information and provides a wonderful resource to be used in all kinds of different Bible studies or small groups. Students of every level will benefit from the text study notes and the well framed questions in the workbook.

While one could argue against including the introduction to the New Living Translation and the Life Application Study Bible in a simple Bible study booklet, I actually enjoyed reading through that material. It increased my respect for the NLT translation, and made it easier to follow the study notes as presented in the Life Application Study Bible text.

After the text is given, the 13 lessons on Hebrews follow. Don’t think the lessons line up perfectly with the chapters of Hebrew (13 lessons for 13 chapters), they don’t (which I think is a good thing). The study follows the flow of Hebrews more closely. Each study starts with a reflection section, asking questions which will draw the reader into the topic the lesson is focusing on. Then the section of the text of Hebrews to read for that lesson is noted, along with which study notes are especially helpful to read. Some questions about the reading follow, and then a “realize the principle” section states the main point of the lesson in a few sentences. Several more questions follow and then a “respond to the message” section includes questions designed to help the reader/student apply the lesson to their life. A “resolve to take action” section sums up the application to be gained from that lesson, and a few points for further study are offered.

I found the questions to be both practical and true to the text. The study is careful but it doesn’t go too in-depth. The “for further study” section allows Bible study groups who want to, to explore the deeper or more controversial areas of the text. And the study notes in the text that aren’t read could provide some help for this.

What’s also nice about the study booklet is that there are spaces provided for the answers to each question to be recorded. The text is in the booklet so everything you need is in one handy source. Not every study member is likely to have the NLT text so it is nice to have it in the booklet for one to compare with their own translation. Literal translations will make a great comparison to the NLT and allow the careful reader to observe how and where the NLT makes the meaning of various passages more explicit for modern readers.

The study on Hebrews would make for an excellent adult bible study. It’s well done and allows enough of a gap for a small group leader or teacher to add his own unique input into the study. I recommend this study booklet to everyone most heartily.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Amazon.com or direct from Tyndale House.

Good Discipleship Resources Anyone??

~ Bob Hayton ~ 24 Comments

I thought I’d use my blog here to help answer someone who contacted me with the following question:

I am looking for a discipleship resource that leans towards Calvinism. I have one by Greg Ogden called Discipleship Essentials but I am not sure where he leans as it is published by Intervarsity Press, and I found my years at InterVaristy Fellowship to be anything but leaning towards Calvinism.

I can’t think of anything right now off the top of my head. Can any of you, my readers, help with this question? I think the answer may be a help to more of my readers than just the gentleman who is inquiring.

“The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition” compiled by Barclay Newman

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Author: Barclay Newman (compiler)
Publisher: Hendrickson
Format: deluxe softcover
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 704
ISBN: 9783438051493
Stars: 5 of 5

The goal of many NT Greek students is to be able to read out of the Greek NT. This may be the only way proficiency in the language will be realized. The task of reading Greek is made much more difficult the more often one has to hunt down a lexicon to look up a definition for an unfamiliar word. Unfortunately, for most people, the lexicon is needed often enough to push them away from even attempting to read the Greek NT for themselves.

Barclay Newman’s The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition aims to make reading the Greek NT attainable by any Greek student. The New Testament is presented with footnotes for all the difficult words. Every word appearing 30 times or less in the NT will have a definition listed at the bottom of the page. All words appearing more than 30 times are defined in the back of the book in a small Greek-English dictionary. Along with the definitions at the bottom of the page, the words are parsed, and the gender of the word is noted.

It’s been several years since I’ve formally studied Greek. Yet I found this New Testament allowed me to work my way through many passages. I hope to start using it more and more and reinforce the Greek learning I have left!

The softcover version I have is quite nice. It appears quite durable, and has a smooth feel. The paper is almost as thin as you’d find in a typical Bible. It is a compact size which makes it convenient for tucking in your Bible case, or for bringing it along with your English Bible to church. The typesetting is clear, and the format of the footnotes includes the Greek word so as to make it easier to identify which footnote you are looking for. I think the size of the footnotes and the text is just right, not too large or too small.

This handy resource will benefit any who have studied or are interested in studying NT Greek. I can’t recommend this tool enough.

Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Amazon.com or direct from Hendrickson.

Eucharistophobia, the Common Cup, and Moore on Communion

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

I recently came across some posts by Dr. Russell Moore (dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) on the subject of Communion. He has contributed to Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper (a Zondervan Couterpoints book). From what I’ve seen in his post, and from the reviews at Amazon, Moore’s “Baptist” view is much more sacramental friendly then what is typical of Baptists. He prizes Communion in a way many Baptists don’t.

I’ve argued on my site for the Lord’s Supper being more than just a memorial, and also for it being more than just a thimble-sized drink with a mini-cracker. It seems Moore makes the same points.

I encourage you to take the time to check out a few posts by Dr. Moore. I’ll provide some excerpts below.

…many of our congregations come to the Table quarterly or even less often. If you ask (and I have), some of these pastors and church members will say it’s for fear of an overly ritualistic understanding of the Supper, or in order to keep the congregation from growing callous to the Supper out of repetition. But the repetition is kind of the point…..

The Lord’s Supper is proclamation, the Bible tells us: it speaks to us of the past crucifixion and the present kingdom of our Lord Christ (1 Cor. 11:26). And that’s just the point. We ignore the Supper because we don’t understand the role of gospel preaching for the believer. ~ from Why Is the Lord’s Supper So Rare?

A little bit ago, I wrote here about the scandal of the infrequency of the Lord’s Supper in so many American conservative Protestant churches. It’s a gospel issue, I believe. Our eucharistophobia atrophies gospel preaching in our churches more than I think than we realize. But imagine how you could reclaim the gospel focus of the Supper in your church….

The Lord’s Supper then should never be seen to be an afterthought, tagged on to the end of a service, perhaps after the final musical number of a visiting youth choir. This doesn’t mean the Supper needs to take a great deal of time. There’s no mandate to have a “special Lord’s Supper service,” …

The Supper should require though the same pattern as the Passover and Jesus’ institution of the Supper: explanation of God’s redemptive act followed by the enactment of it in the meal. Sinners shold be called to see in the bread and the wine their own crucifixion through the crucifixion of the Christ in whom they are hidden (Col. 3:3). It should be an opportunity to present to sinners the tangible evidence that their transgressions are forgiven. ~ from Getting the Gospel Back at the Lord’s Table

The Christian concept of the church as household necessarily entails a recovery of the Lord’s Table in our churches, especially in “low church” evangelical congregations who have, for too long, defined our vision of the Lord’s Supper too heavily on what we don’t mean.

Table fellowship is a sign of familial solidarity and of the messianic reign. This is why Jesus was so revolutionary when he announced, “Many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11 ESV), and that’s why Simon Peter was so reluctant to sit down with the uncircumcised.

So why do our evangelical Lord’s Supper services so often look like the clinical communal rinse-and-spit of fluoride at an elementary school rather than like a loving family gathered around a feast table?

Often I’ll preach in churches about the Lord’s Supper and will call on congregations to go back to using a common loaf and a common cup. I’ll challenge the churches to recover the sign of bread being torn, not daintily picked up in pre-fabricated bits. I’ll call the congregations to drink the wine, together, passing along a common cup.

I’m not offended by people disagreeing me on this. I’m just stunned by the reason they most often give for dismissing this ancient Christian practice: germs. ~ from Swine Flu and the Common Cup

Be sure to read the posts in their entirety (they aren’t very long). You can also listen to a message by Dr. Moore on Why the Lord’s Table Matters. Also feel free to see my posts on the Lord’s Supper, and also on something Moore mentions in relation to Communion: preaching the Gospel to believers.

Free AudioBook: Desiring God by John Piper

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

I recently downloaded Desiring God by John Piper as an audio book for free from ChristianAudio.com. My friend Shaun Tabatt (of Bible Geek Gone Wild) explains how to download the book for yourself.

It’s one of Piper’s books that is especially worth grappling with. I’m looking forward to listening to it on my drive to and from work each morning. Be sure to take advantage of the offer before the end of November!