Selected Reading, March 7, 2020

Here are a few good posts I read this week.

Old Testament

Rightly Dividing the Red Sea
I probably would have skipped right over this post if this week’s lesson in a class I’m taking hadn’t been on the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. I’m not sure I buy everything in it, but it did help me see that the Red Sea story fits a historical pattern and also draws a picture of the deliverance that will later come through Christ. 

New Testament

Context Matters: Jesus Came to Give Abundant Life
What exactly is the abundant life Jesus came to give?

Theology 

Why Church Members Must Be Theologians
“Local churches define God’s character to the watching world and display His character in their lives together (Eph 3:10). So good theology isn’t a matter of having our i’s dotted and t’s crossed – it’s a matter of life and death. Good theology, for the church member, is how we tell the truth about God and how we dwell together in a way that honors the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Why does an omniscient God test people?
A excellent answer to a common question.

Sunday's Hymn: 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take him at his word;
Just to rest upon his promise;
Just to know, thus saith the Lord.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more.

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust his cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
‘Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ‘tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust thee,
Precious Jesus, Saviour, Friend;
And I know that thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

—Lou­i­sa M. R. Stead

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Heavenly Sunlight at The Happy Wonderer
• Satisfied with Christ at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 9, 2020 at The Thirsty Theologian

Selected Reading, February 29, 2020

The pickings are slim this week, but I do have these three pieces to recommend to you.

Interpreting Scripture

Context Matters: Leave the Dead to Bury Their Own Dead
How do we interpret this strange saying of Jesus? What does it mean?

In this post, Peter Krol demonstrates how to find clues in the context of this command to help the reader work out its meaning.

Bible Translation 

What Is a “Real” Jew (Rom 2:28-29)?
Bill Mounce: “Every once in a while I see a translation where there is no Greek in any form behind the English. I know at times this is necessary for convey meaning, but every once in a while I suspect something else is in play.”

Christian History

Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784) and her Sovereign God
Simonetta Carr: “Whatever moved the Wheatleys to buy the little slave that had just arrived from Africa, it was not her physical strength. Frightened and skinny, with two missing teeth, she looked sickly and frail.”

I linked to another biographical sketch of Phillis Wheatley a few months ago. This one has even more details of the life this faithful Christian poet.