spurgeon

Resolved 2009 Highlights

Tony Reinke spurgeon

Each year I anticipate a trio of college conferences—the 20/20 Collegiate Conference (Wake Forest, NC), New Attitude/NEXT (Louisville/Baltimore), and Resolved (Palm Springs, CA). Tuesday I returned from Resolved where about 4,000 students assembled to hear from Rick Holland, Steve Lawson, John MacArthur, John Piper, and C.J. Mahaney. Here are a few highlights from the trip.

Highlight #1: Sunday night in the hotel watching Steve Lawson and John MacArthur start up new Kindles they received for speaking at the conference and listening in as C.J. provided the technical support. These three guys are more comfortable with a fountain pen than an iPod, so this communion of technological discovery was too funny! How I wish I had video! [BTW, upon starting up the Kindle, the first book automatically suggested on the screen to Dr. MacArthur was The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra. No sale.]

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Highlight #2: Hearing Rick lead an impromptu interview with Steve Lawson on church history.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Highlight #3: Hearing Rick’s introduction before C.J. spoke for the first time. His intro was moving because of its accuracy. When Rick asked how many students at the conference had never heard C.J. preach live, I would guess somewhere between 1-in-4 to 1-in-3 raised their hands. And they were in for a treat. On the final evening of the conference, C.J.’s version of his Psalm 42 message (“The Troubled Soul”) was one of the best messages I’ve heard him deliver. But back to the intro, very nicely done!

Highlight #4: To close the conference, Dr. Piper delivered a message “How Sin Serves the Glory of Christ.” It was a clear and concise presentation of the cross-centeredness of biblical history and now ranks in my top-10 favorite Piper messages. Both of his conference messages were pulled from his book, Spectacular Sins (Crossway, 2008).

Highlight #5: Message “A Biblical Strategy For Fighting Sexual Sin” by Rick Holland. Outstanding message!

Highlight #6: Morning devotions on the hotel patio overlooking the empty pool, the palm trees, and the San Jacinto Mountains.

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It was a great trip, with comfortable highs in the low-90s (last year it topped out at 117°), and plenty of time to hang out with friends (old and new). But it’s always nice to be home again.

15 Tools for Exegetical Research

Tony Reinke Exegesis, Preaching, spurgeon

I suppose most pastors reading this blog have a larger-than-average library of Christian books. But that does not mean you own every book you’d like to have, right? Raise your hand if you would like 15exegeticaltoolsto see your library doubled or tripled in size. And although I am personally blessed with a nice collection of books, I see many gaping holes in my basement library (I am weak in OT commentaries).

Despite their size, how do we best use our libraries in our exegetical research? Today I’ve attempted to assemble a number of places I go—some obvious and some perhaps less obvious—in my exegetical research.

I know there are many technically nuanced definitions of “exegesis.” However, here in this post I am very loosely defining exegetical research by the question, What have others said about my text?*

Now, some software programs will help you here. But assuming you don’t have a program on your computer, or if you are more comfortable with your printed books, or if you just want to better use the books you already own, there are a number of places to look for exegetical help.

My list of 15 useful tools for exegetical research:

1. Commentaries. What commentaries are available on my passage? I’ll begin with the most obvious. If you are a pastor you should have several biblical commentaries at hand. Technical exegetical commentaries are a great resource to better understand the original languages. Expositional and devotional commentaries will also help out. For example, on the epistle to the Ephesians I would consult Peter O’Brien (exegetical), Martyn Lloyd-Jones (expositional), and John Stott (devotional). BestCommentaries is an excellent website to find the best commentaries.

2. Grammar and syntax. What grammatical and syntactical particularities exist in my passage? I have just enough Greek to find my way around the more technical NT commentaries. But I have also discovered that Greek textbooks can provide a lot of help when studying a particular passage. Daniel Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics references thousands of NT passages, pointing to a host of grammatical anomalies that I might otherwise overlook.

3. Biblical theology. Where along the continuum of God’s unfolding plan of redemption does my passage sit? Very often in exegetical preparation I consult the scriptural indexes to the works of Geerhardus Vos, and especially his classic work Biblical Theology. Vos will help you see the development of Scripture. It’s rarely possible to understand a text of scripture without first understanding where it fits in the biblical storyline. This is the work of biblical theology.

4. Systematic theology. Does this passage play an important role in defining a particular doctrine? Consult the scriptural index in Calvin’s Institutes, Wayne Grudem, John Murray, Herman Bavinck, Concise Reformed Dogmatics, John Frame’s The Doctrine of God and The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. Every couple of months or so I watch this video by Dr Derek Thomas to be reminded that when systematic theology is done well, you can preach it. Keep one eye on systematic theology as you study scripture verse by verse, and you may be surprised at how much doctrinal ground you can cover from the pulpit.

5. Creeds. Does my passage supply the biblical support for a particular doctrine defined and defended in the classic reformed confessions? Here I will consult the scriptural index of Reformed Confessions Harmonized by Beeke and Ferguson. I am surprised at the tonnage of biblical references underpinning the reformed confessions. Identify how your text has been used in church history. This discovery may shed light on the historical importance of your text, or open up new topical avenues for further study.

6. Apologetics. Does my passage help defend the Christian faith or inform the Church’s engagement of a fallen world? In seeking to engage non-Christian thought with scripture, it is useful to know which passages are most helpful in the dialogues and discussions. When studying a passage take a look at the scriptural index in books by guys like Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen, and Scott Oliphint and check if your text has been used and how.

7. Biblical counseling. Does this passage play an important role in any of my biblical counseling resources? Consult the scriptural index in CCEF books along with an electronic search of the CD-Rom version of The Journal of Biblical Counseling 1977-2005. In my research I heavily weigh any references to my text in solid biblical counseling resources. Guys like Powlison, Paul and Tedd Tripp, and Jay Adams will hold your hand and help you understand certain texts in light of marriage, parenting, specific sin struggles, and idols of the heart.

8. Ethics. Does this passage play a role in the study of biblical ethics? Consult the index in Joachim Douma, John Frame’s Doctrine of the Christian Life, and John Murray’s Principles of Conduct. What contemporary ethical issues does this passage address? Euthanasia, abortion, stem cell research, divorce, capitol punishment, pornography, corporate greed, etc.

9. Spurgeon. What did Spurgeon say about this text? While Spurgeon is no model of careful exegesis, he is wise, applicable, cross-centered, and quotable. You can find a list of his sermons arranged by biblical text here. And you can buy the complete works of Spurgeon on CD-Rom for about $20. Apart from flowers for your wife, there is no better reason to slap down an Andrew Jackson.

10. The Puritans. Have any of the primary Puritan authors preached on this passage? Consult Robert P. Martin’s A Guide to the Puritans and the PCA website of Puritan resources. Because of their trusted exegetical integrity, and because their complete works include a detailed scriptural index, I will individually consult the Works of John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and Thomas Manton. I consult about a dozen Puritans, a list of which can be found in my Puritan Study series I developed a while back.

11. Jonathan Edwards. Where has Edwards developed my text in his theology, books, and sermons? The new Works of Edwards Online website produced by Yale make a search of scriptural references a breeze (note the “Scripture Lookup” feature). And the resource is completely free. Try it for yourself.

12. Single-topic books. Is my text referenced in a topical book or monograph in my library? Here is where flipping through the scriptural index in any number of topical books will come in handy. Flip through the index in books by J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, D.A. Carson, John Piper, John MacArthur, Jerry Bridges, John Stott, etc. I think Knowing God by J.I. Packer could be quoted in half of all the sermons you could preach. Collect 10-30 topical books you really appreciate and use them in researching a particular text.

13. Audio messages. Are audio messages available from respected preachers on my text? A wonderful, but often-untapped resource for exegetical research, are the thousands of free MP3 audio files available online. The Gospel Coalition has a wonderful collection of sermons all organized by scripture reference. As you are likely aware men like John MacArthur and John Piper have produced a wealth of sermons that are easy to locate. Occasionally you will find some gems at SermonAudio or Monergism.

14. Christian classics. What did Augustine or Chrysostom say about my text? Check out the Christian Classics Ethereal Library website. You can run a nifty little scriptural passage search of all their resources here. Always worth a look.

15. Google. For fun, throw a “hail Mary” and run a search string on your particular passage. You will not always find exegetical gems—but sometimes you will. Google search your text, say, “John 1:1-18” and see what you find. Also try the same search string in Google Books. It’s impossible to know what you will find—or if what you find will be worthy of your time to read—but it’s worth a shot.

Quality not Quantity

So why do I consult a broad chunk of my library in my exegetical research? I can tell you why I don’t. I don’t read broadly in order to jam every blog post and sermon with as much content as possible. Content saturation is not my goal. I research to ensure that I communicate the best-selected and most strategic content. I think maturity in communication is revealed by the quality of material you include in what you say, and by the large pile of “good” content that you leave behind.

Please remember that at every stage you must use careful biblical discernment. As you move into broad Google searches you are more likely to encounter unhelpful and confusing resources, or straight up error. So please read carefully and weigh the source of exegetical information. Do not assign the same authority you would attach to the Westminster Confession to a random online sermon.

What say you?

So what about you? What sources do you consult in your exegetical research? What tools, locations, and books would you suggest? Any single books you find helpful in your exegetical research? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

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* I find this concept difficult to communicate with single terms like “scriptural,” “canonical,” “expositional,” etc. “Exegetical” seems to work best because of the nuance of “study,” although it’s not the perfect word, I admit. Strict paramiters must remain between what scripture originally meant from the contemporary application of that meaning. Here in this post these two tend to merge.

Alexander Whyte: A Childhood Anecdote

Tony Reinke spurgeon

How can you not appreciate a Christian biographer who captures an unflattering event in the life of their subject and writes about the event with fitting humor and candor! From Barbour’s The Life of Alexander Whyte:

In the summer of 1921 the present writer had the privilege of a short talk in a cottage far up the Glen with a retired farmer of over ninety who had seen two sons enter the ministry of the Church of Scotland. He told that his wife had known Alec [Alexander] Whyte when both were “wee toddlers,” playing at the side of the field while their mothers worked. Later still, Alec himself was able to gain employment in herding at a farm, now demolished, on the east side of the Glen.

Beyond securing keep for the summer months, this work cannot have done much to support the family finances, for the wages of a herd laddie at that time were only about twenty or thirty shillings for the season. The boy’s thoughts were already rather with the books which he so earnestly desired to read than with the cattle which he was engaged to watch.

On one occasion, like a second and youthful King Alfred, his dreams of his future kingdom had made him forget his immediate task; and the farmer’s wife, seeing the cattle stray into the corn, ran out “raging him”—

“I dinna ken fat ye’re gaen to dae, or foo in the hale warld ye’ll ever earn an honest living.”

The delinquent appears to have met this onslaught calmly—

“What wad ye think if ae day I was to wag my pow in a poopit?”

“You, ye feckless cratur!”

But unhappily the rest of the justly angered dame’s retort was couched in Forfarshire speech so racy as to elude the present chronicler.*

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Notes:
* G. F. Barbour, The Life of Alexander Whyte (Hodder & Stoughton 1924), pp. 18-19.

3 questions to ask your spouse

Tony Reinke David Powlison, Marriage, spurgeon

This past week I was mostly in downtown Baltimore at the NEXT 2009 conference. The conference seemed to be a success. It was a great opportunity to meet up with friends, many I get to see in person only once a year (or less).

But the previous week we had the pleasure of hosting biblical counseling guru David Powlison in Gaithersburg. As you can imagine, the week was filled with rich biblical wisdom and applicable elucidations of biblical truth. I’ve set aside time over the next couple of days to return to my notes and to meditate further on what I learned. I’ll be posting some of these meditations.

One topic Powlison addressed: How to spark substantive conversation with your spouse?

Powlison suggested three categories of questions to ask your husband or wife. Each of these categories can be asked on a daily basis. And each of these categories are simple and broad, but certainly provide helpful reminders. Here are the three:

1. What are your present burdens? The Bible tells us that we are born for trouble (Job 5:7). So what is the trouble? A sin? A responsibility? An issue at work? A particular conflict? What weighs you down? What was your lowlight of this day? These burdens are the “heat of life.”

2. What are your present joys? What were your highlights from the day? These joys are the “dew of blessing.”

3. What is your calling? This could include the mundane tasks, or broader life-purpose questions. What are your duties for this day? What do you need to do? What are your goals for this day? For example, a parent could say, “Today, I don’t want to lose my temper with the kids.” It could be as simple as this.

These three categories are helpful in getting to substantive conversation with your spouse. And Dr. Powlison alluded to, this list can be useful in talking with your children as well. The answers to these three categories of questions will help us better know how to serve and care for those in our lives.

stream o consciousness

Tony Reinke spurgeon

What’s on my brain at the moment.

Anticipating: Returning to some favorite places this spring—Harper’s Ferry National Park, downtown D.C., Great Falls, etc. Beautiful weather of late has me thinking about hiking.

Writing: I wish I had Malcolm Gladwell’s hair. I could write better.

Jazzed: To see Dr. David Powlison next week.

Thankful: For a great book that cost a small fortune—Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams (2009). Best book on writing I know of. So good it’s worth getting ripped off.

Death: No, not my death, death in general. Is death natural or unnatural? The world thinks death is natural. Scripture teaches that death is not natural. Life and immortality are natural but death is a foreign thing brought into God’s creation. Death is unnatural. What exactly does this mean? That’s why I’m thinking about it, silly.

So what are you thinking about right this minute (besides lamenting that you paused your day to read this post)?

Redneck Portrait

Tony Reinke spurgeon

Once the roar from my little iPhone speaker echoes throughout the house the children descend. I don’t call for them, because there is no need to fill them in on what I’m doing or where I’m at. They know and they will find me. The first to sprint into the room is my oldest son who jumps in tight for the best view. My daughter follows on his heels to grab the second best seat in the house. My little son follows a moment later, clutching the toys he didn’t think of releasing before running. He jumps on the dog pile and usually accepts the least favorable view in the house. And there, laid out on the bed, all four of us focus on the small video screen, and watch a successive stream of YouTube clips featuring the boisterous tricks of monster trucks.

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