Audio of the Psalms

As another way of imbibing the Psalms I recently purchased The Listener’s Psalms and Proverbs, narrated by Max McLean from Audible.com. McLean reading voice is well known, and he does a good job with the Psalms. The text being read is the NIV. I have long appreciated the rendering of the Psalms in the NIV- I think it is the greatest strength of the NIV.

In Bible reading, I am most accustomed to close, slow reading of small texts. Listening gives me the opportunity to take in larger sections of texts, hearing Psalm after Psalm. It takes time to acclimate to this form of reading. Of course, you can’t pay attention to all the details as you can in slow reading. However, I have noticed broader patterns and themes, and connections across the Psalms. It has been beneficial to just allow the words of the Psalms to wash over my mind on the ride into work, or home, or wherever. I am really enjoying this recording.

Bray on Wright and Justification

As I mentioned previously Dr. Gerald Bray is with us at Union for a couple of weeks as our Scholar-in-Residence. On Tuesday he spoke at our Christian Studies colloquium addressing the current debate on justification particularly the recent interaction between John Piper and N. T. Wright. Bray’s editorial on this topic in the Churchman stirred a lot of conversation previously.

The audio of this lecture is now available here. Bray was informative and entertaining as always! Perhaps the most intriguing portion of the lecture is the beginning where he discusses his personal interaction with and knowledge of Piper and Wright. Bray described the trajectory of Wright’s thought as beginning in a thoroughly Calvinistic framework (Bray referenced Wrights first book, a co-authored piece, published by Banner of Truth) to which was then mixed a more critical approach to biblical studies. Bray then described Wright’s position (apparently his work on Paul) as essentially hyper-Calvinistic.

This is an informative lecture worth listening to.

Teaching the Bible to Children

As part of our “Word Within the Word” conference a week ago, David and Sally Michael from Children Desiring God, led three breakout sessions on leading children in Bible Study. The Michaels were gracious enough to come even though their national conference was just this weekend. Their breakout sessions were packed and they did an excellent job.

Too often the importance of teaching our children well is missed by both families and churches. The Michael’s passion is to change this. These are well worth listening to for pastors, children’s teachers, parents, grand-parents, and anyone concerned with children.

Session 1- God-Centered Bible Teaching for the Glory of God
Session 2- Raising Bible-Saturated Children
Session 3- Aiming for Application and Response in Teaching Children the Bible