Why would anyone read this book?

Finished earlier this afternoon...


Here lies the second-hardest book I've ever read (well, finished).

So why do I reckon it's so great? Well. Have you ever watched those docos telling you that the exodus (from Egypt) never happened, or that archaeology has disproved Israel's conquest in Canaan, or... (the list is endless) and you wished you had a place to turn to check it out further? This book is the place. It's thorough; it interacts with all sorts of recent discoveries; it takes the Bible seriously.

How much can archaeology really tell us? This book has an answer. Is the Bible so biased (theologically) that it fudges the facts? This book has an answer. Are the dates and numbers and names and places in the Bible verifiable from other sources? This book takes you through it all.

You could drown in the detail. But detail is what's needed when the world has such an anti-Bible stance, I guess. I really want the authors to do a 100-page popular version so that this stuff is accessible to the TV-informed world.

This book is for you if:

• you're teaching from the Old Testament historical literature, or
• you've got a real passion for studying history, or
• you've got big questions on the historical reliability of the Old Testament.

Lectures, Lectures, and America's Finest

Here are a few things that have taken my attention recently:

The Word of God in the Book of Jeremiah is the topic of the 2007 Annual Moore College Lectures. That might sound boring to some, and I'll admit it's an unimaginative title; but the lectures so far have been very good. Andrew Shead has been talking about stuff like: the relationship between the words of the prophet Jeremiah and the Word of God; Jeremiah's embodiment of his prophecies; and other stuff...

Oliver O'Donovan is delivering the New College Lectures this year. He's a big name in ethics, in particular. They're free, but you just have to RSVP by the end of this month. If you're going to be in Sydney in early September (4th - 6th) I'd recommend heading along.

The Gospel Coalition (involving Tim Keller, Don Carson, Mark Driscoll and others) has finally got a bunch of content on their (very swish) website. I'm yet to check much of it out, but it couldn't possibly be bad, coming from those blokes. (At this very moment I'm downloading the Don Carson on "What is the Gospel" video - warning: it's a huge file!)

PS. Am I the only one who thinks the term 'Coalition' is a little tainted at the present time?

Finished... Satisfied.

Times a-changing: Semester 2 Kicks-Off

We're now one week and one day into second semester at college. What happens in a week? A Hebrew test. That's what. (I really like Hebrew, but it is the weirdest thing this world has ever seen).

Several things have changed... Biblical Theology is finished for the year, as is Congregational Ministry. On the other hand, Philosophy (with David Höhne) and Mission Foundations (with Greg Anderson) have started.

A friend of mine had this to say about first year at Bible college: "First year is basically where you figure out how you study and learn not to stress out when other people are studying and you're not - you can't study all the time, everyone's different, there'll always be someone studying and it can't be you all the time".

Sounds simple, but that's super-helpful advice to a busy little student.

On a different note, Nick and I aren't back into swimming yet (we've only been once since returning to Sydney - it was fantastic to be back in the pool... we discovered we can still swim!!!).

Holiday. Celebrate.

Why the long hiatus in blogging? Well, surprisingly, holidays intruded! I kinda expected that would mean more time to 'keep people up-to-date'... not so.

As many of you will be aware, we spent the first three weeks of holiday in Tassie. Gosh it was great. Time with family and friends and doing very little else.

Stuff we got up to in Hobart:

• Fairly successfully avoided college work (except for some language-revision, which I'm happy with).
• Read a few books that had sifted to the top of the pile.
• Watched half of the first series of Northern Exposure - time has taken it's toll, I think.
• Went to Richmond (with Pete and Pamela, who were visiting from Sydney)
• Took a trip up the mountain.
• Kate managed 2 colds in as many weeks; Noah had conjunctivitis and an ear infection simultaneously.
  
• And, of course, spent time together and with family (those who were in the state) and friends. (But, if we didn't get a chance to hang-out with you, it's not because we don't like you - we just couldn't cram more in!)

Then back in Sydney we had a lovely family picnic out at Vaucluse. (I'll put family / cute pictures onto Noah's blog - here's one that caught the lovely-ness of the day, though.)


We had a week back in Sydney before college resumed. We did some errands (like, finally got our licences changed to NSW; got our fridge fixed), watched some Scrubs (Season 4), and went on a Church Conference with the Cathedral... that was excellent. It reminded me of how important weekends-away are for building relationships. I think it was especially helpful for Katie, in giving her more a sense of belonging at church.

On a related note, the Conference also induced serious deja vu. It was at Merroo, in the Blue Mountains: the campsite where I went to Club 5 in 2000 and 2001. I was taken back to those halcyon days with Philip Jensen preaching on Zechariah; Chris' Skyline's breakdown in Yass; and mt growing realisation of the need for people to work full-time for the cause of Jesus... Halcyon days.

"So, how are you enjoying Sydney?" - more from 'the wife'

When people find out we've moved from Tassie to Sydney, a very common question is "how are you enjoying Sydney?". I really dislike this question, as my most simple answer is "I'm not" and I'm not sure what the correct english answer is in the positive ("I'm enjoying it nicely, thankyou very much"?). Perhaps I should ask a question back to the person "how IS one to enjoy Sydney?".
I really am struggling to find things to enjoy about this crazy place, but do look forward to being able to look back on these years with some kind of fondness. There are glimmers of nice things, though. Having so many great Christian teachers at 'our fingertips' is fabulous. And Sydney does have lots of interesting shops and cafes... it's just a pity public transport stands between us and them! And when it rains, it really rains - we love looking outside at the 'river' running down our street.
After spending the first few months fighting the fact that this is our home (for the next 2.5 years), I'm now rather at peace with the idea. I can see that things are going to get better. At first I was encouraged by the idea that going through suffering (having temporarily lost many of the good things in my life) produces perseverance, character and hope (Rom 5 style). But I've also just realised that God has put us here out of his love, and he is with us as a loving Father. This is much better than being 'chucked in the deep end' by God, and is a huge comfort to me.

I'm pretty sure the trip back to Tassie for three weeks (Noah and I arrive on the 21st, Bernard on the 24th) will succeed in bringing to the forefront all my dislikes about Sydney, and that resettling back here will be hard work, but it will be great to be refreshed by all our Hobartian loved ones. And we'll be back again for Christmas!

Beer, Preaching, and a Good Book

Ok, so it's a strange collection of topics... they just happened to come together in the space of a few days.

Thanks to Luke I've enjoyed a few beers from a Sydney boutique brewery called Red Oak, recently. I think this was the pick-of-the-bunch: an organic hefeweizen. Brilliant. 4.5 stars.

Thanks to Benny (for recommending the book) I read David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas recently. (Or rather, I finished it recently, having started it on the day of Sam Gough's wedding last year!) Very Good. 4 Stars.

Thanks to Tim Keller (a preacher from New York) I've been thinking about the reasons people dismiss Christianity out-of-hand. He reckons there are 6 in his culture (e.g. suffering in the world, the track record of Christians in history, etc.); and he recommends preachers regularly (like, every week) touch on them as they relate to the gospel and the part of the Bible you're dealing with.

The lecture gets 4.5 stars. (Get the lecture from here: 'Preaching to Believers and Unbelievers')