Potpourri

I keep a notes file on items to write about on this blog. Lately, the file has grown large and yet I have limited time to write because I am engaged in some in-depth scriptural studies. So, it seems that the best way to handle the burgeoning file is to comment briefly on many of the items in one potpourri blog entry.

Here's what I've been jotting down:

• I already own two interlinear Bibles, but if I was buying one today it would be the one just produced by Bill Mounce and his dad, Robert. The Zondervan Greek and English Interlinear New Testament (NASB/NIV) can be sampled here (be sure to scroll down as most of the first page is blank).
• The announcement of Dr. Mark Rutland as the new president of Oral Roberts University is sitting well with alumni. They are giving in record numbers, according to this article in the Tulsa World newspaper. My blogging about the Rutland appointment can be read here and here.
• If I knew someone who was about to invest in a commentary series and a) he didn't have Greek and, b) he was actually interested in my input, I would suggest, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Revised Edition (Zondervan). The Old Testament editor for the series, Tremper Longman III, talks about the new 13-volume work on this video. (Incidentally, Robert Mounce, mentioned above, wrote the commentary on the Gospel of John for the EBC. Also, Robert's fresh translation of the Fourth Gospel can be accessed here.)
• You may be interested to compare Mounce's rendering of John with that of Bishop N. T. Wright. Wright's translation of John can be found in his book, John for Everyone (Westminster John Knox Press), written under the name, Tom Wright.
• Now, back to my commentary-seeking friend. What if he rejected (shudder) my advice on purchasing the revised EBC? Welllll ... he wouldn't be my friend anymore. No, seriously, I would then point him to (in this order): the NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan) which covers the entire Bible, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (InterVarsity Press) which I blogged about previously, the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series (Tyndale House) which uses the New Living Translation, the New International Bible Commentary (Hendrickson Publishers), and finally, the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series and the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series (InterVarsity Press). I have used all these series with profit and do not hesitate to recommend them.
• How many people read this blog everyday? Well, through the first fourteen days of March the average was 11 per day. The daily hits have gone this way in March (11, 12, 18, 18, 12, 7, 9, 10, 10 14, 11, 11, 9, and 16). Besides the United States and Canada, March visitors have come from Poland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Solvakia, the Philippines, Dubai, and Mexico. Thank you all for visiting!
• If I was heading off to get a master's degree in biblical exegesis this fall, where would I go? I am pretty sure I would head to the Wheaton College Graduate School. Why? Six reasons: Greg Beale, Daniel Block, Andrew Hill, Karen Jobes, Douglas Moo, and John Walton are all professors on the biblical exegesis faculty.
• If you are in the market for Bible reference work software you should definitely consider The Essential IVP Reference Collection Version 3 (InterVarsity Press). At only $129.95, this is one handsome deal, indeed. Listen to J. I Packer's praise, "I cannot imagine that there is another CD-ROM in the world offering as much accredited help to the serious Bible student as you find in The Essential IVP Reference Collection. Up-to-the-minute academically, lucid, lively and sometimes provocative, it is a truly magnificent resource. And think of the money it saves-- shelf space too!" I agree.
• There are many things Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says that I cannot agree with, but I do concur with the advice he gives to pastors on this video. Oh, that every pastor would hear this advice ... and heed it.

Well, I didn't exhaust my notes file, but I did get a lot off my chest :-)