Working on TPS reports. Biblical theology helps us understand God’s story and our place in it. I am an English literature graduate who worked five years in marketing before serving as a Digital Transformation project management professional in an insurtech company. A productivity-enthusiast with a minimalist streak, welcome to my digital garden
Book Review | The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
Chet Holmes, the author, promises that by following the twelve principles he outlines in this book, any company can become the ultimate sales machine. However, the central tenet of the book is not these twelve principles. Instead, “mastery is the direct result of pigheaded discipline and determination” (Kindle loc 190). This undergirds his whole thesis: take these twelve principles, keep practising them until one sees results. The book’s content is not revolutionary....
Ruminations 3
1. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Mark Driscoll founded Mars Hill church in 1996 and it grew to become an influential megachurch which had a reputation for being doctrinally sound. I learned about his ministry when I was doing my A-Levels in 2012/2013. It was a phase in my life where I was consuming lots of Christian material from Desiring God and The Gospel Coalition. Mark wasn’t one of the pastors I listened to....
Book Notes | Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (Chapter 5)
Read my notes on Chapter Four: A Letter From Christ here. Paul’s Readings of Scripture Hays boldly says that “for Paul, original intention is not a primary hermeneutical concern. […] Eschatological meaning subsumes original sense” (p.156). Paul “reads Scripture primarily as a narrative of divine election and promise […] the Torah is neither superseded nor nullified but transformed into a witness of the gospel” (p.157). One problem with this is that hermeneutical freedom becomes a license to misinterpret....
Book Notes | Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (Chapter 4)
Read my notes on Chapter Three: Intertextual Echo in Romans here. 2 Cor. 3:1-4:6 - A Reading Hays identifies echoes of the letter-spirit dichotomy in Jer. 38:33 and Ezek. 36:26 which combines the picture of God writing on the heart with fleshly hearts replacing stony ones (p.129). For Hays, the letter-spirit opposition is between “inscription” and “enfleshment.” The point is that Paul’s ministry “centres not on texts but on the Spirit-empowered transformation of human community” (p....
Book Notes | Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (Chapter 3)
Read my notes on Chapter Two: Intertextual Echo in Romans here. Ecclesiocentric Hermeneutics Hays is adamant that rather than a christocentric interpretation of the OT, Paul primarily sees the church as “the goal of God’s redemptive action” (p.84). “What Paul finds in Scripture, above all else, is a prefiguration of the church as the people of God” (p.85). In line with this, there are two important questions to consider:...
Book Notes | Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (Chapter 2)
Read my notes on Chapter One: The Puzzle of Pauline Hermeneutics here. In this chapter, Hays focuses on two aspects of God’s righteousness: His covenant faithfulness (Rom. 1:16-17) Judgement on the wicked (Rom. 1:18-3:20) This is important because Hays identifies one of Paul’s main focus in Romans as addressing “the problem of God’s saving righteousness in relation to Israel.” (p.34) The first passage Hays examines in depth is Rom....
Book Review | Preaching and Teaching From the Old Testament by Walter Kaiser Jr.
I bought this on Kindle many years back and finally got to reading it in preparation for a workshop with my GG on reading the Old Testament. I’ve told myself that I should be less critical, so I’d give this book 3.5 out of 5. It is excellent as an introduction, but I wouldn’t recommend it for those already familiar with the subject, or for those looking for specific principles or methods....
Book Notes | Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (Chapter 1)
I recently began reading Richard B. Hays' Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. In another effort to consolidate my understanding, I’m planning to write my summaries and thoughts on each chapter. This is on Chapter One: The Puzzle of Pauline Hermeneutics. Hays traces two main critical approaches to Pauline hermeneutics. The first approach is to be dismissive of Paul’s hermeneutics, “because [this approach] see[s] his reading of Scripture as periphetal to the core of his religious experience....
Book Notes | The Associated Press Guide to News Writing
A good handbook on news writing, but with guidelines, personal tips and examples that go beyond its scope. This sentence probably sums up Rene Cappon’s philosophy: By and large, though, the most effective journalistic tone in the ’90s would seem to be the plain and unadorned. (p.58) I learned that being concise and clear is extremely important for all forms of communication. This short book is full of examples and Cappon’s wit....
Book Review | A New Testament Biblical Theology by G. K. Beale
Introduction Most evangelical biblical theologies rightly focus on narrative. In my circle, the most popular approach is Graeme Goldsworthy’s focus on the Kingdom of God, which gained a wide audience thanks to Vaughan Roberts' God’s Big Picture. Others have cropped up, including James Hamilton’s God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology, Tom Schreiner’s The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. The topic has fascinated me, and a few weeks ago, I finished G....