I am preparing a sermon for Southern Seminary’s chapel on Tuesday, and I have been making extensive use of R. T. France’s commentary on Matthew’s Gospel. France holds to the priority of Mark, but he nevertheless believes that Matthew’s Gospel was written before the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. Thus he is persuaded that the apostle Matthew is indeed the likely author. This commentary was published in 2007, so it is relatively up-to-date. It is an excellent exposition of the text, and I commend it to you. R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT (Eerdmans, 2007).

I have recently begun to read N. T. Wright’s new book on justification, Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision. In an earlier post, I noted that this is the book in which Wright responds to John Piper’s book on the same topic. I am not posting a full review here. I only want to make an observation about the book’s tone thus far. Last month, there was quite a bit of discussion about IVP’s release of the endorsements of the book (see also Justin Taylor’s discussion). Though endorsers touted the book as an “irenic” response to Piper, we found the endorsements to be anything but “irenic.” We withheld judgment about…

The latest issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is now available. The theme of this issue is “The Bible” and is dedicated to the late L. Russ Bush. Three of the articles are available for free download, including one by me. Here is the Table of Contents: Issue Theme: “The Bible“ “Editorial,” by Malcolm B. Yarnell III “In Memoriam,” by Mark Leeds “Luther Russell Bush III,” by Jason G. Duesing “Understanding Biblical Inerrancy,” by L. Russ Bush “The Issue is Truth,” by Paige Patterson “Is Inerrancy Sufficient? A Plea to Biblical Scholars,” by Denny R. Burk The article that I wrote is an adaptation of a paper that I…

Most of you know Justin Taylor as the author of the blog “Between Two Worlds,” which is widely regarded as the evangelical “Drudge Report.” Justin is also a preacher. Sunday before last, he delivered a powerful message to his church on the Sanctity of Human Life, and I highly recommend it. You can download the sermon here, or listen to it below. [audio:http://www.gracecommunitybible.org/listen/audio/The_Light_of_God_and_the_darkness_of_abortion.mp3]

“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us (leading to faith and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading us to repentance).” –John Stott, The Cross of Christ, p. 63

President Bush opened his speech with a prayer.