Currently, I am on an accelerated Bible reading plan, which I hope will keep me on pace to read the Bible 4 times per year. It has been very helpful, in that I am able to gain serious traction into the text and maintain biblical categories in my head much better than a once-per-year pattern.
Another beautiful benefit of this, is that I can do a couple synchronicity studies, working my way through the entirety of the canon at once. Currently, I have been reading, mostly to hear from the Lord, and gain a fuller picture. Starting roughly in January, I will start through the text once again and intend to trace the following categories:
- The Temple and the Church's Mission (Using Beale's book of the same title as guidance) http://www.amazon.com/Temple-Churchs-Mission-Biblical-Theology/dp/0830826181
- Shepherd's After God's Heart (Laniak) http://www.amazon.com/Shepherds-After-Own-Heart-Traditions/dp/0830826211/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321974065&sr=1-1
- Poverty - I haven't decided on a biblical theology text for guidance on this one, but will try to choose this month.
Clearly, throughout scripture there are so many aspects to God's plan and will, but he has revealed certain elements tied to his anger, wrath, and condemnation. One of the markers for destruction that the Lord looks for is the abandonment of the widows and orphans, and the vicious oppression of the poor. I would like to better understand how this plays out throughout scripture, and how much bearing that it has on us as we seek activities with which to fill our lives as it pertains to the proclamation of the gospel.
Should be very interesting. Perhaps I will elaborate on the other two topics, Temple and Shepherd, later.
-John
YAY! Unless you overlooked it, Blomberg has a volume in the NSBT series on poverty (Neither Poverty Nor Riches), which I'm told is stellar, though I haven't read it. In other unsolicited book recommendations: you could also check out Keller's Generous Justice, and DeYoung and Gilbert's lately-much-discussed work What is the Mission of the Church unpacks the relevant biblical texts on the issues you mentioned apparently quite well. Also, a (much) briefer work tracing the temple theme throughout Scripture is quite commendable: From Eden to the New Jerusalem by T.D. Alexander (Beale takes 500+ pages while Alexander weighs in at a little over 100 pages, draws basically the same conclusions, and is beautifully written; nevertheless, you should still benefit greatly from wading through Beale's verbosity and thorough documentation). Cheers to you!
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