Over the past few weeks, I have been asked on several occasions to recommend a commentary on a book of the Bible. My typical response is to encourage people to consult Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary’s “Basic Library Booklist.” This booklist is generally updated every three years and, according to DBTS’s website,

has been prepared to assist students at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary in selecting books for their future ministries. It has been specifically designed to answer the question of which books are the best on a particular book of the Bible or theological subject. In the case of commentaries, best means those that are the most helpful in exegesis and exposition, as well as understanding the overall argument of a book. Commentaries of a sermonic and/or devotional nature, though helpful and oftentimes essential for sermon preparation, are not generally represented in this list. The books are listed in order of importance. The first book listed, if available, is the one the student should purchase first. However, it should not be assumed that one commentary will suffice for the task of teaching or preaching through a book. This is almost never the case.

Though DBTS’s booklist is primarily designed to serve our immediate constituency, I have received requests from others who have heard about the list from one of our students or alumni. If you desire to check out the list or download it, go to DBTS’s “Basic Library Booklist.”

The fall semester at Detroit Baptist Seminary began on August 28. At this point, we have been in class for three weeks. Here are a few pictures of the people in my class.

The first picture is from my first year Pentateuch class. Do you see anyone you know?

The following two pictures are taken of my Elementary Hebrew class as the students take one of the many quizzes that I have promised to give them. This is a diligent-looking group. In the second picture, can you identify the football mug in the picture?

As far as Old Testament studies go at DBTS, the “iron men” award goes to the men taking Rapid Hebrew Reading. This is the most intense class that I teach. For those in the ThM program, a student is required to memorize all the words in the Hebrew Bible occurring ten or more times (approximately 2,150 lexemes) and to translate approximately 850 verses. In the picture below, I caught the men in a good mood right after a rigorous day in class. How do you like the computers that two of the men have?

If your summer has been like mine, I have experienced a gratifying and full summer. Nevertheless, life presses on. With the beginning of the fall semester on August 25, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary will begin its thirty-third year of operation. With the inception of this fall semester, I will begin my twenty-sixth year of teaching at DBTS. From my perspective, one of the great blessings of teaching at DBTS is that our faculty has been very stable. I look forward to the challenges that this academic year will bring.

If you are scheduled to take one of my fall semester classes at DBTS or are interested in seeing what the course requirements are for a seminary class, the course requirements for my class are now available. If you are taking Pentateuch, click here; Elementary Hebrew, here; or Rapid Hebrew Reading, click here for the ThM program and here for the MDiv.

This past Wednesday, March 19, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary had its 2008 William R. Rice Lecture Series. This year we were privileged to have Dr. Andrew David Naselli lecture on “Keswick Theology.” Andy is currently pursuing his second PhD at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Theological Studies with an emphasis in New Testament Exegesis and Theology. This year’s lecture at DBTS is an outgrowth of his 2006 PhD dissertation from Bob Jones University’s seminary: “Keswick Theology: A Historical and Theological Survey and Analysis of the Doctrine of Sanctification in the Early Keswick Movement, 1875–1920″ (see the 2006 entry on his website’s publication page).The thesis of Andy’s lecture is that Keswick theology’s view of sanctification is theologically erroneous (a thesis that DBTS has been supporting for some time). His lecture has three sections. Part 1 involves a historical and theological survey of the early Keswick Movement from 1875 to 1920 His second and third sessions present a theological analysis of Keswick Theology. His historical research and theological analysis reflect the type of biblical scholarship that serves as a good example to those in attendance at this year’s lecture. To obtain his material, place your cursor on handout and power point presentation. To listen to the three sessions of his lecture, click here, here and here. In addition to the material from Andy’s DBTS lecture, I would also recommend that you regularly consult his excellent blog.

We began our Spring Semester on January 21 at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. Before the semester advances too far, I wanted to post a few pictures from my classes. At this point in the semester, the students generally look wide awake, though this will quickly change.

The first group picture is of my Old Testament Poetic Books’ class. As the group was preparing to take a short recess, I took a picture of them in the back of our classroom. At this point, they may be thinking what have I gotten myself into.

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Yesterday, this year’s Mid-America Conference on Preaching (”Learning from the Past, Pressing toward the Future“) was brought to a great conclusion with a good banquet followed by Dr. Doug McLachlan’s great message on 1 Timothy 3:15. Over 230 attended this year’s MACP. This year’s speakers included Drs. Doug McLachlan, Mark Minnick, Sam Horn, Dave Saxon, David Doran, along with the faculty of DBTS.

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The Mid-America Conference on Preaching is planned by Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and held at Inter-City Baptist Church. The MACP has been held annually since 1991. The title of this year’s conference is “Learning from the Past, Pressing toward the Future” and will run from tomorrow, October 18, through Friday, October 19. For more information go to www.dbts.edu

Registration begins tomorrow morning between 8:00-8:45 am To register, you should go to Room 1 at Inter-City Baptist Church. Fill out the necessary registration material and also pick up your conference materials. A light breakfast will also be available from 8-8:45 a.m. before the first General Session begins at 9 a.m. in the church auditorium. All of the pertinent information about the details for the conference will be part of the conference materials.

You should also note that the appropriate attire for men is business casual and for the ladies a casual skirt or dress.

Dr. Matthew Postiff, the pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Ann Arbor, taught my Elementary Hebrew class in the 2006-2007 school year. While teaching this class Dr. Postiff produced and assembled a number of mp3 files to assist our students with the pronunciation of Hebrew. These tools include files related to pronouncing the Hebrew alphabet, vowels, the vocabulary for the first 40 lessons in Allen Ross’s Introducing Biblical Hebrew, and links to websites that have mp3 files for reading the Hebrew Bible. These files have been placed on his blog entry for October 5, 2007. I highly recommend these sources for students in first and second year Hebrew.

Today was the first day that my Hebrew Syntax & Reading class met for the Fall Semester of 2007 at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. I surprised the men with a little refresher quiz over some material they had learned in first year Hebrew. Because of the photogenic nature of my Hebrew Syntax & Reading class, this seemed like a kodak moment.Besides learning Hebrew vocabulary and syntax this semester, the men eagerly anticipate mining and garnering from the terrain of exegetical and theological truth found in Exodus 7-14 ESV. I believe this should be a good semester.