Mike Bennett
- I am working my through *The Bruised Reed* a chapter per day. I have just read chapter 23 (XXIII Means to Make Grace Victorious) and that chapter alone is worth whatever I paid for the volume. In it Sibbes brings together in one place both (1) principles of sound Christian decision making and (2) tips for consistently putting those principles to use in our daily walk.
- This book popped up in the "From Your Library" section of my home page, and I had a look. It seemed so interesting that I set up a daily reading plan in short, easy chunks. I have fallen in love, and have set up several of the author's other books to be read in order after this one. I'm also reading his _The Word of God in English_, which has driven me back to the ESV from the NET Bible. He is a treasure - a scholar who writes in plain language for us non-scholars.
- I started reading this for information on the NT world. Then in chapter 1 on the Roman world, I read this: "Alexander the Great and his successors were kind to the Jews. Especially in Alexandria and in Antioch of Syria were they granted special privileges. They took easily to trade and became bankers and merchants and have kept their grip on the world’s money to this day." I guess Robertson missed reading Maccabees on the occupation of Jerusalem by the Seleucids and the 80,000 killed in 3 days defending the city from the "kind" attack. As for the "the Jews . . . grip on the world's money to this day" I can only toss it into the closet where casual anti-Semitic tropes are stored. I do plan to read on into chapter 2, with my wheat vs chaff separator by my side.
- I cannot praise the Logos Thompson Chair Reference Bible (hereafter "TCRB") too highly. TCRB was my father's go-to Bible for many years, for study, daily devotions, and carrying to Church. My high school best friend's mother used the TCRB. A year or so ago our congregation's seniors group had a get-together with the theme "bring your favorite Bible and talk about it," and a woman whose late father had been a Lutheran Pastor brought his TCRB, but confessed that she didn't really understand how to use it. I was delighted at the opportunity to gush over it and show her the basics of what makes it a TCRB. The only drawbacks of the TCRB for me have been that you have to pick a version (and I wasn't aware of it being published in my favorite version), the print is pretty small for my 78-year old eyes, and there is a lot of page turning and remembering of the organization to take full advantage of it. When the Logos TCRB resource was first offered, my dubiousness ("how can this old thing add to the value of Logos's existing offerings?") gradually turned to interest as I remembered the print version's drawbacks for me. So I bought it and set up the layout Mo Proctor shows us in his tutorial, and it quickly became my favorite starting point for my own study and for daily devotions and prayer time. As much as I value my favorite study Bibles, commentaries, and Logos's many proprietary resources, the TCRB is an ideal tool for the Lutheran practice of "letting Scripture interpret Scripture." The system that Thompson so painstakingly set up is as good as ever, and Logos's resource gives us 21st century efficiency. Good for Thompson, and good for Logos! Buy it, and watch Mo Proctor's tutorial on getting started!