• The Lion & the Lamb: Essentials from The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (B&H Academic, co-authored with L. Scott Kellum and Charles L. Quarles), a concise introduction to the 27 books of the New Testament.
• Marriage & the Family: Biblical Essentials (Crossway; an abridgment of God, Marriage & Family; with David W. Jones), a concise presentation of the biblical teaching on marriage and the family for those preparing for marriage, young couples, and husbands and wives.
• Which Bible Translation Should I Use?: A Comparison of 4 Major Recent Versions (B&H Academic, co-edited with David A. Croteau), including contributions by Wayne Grudem (ESV), Douglas Moo (NIV), Ray Clendenen (HCSB), and Philip Comfort (NLT), for pastors and anyone who wants to compare some of the leading existing Bible translations.

In February, Dr. Köstenberger and his wife Marny led a marriage seminar at Fellowship Raleigh in downtown Raleigh, NC. In March, Dr. Köstenberger served as a plenary speaker at the ETS southwest and southeast regional meetings in Fort Worth, TX and Wake Forest, NC, speaking on the topic “The Present and Future of Biblical Theology.” A revised version was just published in the journal Themelios.

Another important field at the core of the mission of Biblical Foundations is biblical interpretation. The book Invitation to Biblical Interpretation was featured in a joint session with Drs. Grant R. Osborne and Kevin J. Vanhoozer at the 2012 annual ETS meeting. The session was very cordial and the responses excellent. Kregel also released chapter 13 of Invitation to Biblical Interpretation as an e-book with the title, Twelve Rules for Understanding Biblical Words, with plans for further releases.

Biblical Foundations now has a presence in social media. Dr. Kostenberger regularly tweets on current events, new publications, and interact with others in the field. Biblical Foundations is also on Facebook, documenting speaking engagements and spreading the news about Biblical Foundations. We are also on Google+ with relevant quotes, pictures from events, and other helpful information. The website was completely redesigned at the beginning of the year, with many new resources added.

This year we are looking forward to the publication of the second edition of Encountering John, an accessible survey of the message of John’s Gospel, with Baker Academic. Dr. Köstenberger and his wife are also working on a book on biblical manhood and womanhood, which will be published by Crossway Books in 2014. Speaking engagements will take the mission of Biblical Foundations to West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and other locations. We want to thank you very much for your loyal support and partnership in helping the whole world rest on biblical foundations.

To view the whole article, click here.

This article originally appeared in Themelios.

“‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” We all love to be comforted. So this word of comfort is good news for a people hungry for comfort. But wait! How is it good news that Israel “has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins”? From the prophet’s vantage point prior to the exile, it was indeed good news for him to envision a time, subsequent to the exile, when Israel’s punishment was completed. Judgment had been fully executed, the exile would be over, and now that every valley had been lifted up and every mountain and hill been made low (vv. 3–4) God’s glory could be revealed. It is the same with God’s people today. If you and I long for the revelation of God’s glory, we must first be prepared to face God’s judgment. We must be ready to judge sin in ourselves and to accept God’s sacrifice on our behalf in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“A voice cries, ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” It is no coincidence that it is in the wilderness that the glory of the LORD is revealed. Only once we’ve been stripped of our self-reliance, our independent spirit, our pride, are we ready to be recipients and then messengers of God’s grace. Salvation-historically, it was John the Baptist who had the glorious task of revealing God’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did so in the wilderness, administering a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. When you and I came to the Lord in confession and repentance, we came to him with empty hands. Only when we realize our spiritual bankruptcy before a holy and righteous God are we ready to receive his free gift of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the same many times subsequent to our conversion. We must come to the Lord with empty hands, looking to him to enable us to do what we cannot do by ourselves. “I can’t do it, Lord!” when coupled with genuine faith is a great way, not to despair, but to ready ourselves for the Lord’s enablement and blessing.

In your and my life, have we allowed the Lord to lift up every valley and to make low every mountain and hill? Have we given him our failures as well as our successes? Have we realized, as Jesus told his disciples, that without Him we can do nothing? “A voice says, ‘Cry!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ ‘All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades … but the word of our God will stand forever.” This is a great time to rededicate ourselves to prize God’s word supremely over all else. We must read God’s word regularly, and meditate on it, and apply it to our lives, both personally and in community. We must recognize our own frailty and human limitations and move our focus away from ourselves to our all-sufficient God, depending fully and only on Him. Then “the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

The 5 winners of a physical copy of ITBI are Corey, José Carlos Martínez, Nathan Ridlehoover, John Latham, and Marcus Collins (please email support@biblicalfoundations.org with your mailing address within a week of this post).
The 5 winners of the complete ITBI ebook are Rebecca Hayden, Carl Scott, Melissa Deming, Ruben Cardenas, and Stephen Stanford.
The 10 winners of Twelve Rules for Understanding Biblical Words (PDF of chapter 13 of ITBI) are Rodrick Sweet, Armando Valdez, Austin DeArmond, Michael Dick, Bryan Catherman, Nicholas Webb, Jimmy Reagan, Aaron Still, Todd Parish, and Bradford Heil.

For those who didn’t win this time, we hope you’ll still be able to get a copy of this book on Amazon or in some other way. For more Invitation to Biblical Interpretation resources, click here.

Here, then, are the top ten books in biblical studies from 2012, in terms of their potential influence and utility:

1. Darrell Bock, A Theology of Luke and Acts (Zondervan). This, the second volume in the Biblical Theology of the New Testament series, features a magisterial treatment of the theology of Luke-Acts by the leading evangelical Lucan scholar of our day. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

2. Stanley Porter and Andrew Pitts, eds. Christian Origins and Greco-Roman Culture (Brill). Cutting-edge scholarship by a stellar cast of contributors including Craig Keener, Paul Maier, and E. Randolph Richards. Pricey but essential for scholars. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

3. Mike Barnett, ed. Discovering the Mission of God (InterVarsity). An amazing, comprehensive treatment of the mission of God by an authoritative lineup including Christopher Wright, John Piper, and Ed Stetzer. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

4. Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum, Kingdom through Covenant (Crossway). Not a biblical theology, but a detailed monograph on the biblical covenants, the product of collaboration between a biblical scholar and a systematician. Controversial but important. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

5. Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation, eds. The Mission of God Study Bible (Holman). With contributions from Matt Chandler, Tullian Tchividjian, and many more, also including letters by Billy Graham, Erwin Lutzer, Calvin Miller, and others. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

6. Jonathan Pennington, Reading the Gospels Wisely (Baker). As Tom Schreiner says, “While I don’t agree with everything Pennington says, his arguments must be reckoned with.” Pennington makes a case for reading the Gospels literarily and theologically. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

7. G. K. Beale, Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker). From the co-editor of the landmark Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, this is helpful introduction to the many issues confronting the student of the NT use of the OT. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

8. Chris Vlachos, James (B&H Academic). This is the second volume in the Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament series, following Murray Harris’s Colossians & Philemon volume years ago. The entire series will comprise 20 volumes (co-editors Yarbrough & Köstenberger). For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

9. Murray Harris, Prepositions and Theology (Zondervan). This product of meticulous scholarship will serve as the most comprehensive treatment of Greek prepositions and as an essential reference guide for exegesis for years to come. For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

10. The Greek-English New Testament (Nestle-Aland, 28^th Edition; English Standard Version) (Crossway). This very helpful study tool features on facing pages the new Nestle-Aland 28^th edition and the English Standard Version. Hard cover and large print. Outstanding! For more information and to purchase on Amazon, click here.

Finally, I would like to express appreciation to B&H Academic for publishing The Lion and the Lamb: New Testament Essentials from The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown as well as Which Bible Translation Should I Use? A Comparison of 4 Major Recent Versions (with contributions by Wayne Grudem (ESV), Douglas Moo (NIV), Ray Clendenen (HCSB), and Philip Comfort (NLT).

None of us can read everything, so let us read wisely and selectively. The Biblical Foundations™ team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Thank you for your part in promoting wholesome biblical content, as we long to see all the world rest on biblical foundations.

To read Dr. Kostenberger’s full paper from ETS, click here.

Winners, please email support@biblicalfoundations.org within the next week with your mailing address.

I agree. I believe this is a watershed election. While I have limited confidence in either candidate, I do believe that our nation is at an important juncture. Our national debt must be reined in. Our social programs must be reformed. Government should respect the free market system. And the scourge of abortion must be turned back. Let me urge you to vote for the candidates who are most likely to get the job done. So let’s get out the vote and pray for our nation.