Merry Christmas: Please Choose a Free Book

In: Books and Texts

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17 Dec 2009

commentary library

I love books. I love them so much that I even created a site (www.bestcommentaries.com) to help people find good resources for Biblical studies. A cool part of that site is that affiliate links bring in some gift certificate money from www.wtsbooks.com. To celebrate God’s gift of his one and only Son to us all, I’d like to use some of that gift certificate money to say “Merry Christmas” and “Thanks for stopping by.” So if you’re in need of a book, here’s what to do:

  1. Go to www.wtsbooks.com, browse around and find a book you like.
  2. Come back here and leave a comment with the book title, a link to the book, and the reason you want/need the book.
  3. Vote on who you think should get a free book (hopefully this makes it less random). The comments with the most “likes” as of Saturday, 12/19, will get the book of their choice.

I think I have enough to get 2-3 books, so comment and vote away. Oh and tell your friends.

Update: And the winners are:

14 Tweets

46 Responses to Merry Christmas: Please Choose a Free Book

  1. Avatar

    Tyler

    December 17th, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/6518/nm/The_Meaning_of_the_Pentateuch_Revelation_Composition_and_Interpretation_Paperback_/parent_id/23?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    The Meaning of a Pentateuch by Sailhamer

    I’m taking a Hermeneutics class next semester and even though this isn’t a required reading for the course I think it would fit in well with my studies for the course. From what I’ve read this is one of the best Biblical studies books to come out in a while.

    Do me a favor and “like” my comment so I can win this great book.

    Great idea John.

  2. Avatar

    Nathan Gunter

    December 17th, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/302/nm/Luke_Volume_I_1_1_9_50_BECNT_?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    Great long time resources, well balanced exegetical/expos/historical/commentary. Expensive but great! Love to do a Luke series about Jesus when pastoring at the church in Sacramento and in class at the school. Also, like to have available in the school library.

    Thanks for the offer!
    NG

  3. Avatar

    Brian Alexander

    December 17th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/5730/nm/ESV_Personal_Size_Reference_TruTone_Bible_Forest_Tan_Trail_Design_/parent_id/21?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    ESV, Personal Size Reference TruTone Bible (Forest/Tan, Trail Design)

    I have chapel twice a week at my school and my biggest excuse as to not carrying a bible is because it’s too heavy. This size will be perfect and allow for me to follow along in a very easy to understand translation. It will also allow me to carry the bible to class because it’s so small and I can study pretty much anywhere on campus.

    Take a min and click the like icon below so that I can get this Bible.

    Thanks Jon and everyone who clicks that like icon!

  4. Avatar

    Michael Ekstrand

    December 17th, 2009 at 4:09 pm

    Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Assurance of Our Salvation

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/3762/nm/Assurance+of+Our+Salvation%3A+Exploring+the+Depth+of+Jesus%27+Prayer+for+His+Own?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    I’ve read Lloyd-Jones Spiritual Depression and found it quite helpful in my walk. I’ve seen Assurance around and wanted to read it for similar benefit for some time now. Plus journeying through John 17 with Lloyd-Jones’ knack for applying the gospel to heart- and mind-reform seems quite profitable.

  5. Avatar

    Josiah Ritchie

    December 17th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

    Culture Shift: Communicating God’s Truth to Our Changing World

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/1912/nm/Culture_Shift_Communicating_God_s_Truth_to_Our_Changing_World?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    I’m the “IT Guy” at Fellowship International Mission. I’m faced with the daunting task of helping missionaries who have been in the unchanging areas of the world understand the dramatic change that has occurred in the last 4 to 40 years since they left the country. The shock they experience is amazing.

    They must learn to merge the way they learned to communicate with US culture with the ever changing expectations of US culture without being in the culture as it changes. This means they sometimes don’t understand email, let alone facebook and twitter.

    I’ve also begun to help churches understand these dramatic differences and to help the churches and missionaries of the world come closer together so that the church may once again be influenced and ignited with passion for God’s great commission.

    I’ve been searching the web trying to get an idea of how this is communicated by others. I ran across John Dyer as I searched more closely on the Christian understanding of Marshal McLuhan and through the book “The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture” by Shane Hipps. That is a great and fast read. My copy has all sorts of marks in it.

    Anyway, “Culture Shift” is a well rated book on this topic that I’d like to use both in my own understanding of the topic and to share with others who are also interested in growth in this area.

    Your vote is a vote for missions! (Okay, that’s taking it a bit far.) ;-)

    On a side note, Thanks John for keeping the resources rolling by here and keeping my mind running on the spiritual and human impact of technology.

  6. Avatar

    Jason Smathers

    December 17th, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    I will begin teaching verse by verse through the Gospel of John during Sunday evening worship at my local church beginning 12/27.

    To aid in my study for my lessons, the book that I would like to win is:
    Homilies on the Gospel of John (1-40) (Works of St. Augustine A Translation for the 21st Century) (Hardcover)

  7. Avatar

    Charles

    December 17th, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    The Complete Calvin and Hobbes Box Set

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/5903/nm/The_Complete_Calvin_and_Hobbes_Box_Set_Hardcover_/parent_id/54?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    I want to enrich my son’s cultural education with this American Classic. The Authoritative… may be my favorite book. Ever.

  8. Avatar

    Eric Nygren

    December 17th, 2009 at 10:55 pm

    Revelation (NIGTC)
    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/1529/nm/Book_of_Revelation_NIGTC_/parent_id/9?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    I’m preaching a seven week series on Revelation 2-3 beginning the second Sunday of January. That’s one of the commentaries I do not have but have always wanted to get.

  9. Avatar

    Carl Franzon

    December 18th, 2009 at 12:04 am

    So many books to choose from …

    My choice: God’s Empowering Presence by Gordon Fee
    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/108/nm/God%27s+Empowering+Presence%3A+The+Holy+Spirit+in+the+Letters+of+Paul+%28Hardcover%29?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    I am doing a DMin right now on spiritual formation and Fee’s classic on the work of the Spirit would be a great reference.

    • Avatar

      John Dyer

      December 18th, 2009 at 8:23 am

      Carl, where are you doing your DMin? Sounds like a great topic.

      • Avatar

        Carl Franzon

        December 26th, 2009 at 10:42 pm

        Sorry; little slow on the reply – DMin is at Gordon-Conwell. Am considering doing thesis on the relationship of technology to spiritual formation, but am leaning away from that a little bit. Not because the topic does not interest me, it’s just that the suggestion is to do the thesis in such a way that you can apply it to your local context. And, I have a lot of folks who don’t use computers, etc. Haven’t ruled it out yet, because I realize that it’s about more than that. Will let you know if I do choose that as a topic, as you seem to have thought much about it. Always enjoy the blog.

        • Avatar

          Carl Franzon

          December 26th, 2009 at 11:03 pm

          Shortly after writing that last comment, I realized that I perhaps was thinking too narrowly about technology, e.g. twitter, texting and internet. Technology could also be anything from the telephone (including the old-fashioned ones with wires), cars, projection screens in worship, etc. Which means I could still address the issue, the problem will be narrowing it down enough for a thesis topic and also developing something for which I will be able to create a study and measure some results.

        • Avatar

          John Dyer

          December 28th, 2009 at 9:08 am

          Carl,
          I think a DMin in the area of technological usage in the church would be a fantastic help to the church. You’re right that “technology” is a very broad concept (see my latest post), so you would definitely have to narrow it down a bit. I wonder if you could do something like a study similar Willow Creek’s reveal on people and churches using Mars Hills’s “The City” website tool.

  10. Avatar

    adamzap

    December 18th, 2009 at 1:58 am

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/1531/nm/Epistle_to_the_Hebrews_NIGTC_?utm_source=jdyer&utm_medium=blogpartners

    Epistle to the Hebrews (NIGTC) by Paul Ellingworth

    BECAUSE HEBREWS IS AWESOME

  11. Avatar

    David LaDuke

    December 18th, 2009 at 9:03 am

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/436/nm/Valley_of_Vision_A_Collection_of_Puritan_Prayers_and_Devotions_Leather_Gift_Edition

    I found John Baillie’s book “A Dairy of Private Prayer” to be a big help in expanding my prayer vocabulary. I would like to have a copy of “Valley of Vision” to serve a similar purpose.

  12. Avatar

    Jason_Garrison

    December 18th, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/6506/nm/The+Psalms+as+Christian+Worship%3A+A+Historical+Commentary+%28Paperback%29

    The Psalms as Christian Worship–Waltke and Houston

    I’m a OT PhD student lacking commentaries in my home library on the book(s) of Psalms. And what better author could there be on the subject than Bruce Waltke? I own his Old Testament Theology, and read it on the couch next to my wife some evenings. I have to stop sometimes just to take it in, since I’m occasionally overwhelmed! I sometimes close the book and begin to laugh with tears in my eyes out of sheer joy.
    –and right now, you’re probably thinking what my wife does: ‘How can you get that much out of an Old Testament book?’
    The answer is twofold. First, as virtually everyone knows, studying the OT can be difficult and even frustrating amid the critical theories, the location of cities, the identity of the pharaohs, and those really, really fun genealogies! Waltke deals seriously with the important issues and makes his points very clear. Second, he writes things so beautifully and honestly, they touch my heart. He doesn’t exegete a passage to death to reveal truth and tell the reader he must accept it, but rather exegetes and then woos the reader to see the beauty of the truth.
    I hope you see, then, why his brand new commentary on the Psalms intrigues me so much.

    …and thanks for a great offer!

  13. Avatar

    Joseph Louthan

    December 18th, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    Jeremiah (NICOT) by J.A. Thompson

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/1526/nm/Jeremiah+%28NICOT%29

    Jeremiah was the first book I read after being saved a little over two years ago. I quote more from Jeremiah (along with Romans) than any other book and I so love the promises that God said in that book.

    It is a wonderful book on love, heartbreak and shepherding.

  14. Avatar

    Sean McGever

    December 18th, 2009 at 6:09 pm

    There are so many great books to choose from! I’m tempted to choose a commentary to add to my library but I want the most bang for your buck right now.

    I’m drawn to “The Gospel in Human Contexts: Anthropological Explorations for Contemporary Missions”. I’ve worked in evangelism full time for the last decade. I’m also fascinated by the deconstruction of traditional practice with the emergence of technology, social networking and the like. I think this book could shed some light on the core issues we are re-experiencing in evangelism and communication.

  15. Avatar

    Eric

    December 22nd, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    Credo: A Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confession of Faith in the Christian Tradition

    http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/6127/nm/Credo%3A+Historical+and+Theological+Guide+to+Creeds+and+Confessions+of+Faith+in+the+Christian+Tradition+%28Paperback%29

    I would love to have this book. I’ve always had a love for historical creeds and confessions and I’d love to learn more about them.

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About this blog

John DyerI'm John Dyer a web developer working on sites like Best Commentaries, Bible Web App, Dallas Seminary. I'm also a seminary graduate and teacher at Irving Bible Church.

This blog is about the the role of technology in the redemptive movement from the Garden to the City. I believe technology is an amazing testament to the creativity embedded in the imago dei, but instead of assuming technology is always a neutral tool, I believe it - like culture in general - profoundly influences us.

Upcoming Posts

  • What Are They Advertising?
  • Jesus, James, and McLuhan On the Heart, the Tongue, and the Internet
  • A Definition of Technology
  • The Cornwall Alliance: Technological Theory at Work
  • Reading and Publishing and Publishing and Reading
  • Learning from Buber: I-Thou and I-It
  • Prepackaged Communion and Albert Borgmann’s Device Paradigm
  • Technology is Kinda Like Money
  • Approaching Technology like We Approach Money

Categories

Archives

  • John Dyer: Paul, Yes, in a later post we'll talk about the debates in the early church about the meaning of im [...]
  • John Dyer: Lee, for sure! Moving from Oral to writing communicates a sense of authority and permanence. [...]
  • John Dyer: I can't remember about that one. If you find something and can draw some meaning from it, I'd love t [...]
  • John Dyer: God also spends much of the Pentateuch giving blueprints for various elements of worship. The point, [...]
  • Lee: Interesting points. Also, I would mention that delivering the 10 commandments on carved stone wa [...]

Asides

Our brains are designed to more easily be stimulated than satisfied
Fascinating look at the science of the brain’s response to seeking and rewards: http://www.slate.com/id/2224932/ (1)

Roman Catholic Church Expresses Concern Regarding Social Technologies
The head of the British Roman Catholic church says,

“I think there’s a worry that an excessive use, or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we’re losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that’s necessary for living together and building a community.”
(0)

Internet Fatigue
CNN has a report on the phenomenon of internet fatigue. I wish they would have spent more time on giving suggestions for how to understand why this happens and how to avoid it. (0)

Articles and Tools on Texting
The NYTimes has a new article on the effects of texting on youth which include anxiety, sleep deprivation, and hand injuries. Interestingly, as Andy Crouch points out, the article also mentions that teens send many texts to their parents, meaning that teens are now connected to their parents more often during the day – a time when teenagers of the past were developing independence. LG has also created a new site to help parents decode text messages. (0)

Course Syllabus: Writing for Nonreaders in the Postprint Era
A humorous, but enlightening syllabus for a class on writing in the “postprint” era. Writing for nonreaders in the postprint era: “Students will examine why former generations carried around heavy clumps of bound paper and why they chose to read instead of watching TV or playing Guitar Hero.” (0)

Language Shapes Our Worldview
A psychology professor at Stanford University found that in languages with gender, the gender assigned to an objects tends to shape the way a speaker views that’s object. For example, in Spanish, “bridge” is masculine so Spanish speakers describe bridges as “strong” and “dangerous,” while German speakers for whom bridge is feminine tend to describe bridges as “fragile” and “beautiful.” Perhaps our own understanding of words like redemption, wrath, and adoption are also shaped by unseen factors. (0)

Survey Says Facebook Users Get Lower Grades
A study from educational researches at the Ohio State University found that students who regularly used facebook only study 1-5 hours per week and had GPAs in the 3.0-3.5 range, while non-facebook users study around 11-15 hours per week with GPAs in the 3.5-4.0 range. I wonder how church education compares? (0)

Risk-Reducing Technologies Increase Risk-Taking
The Pope and a Harvard scientist make an interesting argument that AIDS is increasing in Africa precisely because of condom distribution. More... (0)

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