I came across this on Google+ and had to repost it. Good advice from Amanda Patterson.

1. “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ~ Mark Twain

2. “If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things people do.” ~ William Zinsser

3. “Writing well means never having to say, ‘I guess you had to be there.’ ” ~ Jef Mallett

I never got a chance to reflect on some of things that happened at the last ETS in Atlanta, but there is one thing of a personal nature I wanted to share.

My son Tyler was able to come for the first time. I have mentioned this in passing, but he is a Bible major at Biola and he wanted to hear the discussion of justification and meet the authors of his books. So it was a lot of fun to show him around, watch him get autographs from my friends, and get as many pictures of authors as possible. Tom Schreiner autographed five copies of one of his books for Tyler’s friends’ Christmas presents.

But the most special event for me was being able to introduce Professor Howard Marshall to my son.

I had a great experience this Christmas and wanted to share it with you. It doesn’t have much to do with Greek, so I wouldn’t even try to make some sort of artificial connection.

With our move to Washougal, Washington, most of our Christmas traditions had to change since in the past they involved family. And with two of my three kids in college, the new traditions were even more important to them than to me. My wife and I have discovered that it is the stability of family traditions that help our kids go out and conquer the world; no matter what happens, they can always come home again to what is familiar and safe.

I would like to take quick break from the normal function of this blog to share something on a personal nature with you. Integrity demands it, since it comes as a form of disclosure. But I am also concerned to stem any misunderstanding.

Many of you know that I was the New Testament chair of the ESV translation. This project has consumed thousands of hours, most of them enjoyable. I am happy with the ESV. As a formal equivalent translation done in the translation stream of the KJV / ASV / RSV, it has proven itself. And while the committee will be constantly looking at issues and questions submitted by people like you, my work on the ESV was largely done.

I know this is a bit off topic, but someone asked the other day about the history behind my grammar and suggested that people might be curious. So for what it’s worth, here it is.

Rote memory has never been my strong suite. In high school I memorized tons of poetry and found it easy to do, but when it came to just individual words, well, I’m not wired that way. This made high school Latin especially difficult. What I discovered about myself, however, was that I like charts; and if I could lay things out visually in a way that made sense to me, paradigms and the such were much easier to learn. So I became the chart maker in Latin, and many of my fellow students adopted my charts in preference to our text.

ETS is now over and many of the people have move on to Boston to attend IBR (Institute of Biblical Research) and then SBL (Society of Biblical Literature), which is the largest of the three organizations. SBL is the least friendly of the organizations toward evangelicals and therefore perhaps our greatest opportunity for engagement in a non-evangelical theological culture.

Greetings from the first day of the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. We are in Providence, Rhode Island.

We have just finished our first conference in Nepal and I wanted to get my thoughts down before we go to India for our second conference.

To say I am overwhelmed is to say the least. I find that many of the stereotypical thoughts and even pictures that I have heard and seen from missionaries are the same as my thoughts and pictures (see some at the end of the blog). The poverty is overwhelming. The culture is oppressive. The resources are so few. Sounds like the only hope is God!

A lot has happened since the first blog. Once again I find it a little difficult to put into words without it sounding like a cliche.

We traveled from Nepal to India, which is a two hour flight and a three hour drive. We arrived at 3 a.m., and after four hours sleep began the Pastors' Conference. There were about 120 pastors from all around southern India, and I spoke six times.

They were some of the most responsive people I have ever been with. Do they love Jesus! He is so real to them that their joy cannot be contained. They sang at the top of their lungs, not caring one bit what others may or may not have thought of them. I didn't matter; they were there to praise God in the midst of horrific circumstances.

In a recent closed meeting between Barack Obama and several Christians including Franklin Graham, Obama was asked whether he believed that Jesus is the only way to salvation. His answer, which the reporter, a Mr. Rivers, called brilliant, was Jesus is the only way for me. I'm not in a position to judge other people.

This kind of verbal evasion drives me crazy.

1. It suggests that there are different ways for different people. For example, Buddha could theoretically be a another way if you choose to believe it. That is not a biblical point of view. Consider Acts 4:12:

NIV Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”