What I Did on My Sabbatical

I am extremely grateful to the Lord and to the congregation for the opportunity to take a sabbatical this fall. A special thank you to Nathaniel for taking on an extra load of ministry these past three months. Also, thank you to Sam, Ram, and Tyler for preaching, and to everyone else who took on extra tasks in my absence. Here's how I invested the time you gave me:

Travel

Sarah and I spent three and a half weeks in the UK and Greece. Highlights included guided tours of: the Kilns, the house in Oxford where C. S. Lewis lived for thirty-three years; Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, where both Charles and John Wesley were ordained; and the archaeological sites at ancient Ephesus and ancient Corinth. In Greece I served as the pastoral leader of a Christian tour group. In the photo above I am leading a devotional at the archeological site of ancient Corinth.

Academic Conferences

I had the privilege of attending the annual meetings of the Evangelical Homiletics Society (Memphis), the Evangelical Theological Society (Boston), the Institute of Biblical Research (Boston), and the Society of Biblical Literature (Boston). These were enriching in terms of personal relationships and in terms of papers, talks, and sermons that challenged my mind and heart. One highlight was Rich Robinson's paper on how the writing of creeds is both present and absent in Judaism. His paper considered this in the context of Christianity's use of creeds, a focal point of discussion this year, the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

Books Read

• J. N. D. Kelly, Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom–Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop. Cornell University Press, 1998.

• Kevin Vanhoozer, Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically. Baker, 2024 (at the SBL conference in Boston, Dr. Vanhoozer kindly signed my copy of his book).

• Andrew S. Malone, God's Mediators: A Biblical Theology of Priesthood. IVP, 2017.

• Scott H. Young, Get Better at Anything: 12 Maxims for Mastery, Harper, 2024.

  
  

Writing Project

By God's grace next year I will submit for publication an article on Malachi 2:4b–9. During the sabbatical I spent a significant amount of time working on this paper. It was difficult work, but the Lord guided my thinking about this important passage. With respect to the Israelite priest as a teacher, there is no passage quite like this one anywhere else in the Old Testament.

Meaningful Scripture Verses

The following were Scriptures passages that grabbed my attention at different points this fall--each for a different reason. Feel free to ask me about one or more of them: Psalm 36:9; 81:10, 16; Jonah 1:14–16; Matthew 6:9; Acts 18:9–10; 19:15, 38-41; 20:27; 1 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 3:7–18; Ephesians 4:15; and Hebrews 1:2–3; 3:1.

Perspective

Travelling abroad and/or taking vacation time offers the opportunity to gain perspective. You can look at your normal routines and priorities from the outside. This can provide insights that may not be obvious when you are stuck inside the middle of a busy schedule. I return from the sabbatical with a fresh sense of the Lord's calling and how to order the months and weeks and days that the Lord has entrusted to me.

Thank you again for the privilege of taking this sabbatical!