In the best combo I’ve known since Mr. Reese stuck his chocolate bar into a jar of peanut butter, my dear friend Dr. Bill Wilder and my new favorite blog, Common Grounds, intersected today. CG co-founder Glenn Lucke gave props to Bill for his post about Jesus as the New Temple on his B-wildered Blog. I’ve said it before, but I can’t express enough how much of an influence on my life Bill has been. Most recently, he played a major role in moving Karyn and me toward seminary. But long before that he introduced me to biblical theology and the redemptive-historical approach to the Bible, both of which have had effects on me more profound than even I realize.

But better than that, Bill has been one of the most faithful friends I have ever known. He has walked with me through the dark days of a church melt down. He has engaged me in conversations that have challenged my thinking and even the direction of my life. And he has often been like a pastor to me, praying for me, gently correcting, and putting up with my selfish hot-headedness. One of the hardest things about moving to Philadelphia for seminary has been that we see each other so rarely now.

So I’m thankful for the small blessing of the Internet, where I can at least still sit under his excellent teaching on his blog and through the audio files on the Center for Christian Study web site.

I enthusiastically commend to you the series of posts on Bill’s blog about the real implications of Song of God/Son of Man language that begins with this post. Read those, and you’ll see why I’ve been so enlivened by Bill’s biblical theological approach.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2005 at 10:26 pm and is filed under It`s All About Me, Theology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.