Earlier this year, Weston Ruter wrote a Greasemonkey plugin that shortens document titles when you’re browsing the ESV online. For example, “ESV Bible Online: Passage: John 3:16″ becomes simply “John 3:16 (ESV)”. It’s handy if you have a lot of tabs open in your browser or if you use a clipping service like Google Notebook.
Weston has updated the user script to work on the ESV Online Study Bible.
As the year draws to a close, “Best of 2008″ lists are springing up all around us. Some of our favorite bloggers have already posted theirs, featuring several Crossway titles prominently. Check out the favorites of Tim Challies or Trevin Wax to get into the spirit.
And then leave us a comment.
Which Crossway title would you rank as “Best of 2008″? Bring out the backlist titles if you like; after all, you’ve got almost thirty years’ worth of books to choose from! Which Crossway title influenced you most profoundly in 2008? Feel free to tell us a story or just to weigh in with a title, and we’ll join with you in giving thanks for these resources.
Here’s a list of the sample excerpts we’ve made available for Crossway’s Fall 2008 books.
Regular readers of the ESV Blog have probably noticed it’s been awhile since we last posted. Recent changes here at Crossway have called for some reorganization (hence the blog respite), but we are eager to resume our conversation with you.
Your participation in the ESV Blog has brought about much fruitful dialogue, so thank you for visiting, reading, and commenting. Our interaction with you has been a vital part of what has made—and will continue to make—the ESV Blog interesting and helpful. For now our plan is to post a similarly broad range of content related to the ESV text, but we want to take this opportunity to invite your feedback.
Are there topics you particularly benefit from or enjoy (e.g. translation, the local church, global missions, technology, upcoming Bible editions)?
We invite your comments below (or you can email us at blog@esv.org). Thank you in advance for your input, and we look forward to interacting with you around God’s Word throughout 2009.
By Christin Ditchfield
Over the years, they’ve come to be known as Gaspar, Melchoir, Balthasar – the Three Wise Men. Such beloved characters in the traditional Christmas story. Though they are mentioned only briefly in the gospel of Matthew, the Wise Men appear in nearly every nativity scene, every creche set. Somehow through the centuries, these mysterious figures have captured our imaginations and inspired us to “follow the star” on our own spiritual journey to Bethlehem.
Of course we don’t really know what their names were – or even that there were in fact three of them. We assume that there must have been at least three, because there were three gifts. However, if we read the gospel accounts of the Christmas story carefully, we soon discover that there actually were three wise people – three wise women!
Mary, Elizabeth, and Anna. Three very different women, in different ages and stages of life. One single, one married, one widowed. One just beginning to experience life. One coping with the challenges and changes of midlife. And one coming close to the end of her life. How do we know they were wise? The Scripture tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) All three of these women “feared the Lord.” They were women who walked with Him. Women of faith and courage and character.
Each one played a crucial role in the events of the true Christmas story. Mary became the mother of the Messiah. She gave birth to the Son of God Himself. Elizabeth became the mother of His prophet. She served as Mary’s mentor and confidante. Anna announced the newborn King’s arrival. She sang His praises and proclaimed His salvation to all who had ears to hear. Too often we casually read over the familiar words of Scripture, barely noticing these women. Yet each one in her own way set a powerful example for us to follow today.
From The Three Wise Women: A Christmas Reflection by Christin Ditchfield.
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