What if we’ve embraced the wrong one? ​ At the start of Holy Week, tears streamed down Jesus’ face as he cried out, “If only you knew the things that make for peace." From that moment, until a week later when he triumphantly declared, “Peace be with you,” Jesus spent each day confronting injustice, calling out oppressors and contending for peace. But what if—despite all our familiarity with the events of Holy Week—we still don’t know how Jesus makes peace? And what if—despite clinging to the cross of Christ for our salvation—we’ve actually embraced a different approach to peacemaking? One that justifies killing enemies. One whose methods include nailing criminals to crosses. We desperately need to recover the radical vision of peacemaking that Jesus embodied throughout Holy Week. And we urgently need to be trained in his way of making peace. So, come. Let’s journey together day-by-day through Jesus’ final week and discover anew why he is called the Prince of Peace.

    But we also experience feeling utterly abandoned by God. Why?The answer is found when you take a deep look at the other important relationships in your life and understand your attachment style. Through his years working in trauma recovery programs, extensive research into attachment science, and personal experiences with spiritual striving and abuse, licensed therapist Krispin Mayfield has learned to answer the question: Why do I feel so far from God?When you understand your attachment style you gain a whole new paradigm for a secure and loving relationship with God. You'll gain insights about:How you relate to others--both your strengths and weaknessesThe practical exercises you can use to grow a secure spiritual attachment to GodHow to move forward on the spirituality spectrum and experience the Divine connection we all were created forYou'll learn to identify and remove mixed messages about closeness with God that you may have heard in church or from well-meaning Christians. With freedom from the past, you can then chart a new path toward intimate connection with the God of the universe.

    Relatable stories of the authors’ successes and failures along with fun activities and games help parents turn everyday moments into faith-filled moments that are naturally filled with prayer.Praying with your kids can be connecting, fun, nonintimidating, and even life changing.Includes:Prayer gamesPrayer Activities

    Family. Church. Exercise. Sleep.The list of demands on our time seems to be never ending. It can leave you feeling a little guilty--like you should always be doing one more thing.Rather than sharing better time-management tips to squeeze more hours out of the day, Kelly Kapic takes a different approach in You're Only Human. He offers a better way to make peace with the fact that God didn't create us to do it all.Kapic explores the theology behind seeing our human limitations as a gift rather than a deficiency. He lays out a path to holistic living with healthy self-understanding, life-giving relationships, and meaningful contributions to the world. He frees us from confusing our limitations with sin and instead invites us to rest in the joy and relief of knowing that God can use our limitations to foster freedom, joy, growth, and community.Readers will emerge better equipped to cultivate a life that fosters gratitude, rest, and faithful service to God.

    And the contents of Christian confession have developed with astonishing energy. How can believers claim a faith that has been passed down through the ages while recognizing the real historical contingencies that have shaped both their doctrines and their divisions?In this carefully argued essay, David Bentley Hart critiques the concept of "tradition" that has become dominant in Christian thought as fundamentally incoherent. He puts forth a convincing new explanation of Christian tradition, one that is obedient to the nature of Christianity not only as a "revealed" creed embodied in historical events but as the "apocalyptic" revelation of a history that is largely identical with the eternal truth it supposedly discloses. Hart shows that Christian tradition is sustained not simply by its preservation of the past, but more essentially by its anticipation of the future. He offers a compelling portrayal of a living tradition held together by apocalyptic expectation--the promised transformation of all things in God.

    At the center of that plan is Jesus Christ, who offers enabling grace through His Atonement. This enabling strength includes saving grace, which helps us overcome, but also exalting grace, which helps us to become.In her signature meditative, soul-expanding style, Emily Belle Freeman explores how each of us can receive the power of Christ's exalting grace as she draws out connections and parallels in the story of Abraham and the covenants that lead us to eternal life. A companion to Grace Where You Are, this book will help you better understand the relationship between faith and works as you seek transformation in your own life. Discover how both our incremental progression and our ultimate exaltation are made possible through grace.

    How can churches today emulate that ambition in their own mission efforts?In Mission Affirmed, author and missionary Elliot Clark seeks to shift the focus of ministries from mere efficiency to Christ-centered service that prioritizes the will and approval of God. By studying Paul's ministry, particularly in 2 Corinthians, readers learn that his motivation wasn't dependent on circumstances but on the Spirit, helping him remain faithful despite suffering and setbacks. This book equips local churches in the same way as they send missionaries into the field, serving together and stewarding the gospel in pursuit of God's praise.

    The practices and seasonal prayers are grouped into chapters titled Ash Wednesday, Symbols, Lenten Prayers, Lenten Refraining, Lenten Acts of Service, Holy Week, Easter Vigil and Easter Day, and the Season of Resurrection. Smith also offers theological notes guiding parents on addressing the violence of the crucifixion and the meaning of Jesus' death.

    The lives of the artists in this book illustrate the struggle of living in this world and point to the beauty of the redemption available to us in Christ. Each story is different. Some conclude with resounding triumph while others end in struggle. But all of them raise important questions about humanity's hunger and capacity for glory, and all of them teach us to love and see beauty.

    After all, it only has one Author. Isn’t it just one big book, identical from beginning to end?While it’s true that the Bible is unified, it is also diverse. The Bible can be grouped according to key categories, called genres, that help us to read and properly interpret the Scriptures. An understanding of these genres, and the literary themes and devices used within them, makes all the difference when encountering God’s Word.Long-time Bible teacher Kristie Anyabwile discovered as she prepared her lessons that a single inductive approach doesn’t do justice to the variety of genres that make up the Word of God. Because Scripture is a collection of writings that spans 1,500 years, many literary styles are represented and each must be taken into account for the fullest understanding of God’s Word. Kristie shows you the immense value of studying the Bible literarily—that is, according to the literary style presented in a particular book, chapter, or passage. In Literarily, Kristie will take you through these eight distinct genres:LawHistoryProphecyPoetryGospelsEpistlesWisdomApocalypticThe Bible is an epic story that God has revealed to us through diverse genres and literary features. Its message and method are both meant to transform our hearts. Our goal as interpreters isn’t to meld the Scriptures into a bland conglomerate, but to recognize the multiple forms in which God’s Word comes to us. In so doing, we’ll encounter the ongoing story of Jesus’s redemption and learn how He calls His people to live in our complex world today.

    Some of us live with varying degrees of physical pain, and others of us harbor the emotional pain of loneliness, shame, and guilt. Looking at our culture more broadly, we see the harm of our social divisions and the unyielding reality and impact of injustice and inequity. The gospels brim with stories of Jesus healing people, but what does that mean for us today? In To Be Made Well, author Amy Julia Becker weaves together her own story with reflections on biblical accounts of Jesus’ healing work, providing fresh insight into both the nature of healing and the pathway to healing, then and now. This book is a powerful invitation to personal, spiritual, and social healing as we reconnect to our bodies and souls, to God, and to our communities.  ​ For anyone struggling with pain or loss, for anyone concerned about the things that divide us, this book goes beyond wellness and beyond miraculous physical transformations to explore how we can—personally and collectively—be made well.

    

    By His power and authority, He created the world and governs it to accomplish His plans. But is God sovereign over everything that happens—even our salvation? And if He is, do our choices even matter?In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul demonstrates that the sovereignty of God extends to all things, from creation to redemption. Rather than erasing our responsibility, God’s absolute power and complete authority are what enable us to know Him, obey His Word, and tell others about His saving grace.The Crucial Questions booklet series by Dr. R.C. Sproul offers succinct answers to important questions often asked by Christians and thoughtful inquirers.

    This often happens when believers fixate on their sins while forgetting what Christ has already done on their behalf at the cross. Sam Storms explains it this way: "What consumes us is what we have done by sinning. What ought to consume us is grateful meditation on what God has done with our sinning."In his latest book, Storms addresses this anxiety over sin by reminding believers of the good news of the gospel. Beginning with an explanation of the glory of penal substitution, he walks through 12 things God did with their sin, including forgiving it, passing over it, and casting it into the depths of the sea. He also explains 3 things God will never do with their sin, such as counting it against them. Walking through the Bible's teaching, Storms helps believers find freedom, joy, and peace in knowing what God has done (and will never do) with their sin through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus.

    When relationships break down and you’re deeply hurt, it can feel impossible to move forward. But the Bible has wisdom for a way through. Author Wendy Alsup helps us find it in the story of Joseph and his brothers.Find space to process your emotions, explore what repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation actually look like, and see how peace, freedom and fruitfulness really are possible, even when certain things can’t be fixed.Readers will also be encouraged by the reminder of God’s ultimate plan for reconciliation and can look forward to being part of it in the new creation.Includes present-day examples and stories of lives transformed by the power of forgiveness, including the author’s own struggles.

    2:7). After man’s fall into sin, the Lord said to Adam, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (3:19). It is humbling to be reminded that we are dust and to dust we will return. But then also to grasp that the Lord formed us and made us in His image ought to make us rejoice with sincere gratefulness.Because of our sin, we are not as humble or as grateful as we ought to be. Humility and gratefulness cannot be separated—they are the closest of companions. Gratefulness is born of humility, but entitlement is born of pride. At the heart of the sin of Eve and Adam was their feeling of entitlement rooted in their pride, for they believed they could be like God. They were not content to be who God created them to be; they believed they knew better than God. This same sin is at the heart of our own sin and much of the sin we see in the world today. When we don’t live as God has designed and called us to live, it is because we think we know better than He does. When those in the world live however they want, they are acting out the same sin. The difference is that while the world puts its pride on display, we as Christians ought to despise the pride that lurks in our hearts and repent of it.There is a war within us between the flesh and the spirit, between Spirit-wrought humility and pride. As Christians, we must humble ourselves before God and pray daily that He would make us humble. This is one of the scariest prayers we could ever pray because God often answers it with a trial that humbles us and makes us utterly dependent on Him.We pray for genuine humility so that God will get glory, not so that we might get glory for being seen as humble. Genuine humility isn’t making ourselves seem humble but forgetting ourselves for others’ sake. The truly humble man is one whom others see as humble but who does not always see himself that way because his eyes are so fixed on our humble Savior.

    And yet Christians often fail to give love center stage in biblical studies and theology. And most fail to explain what they mean by love.Why is this?Thomas Jay Oord explores this question and offers ground-breaking answers. Oord addresses leading Christian thinkers today and of yesteryear. He explains biblical forms of love, such as agape, philia, hesed, and ahavah. We should understand love’s meaning as uniform, he says, but its expressions are pluriform.Widely regarded as the world's foremost theologian of love, Thomas Jay Oord tackles our biggest puzzles about the nature and meaning of love, divine and creaturely. His proposals are novel. They align with love described in scripture and expressed in everyday experience. Oord also provides radical and yet persuasive answers to questions about evil, hell, the Big Bang, divine violence, divine abandonment, and more.Pluriform Love changes the landscape of Christian love studies.

    

    Enjoy vibrantly illustrated scenes of Jesus’s life and search for FatCat on every page!Young readers and families will read a line from the creed along with a simple reflection to tuck into their hearts. With a list of Scriptures for further learning and a family prayer, this FatCat book is perfect to read again and again.In a fun and accessible way, believers can visualize, memorize, understand, and confess the Apostles’ Creed, which has united all Christians for centuries.

    As Christians living in an increasingly individualistic society, what’s the best strategy for making decisions that honor God while becoming more like him in the process?Writing from her own experience and pointing to biblical examples, Aimee Joseph offers a biblical and theological framework for decision-making. She explains God’s design for humans as decision-makers, the biblical model for making choices, common wrong approaches, practical tips, and what to do when you’ve made a poor decision. With the philosophy that “as we shape our decisions, our decisions shape us,” Joseph teaches readers how to worship and draw closer to Christ through their daily decisions.

    From politics to the pandemic, we live with an ever-increasing uncertainty, and many of us have grown to fear the rapid disintegration of our society and our own lives.Recovering Our Sanity is not another self-help book about how to beat your daily fears for a better life. It's a book that will show you the gravity and glory of a God who's worthy of our fear. It’s a book that will reveal how these two biblical phrases—Fear God and Do Not Be Afraid—are not contradictory but actually one coherent message.Michael Horton—Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary—shows us that we cannot fight our fears by seeking the absence of fear altogether, but by living with a fear of God that drives out the fear of everything else. Horton will walk you through the case for the fear of God by:Developing what it means to fear God, biblically and theologically, and what this kind of fear looks like in practice.Categorizing different types of fears—from cultural anxiety to pain and hardship—and what they stem from.Focusing on how to confront our earthly fears with our hope in Christ, rooted in the gospel.Reminding us that God does not exist for us; we exist for God.Humbling, thought-provoking, and hope-igniting, Recovering Our Sanity delivers a timely message that will help you shift your focus from a human-centered obsession with self-preservation to a fixation on Christ and his salvation.Rather than clinging to false securities and promises of immediate gratification, you can gain the lasting joy of knowing the One who has given himself to save us and who says to us, "Do not be afraid."

    This book is perfect for baby showers and young boys' birthdays. The powerful message paired with bright, glowing illustrations will make moms and dads want to snuggle with their little boy and remind him of how treasured he is, able and worthy because God loves him and declares him so. Rachael Denhollander is also the author of How Much Is a Little Girl Worth?

    But maybe we should. The Puritans sure did—because they understood sin’s deceptive power and wanted to root it out of their lives. Shouldn’t we want the same?Though many books have been written on the “doctrine of sin,” few are as practical and applicable as this one. In Knowing Sin, Mark Jones puts his expertise in the Puritans to work by distilling the vast wisdom of our Christian forebears into a single volume that summarizes their thought on this vital subject. The result isn’t a theological tome to sit on your shelf and gather dust, but a surprisingly relevant book to keep by your bedside and refer to again and again. You’ll come to understand topics like:Sin’s OriginSin’s GriefSin’s ThoughtsSin’s TemptationsSin’s MiserySin’s Secrecyand of course . . . Sin’s Defeat!None of us is free from the struggle with sin. The question isn’t whether we’re sinful, it’s what we’re doing about it. Thanks be to God, there is a path to overcoming sin. And the first step on that path to victory is knowing what we’re up against. Start Knowing Sin today!

    

    Some claim it is the spirit, others the Word, others the church, and others Jesus. This book offers a narrative and integrated account of Luke's theological emphasis"--

    

    These lectures reflecting on the role of the Christian faith in a variety of social spheres—including religion, politics, science, and art—have become a touchstone for contemporary Reformed theology.How might the lectures continue to inform the church's calling in a secular age? In this volume, Jessica Joustra and Robert Joustra bring together theologians, historians, scientists, and others to revisit Kuyper's original lectures and to critically consider both his ongoing importance and his complex legacy for today.

    With this foundation in place, he then introduces four possible approaches to reconciling biblical violence:Reevaluating God—concluding that God is not good.Reevaluating the Old Testament—concluding that the Old Testament is not actually a faithful record of God’s actions.Reevaluating the interpretation of the Old Testament—concluding that the Old Testament does not in fact describe anything like genocide.Reevaluating the nature of violence in the Old Testament—concluding that the mass killing of the Canaanites in the Old Testament was permitted on that one occasion in history.The depth of material provided in concise form makes Trimm’s book ideal as a supplementary textbook or as a primer for any Christian perturbed by the stories of the destruction of the Canaanites in the Old Testament.

    After a brief introduction outlining a theology of Christ as the Word, the essential logos or meaning that underlies all things made flesh for us in Jesus, there are short chapters on Scripture, liturgy, and sacrament, each understood as a kind of poetry capable of transfiguring our vision and transforming our lives. In light of these, the final section of the book reflects on the all-transforming reality of Christ and the Kingdonot only within but well beyond the bounds of the church. The theology in this book is illustrated throughout with personal stories and with poetry, both classics from the cannon and Guite's own poems.In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books. There are sixteen titles total.

    T. Wright returns with a collection of pastoral excerpts, carefully curated from his widely celebrated books, that will inspire those wanting to cultivate a life "on earth as it is in heaven." Modern pastors and their flocks have long considered N. T. Wright a role model for being a thoughtful Christian in today's world. His bestselling books, including Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, Simply Jesus, and After You Believe, have guided Christians in their belief and practice of the faith. Now, Christians can rely on his wisdom to guide them through each day of their lives with this thoughtful book of daily meditations, featuring short selections from his classic works.With reflections on themes such as faith, mission, character, and God's work in the world, these daily meditations will invigorate and uplift Christians in their search to live their faith authentically and biblically in today's world.

    Every word you speak and every choice you make comes from the mind that God has given you. Like all God’s gifts, this one brings responsibility.In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul shows that how we think is foundational to the way we live. The same Creator who gave us our minds has revealed His own mind in the Bible, calling us to know God and think according to His Word.The Crucial Questions booklet series by Dr. R.C. Sproul offers succinct answers to important questions often asked by Christians and thoughtful inquirers.

    Precious. Lovely. The Bible describes the church in extraordinary ways, even using beautiful poetry and metaphors. How does this compare to how Christians today describe the church? Unfortunately, many believers focus more on its mission, structure, or specific programs than on its inherent beauty. It's time to spark a renewed affection for the church.In The Loveliest Place, Dustin Benge urges Christians to see the holy assembly of God's redeemed people in all its eternal beauty. He explains what makes the church lovely, including the Trinitarian relationship, worship, service, and gospel proclamation. For those who have never learned to view the church as God sees it, or have become disillusioned by its flaws, this book is a reminder that the corporate gathering of believers is a reflection of God's indescribable beauty.This is the third book in the Union series, which invites readers to experience deeper enjoyment of God through four interconnected values: delighting in God, growing in Christ, serving the church, and blessing the world.

    

    

    Hamilton Jr. shows that the similarities we find in the Bible are based on genuine historical correspondence and demonstrates how we recognize them in the repetition of words and phrases, the parallels between patterns of events, and key thematic equivalences. When read in light of God's promises, these historical correspondences spotlight further repetitions that snowball on one another to build escalating significance.This book stimulates fresh thinking on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments and will help pastors, preachers, and students better understand the dynamics of inner-biblical interpretation. It explores several of the "promise-shaped patterns" we see in the Old Testament including:Adam and New AdamProphets, Priests, and KingsThe Righteous SuffererCreationExodus and New ExodusMarriageHamilton shows that the prophets and sages of Israel learned to interpret Scripture from Moses and his writings. And by tracing the organic development of subsequent biblical patterns, he explains how these patterns created expectations that are fulfilled in Christ. Jesus himself taught his followers to understand the Old Testament in this way (Luke 24:45), and the authors of the New Testament taught the earliest followers of Jesus how to read the Bible through a typological lens.Typology--Understanding the Bible's Promise-Shaped Patterns equips pastors, bible teachers, students, and serious Bible readers to understand and embrace the typological interpretive perspective of the biblical authors. You will learn to read the Bible as it was intended by its original authors while cultivating a deeper love and appreciation for the Scriptures.

    Many say they are leaving the faith as the result of conscious intellectual doubts or relational hurts. But often, what’s driving the doubt is just outside of one’s conscious awareness. Unbeknownst to those struggling—and those trying to help them—these unconscious factors can be the actual source from which their doubt springs.Before You Go is a diagnostic tool for addressing doubts. Rather than rehash surface-level apologetic answers, Marriott and Wicks dig deeper into overlooked factors that frequently are the real culprits when it comes to faith crisis, namely the unconscious aspects of our experience. Find real hope for those struggling to maintain their faith and genuine help for those trying to prevent faith loss in those they love.