The student had a positive church experience. He was grateful for his youth leader. But he had serious objections to Christianity. Why? He had begun studying the Bible and found he could no longer accept what it taught. Reading the Bible had led him to become an atheist.In How Not to Read the Bible, pastor and bestselling author Dan Kimball tackles one of the most pressing apologetic challenges of the twenty-first-century church--how do we read and interpret the Bible? Kimball introduces several critical principles to utilize when you open a Bible or read a verse. Then, he looks at five of the most common challenges that arise when people read the Bible today, including: the relationship between science and the Bible, the violence we find in the Bible, the treatment of women in the Bible, the odd and strange commands we find in the Bible, and the Bible's controversial claim that there is only one way to know God. Kimball highlights several of the most common passages people find objectionable and shows readers how to correctly interpret them.This is an ideal book for those exploring Christianity or new to the faith, as well as Christians who are wrestling with questions about these difficult issues and the challenges of interpreting the Bible. Filled with stories and examples, as well as visual illustrations and memes reflecting popular cultural objections, How Not to Read the Bible will motivate readers who are confused or discouraged by questions they have about the Bible and guides them--step-by-step--to a clear understanding of what the Bible is saying in context. The book can also be taught as a six-week sermon series or used in small groups for study and discussion.

    Transforming Prayer explores the profound difference between seeking God's hand (what he does for people) and seeking God's face (who he really is). With captivating stories of the transformative power of personal worship and its connection with prayer, this book equips readers with practical tools for a more effective personal and corporate prayer life.

    The question he tackles in What Good Is God? concerns the practical value of belief in God. His search for the answer to this question took him to some amazing settings around the world: Mumbai, India when the firing started during the terrorist attacks; at the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated; on the Virginia Tech campus soon after the massacre; an AA convention; and even to a conference for women in prostitution. At each of the ten places he visited, his preparation for the visit and exactly what he said to the people he met each provided evidence that faith really does work when what we believe is severely tested. What Good Is God? tells the story of Philip's journey -- the background, the preparation, the presentations themselves. Here is a story of grace for armchair travelers, spiritual seekers, and those in desperate need of assurance that their faith really matters.

    The average Christian does not realize that there is an intellectual war going on in the universities and in the professional journals and scholarly societies. Christianity is being attacked from all sides as irrational or outmoded, and millions of students, our future generation of leaders have absorbed this viewpoint. This is a war which we cannot afford to lose.... "In addition to serving, like the rest of theology in general, as an expression of our loving God with all our minds, apologetics specifically serves to show to unbelievers the truth of the Christian faith, to confirm that faith to believers, and to reveal and explore the connections between Christian doctrine and other truths.... Apologetics... is a theoretical discipline that tries to answer the question, What rational defense can be given for the Christian faith?"This book by respected philosopher and theologian William Lane Craig has been thoroughly revised and updated to equip believers in the successful proclamation of biblical truth claims. The author gives careful attention to crucial questions and concerns, including: How Do I Know Christianity Is True?, The Absurdity of Life Without God, The Existence of God, The Problem of Miracles, and The Resurrection of Jesus.An invaluable scholarly resource for all committed defenders of the Christian faith.

    Indescribable takes readers on a journey through the vastness of outer space and into the depths of the soul. Modern science allows viewers to see farther into space than ever before, and every step draws them closer to the God who breathed each star into existence. In Indescribable, the authors intertwine devotional insights with remarkable scientific facts that awaken both mind and spirit. As Giglio and Redman write, God turns wonderers into worshipers. Above all, Indescribable is a call to worship—an invitation to know and be known by the God of all creation and to become more passionate worshipers of Jesus Christ.

    While many give their lives to Jesus, few then go on to live a life of truly vibrant faith. In this disruptively inspiring book, Chandler offers tangible ways to develop a faith of pursuing, chasing, knowing, and loving Jesus. Because if we clean up our lives but don't get Jesus, we've lost! So let the goal be Him. To live is Christ, to die is gain—this is the message of the letter. Therefore, our lives should be lived to Him, through Him, for Him, with Him, about Him—everything should be about Jesus.

    Tozer, there is no question more important. In fact, Tozer's desire to know God and His fullness consumed his entire life and ministry.Originally preached as sermons at Southside Alliance Church in Chicago, this first volume of The Attributes of God examines ten attributes of God. A study guide has been added for an in depth look at each attribute. This all important book deals with the most important subject matter of God's traits. We should esteem Him stricken, smitten and afflicted, yet see Him as our Creator and King in awe, wonder, and fear with righteousness and amazement. How can we even be allowed to have a glimpse of His beauty, compassion, and grace?

    We're not biblical experts—though we may have started enough reading plans to be really familiar with Genesis. If we're honest, the Bible often intimidates us, confuses us, and reading it doesn't always thrill us.And yet, the Bible is where God reveals his loving character and incredible plan of redemption. In a practical and engaging manner, Matt Smethurst—managing editor of The Gospel Coalition—presents nine heart postures that will prepare you to unpack all that's awaiting you in God's Word.Although there are many great resources on how to read and study Scripture, hardly any focus exclusively on how to approach it in the first place. That's what Smethurst provides in this unique "prelude" to opening your Bible. For without the right heart postures, we're not yet ready to start reading.

     Do you want more from your church experience?Does the pure gospel put you in a place of awe?Are you ready to rethink church as you know it?  Sit with Pastor Francis Chan and be reminded that you are a part of something much bigger than yourself, something sacred.   In his most powerful book yet, Chan digs deep into biblical truth, reflects on his own failures and dreams, and shares stories of ordinary people God is using to change the world.   Chan says, “We’ve strayed so far from what God calls Church. We all know it. We know that what we’re experiencing is radically different from the Church in Scripture. For decades, church leaders like myself have lost sight of the inherent mystery of the Church. We have trained people sitting in the pews to become addicted to lesser things. It’s time for that to change.”   When Jesus returns, will He find us caring for His Bride—even more than for our own lives? Letters to the Church reminds us of how powerful, how glorious the Church once was … and calls us to once again be the Church God intended us to be.

    But prayer should be so much more! Prayer is one of the most exciting and powerful privileges of faith. In Why Pray?, you will learn through forty insightful readings how prayer transcends words to become a satisfying relationship with God.

    The Christian worldview has not only been devalued and dismissed by modern culture, but its believers are openly ridiculed as irrelevant. In Jesus Among Secular Gods, Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale challenge the popular "isms" of the day, skillfully pointing out the fallacies in their claims and presenting compelling evidence for revealed absolute truth as found in Jesus. This book is fresh, insightful, and important, and faces head on today's most urgent challenges to Christian faith. It will help seekers to explore the claims of Christ and will provide Christians with the knowledge to articulate why they believe that Jesus stands tall above all other gods.

    This one shift has the potential to radically alter how you relate to God, not as a doctrine, but as a relational being who responds to you in an elastic, back-and-forth way. In God Has a Name, John Mark Comer takes you line by line through Exodus 34:6-8--Yahweh's self-revelation on Mount Sinai, one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. Along the way, Comer addresses some of the most profound questions he came across as he studied these noted lines in Exodus, including:Why do we feel this gap between us and God?Could it be that a lot of what we think about God is wrong? Not all wrong, but wrong enough to mess up how we relate to him?What if our "God" is really a projection of our own identity, ideas, and desires?What if the real God is different, but far better than we could ever imagine?No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, the act of learning who God is just might surprise you--and change everything.

    She wants help and healing. She wants to hear and be heard, to see and be seen. She wants things set right.   She wants to know what is true—not partly true, or sometimes true, or almost true. She wants to see Truth itself, face-to-face. But here, now, these things are all cloudy. Hope is tinged with hurt. Faith is shaded by doubt. Lesser, broken things masquerade as love.   How does she find something permanent when the world around her is always changing, when not even she can stay the same? And if she finds it, how does she hold on?    She Reads Truth tells the stories of two women who discovered, through very different lives and circumstances, that only God and His Word remain unchanged as the world around them shifted and slipped away. Infused with biblical application and Scripture, this book is not just about two characters in two stories, but about one Hero and one Story. Every image points to the bigger picture—that God and His Word are true. Not because of anything we do, but because of who He is. Not once, not occasionally, but right now and all the time.   Sometimes it takes everything moving to notice the thing that doesn’t move. Sometimes it takes telling two very different stories to notice how the Truth was exactly the same in both of them. For anyone searching for a solid foundation to cling to, She Reads Truth is a rich and honest Bible-filled journey to finally find permanent in a world that’s passing away.

    He is the most pious and pithy, sound and sensible, suggestive and sober, terse and trustworthy . . . he is deeply spiritual, heavenly, profitable; finding good matter in every text, and from all deducting the most practical and judicious lessons . . . It is the Christian's companion, suitable to everybody, instructive to all."" Charles H. SpurgeonFrom Genesis to Revelation, Matthew Henry successfully combines practical application, devotional insight, and scholarship on the entire Bible. Henry has profound insights on the content, message and nature of God's divine revelation. Perfect for all readers of the Bible who want a convenient, comprehensive commentary.- Includes the entire text of Matthew Henry's original multi-volume commentary- Modern easy-to-read type- Portable- Attractive and affordable

    But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ-the divine Person revealed in the Bible-has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, Yes, this is truth. It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet.The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross.Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. Ask God for the grace to do his will, and you will see the truth of his Son.John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else.