It was one that led him steadily to a fresh interpretation of human interaction with God?as born solely from God's grace and not the Church's mediation?and to the famous theses he posted at Wittenberg in 1517. Luther's persistence in this belief, and in his long battle with Church leaders?embellished by rich historical background?make Marty's biography riveting reading. Luther's obdurate yet receptive stance, so different from the travestied image of ?fundamentalism? we currently face, restored the balance between religion and the individual. "Martin Luther" is at once a fascinating history, a story of immense spiritual passion and amazing grace, and a superb intellectual biography.

    Matthew Shares with us astonishing words of Jesus: a promise of everlasting happiness, far removed from the usual recipes for gratification. Blessed are the poor in spirit! Blessed are those who mourn! Happy are the meek!... Fr. Jacques shares with us a profound clarity to the full scope of meaning behind Christ's eight beatitudes, and in turn, outlines for us a way in which we can live them in our daily lives. We learn how each beatitude gives insight into how we can situate ourselves in an honest and fulfilling relationship with God, with oneself, and with others, and how to confront head-on the difficult realities of life. Author Bio Fr. Jacques Philippe is a member of the Community of the Beatitudes, founded in France in 1973. After studying in Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Rome, he was ordained a priest in 1985. He primarily devotes himself to spiritual direction and preaching retreats internationally, and his published books on spirituality are the consolidated result of such work. His books Real Mercy, Interior Freedom, Fire & Light, and Thirsting for Prayer, among others, are also available from Scepter.

    Today we live with a false separation between sacred and secular that was never meant to be. Work, paying bills, changing diapers . . . when Jesus enters any situation He makes even the most mundane things extraordinary.Bored enlivens this truth as author Michael Kelley uses the narrative of Saul's rise to kingship in the Old Testament to make his fine point: we can give ourselves to ordinary life -- parenting, marriage, work, etc. -- because we fully believe in God's presence and power within those situations. They are no longer boring but important.See every relationship, every act of kindness, and every moment for what it is: a part of God's exciting plan for your life.

    Instead of surviving your days, you savor each moment. Every hour you feel dazzlingly aware of God's love and presence. Join Margaret Feinberg for this 52-week devotional that's like reading a treasured letter from a longtime friend. Through her winsome stories and heart for Scripture's healing beauty, you'll discover deep encouragement on every page. Beautiful coloring pages beckon you to slow down and reflect on Scripture.Plant yourself in the depths of God's love.Grow in courage through persistent and consistent prayer.Blossom in freedom by facing the fears that hold you back.No matter what you've been through or what you're facing, God longs for you to thrive.A lush life awaits. Are you ready to flourish?

    2761). Catholics pray the Lord's Prayer whenever they worship at Mass and say the Rosary, and other Christians pray it frequently as well. Join Scott Hahn (accompanied by St. Cyprian, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Augustine) as he unlocks the riches of the Lord's Prayer.

    These excerpts from sermons and letters contain his personal and faithful words about the crucifixion and the power of the cross for all Christians. Meditations on the Cross is ideal for devotional reading and personal reference.

    In 2006, Pope Benedict stressed that "Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion, but an integral dimension of Christian faith and prayer." Now Pope Francis has proclaimed an extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will begin on December 8, 2015. These three Popes have made it very clear that Divine Mercy is a major part of the Christian faith, and now this powerful new book reveals why.Best-selling author Vinny Flynn continues his popular "7 Secrets" series with a book that brings him back to his roots. Vinny was one of the original editors of the official English edition of the actual Diary of St. Faustina, and he has written and edited a vast number of the Divine Mercy materials that are used today.Through his "secrets" of Divine Mercy, Vinny shows how Divine Mercy is not just another worthy "private devotion"; it is the key devotion, the umbrella devotion over everything else. Every other devotion in the Church, every ritual, every activity, every teaching is under that umbrella of Divine Mercy. It’s all there to help us understand and enter into Divine Mercy. He shows us how everything in our lives can become more meaningful, more powerful, more life-changing once we really embrace the gift of Divine Mercy — the overflow of love from the Holy Trinity.In this compelling and timely book, Flynn draws from Scripture, the teachings of the Church, and the Diary of St. Faustina to not only reveal the heart of Divine Mercy, but to offer you an invitation and a road map so that this mercy can transform your life.If you're not yet convinced of the impact Divine Mercy can have on your life, if you've never heard of this message and devotion, or if you're curious to learn more about it, this book is perfect for you. It shows us all how to respond to the call of Pope Francis "to live lives shaped by mercy", and benefit greatly from the "Year of Mercy".

    Smith, went quickly from its #1 spot on radio playlists to a cherished place in hearts, homes, and worship services everywhere. Now the words that millions have been singing will bear fresh fruit as one of Christianity's most insightful and trusted authors personalizes the biblical truths in each phrase of the song.

    In a moment of desperation, he cries out for God to show up and surprise him, and over the next year, God doesn't disappoint.In Jesus is Better Than You Imagined, Jonathan shares vulnerable, never-before-shared stories of how he learned to encounter Jesus in unexpected ways. Through a 60-hour vow of silence in a desert monastery, he experiences Jesus in silence. When a friend dies of a rare disease, he sees Jesus in tragedy. Through confronting childhood sexual abuse, Jonathan discovers Jesus in honesty. In an anti-Christian-themed bar, he finds Jesus in sacrilege. And when he's almost kidnapped in Haiti by armed bandits, he experiences Jesus in the impossible.Though Merritt finds himself in places he never dreamed of, he doesn't lose his way. Instead, these experiences force him back to the Bible, where he repeatedly offers fresh, sometimes provocative, interpretations of familiar passages. Along the way, he throws back the covers on the sleepy faith of many Christians, urging them to search for the Holy in their midst.Pointed and poignant by turns, Jonathan helps readers open their hearts to a mysterious God and a faith that sustains, guides, and most importantly, surprises. His fearlessly honest story invites us all to discover the messy mercy and crazy grace of a sometimes startling Savior.

    As he shares God's answers, he shows readers how they too can take hold of the incredible power of prayer.

    That evening, he asked his sister to smuggle in a bottle of gin, and gave in to addiction.But whether or not you've ever had a drop to drink in your life, we're all looking for ways to stop the pain. Like Seth, we're all seeking balms for the anxiety of what sometimes seems to be an absent, unresponsive God—whether it's through people-pleasing, shopping, the internet, food, career highs, or even good works and elite theology. We attempt to anesthetize our anxiety through addiction—any old addiction. But it often leaves us feeling even more empty than before.In Coming Clean, Seth Haines writes a raw account of his first 90 days of sobriety, illuminating how to face the pain we'd rather avoid, and even more importantly, how an abiding God meets us in that pain. Seth shows us that true wholeness is found in facing our pain and anxieties with the tenacity and tenderness of Jesus, and only through Christ's passion can we truly come clean

    Gorman takes the apostle seriously, as someone who speaks for God and to us. After an overview not only of Paul's radical transformation from persecutor to proclaimer but also of his letter-writing in the context of Paul's new mission, Reading Paul explores the central themes of the apostle's gospel: Gorman places special emphasis on the theopolitical character of Paul's gospel and on the themes of cross and resurrection, multiculturalism in the church, and peacemaking and nonviolence as the way of Christ according to Paul. Gorman also offers a distinctive interpretation of justification by faith as participation in Christ--an interpretation that challenges standard approaches to these Pauline themes. Reading Paul demonstrates that the apostle of faith, hope, and love speaks not only to our deepest spiritual needs but also to the challenging times in which we live. Endorsements: ""This splendid introduction to the Apostle Paul is the best book of its kind: concise, wise, insightful, thoroughly conversant with the best recent scholarship yet thoroughly clear and readable. Against the numerous distorted preconceptions that occlude our reading of Paul, Gorman brilliantly sketches a picture of Paul's gospel as a gracious, world-transforming message of peace and reconciliation. I will assign this as required reading for students in my introductory New Testament course and put it in the hands of as many pastors and laypeople as possible."" --Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament, The Divinity School, Duke University ""I once had the chance to meet a famous person of whom I was in awe. We met through a mutual friend who was able to coach me on how to better understand this person and not be so nervous around him. That's what Michael Gorman can do for people who want to get introduced to the apostle Paul. As someone who has gotten to know Paul by deeply immersing himself in Paul's writings for many years, Michael can be the mutual friend who orients you and helps you relax in the presence of a truly awe-inspiring person. For committed lay people to seminary students and pastors, this well-written and intelligent book will become a standard resource for reading Paul."" --Brian McLaren, author of A Generous Orthodoxy ""Michael Gorman has given us an extraordinary gift. He has written an eminently readable introduction to Paul's message that neither diminishes the apostle's practical wisdom nor domesticates it. He communicates the profound depth of Paul's thought in ways that are as inviting as they are challenging. Reading Paul is that rare book that deserves the widest possible readership."" --Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary ""Michael Gorman, already established as a perceptive and creative interpreter of Paul's letters, now offers us a user-friendly introduction to Paul the person. Gorman's book aptly fulfills the Companions series goal. He makes Paul our contemporary 'companion' by introducing major themes from Paul's letters in such a personal way. I warmly recommend this book to pastors, seminarians, and anyone interested in getting to know Paul better!"" --Fr. Ronald D. Witherup, SS, Provincial Superior of the U.S. Province of Sulpicians ""Reading Paul well means reading Paul specifically as Christian Scripture, 'the voice of God speaking to us, ' to use Michael Gorman's phrase. In this book, Gorman not only reads Paul well, he exemplifies a passion for helping others in the Church to do so. He elegantly weaves historical, social, and political aspects of Paul's context into a powerful theological reading of the apostle's letters that reverberates with contemporary implications for the church in North America. His lucid expo

    I couldn’t put it down.”—Todd Harper, President of Generous Giving "As I read Gospel Patrons, I found myself weeping for joy. I was inspired by the men and women who invested their resources, influence, and time to strategically partner with those who were sharing the good news of Jesus Christ."—Howard Dayton, Founder of Compass-finances God’s way"Gospel Patrons is one of the most important books I have seen this year! It's 100 years overdue and these untold stories urgently need to be told today."—George Verwer, Founder of Operation Mobilization“The Gospel Patrons in this book were men and women who added the catalytic spark to enable astounding works of God.”—Bob Shank, Founder of The Master’s Program"This is a great read! I love the way these stories paint a picture of stewarding relationship, affluence and influence to lay up treasure in heaven."—David Wills, President of the National Christian FoundationThis book tells three stories of Gospel Patrons whose generosity was a catalyst for great movements of God. Their examples invite us to:•Find our parts to play in God's kingdom• Give our lives to what matters most• Live for a lasting legacyFor discounted pricing on bulk orders, please visit: gospelpatrons.com

    Not in our school system, not in our synagogues, and not in our media. Nor do we have easy access to the New Testament. Jesus has been studiously avoided, and hidden from our people. Today in Israel, 99.7% of the Jewish population, reject Jesus as the Messiah. How did our country, where the gospel first took place, come to be so adamantly against it? Within Judaism over the last two millennia, any kind of spiritual message had to go through the “gate keepers”, the Orthodox Jewish Rabbis. The Rabbinic Judaism of the Orthodox comes directly from the sect of the “Pharisees”, whom Jesus rebuked: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” (Matthew 23:13) Ever since the days of Messiah, the Rabbis have set themselves in opposition to the gospel, blocking the message of Jesus from Israel. They deliberately prevent Jewish people from hearing about the free salvation offered to them in the death and resurrection of their own Jewish Messiah. They have gone to great lengths to conceal Jesus, and keep him the best kept secret in Judaism., keeping our people in spiritual darkness. But now the secret is out! After almost 2000 years, Jesus, or as we call him in Hebrew, Yeshua, can no longer be hidden from the people! Today, our ministry, ONE FOR ISRAEL, reaches Jewish and Arab Israelis exactly where they are – online. We no longer need the rabbis’ permission for anything. We can go straight into the smartphones, tablets, and computers of every Israeli, sharing the saving good news of Yeshua the Messiah! In the past, the message of the gospel came to Israel from outside our borders, delivered by people who didn’t understand our language, our culture, our heritage or our way of thinking. Today the messengers look very different. Now it is Jewish and Arab Israelis who are bringing the gospel back to where it started – back to our own people Israel. We can explain the gospel to our people in a way that makes sense to them, in our own native tongues of Hebrew and Arabic as only Israelis can, and help our people understand who Yeshua really is. The Orthodox rabbis in Israel operate an “anti missionary” organization called Yad L'Achim, specifically to fight against the spread of the gospel among the Jewish people. This very well-funded organization, works very closely with the Minister of Interior in the Israeli government. They seek to prevent Jewish people from leaving the confines of Rabbinic Judaism by any means necessary (not always legally), and relentlessly persecute us, the Jewish believers in Jesus in Israel. With over 90% of the names, photos and addresses of all the Messianic Jews in Israel on file, Yad L’Achim began sending a magazine called “Searching” to the homes of believers in Israel back in 2014. The magazine contains objections and refutations from Orthodox rabbis about the messiahship of Jesus, the credibility of the New Testament, and trying to ridicule and destroy the belief in Jesus. This caused several Jewish believers, even including some who had been missionaries, to deny their faith in Jesus and revert to rabbinic Judaism. Over the past five years, I decided to go over all of their magazines, books and videos, in order to answer their arguments and prove their objections false. Since 2015 we have released about 150 short videos where we share the gospel and directly refute these rabbinic objections to Jesus, New Testament and Christianity.

    Everyone has a worldview, even atheists and skeptics, but only the Christian worldview is not self-contradictory.The Absurdity of Unbelief demonstrates why every possible reason for unbelief is irrational and ultimately meaningless by exposing the various self-refuting systems of thought in which these objections are rooted. 3 Cheers for The Absurdity of Unbelief! "Agnostics and atheists have been making a lot of noise in recent years, in spite of the fact that their belief systems are so obviously flawed. To counter their propaganda we need a flow of books exposing just how flimsy their arguments are. Jeffrey Johnson has chosen the word 'absurdity' to characterise these, and he has chosen well. Chapter by chapter he strips unbelief of any vestige of credibility, then shows with crystal clarity why the biblical case for God stands supreme when contrasted with all other philosophical and religious belief systems. I predict that this book will be as great a help to many of its readers as it has been to me, and I commend it warmly." —John Blanchard “A major strength of Jeffrey Johnson’s Absurdity of Unbelief is its step-by-step systematic approach. He explains what faith is (and is not), what factors drive us to adopt our beliefs, how to test them, fatal difficulties on all systems of thought not built on the foundation of Christ, grounds for holding to Christian theism, and a passionate call to faith in Jesus. Along the way he examines Christian and non-Christian thinkers and movements both ancient and contemporary, demonstrating that the principles underlying a biblical apologetic equally apply to all forms of unbelief. I plan on coming back to this book again and again.” —Joseph E. Torres "As Christians struggle to hold onto a semblance of sanity in the midst of the collapse of Western morality and thought, a sound foundation upon which to stand in explaining our unwillingness to bow the knee to Caesar is a must. In The Absurdity of Unbelief, Jeffrey Johnson provides a clear and compelling case for the Christian faith, readable and usable for believer and unbeliever alike." —James R. White The Absurdity of Unbelief will strengthen your understanding in the logic behind the Christian faith and arm you... ...by its exposure of the weak arguments held by non-Christian worldviews; ...in its clear and logical presentation, providing tools to bolster your witness as you contend earnestly for the faith in the midst of an unbelieving world; ...with thorough documentation, copiously citing books, notes, quotes and references for the most studious of believer in Christ’s Kingdom; ...yet, written with a pastor’s heart so every false philosophy exposed and every Biblical truth illuminated is easily accessed and applied to encourage and educate fellow believers as a textbook for Bible study or used simply as a ready reference to bolster your Christian witness. Grab Your Copy Today Available in trade paperback and Kindle eBook