This meditation on the spiritual life has inspired readers from Thomas More and St. Ignatius Loyola to Thomas Merton and Pope John Paul I. Written by the Augustinian monk Thomas à Kempis between 1420 and 1427, it contains clear instructions for renouncing wordly vanities and locating eternal truths. No book has more explicitly and movingly described the Christian ideal:

    It's not that we don't want to be disciplined physically, mentally, and spiritually. The challenge seems too hard, and the motivation more about duty than desire. When it comes to our Christian walk, we don't want to be legalistic and just follow some set of rules. That's not what it's all about, right?Barbara Hughes answers with this encouraging reality: The true heart of spiritual discipline is a relationship with God. As you grow in that relationship, embracing your heavenly Father and his ways, you discover that discipline is your lifeline to him. It is how he gives meaningful shape to all the days of your life.The "dread" of a disciplined life will be replaced with desire and anticipation as you find that there is no greater purpose than loving Him in every moment, every activity, and every thought. Using poignant stories and faithful reminders, Barbara opens her own heart to help you find the joy of full surrender. Her honest and encouraging look at the Word of God reveals the keys to living a truly godly life. And to strengthen your walk day to day, she offers hymns and praise psalms for your devotional times, a long list of recommended books that will lift your spirits, and Bible study helps to remind you that you're not alone.

    In Jesus, the One and Only, Beth introduces them to an intimate Savior as they get a close-up and personal portrait of the life of Jesus the Messiah.But this is far more than just a work on the life of Christ. As He has done in the past, God uses Beth’s words to woo the reader into a romance with the One and Only. The reader comes to know Christ personally, watching and listening as He breaks up a funeral by raising the dead, confronts conniving religious leaders of His day, teaches on a Galilean hillside, or walks on the waves and calms the storm.

    Those who perserved the ancient tradition rejected the second temple, and longed for the restoration of the original, true temple and the faith of Abraham and Melchizedek, the first priest-king. In this fascinating discussion, the author refutes the scholarly assumption that crucial Christian concepts, such as the Trinty, the earth as a reflection of heaven, and the cosmic nature of the atonement, are informed by Greek culture. Rather, she argues, they are drawn from the eclipsed faith of the first temple. '[Margaret Barker's] interpretation of temple theology should not be ignored by anyone in Judaism and the origins of Christian faith.' John McDade, Principal of Heythrop College, University of London.

    He reflects on the power of the Trinity in our lives, the meaning of knowledge, the importance of spiritual disciplines and much more. Dallas Willard offers poignant thoughts about what it will be like to transition into the very presence of Christ in heaven. This book is adapted from the talks given at the February 2013 Dallas Willard Center "Knowing Christ Today" conference in Santa Barbara, California. Each chapter is followed with an illuminating dialogue between Dallas Willard and John Ortberg. The book closes with the theme of offering a blessing to one another. These reflections form an apt conclusion to Dallas Willard's public ministry. It is a gift of grace. A conversation guide written by Gary W. Moon is included. Also available is the companion Living in Christ's Presence DVD.

    These concrete pictures with their hidden force have struck sharp and lasting impressions on our minds. Their imprint has etched itself on the language and grammar of Christian faith and Western culture. Why then do traditional Bible dictionaries and reference works offer so little help to explorers of the Bible's galaxy of verbal pictures? They excel in describing the climate, borders and location of Galilee or Sinai. But they are often blind to the artistic expressions and deaf to the musical meanings that echo from within the world of the biblical text. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is the first contemporary reference work dedicated to exploring the images, symbols, motifs, metaphors and literary patterns found in the Bible. More than that, it examines the Bible's universal archetypes or master images--including the plot motifs and character types that recur throughout life, literature and the Bible. This unique dictionary explores the dazzling variety in which the Word of God comes dressed in clothes of everyday life. It traces the trail of images from Eden to the New Jerusalem. It captures the plotted patterns of biblical narrative. It surveys the imaged texture of each book of the Bible. In short, The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is an inviting, enlightening and indispensable companion to the reading, study, contemplation and enjoyment of the Bible.

    The two major sections of the book deal with inaugurated eschatology (the "already") and future eschatology (the "not yet"). Detailed appendix, bibliography, and indexes.

    But should we accept them as historically accurate? What evidence is there that the recorded events actually happened?Presenting a case for the historical reliability of the Gospels, New Testament scholar Peter Williams examines evidence from non-Christian sources, assesses how accurately the four biblical accounts reflect the cultural context of their day, compares different accounts of the same events, and looks at how these texts were handed down throughout the centuries. Everyone from the skeptic to the scholar will find powerful arguments in favor of trusting the Gospels as trustworthy accounts of Jesus's earthly life.

    A force that is both fierce and majestic. A power that is nothing short of furious.Such is God's intense, consuming love for His children. It's a love that knows no limits, and no boundaries. A love that will go to any lengths, and take any risks, to pursue us.Renowned author and ragamuffin Brennan Manning presents a love story for the brokenhearted. For those who are burdened by heavy religion. For those who feel they can never measure up. It is a provocative and poignant look at the radical, no-holds-barred love of our Heavenly Father. It is a message that will forever change how you view God.

    Without bogging down readers with technical terminology, Burridge brings to bear his research comparing the Gospels with classical biographies and offers a clear interpretation of each Gospel author's portrait. A striking feature is his use of the ancient symbols for the Gospels -- human face, lion, ox, and eagle -- to represent each book's unique picture of Jesus. This second edition incorporates the latest scholarship on the historical Jesus, a new section on how the Gospels have been read throughout history, and an expanded discussion of how to teach and preach the Gospels through the lectionary. Burridge also tackles the question of how these ancient writings bear on today's hot-button issues of unity and diversity. Four Gospels, One Jesus? will be appreciated by teachers, pastors, students, and other readers wanting to understand Jesus more fully. " Praise for the first edition: " ""A rare merger of the very best of modern biblical scholarship with a readable and engaging telling of the Gospel portraits of Jesus particularly aimed at a popular audience." -- Anglican Theological Review " ""A fine introduction to the distinctive portrait of Jesus provided by each of the Gospels. . . . Should prove to be a very helpful window into Gospel scholarship for many readers." -- Reformed Theological Review " ""An engaging approach to reading each Gospel as a unique portrait of Jesus." -- Toronto Journal of Theology "

    Palmer Robertson presents the richness of a covenantal approach to understanding the Bible. He treats the Old Testament covenants from a successive standpoint--that each covenant builds on the previous one.

    In the more than eight decades since Hastings our understanding of Jesus, the Evangelists and their world has grown remarkably. New interpretive methods have illumined the text, the ever-changing profile of modern culture has put new questions to the Gospels, and our understanding of the Judaism of Jesus' day has advanced in ways that could not have been predicted in Hasting's day. But for many readers of the Gospels the new outlook on the Gospels remains hidden within technical journals and academic monographs. The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels bridges the gap between scholars and those pastors, teachers, students and lay people desiring in-depth treatment of select topics in an accessible and summary format. The topics range from cross-sectional themes (such as faith, law, Sabbath) to methods of interpretation (such as form criticism, redaction criticism, and death of Jesus) to each of the four Gospels as a whole. Some articles--such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic traditions and revolutionary movements at the time of Jesus--provide significant background information to the Gospels. Others reflect recent and less familiar issues in Jesus and Gospel studies, such as divine man, ancient rhetoric and the chreiai (aphorisms). Contemporary concerns of general interest are discussed in articles covering such topics as healing, the demonic and the historical reliability of the Gospels. And for those entrusted with communicating the message of the Gospels, there is an extensive article on preaching from the Gospels. TheDictionary of Jesus and the Gospels presents the fruit of evangelical New Testament scholarship at the end of the twentieth century--committed to the authority of Scripture, utilizing the best of critical methods, and maintaining dialog with contemporary scholarship and challenges facing the church.

    Paul David Tripp and Timothy S. Lane collaborate to expose the heart issues at stake and help people to make real, lasting change. These answers, the authors assert, lie in appropriating the fullness of the grace and freedom of Jesus in new ways that offer radically more hope than conventional models.

    As the youngest-ever op-ed columnist for The New York Times and the author of the critically acclaimed books Privilege and Grand New Party, Ross Douthat has emerged as one of the most provocative and influential voices of his generation. Now he offers a masterful and hard-hitting account of how American Christianity has gone off the rails — and why it threatens to take American society with it.In a story that moves from the 1950s to the age of Obama, Douthat brilliantly charts traditional Christianity’s decline from a vigorous, mainstream, and bipartisan faith — which acted as a “vital center” and the moral force behind the Civil Rights movement — through the culture wars of the 1960s and 1970s down to the polarizing debates of the present day. He argues that Christianity’s place in American life has increasingly been taken over, not by atheism, but by heresy: Debased versions of Christian faith that breed hubris, greed, and self-absorption. Ranging from Glenn Beck to Eat Pray Love, Joel Osteen to The Da Vinci Code, Oprah Winfrey to Sarah Palin, Douthat explores how the prosperity gospel’s mantra of “pray and grow rich”; a cult of self-esteem that reduces God to a life coach; and the warring political religions of left and right have crippled the country’s ability to confront our most pressing challenges, and accelerated American decline.His urgent call for a revival of traditional Christianity is sure to generate controversy, and it will be vital reading for all those concerned about the imperiled American future.

    Howard Marshall. Founded on a sure-footed mastery of the data and constructed with clear thinking lucidly expressed, this long-anticipated New Testament theology offers the insights born of a distinguished career of study, reflection, teaching and writing on the New Testament. Marshall's New Testament Theology will speak clearly to a broad audience of students and nonspecialists. But even on the most familiar ground, where informed readers might lower their expectations of learning something new, Marshall offers deft insights that sharpen understanding of the message of the New Testament. Here is a New Testament theology that does not succumb to the fashion of settling for an irreconcilable diversity of New Testament voices but argues that "a synthetic New Testament theology is a real possibility. Beginning with the Gospels and Acts, proceeding to each of Paul's letters, focusing then on the Johannine literature and finally looking at Hebrews and the remaining general epistles, Marshall repeatedly stops to assess the view. And gradually he builds up a composite synthesis of the unified theological voice of the New Testament. On the way toward this synthesis, Marshall highlights clearly the theological voices of the individual New Testament books. Thus, his New Testament theology serves also as a sort of introduction to the New Testament books, making it double as an attractive complement to book-by-book introductions to the New Testament. Here is a New Testament theology that will not only guide students and delight teachers but also reward expositors with a lavish fund of insights for preaching.