It contains thirteen essays from some of today's best evangelical scholars including C. John Collins, Thomas Schreiner, Gordon Wenham, and Darrell Bock, and will help you to:See the big-picture storyline of the Bible Understand the theology of the Old and New Testaments Read the different sections of Scripture effectively Know what happened between the testaments In addition to essays on each genre of the Bible, the book addresses the general Greco-Roman world and specific Jewish groups at the time of the New Testament. To aid in putting Bible passages in context, it also includes timelines of the Old and New Testaments and intertestamental events.Useful as both a general overview of the Bible and as a tool for more specific reference and training, this book will help you grow in your understanding of Scripture and your ability to apply the Bible to life.

    Perfect.Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.”

    In many churches, the primary objective of the church discipleship of people into mature followers of Jesus has been outsourced to programs and large-scale efforts to train and teach. But is that happening? Are people growing in spiritual depth and missional determination?Twenty-five years ago, the leaders of Randy Pope s rapidly growing church took serious stock of their own spiritual development and realized all of them had benefitted from a personal discipleship relationship that had helped them grow in their faith and discover where God was calling them to service. As a church, they decided to make personal discipleship their do-or-die aim: applying one person s real life to another s to accomplish something far bigger than that single life. Perimeter calls their approach life-on-life missional discipleship and Insourcing tells their story.Randy Pope writes for church leaders who recognize the value of discipleship and need practical ideas for reorienting church ministries around personal discipleship. Readers will be encouraged that a wide scale personal discipleship program is attainable for any church."

    Miracles are fascinating, but what can you believe? In this careful, thoughtful exploration, an award-winning "Christianity Today" journalist offers straightforward answers on miraculous events today.

    In these warm reflections on his own growth as a witness to the faith, written in the final weeks of his life, Jack Miller tells how he learned to share Good News with others--and how you can too.

    Twenty-one brief, theme-based chapters squarely address the challenges each of us face as we pass through difficult times to take to the skies again. This book offers no pat answers or easy solutions, just the battle-tested wisdom of a woman who lived her greatest nightmare and came through it more convinced of God's grace than ever before.

    Take a deep whiff of what Bill, his wife Beni, and their friends Danny Silk, Kevin Dedmon, Banning Liebscher, Chris Overstreet, Judy Franklin, Eric Johnson and Paul Manwaring have brewed specially for you. The cappuccino-sized stories are guaranteed to lift your spirit and sooth your mind. Flavorful chapter titles include:Taking Captive Every Scary Thought Lifeguards Must Be Swimmers Too Stupid to be Loved Post-Katrina Miracles Faith Is Spelled R-I-S-K Are You a Chevette or a Lamborghini? As you sip through each chapter, relax in God’s presence, learn to listen to His voice, and follow His directions. God will take you into exciting new territory, and your explorations will not end with the final page of this enjoyable book.

    In Holy Subversion, Trevin Wax challenges such behavior by urging a return to the subversive lifestyle of the earliest Christians. Their proclamation and demonstration that "Jesus is Lord" directly opposed the Caesar worship of their day.Today, Christians in the West must choose between Jesus and our "Caesars" self, success, money, leisure, sex, power. What would it look like, asks Wax, if today's church reclaimed the communal, subversive nature of the gospel, intentionally undermining all contenders for our devotion? How would the message that "Jesus is Lord" change our thinking about our jobs, our families, and our church participation? Here this gifted pastor-theologian offers help in taking our faith public, dethroning modern-day Caesars, honoring the Lordship of Christ, and understanding the church as the ultimate counterculture-an embodiment of Christ's supremacy over all.

    Culture tells us that in order to be liked we must masquerade as someone other than who we are. So, we lacquer ourselves with credit cards and plastic surgery and status updates hoping no one will see the person underneath. This "veneer" allows us to silence our real selves as it gives voice to the alter ego we'd like others to see. But, is this all there is to life or have we been duped? Does material success equal significance? Is our only identity the one we steal from Hollywood? God's idea of humanity is altogether different from the world's. There is a way to live that sees beauty in our imperfection and, as Tim and Jason put it, once we realize this we can strip our veneers and live an unveneered life of freedom, honesty, and beauty.

    Drawn from a rich heritage, "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" will guide you through a carefully selected array of disciplines, including:Scripture readingPrayerWorshipScripture meditationEvangelismServingStewardship of time and moneyScripture applicationFastingSilence and solitudeJournalingLearningBy illustrating why the disciplines are important, showing how each one will help you grow in godliness, and offering practical suggestions for cultivating them, "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" will provide you with a refreshing opportunity to become more like Christ and grow in character and maturity.

    Some of us seek them out. But we are seldom ready the way Jesus seemed to be ready. So how do we draw others to God in the midst of these ordinary conversations the way Jesus did? In Speaking of Jesus, Carl Medearis draws on his experience of international reconciliation between Muslims and Christians to remind us of the heart of the matter: Jesus. Here he gives us tools, stories, and the foundation we need to move beyond “us” and “them” and simply talk about the One who changes it all. As Carl writes, “While others are explaining and defending various isms and ologies we’re simply pointing people to our friend. The one who uncovers and disarms. Who leads people right to himself. The beginning and the end of the story. A good story indeed.”

    Primarily, a dichotomy exists between naturalists who deny the supernatural and insist upon scientific explanations for all accounts, and mystics who attribute every unusual sighting to paranormal activity. The common thread is that both sides attempt to fit the unknown into their own paradigm.People everywhere are looking for honest answers. As believers, we have another mandate. We do not simply find an idea or train of thought that is suitable to our sensibilities. We neither shy away from the supernatural because it is unsettling nor condemn scientific explanations for their lack of spirituality. Rather, we search for truth.In Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men, the authors have initiated a search for truth to answers about UFO sightings and extraterrestrial life. Utilizing extensive scientific background and knowledge of the Scriptures, they approach questions like: -- Could life exist on other planets?-- If extraterrestrials exist, is it possible for them to travel to Earth?-- Should reports of alien contact and abductions be dismissed?When we have medical questions, we seek answers from qualified medical professionals. Likewise, when we have questions about UFO and extraterrestrial phenomena, we should seek answers from qualified sources. Authors Hugh Ross, Kenneth Samples, and Mark Clark have training and experience in the appropriate disciplines. They augment scientific and historical analysis with truths from God's Word to provide a balanced look at a controversial subject.

    Michael S. Heiser, a Scholar-in-Residence at Faithlife Corporation, presents fifteen years of research on what the Bible really says about the unseen world of the supernatural unfiltered by tradition or by theological presuppositions. People shouldn't be protected from the Bible, Dr. Michael S. Heiser says, but theological systems often do just that, by explaining away difficult or troublesome passages of Scripture because their literal meaning doesn't fit into our tidy systems.Who were the sons of God ? Who were the Nephilim? Where do angels fit into the supernatural hierarchy? Why did God find it necessary to have the Israelites destroy the populations of entire cities man, woman, and child? What relation does Jesus bear to the rest of the supernatural world? Dr. Michael S. Heiser tackles these questions and many more in his books Supernatural and The Unseen Realm.In both books, Dr. Michael S. Heiser shines a light on the supernatural world not a new light, but rather the same light the original, ancient readers and writers of Scripture would have seen it in.After reading these books, you won't be able to read the Bible in the same way again.Supernatural, What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World and Why it Matters presents this approach to reading and understanding scripture for the person in the pew. The Unseen Realm covers the same material but at a deeper, complex, and highly documented way, for pastors, the seminarian, or serious students of the Bible.

    . . left out, lonely, and less than.In Uninvited, Lysa shares her own deeply personal experiences of rejection—from the perceived judgment of the perfectly toned woman one elliptical over to the incredibly painful childhood abandonment by her father. She leans in to honestly examine the roots of rejection, as well as rejection's ability to poison relationships from the inside out, including our relationship with God.With biblical depth, gut-honest vulnerability, and refreshing wit, Lysa will help you:• Stop feeling left out by believing that even when you are overlooked by others you are handpicked by God.• Change your tendency to either fall apart or control the actions of others by embracing God-honoring ways to process your hurt.• Know exactly what to pray for the next ten days to steady your soul and restore your confidence in the midst of rejection.• Overcome the two core fears that feed your insecurities by understanding the secret of belonging.Uninvited reminds us we are destined for a love that can never be diminished, tarnished, shaken, or taken—a love that does not reject or uninvite.

    Shalom is what the Kingdom of God looks like. Shalom is when all people have enough. It’s when families are healed. It’s when churches, schools, and public policies protect human dignity. Shalom is when the image of God is recognized in every single human.Shalom is our calling as followers of Jesus’s gospel. It is the vision God set forth in the Garden and the restoration God desires for every relationship.     What can we do to bring shalom to our nations, our communities, and our souls? Through a careful exploration of biblical text, particularly the first three chapters of Genesis, Lisa Sharon Harper shows us what “very good” can look like today, even after the Fall.   Because despite our anxious minds, despite division and threats of violence, God’s vision remains: Wholeness for a hurting world. Peace for a fearful soul. Shalom.