When the gospel is rightly declared and applied to God’s people, the church becomes “a creature of the Word.” She understands, embraces, and lives out the reality of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection in more than her doctrinal statement. The gospel impacts all the church is and does.Creature of the Word lays out this concept in full, first examining the rich, scripture-based beauty of a Jesus-centered church, then clearly providing practical steps toward forming a Jesus-centered church. Authors Matt Chandler, Eric Geiger, and Josh Patterson write what will become a center- ing discussion piece for those whose goal is to be part of a church that has its theology, culture, and practice completely saturated in the gospel.

    As a movement, it is clearly headed the wrong direction. And it is growing at an unprecedented rate.From the Word of Faith to the New Apostolic Reformation, the Charismatic movement is being consumed by the empty promises of the prosperity gospel. Too many charismatic celebrities promote a “Christianity” without Christ, a Holy Spirit without holiness. And their teaching is having a disastrous influence on a grand scale, as large television networks broadcast their heresies to every part of the world.In Strange Fire, MacArthur lays out a chilling case against the modern Charismatic movement that includes:Rejecting its false prophets.Speaking out against their errors.Showing true reverence to the Holy Spirit.Clinging to the Bible as the inerrant, authoritative Word of God and the one true standard by which all truth claims must be tested.

    In recent years, however, that picture of Jesus has come under widely publicized attack from sources ranging from critical scholars to Internet pundits to popular historians and others. The new portraits of Jesus seem persuasive. You can’t help but wonder … Did Christianity merely copy its beliefs from earlier mythology? Did the church suppress alternate gospels? Did Jesus never die on the cross or rise from the dead for sinners? Is the New Testament hopelessly riddled with errors? New York Times bestselling author Lee Strobel helps you separate truth from media hype, sound scholarship from bias, and fact from speculation. Digging below the surface, this book provides credible, informed answers to today’s most pressing questions about Jesus.

    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.

    K. Beale's monumental New International Greek Testament Commentary volume on Revelation has been highly praised since its publication in 1999. This shorter commentary distills the superb grammatical analysis and exegesis from that tome (over 1,300 pages) into a book more accessible and pertinent to preachers, students, and general Christian readers.As in the original commentary, Beale views Revelation as an integrated whole, as a conscious continuation of the Old Testament prophetic books, and shows that recognizing Revelation's nearly constant use of Old Testament allusions is key to unlocking its meaning. Interspersed throughout the volume are more than sixty sets of Suggestions for Reflection to help readers better grasp the relevance of Revelation to their lives and our world today."

    But we sometimes differ on how to relate the messages of the Old and New Testaments. Without a basic understanding of this crucial matter, it is difficult to know how to use the Testaments to formulate either doctrine or practice.For example: Was Israel the OT Church--are OT promises to God's national people fulfilled in the church today? Or, is Mosaic Law binding on believers now--are twentieth-century Christians to obey the Ten Commandments, including sabbath observance?In this book, thirteen noted evangelical theologians discuss, fairly but clearly, the continuity/discontinuity debate in regard to six basic categories: theological systems, hermeneutics, salvation, the Law of God, the people of God, and kingdom promises.Covering much more than the differences between Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism, this work of distinguished evangelical scholarship will fuel much profitable study and discussion.

    Murray explores the biblical passages dealing with the necessity, nature, perfection, and extent of the atonement, and goes on to identify the distinct steps in the Bible's presentation of how the redemption accomplished by Christ is applied progressively to the life of the redeemed.

    S. Lewis for the twenty-first century" in a feature on his first book, The Reason for God. In that book, he offered a rational explanation of why we should believe in God. Now, in The Prodigal God, he uses one of the best-known Christian parables to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation.Taking his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity, Keller uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable. Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way.Look out for Timothy Keller's latest book, The Songs of Jesus, coming from Viking on November 10, 2015.

    Today the church is awakening to the truth that ministry is not just the domain of clergy, but belongs to the entire body of Christ. God is moving her to complete her unfinished business of placing the ministry back in the hands of the people. Unfinished Business has played a pivotal part in helping the church reclaim ministry at the grassroots level. First published in 1990 as The New Reformation, it has become a classic resource for church life. Expanding on and updating the original material with fresh examples and references to eight key important movements, this new edition lays foundations for the church to move from: · Passive to active · Maintenance to mission · Clergy to people of God · Teacher/caregiver to equipping enabler Pointing us back to the church as an organism, not an institution, author Greg Ogden shows how each of us is called to help finish the Reformation’s unfinished business: expressing the priesthood of every believer practically in the church, the world, and all avenues of life.

    This book examines the five major schools of thought regarding biblical theology and handles each in turn, defining and giving a brief developmental history for each one, and exploring each method through the lens of one contemporary scholar who champions it. Using a spectrum between history and theology, each of five 'types' of biblical theology are identified as either 'more theological' or 'more historical' in concern and practice: Biblical Theology as Historical Description (James Barr) Biblical Theology as History of Redemption (D. A. Carson) Biblical Theology as Worldview-Story (N. T. Wright) Biblical Theology as Canonical Approach (Brevard Childs) Biblical Theology as Theological Construction (Francis Watson). andnbsp;A conclusion suggests how any student of the Bible can learn from these approaches.

    Hoekema discusses the implications of this theme, devoting several chapters to the biblical teaching on God's image, the teaching of philosophers and theologians through the ages, and his own theological analysis. Suitable for seminary-level anthropology courses, yet accessible to educated laypeople. Extensive bibliography, fully indexed.

    This translation of Luther's treatise brings alive the social, historical, and ecclesial context of Luther's treatise.

    Created by a diverse team of 95 leading Bible scholars and teachers--from 9 countries, nearly 20 denominations, and 50 seminaries, colleges, and universities--the ESV Study Bible features a wide array of study tools, making it a valuable resource for serious readers, students, and teachers of God's Word.Features:Size: 6.5- x 9.25- 9-point Lexicon type (single-column Bible text); 7-point Frutiger type (double-column study notes) 2,752 pages Black letter text Concordance Extensive articles 240 full-color maps and illustrations Smyth-sewn binding Lifetime guarantee Packaging: J-card (HC), clamshell box (TruTone and leather), permanent slipcase (cloth over board)

    Avoiding the trap of over generalization, he gives a fair and honest look at dispensational theology with a gracious spirit. He points out why the dispensational theology is flawed and, ultimately, incorrect from the Scriptures, and is careful to observe the distinction between classic and progressive dispensationalism. There is no doubt that Dispensationalism is fatally flawed, but Poythress manages to avoid confontational language and attitudes towards those who hold this belief.

    I. Packer's classic has been an important tool to help Christians around the world discover the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God. In 2006, Christianity Today voted this title one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals. This edition is updated with Americanized language and spelling and a new preface by the author. Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two important facets of the Christian faith: 1. Knowing about God and 2. Knowing God through the context of a close relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Written in an engaging and practical tone, this thought-provoking work seeks to transform and enrich the Christian understanding of God. Explaining both who God is and how we can relate to him, Packer divides his book into three sections: The first directs our attention to how and why we know God, the second to the attributes of God and the third to the benefits enjoyed by a those who know him intimately. This guide leads readers into a greater understanding of God while providing advice to gaining a closer relationship with him as a result.