Showing titles in Theology

More than 500 years ago, 16th-century Reformer John Calvin was born—a theologian whose teachings set the stage for reformation of the church around the world. The modern world is in continual need of his Christ-exalting doctrine and vision of the Christian life. In 20 essays by leading Reformed pastors and scholars, this primer explores Calvin’s life, teaching, and legacy for a new generation. This book is a clarion call to Christians everywhere to take seriously the ongoing need of theological reformation across the globe.

Why is the third person in the Godhead - the one Jesus said would be the believer's ultimate source of truth and comfort - the source of such confusion? In The God I Never Knew, Robert Morris clearly explains that the Holy Spirit's chief desire is for relationship - to offer us the encouragement and guidance of a trusted friend. This insightful and biblically-based book moves beyond theological jargon, religious tradition, and cultural misconceptions to clarify what the Holy Spirit promises to do in your life.

"Sixty years ago I found myself distracted," Eugene Peterson writes. "A chasm had developed between the way I was preaching from the pulpit and my deepest convictions on what it meant to be a pastor."

And so began Peterson's journey to live and teach a life of congruence - congruence between preaching and living, between what we do and the way we do it, between what is written in scripture and how we live out that truth.

Nothing captures the biblical foundation for this journey better than Peterson's teachings over his 29 years as a pastor.

Until the mid-20th century, the heavens were the greatest show on Earth. Ancient people recognized the same constellations we do today, though they understood the signs behind those pictures in the sky in a way that's been lost to us – until now.

In their zeal for reform, early Protestant leaders tended to throw out Saint Benedict with the holy water. That is a mistake, writes Dennis Okholm, in Monk Habits for Everyday People. While on retreat in a Benedictine abbey, the author, a professor who was raised as a Pentecostal and a Baptist, observed how the meditative and ordered life of a monk lifted Jesus' teachings off the printed page and put them into daily practice. Vital aspects of devotion, humility, obedience, hospitality, and evangelism took on new clarity and meaning.

There is a quest going on to reduce Jesus to a mythic legend or to nothing more than a mere man. Scholars such as Elaine Pagels and James Tabor are using recent discoveries like the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas to argue that the Christ of Christianity is a contrived figure and that a different Christ—one human and not divine—is the "true" Christ. Both research professors, Bock and Wallace set out a vigorous defense of Christianity against a popular trend that they dub "Jesusanity", where Christ was simply a human teacher.

Bestselling author and native Israeli Amir Tsarfati’s mission is to help people around the world live with clarity and confidence in light of Christ’s soon return. With Any Day Now, he provides an alert that earth’s final days are drawing near. As you listen, you will explore the clues that suggest Christ's second coming could occur at any moment; examine Bible prophecy through the perspective of an Israeli, allowing you to better grasp the significance of what’s happening in the Middle East today; and embrace a spirit of expectancy, always ready for the Lord's return.

Warning! The truths contained in Gods and Thrones will forever change the way you read your Bible. This theological non-fiction work may prove to be one of the most significant books you've ever read, especially as it connects deep spiritual truths to your life as well as present-day global concerns. Gods and Thrones will pull back the veil on a number of deeply significant biblical mysteries: Have you ever wondered what in the world is wrong with of us? Don't worry, you really are seeing what you think you see! And billions around the planet share the same concerns.

When A. W. Tozer was a young preacher newly ordained into the ministry, he wrote a prayer that he published 30 years later under the title "The Prayer of a Minor Prophet." Fifty years after his death, Dr. Tozer's prophetic writings and sermons continue to deliver God's Word to His people. The test of a prophet is that his message transcends generations; even when he is gone, a prophet's message remains fresh and vital.

Follow one of the most revered saints in history as he embarks on an extraordinary journey through earthly trials, diabolical attacks, and heavenly triumphs. St. Benedict: Monk, Mystic, Exorcist is the riveting true story of one man's radical faith and spiritual battles in the ashes of the Roman Empire. Benedict of Nursia gave up a privileged life of nobility to seek solitude in a remote cave. After three years of wrestling with unseen forces and relying on the good will of strangers for sustenance, he emerged as a spiritual leader. Known as a man of miracles, visions, exorcisms, and ...

The supernatural realm permeates our natural world. Therefore, experiencing angels should be an everyday occurrence - we simply need to open our spiritual eyes to their reality and role in our lives. Learn how to increase your awareness of the angelic so you can work together with God's ministering spirits every day. Discover how readily accessible this supernatural lifestyle really is!

Pressure is rising. The global atmosphere is morphing as never before. It's time to pay attention to the warnings around us that point to inevitable catastrophes to come. Bible prophecy expert Ron Rhodes surveys 15 current trends that affect us on a worldwide, national, and personal scale - suggesting some inescapable consequences to our safety, rights, and way of life. You will see how the stage is being set for the end times.

When Thomas Aquinas addressed the best arguments against God in his masterwork, the Summa Theologica, he listed only two. The first was the problem of evil: How can God—who is perfectly good—exist alongside that which is against Him? His second: Is God needed to explain the world? Patrick Flynn presents the best arguments for God while also addressing the strongest objections. This book is destined to become the apologetic gold standard for defending classical theism against atheistic naturalism.

What Christian isn’t curious about heaven? Although heaven is discussed extensively in the Bible, centuries of fictional characterizations of the afterlife have left most believers with an inaccurate picture of what heaven is really like.

What if the Christianity we were taught was similarly misrepresented? Within a few hundred years after the resurrection of Jesus, distortions began to creep into Christianity from the pagan belief systems which surrounded it. Over the course of hundreds of years, man-made doctrines have accumulated and warped the Christian faith so drastically many of its early believers would scarcely recognize it. The world’s most popular religion is a far cry from the message Jesus preached through villages and towns during his ministry.

Rebuilding the Real You, Jack Hayford's, landmark teaching on the Book of Nehemiah, unfolds a clear picture of the nature and work of the Holy Spirit assisting the believer in rebuilding life's broken places.

This is Leo Tolstoy's integration of the four biblical gospels into a single account of the life of Jesus. The Gospel in Brief is an intriguing fusion of biblical texts and Tolstoy's own religious views. Tolstoy explains that his goal is a “solution to the problem of life," not a theological or historical statement. He therefore ignores issues like Jesus' genealogy and divinity, focusing instead on the words and teachings of Jesus, stripped of what he regarded as the Church's distortions and focus on dogma and ritual.

Jim was never a religious man. When it came to matters of God and faith, he was ambivalent. But as he lay in the hospital bed, clinically dead for more than 11 hours, his consciousness was transported to the wonders of Heaven and the horrors of hell. When he returned to this world, he brought back the missing piece his soul had been longing for.

The Heart of the Artist will give you a better understanding of yourself and your unique place in the body of Christ. You'll find wisdom and encouragement that can help you survive the challenges and reap the rich joys of a ministry in the creative arts. Each chapter includes provocative questions for group discussion and personal action steps for individual application. Somewhere between pride and self-abasement lies true humility - just one aspect of the balanced character God wants to instill in you as a creative person involved in ministry.

The Insistence of God presents the provocative idea that God does not exist, God insists, while God's existence is a human responsibility, which may or may not happen. For John D. Caputo, God's existence is haunted by "perhaps," which does not signify indecisiveness but an openness to risk, to the unforeseeable. Perhaps constitutes a theology of what is to come and what we cannot see coming. Responding to current critics of continental philosophy, Caputo explores the materiality of perhaps and the promise of the world.