Outline : "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." MATTHEW 11:28 Christians know what Jesus Christ has done-but who is he? What is his deepest heart for his people, weary and faltering on their journey toward heaven? Jesus said he is "gentle and lowly in heart." This book reflects on these words, opening up a neglected yet central truth about who he is for sin…
Outline : Peer pressure, codependency, shame, low self-esteem-these are just some of the words used to identify how people are controlled by others' opinions. Why is it so important to be liked? Why is it so important to be liked? Why is rejection so traumatic? Edward T. Welch's insightful, biblical answers to these questions show that freedom from others' opinions and genuine, loving relations…
Outline : When life becomes difficult-when we face deep disappointment, agonizing loss, or on-going pain-we set out on a search to find answers to significant questions: Why would God allow this to happen? What good could come out of this? What will it look like to trust him? In this collection of insightful essays and excerpts, classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers-ranging fr…
Outline: How do you feel about how you feel? Our emotions are complex. Some of us seem able to ignore our feelings, while others controlled by them. But most of us would admit that we don't always know what to do with how we feel. The Bible teaches us that our emotions are an indispensable part of what makes us human - and play a crucial role in our relationships with God and others. Exploring …
Outline : Can you be both good and angry? In this groundbreaking book, David Powlison reframes the universal problem of anger through an in-depth exploration of God's anger and ours. Full of practical help for all who struggle with how to respond when life goes wrong, Good and Angry sets readers on a path toward the faithful and fruitful expression of anger.
Outline : YOUR BATTLE AGAINST PORNISN'T ABOUTPORN. IT'SABOUT HOPE. Pornography may seem inescapable, but God can free us from its destructive power. The gospel replaces the dehumanizing lies of pornography with this surprising truth: God created us as royalty. How then can we reclaim our God-given identity to take a stand against-and ultimately starve-the predatory porn industry? In The Death …
Outline : If you have experienced anxiety or depression, you may have asked yourself, Why am I feeling like this? You are not alone. Pastor and counselor David Murray introduces you to the personal accounts of eighteen teens who have struggled with different types of anxiety or depression. This guide will help you discover not only the common causes but also the keys to unlock their chains. By …
Outline: MONEY. THE THOUGHT OF IT CAN BE OVERWHELMING,AND THE PURSUIT OF IT CAN BE ADDICTING. Our society constantly promises us that money will provide what we want-success, comfort, peace, and happiness leading our fickle hearts to trust money for things it was never intended to give us. Even if we think we know what the Bible says about money, there seems to be a gap between our theology an…
Outline : Christianity at its heart is a therapeutic faith - a theocentric form of soul care. God's therapeutic agenda begins in the perfect triune communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who created human beings to flourish by participating in his glory. But human beings are now alienated from God and subject to different forms of psychopathology - sin, suffering, and biopsychosocial damage…
Outline : NO MORE HIDING Shame controls far too many of us. Worthless, inferior, rejected, weak, humiliated, failure...it all adds up to wishing we could get away from others and hide. We know what shame feels like. The way out is harder to find. Time doesn't help, neither does confession, because shame is just as often from what others do to you as it is from what you have done. But the Bible…
Outline : HUMANS ARE HARDWIRED FOR AWE. Our hearts are always captured by something-that's how God made us. But sin threatens to distract us from the glory of our Creator. All too often, we stand in awe of everything but God. Uncovering the lies we believe about all the earthly things that promise us peace, life, and contentment, Paul Tripp redirects our gaze to God's awe-inducing glory-showin…
Outline : Parenting can be a challenge. Sometimes it seems like all we do is give directions and all children do is disobey. How can we promote good behavior and a peaceful home without becoming harsh drill sergeant son the one hand or passive pushovers on the other? This book aims to help you better understand loving correction through clear steps and practical tips aimed at transforming not o…
Outline: Imagine ... an interconnected group of people who entrust themselves to each other. You can speak of your pain, and someone responds with compassion and prayer. You can speak of your joys, and someone rejoices with you. You can ask for help with sinful struggles, and someone prays with you. The goal of this book is that these meaningful relationships will become a natural part of daily…
Outline: C. S. Lewis excelled at plumbing the depths of the human heart, both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the corrupt. From science fiction and fantasy to essays, letters, and works of apologetics, Lewis has offered a wealth of insight into how to live the Christian life. In this book, Rigney explores the center of Lewis's vision for the Christian life-the personal encounter between…
Outline : "Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of bodyand spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." 2 CORINTHIANS 7:1 We all have experienced fear at some point. And if we are honest, we don't usually think of fear as a good thing. So why does the Bible call us to fear the Lord? In this book, Michael Reeves explains that the fear of God is not a gloomy fear marke…
Outline : "Faith is breathing in the oxygen of God's grace, giving life to my once-dead heart." PAUL DAVID TRIPP As breath is to the body, so faith is to the Christian life. Through 40 daily meditations from his best-selling devotional New Morning Mercies, popular author and speaker Paul David Tripp explores how deep-seated trust in God and his word radically alters not only the way we think, …
Outline : Jonathan Edwards is widely hailed as the greatest theologian in American history. In Edwards on the Christian Life, Dane Ortlund invites us to explore the great eighteenth-century pastor's central passion: God's resplendent beauty. Whether the topic was the nature of love, the preeminence of Scripture, or the glory of the natural world, the concept of beauty stood at the heart of Edwa…
Outline : Personal Change. Do you dread family get-togethers and try to avoid your extended family whenever you can? When you see your family, do you sometimes regret the way you talk and act? Why is it so hard to get along with the people we grew up with? Childhood hurts, unrealistic expectations, and old patterns resurfacing are just some of the reasons that Timothy S. Lane shares for unresol…
Outline : Resources for Personal Change. Everyone experiences hurt in relationships, but most of the time we are able to forgive and move on. But sometimes we experience a major hurt that lingers in our minds and leads to bitterness. We feel trapped by the resulting hostility, ongoing broken relationships, and inability to move on. Can you escape the sorrow and soul impoverishment that bittern…
Outline: Faithful Men "It's normal." "Everyone does it." "Nobody gets hurt." These are some commonly held beliefs about sexual fantasy and masturbation, but are they really true? Are sexual fantasies and masturbation harmless ways to dealing with sexual frustattion? Marriage and family counselor Winston T. Smith uses his counseling experience and biblical knowledge to show how these seemingly …
Outline: Parenting. If you are a single parent, you already know you have one of the hardest jobs in the world. Trying to be both dad and mom -- breadwinner, cook, chauffeur, comforter, dishwasher, homework helper, disciplinarian, nurse, and role model -- can wear down the hardiest man or woman. But do you know that God, in the Bible, offers words of grace, power, and hope especially for you?…
Outline: Personal Change. Prickly, defensive, nasty, volatile, withdrawn, miserable ... aren't these days when you fell surrounded by difficult people? How do you cope? You can try avoiding them, gossiping about them, or giving them a piece of your mind. But wait! Don't your reactions make you hard to love too? William P. Smith explains that learning how to deal with difficult people starts wi…
Outline : Parenting. When your child is anxious, it's easy to get anxious too. You want to help your child regain a sense of peace and safety, but how can you? This world is big and scary and sometimes our worries get big too. Julie Lowe, a skilled family counselor with more than twenty years of experience, guides parents in assessing their child's anxiety and gives practical ways to encourag…
Outline: WORRY. ANXIETY. PANIC. Does any problem hamper our lives more? It plagues us daily, draining our joy and exhausting our energy. It springs up suddenly, clouding our thinking and wrecking our relationships. Most of us have come to accept it, and even expect it... but do we have to? Biblical counselor Robert Jones brings hope for this common problem by demonstrating that it's also a solv…
Outline : Resources for Personal Change The damage you suffered may have been done in one terrible moment or over time. But the healing and the restoration will unfold at your pace, at a human pace. It unfolds as part of your story, and it unfolds over time. As a vulnerable child, instead of being protected, helped, and comforted, you were physically, emotionally, and/or sexually abused. Learn…
Outline : I hate it. I love it. Sometimes our desires can be cruel lovers. We think we should be rid of a particular desire, but we feel stuck. "What's the use in trying to rid my life of this desire?" we ask ourselves. "I've tried, but there's just no way out for me." Or is there? The problem may be more complicated than just being stuck. Might there be a path to true change? (If so, would …
Outline : Personal Change Often, in our busy world, our lives feel like one long "to-do" list. It's easy to get so busy that we don't even notice how exhausted and anxious we are. Do you find yourself saying yes to activities you don't have time for? Have you ever said, "If I don't do it, who will?" An overloaded schedule and an inability to rest are signs of approaching "burnout." Instead of …
Outline : Medical and Psychiatric Issues If you're struggling with a sexual addiction of any sort, you understand that feeling of being trapped, out of control, and afraid of being found out. No matter what you try, it seems impossible to break free from the lure of illicit sexual thoughts and practices. Author David Powlison encourages those who want to overcome their compulsive sexual behavi…
Outline : Parenting The kids are hungry, dinner is late, evervone's tired and on edge, and then it happens-you lose control and blow up at them again. Is losing control with our children inevitable in our busy world? Or is there a better way? Learn from William P. Smith a better way to relate to your children than with irritation, anger, and harsh words. Drawing on his counseling and parenting…
Outline: Marriage Anger...fear...despair...guilt...shame...when your marriage is broken by adultery, the core struggles of your heart are revealed. But although you and your spouse may be experiencing many of the same emotions, you are standing on opposite sides of a deep abyss-one of you has profoundly hurt the other. Is it possible to bridge the gap between you and heal your marriage? Robert…
Outline: Are you having suicidal thoughts and feelings? Perhaps you are convinced that life is not worth living. Your life seems hopeless, like a black hole with all love, hope, and joy sucked out. David Powlison describes the various reasons you might be feeling hopeless and explains that God is not surprised or put off by your feelings of despair. Your life is precious to God. He knows everyt…
Outline: Singleness You know you're in love-you always want to be together, and you think about each other all the time-but does that mean you're ready to get married? How do you decide if your relationship is strong enough for marriage? William P. Smith gives you a series of questions based on biblical principles that you can use to assess your relationship's strengths and weaknesses. Answeri…
Outline : Personal Growth Are you living under a cloud of guilt that you can't seem to shake no matter what you do? Do you feel guilty about everything, all the time? We all have different ways of dealing with our guilty feelings, but none of them work for very long. Timothy S. Lane explains that our strategies for dealing with guilt don't work because guilt is not just a bad feeling. It's a r…
Outline : Personal Growth If we're honest, most of us can remember eating more than we need, More often than we might care to admit, we finish a meal knowing we've had too much. Why do we push the limits of our food consumption? Does God have anything to say about this struggle? Counselor and physician Michael R. Emlet walks us through the many reasons we may overeat and reminds us of biblical…
Outline: Parenting. How do you blend two separate families into one house-hold? Family traditions, values, interests, and parenting styles are often so far apart that simple questions like, "Who takes out the trash?" or "Where shall we go for Christmas?" can quickly become flashpoints of conflict. Winston T. Smith provides a road map to the unique challenges that each member of a stepfamily f…
Outline: Resources for Personal Change Someone you know and love has died. You feel the emptiness and sorrow of loss. That alone is extremely hard. But suicide adds many other painful reactions to the heartache that death brings. Common reactions are feelings of anger, guilt, betrayal, and many, many unanswerable questions. This is one of life's broken, dark experiences in which you need help …
Outline: Someone you care about has been impacted by schizophrenia. Maybe you are just coming to terms with the diagnosis and wonder what it means for your loved one, for you, and for your family. What is the way forward? How do you live with hope and compassion in the middle of this struggle? Todd Stryd helps you, as a caregiver, to understand the effects of schizophrenia and offer compassiona…
Outline: Relationship Resources for Singles "If we're in love, what's wrong with having sex before marriage? Why should we be the only ones who wait?" If you have ever thought or said things like this, you have a lot of company. Many people believe that, at least in some circumstances, premarital sex is okay. But do you know what God says about this issue? Timothy S. Lane clearly explains God'…
A certain established orthodoxy has settled over scholarly thinking concerning the relationship between the Christian church and political freedom. Consider the work of the political philosopher John Rawls, who has exerted a towering impact on a generation of political scientists, philosophers, legal scholars, practicing lawyers, public policy professionals, and judges. Rawls often begins his t…
In God and Human Freedom: A Kierkegaardian Perspective Tony Kim discusses Sren Kierkegaard's concept of historical unity between the divine and human without disparaging their absolute distinction. Kim's central analysis between the relation of God and human freedom in Kierkegaard presents God's absoluteness as superseding human freedom, intervening at every point of His relation with the world…
Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905 1988) is one of the most significant and challenging of 20 th century theologians. His work remains highly influential within the Catholic Church; yet much of it is influenced by his encounter with and study of the great Protestant theologian Karl Barth. His writings, particularly the trilogy beginning with The Glory of the Lord, then the Theo- Drama and concluding …
Codex Bezae is a manuscript that has generally managed to provoke strong emotions. Bentley, with the Cantabrigian fervour which has not escaped the notice of Ernst Bammel, called it 'our Beza's'. Its script has been called crude, its spelling and accuracy lamentable. The scribe has been seen as a person with too much ink in his well, the transmitter - indeed the creator - of a text which he has…
Paul has provoked people as much in the twentieth century as he did in the first. Then, they sometimes threw stones at him; now, they tend to throw words. Some people still regard Paul as a pestilent and dangerous fellow. Others still think him the greatest teacher of Christianity after the Master himself This spectrum of opinion is well represented in the scholarly literature as well as the po…
Titus Flavius Clemens (c. 150–215), better known as Clement of Alexandria, remains a puzzling figure in the history of the Christian Church. Little can be confirmed about the setting in which he operated, and the controversy concerning the nature and purpose of his writings still attracts scholarly debate. Evidence surrounding the so-called ‘catechetical school’ at Alexandria is hard to c…
On the whole, the disappearance of Hell was a great relief, though it brought new problems.
A chronicle of the evangelical life, witten by a born-again Christian and former "60 Minutes" producer, seeks to bridge the gaps between believers and non-believers.
Thoroughly exploring the history of the conflict between Christians and Jews from medieval to modern times, this wide-ranging volume includes newly uncovered material from the recently opened post-Soviet archives. Anna Sapir Abulafia delineates controversial issues of inter-faith confrontation, and a number of eminent scholars from around the globe discuss openly and objectively the dynamics of…
This book argues from Scripture that godly fear is the opposite of being afraid of God or his punishment as if he were a tyrant. Instead, it is the intensity of the saints' love for, delight in, and enjoyment of all that God is.
Book covers and dust jackets frequently include endorsements by individuals who have read an advance copy of a volume. Often an endorsement will say to potential purchasers of the book that if they are able to read only one book on the subject with which the book is concerned, this is the book they should read. I was asked to write this foreword before I had received an advance copy of J. Harol…
An exploration of the relationship between the rise and development of a mystical element in Islam, known as Sufism, and the mysticism that was already to be found within the Christian Church of the Near and Middle East.