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 How many times have you tried to change a behavior only to find yourself doing the same thing again? Do these phrases sound familiar? "There I go again!" "I've had this struggle for years, and I just can't seem to win." "I do okay for awhile, but then I get caught in the same old sin." It's easy to be discouraged when we fall into the same old sins, but God, in the Bi…
Outline: "Why has this happened to me? Where is God when I'm suffering?" If you've been harmed by another person, the shock, confusion, and grief can be disorienting and sometimes immense. How are you supposed to process what's been done to you? Where does God fit in? Psalm 10 is an anguished prayer that is filled with comfort and guidance for the sufferer. Here David Powlison shows us what it …
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 Prickly, defensive, nasty, volatile, withdrawn, miserable ...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 : "Not then, men and their moments. Rather, moments and their men." writes Erving Goffman in the introduction to his groundbreaking 1967 Interaction Ritual, a study of face-to-face interaction in natural settings. that class of events occurs during co-presence and by virtue of co-presence. The ultimate behavioral materials are the glances, gestures, positionings, and verbal statements t…
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 : IF YOU HAVE EVER purposely injured yourself, it may seem normal, even right. But if you haven't, it seems impossible to understand those who have. After all, don't living creatures avoid pain? Edward T. Welch writes this eye-opening and encouraging booklet assuming that you feel trapped in a cycle of self-injury or that you love someone who does. Welch helps loved ones to understand t…
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: DOMESTIC ABUSE How to Help Couples who publicly sit at peace in church pews can secretly be at war. How do you help the victim of domestic abuse? And doesn't the perpetrator of the violence also need our help? Three counselors reveal ways to clearly communicate God's grace to the victims of violence. They demonstrate how to minister with confidence and humility to the afflicted. They…
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 : WHAT HOPE IS THERE WHEN A LOVED ONE'SMARRIAGE IS ABUSIVE? One spouse seeking to control and dominate the other is a prevalent problem, and even Christian marriages are not safe from it. But how can counselors and concerned family and friends know how to approach it... or even recognize it? Experienced Christian counselor Darby Strickland demonstrates how to recognize and uncover oppre…
Outline : WHAT CHARACTERIZES YOUR MARRIAGE? Marriage is a place for sacrificial giving-so a spouse who uses it to gain power and control is violating God's design. If you are being oppressed, you are probably feeling isolated and alone.., but you're not alone. Scripture has much to say about your experience, your safety, and God's heart for you-he does not blame you for your suffering and does …
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 : Medical and Psychiatric Issues You are bored or stressed or hurt. Something is hard in life and you want a break. What do you grab for that you hope will protect, soothe, and comfort? Whatever it is shopping, overeating, drinking, drugs-promises relief, but never delivers. Instead, you are left feeling empty, anxious, guilty, and wanting more. David Powlison shares that God made us f…
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 : PEOPLE ARE COMPLEX. There is behavior that we see and motives that we don't. Behind the "what we do" of our lives is the "why we do it." Edward T. Welch challenges us to peer more closely into the "why." He insightfully reveals that, according to God's Word, the heart is the source of all human motivation. Our hearts contain motives such as - Pleasure - Happiness - Meaning - Power Co…
Outline: Men's Issues. Your cancer diagnosis comes as a surprise - and not a pleasant surprise. It is a hard and threatening jolt. Perhaps you are still in shock. Still trying to wrap your mind around the new reality of your diagnosis and what is means for your present and future. Is it possible to walk by faith on this difficult journey? David Powlison, speaking both as a counselor and as so…
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 : Resources for Personal Change Everyone has their own style of dealing with conflict. Some people try to win at all costs and will do or say anything to get their own way. Others hate conflict and will do or say anything to avoid or end it. Sadly, neither fighting nor avoidance leads to genuine peace or restored relationships. Is there a better way? Timothy S. Lane, pastor, counselor,…
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'…
Outline: Resources for Medical and Psychiatric Issues Everyone feels better some days than others-but some people struggle with exaggerated and unrestrained mood swings. These kinds of mood swings have come to beknown as mania, manic-depression, or bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is confusing and difficult both for those who struggle with it and for those who care for them, Edward T. Welch …
Of all the crises postmodernity continues or itself generates, the identity crisis tends to be considered symptomatic. The search for identity was an imperative in modernism, culminating in the literature of existentialist influence. In postmodernism, the individual’s cutting off from transcendence, the loss of essence and meaning of existence itself are no longer considered a tragedy. He tur…
Much attention has been drawn to Jacob Arminius’s (1560-1609) views on predestination, especially given the eventual rejection of those views by the Synod of Dort (1618-1619). However what some may not realize is that Arminius’s doctrine justification, especially as it relates to the role and function of faith, was also a source of contention. Historically Reformed theologians viewed faith …
Japan is one of the nations having an extensive historical culture, as well as the system of faith or religion. The existence of religion, as a part of their life, has been streaming from the ancient time (pre-modern) up to present. The implementation of their religious life is very unique and fascinating. Other remarkable issues is about the tight relationship among the religions especially Sh…
Outline: The biblical story begins and ends with God as king. Human beings rebel, however, rather than fulfill their royal calling to rule creation on behalf of their Sovereign - and the world became enslaved to the rule of a serpentine lord. In this volume of IVP Academic's Essential Studies in Biblical Theology, Stephen Dempster traces the themes of kingship and kingdom throughout Scripture, …
Outline : "The most important and, indeed, exciting bookon the resurrection to have emerged in half a century" In this book, Murray Rae explains that the resurrection is the turning point of history and the decisive clue to what is going on in the world. Rae investigates what it means to participate in the resurrection life made possible through encounter with the risen Lord.
Outline : HOW TO STUDYTHE OLD TESTAMENT FOR SIGNS OF CHRIST Since the majority of the Bible was written before Jesus's life and death on the cross, the Old Testament is often used for historical context and moral guidance alone. When studied in detail, however, we see how even the Old Testament reveals Christ as the center of God's plan for redemption. In this book, biblical scholar Vern S. Po…
Outline : Institutio Christianae Religionis, yang merupakan magnum opus John Calvin, terbitpertama kali pada tahun 1536 sebagai buku ringkas untuk menjelaskan iman Kristenyang alkitabiah dan mendasar. Sejak kemunculannya, Institutio menjadi buku yangmenentukan di dalam Reformasi dan pilar dari theologi Protestan dan segeraditerjemahkan ke dalam berbagai bahasa. Calvin memperluas isi Institutio …
Outline : Institutio Christianae Religionis, yang merupakan magnum opus John Calvin, terbitpertama kali pada tahun 1536 sebagai buku ringkas untuk menjelaskan iman Kristenyang alkitabiah dan mendasar. Sejak kemunculannya, Institutio menjadi buku yangmenentukan di dalam Reformasi dan pilar dari theologi Protestan dan segeraditerjemahkan ke dalam berbagai bahasa. Calvin memperluas isi Institutio …
Outline: New Testament introductions fall into two categories: those that emphasize the history behind the text through discussions of authorship, dating, and audience, and those that explore the content of the text itself. Few introductions weave the Old Testament into their discussions, and fewer still rely on the grand narrative of the Old Testament. But the New Testament was not written wit…
Tujuan penulisan artikel ini adalah untuk menjelaskan makna gambar Allah menurut Kejadian 1:26-28 dan implikasinya terhadap pengembangan Artificial Intelligence. Adapun metode penulisan yang digunakan adalah analisis kualitatif dengan metode hermeneutik. Adapun metode hermeneutik yang dugunakan ialah hermeneutik terhadap Alkitab sebagai salah satu komponen teologi dalam mempelajari penafsiran A…
This book is the fifth part of an original exposition of the book of Psalms, with a range of illustrative extracts and notes to help pastors prepare sermons. It covers Psalms 111 through 119.
The language of the first verse indicates that James is a letter, though there is little in the remainder of the text to lead one to think of James as a letter. Letters in the first-century Jewish and Christian worlds varied in substance (Romans, 2 Corinthians, 1-2 Timothy) and style (Romans, 1 Thessalonians, Hebrews), so one should not infer from James's substance, which is largely hortatory, …
These books are not commentaries. They assume no understanding of the original Bible languages, nor a high level of biblical knowledge. Verse references are marked in bold so that you can refer to them easily. Any words that are used rarely or differently in everyday language outside the church are marked in gray when they first appear, and are explained in a glossary toward the back. There, yo…
Almost five hundred years before Paul’s words called Stott to an evangelism which focused on our relationship with God, Romans changed two other men, in a way that would completely transform the church.........
Science is a living, organic activity, the meaning and understanding of which have evolved incrementally over human history. This book, the second in a roughly chronological series, explores the evolution of science from the advents of Christianity and Islam through the Middle Ages, focusing especially on the historical relationship between science and religion. Specific topics include technolo…
Modern AI research began on a summer programme at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, in 1956, when a group of academics and students set out to explore how machines could intelligently think.
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…
The chief concern of the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (BECNT) is to provide, within the framework of informed evangelical thought, commentaries that blend scholarly depth with readability, exegetical detail with sensitivity to the whole, and attention to critical problems with theological awareness. We hope thereby to attract the interest of a fairly wide audience, from the …