Look to Christ, the ultimate revelation of God. The letter to the Hebrews asks questions aimed at the heart of what it looks like for Christians to walk in Christ's footsteps. How should Christians relate to the Old Testament? What are we to make of the New Testament's urgent pleas to persevere in the faith? Can we really lose our salvation? How does Jesus model both humility in his humanity and the glory of God through his earthly life? These questions continue to be fiercely debated by Christians. The ancient letter to the Hebrews answers all by focusing on Christ's magnificent love and greatness. In Christ Above All, Adrio König puts readers in the shoes of the original audience of Hebrews and shows how, in a world full of competing claims to power and authority, Christ--in all his glory and humanity--really does surpass all others. In the Transformative Word series, you'll read the Bible with a global cast of church leaders and scholars. In conversational tone, contributors from around the world explain the importance of a biblical book, showing how it can transform your life.
Christ Is ALL! Join In the Joyful Awakening to the Supremacy of God's Son David Bryant condensed and updated with Richard Ross Christ is ALL! (condensed and updated) is not a rehash of old Sunday School lessons on the life of Jesus. Quite the opposite. Christ Is ALL! (CIA) opens a new point of departure for your walk with God's Son. It explores nothing less than the full scope of His supremacy. It does so in anticipation of, and preparation for, something almost too wonderful to hope: a fresh work of God's Spirit among God's people to enlarge our vision of the reigning majesty of God's Son. The promise is poised ... impending ... bearing down upon us. It is a God-given "Christ-awakening", meant for the whole Church, in every part. The Subtitles Tell The Story In 2003, New Providence Publishers (NPP) issued to wide acclaim David Bryant's Christ Is ALL! A Joyful Manifesto On The Supremacy of God's Son. Hardback, at nearly 470 pages, a Second Edition came out in 2005. Now, in 2010, NPP presents a "new revised version", a "reincarnation", as it were, of the original book in a 176 page paperback. Working with one of the nation's most respected trainers of youth workers, Dr. Richard Ross (professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth), David Bryant has condensed, remixed and updated his book. Originally written to train pastors and Christians leaders, this revised version specifically focuses its message on inspiring and equipping day-to-day Christians in every stream of the Church. Cutting out 300 pages, however, is not the most significant development in this process. The modified subtitle is! The original CIA was tagged "A Joyful Manifesto on the Supremacy of God's Son". But this revised CIA urges "Join the Joyful Awakening to the Supremacy of God's Son". Notice the shift? Frankly, its titanic. A decade ago, many parts of Christ's Body were sleeping through a major crisis, which Bryant called a "crisis of supremacy" (analyzed in chapters here, as well). To borrow Max Lucado's metaphor, too often Jesus was seen as a computer mouse, readily available to move the cursor across the screen to click-on whatever we needed next from God. I wrote my "manifesto" to help call the Church to re-engage with the active reign of Jesus-to wake-up to who He really is as God's Son, where He's leading in God's purposes and what He's doing with God's people, as well as across our land and among the nations. But things are changing. Today this revised CIA invites readers to expect, prepare for and even experience something so joyous no Jesus-follower would dare be left behind. Many call it a Christ-awakening defined as "God's Spirit using God's Word to re-introduce God's people to God's Son for ALL He is". Editors for The Economist magazine recently authored God Is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Is Changing the World. Similarly, this revised CIA might have been renamed: CHRIST IS BACK: The Awakening of the Church That Will Change the Nation and the World (and All of Us in the Process!). Except, of course... the Lord Jesus Christ is not "back". He never left! Christ is now. Ascended. Ruling. Redeeming. Triumphant. Moving sovereignly throughout His church. His reign is as undiminished in this hour as it will be the hour we stand before Him at the Climax, in the new heaven and earth. His irrevocable authority needs no re-instatement. Rather, it is many of us Christians who need restoration. It is the vision of our hearts that needs to replenished, re-conquered and re-commissioned in Him and for Him. More Than Meets The Eye: The CIA website However, there's more to the new, revised version than one might guess simply looking its cover. Because, behind this slim volume is a website packed with free resources to help Christians implement much of what David Bryant calls for. For example, when readers visit www.ChristIsAllBook.com, they can download a four-week CIA devotional guide, or a CIA small group discussion guide, or an audio book taken from parts of CIA, or they can access expanded commentary on each chapter in the book-and so much more. This dynamic interface between book and website offers a whole new opportunity for a life-changing reading experience. Also, orders can be placed there for major quantity discounts of the revised version, to encourage friends or even whole congregations. In addition, one can order a copy of the 470 page edition of Christ Is ALL!, still in print. Invitation The past seven years, many national Christian leaders have urged David Bryant to adapt Christ Is ALL! for a wider Christian audience. That has now become reality. This new CIA is not so much a "manifesto" anymore. Rather, it's more like an "invitation". An invitation to enter into something worthy of our whole hearts. An invitation to join a Christ-awakening movement already underway. An invitation to start celebrating, as a way of life, nothing less than the supremacy of God's Son for all He is, for you and for me, for now and forever. An invitation for us to do this together.
This striking collection -- presented in full colour -- includes some of the best contemporary Christian art from around the world and offers a moving journey through the life of Jesus. Christian art is a vibrant, inspiring and, above all, living tradition. The collection presented in this beautifully produced book testifies to the mission and talent of numerous artists worldwide. More than a 100 outstanding paintings and sculptures illuminate episodes in the story of Jesus. Short reflections accompany the images, adding to their relevance, enhancing their beauty and strengthening their power.
WINNER OF THE 2022 ECPA CHRISTIAN BOOK AWARD FOR NEW AUTHOR Healthy relationships across cultures are possible. Dr. Michelle Reyes takes a close look at the concept of cultural accommodation found in Scripture—and especially in the letter of 1 Corinthians—to redefine how Christians interact with cultural narratives that are different from their own. Christians—whose standard of living is oneness in Christ, whose gospel is radically nonexclusive—should be at the frontlines of justice and of cross-cultural unity. But many of us struggle to reach outside of our own cultural bubbles and form real relationships that move beyond stereotypes and lead to understanding, healing, and solidarity across cultural lines. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to reconcile our call to be united in Christ with a celebration of different cultural expressions? What are the reasons for cultural differences and how do they so often lead to stereotyping, appropriation, gentrification, racism, and other forms of injustice? What does the Bible say about human beings as cultural image bearers? How do we reevaluate our awareness of culture identity in a healthy and constructive way? These are just some of the questions that Dr. Reyes explores as she faces the challenges surrounding cross-cultural relationships in America today and her thoughts on the way forward. Spoiler Alert! The way forward does require willingness to change. It requires embracing cultural discomfort. But by engaging with this book, you will be empowered to learn how to become all things to all people—that is: how to reflect Jesus' love in a multicultural, multiracial body of Christ and to share that love with a hurting world.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From one of the world’s most influential spiritual thinkers, a long-awaited book exploring what it means that Jesus was called “Christ,” and how this forgotten truth can restore hope and meaning to our lives. “Anyone who strives to put their faith into action will find encouragement and inspiration in the pages of this book.”—Melinda Gates In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Is the word simply Jesus’s last name? Too often, Rohr writes, our understandings have been limited by culture, religious debate, and the human tendency to put ourselves at the center. Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God—except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us, and in everyone we meet. Thought-provoking, practical, and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.
The book consists primarily of interviews between Strobel (a former legal editor at the Chicago Tribune) and biblical scholars such as Bruce Metzger. Each interview is based on a simple question, concerning historical evidence (for example, "Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?"), scientific evidence, ("Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?"), and "psychiatric evidence" ("Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?"). Together, these interviews compose a case brief defending Jesus' divinity, and urging readers to reach a verdict of their own.
This book seeks to demonstrate that those references to Christ are found in all of the Sciptures. On the glorious resurrection morning Mary went to seek for Jesus. She sought Him in the tomb, but He stood beside her. She thought He was the gardener, but the one word "Mary " revealed to her her Saviour. As we read some passage in the Old Testament how often our eyes are holden, and we see only the earthly form: we see Aaron the priest, or David the shepherd, or Solomon the king; but if, like Mary, we are really seeking the Lord Jesus, He manifests Himself to us through the outward type, and we turn in glad surprise, and, looking up, say, " Rabboni " (lit. my great One). As we continue to seek, we find Him in the least expected places of the Old Testament, until the whole grows luminous with the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. "In the volume of the book it is written of Me." All the lines of history and type, of Psalm and prophecy, converge towards one centre Jesus Christ, and to one supreme event. His death on the Cross for our salvation. And from that centre again all the lines of history in the book of Acts, of experience in the Epistles, and of prophecy in Revelation radiate out once more to testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. After His resurrection our Lord not only "opened the Scriptures" to His disciples, but also "opened their under- standing that they might understand the Scriptures." He is ready to do the same for us. The same Holy Spirit who moved holy men of old to write the Scriptures, is close at hand to make the words life to our souls, by taking of the things of Christ and revealing them unto us. Of the books of the New Testament only a brief summary is here given, partly because they are so much more studied, partly because to treat of them at any adequate length would swell this book beyond the limits of a single volume, and still more because the chief aim of the present Studies is to show that Christ is the Key to the Old Testament Scriptures.
Another quality eBook. Christ Is All glorifies Christ. It presents the risen Savior as the Redeemer throughout history and, indeed, without beginning or end. It is a great encouragement both to the seeking soul and the seasoned saint.
Voicing one theme for the entire Bible and structuring all sermons around that idea may seem to be an impossible challenge. For veteran pastor and preaching professor Edmund Clowney it will not do to preach a text from either the Old or New Testaments without fully preaching its ultimate and primary focus-the person and work of Jesus Christ. He writes, "To see the text in relation to Christ is to see it in its larger context, the context of God's purpose in revelation." Clowney's rationale for emphasizing Christ's presence in the Old Testament rests on the purpose of the Hebrew Scripture. The Old Testament follows God's one great plan for human history and redemption, and the plan is not only from him but centers on him: his presence in his incarnate Son. The witness of the Scriptures to Christ is the reason they were written, so it is appropriate to emphasize this element in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. By offering numerous full-length examples of his own sermons that emphasize Christ as the principle theme of Scripture, Clowney illustrates for those who will never have the privilege of being his students how they can craft sermons which present Christ as the primary consideration of the text. He also offers specific instructions on preparing such a sermon. He discusses the personal habits of prayer and Bible study that prepare pastors to seek out Christ's presence. Clowney emphasizes the importance of including a specific application in every sermon so that Christ is presented both in what he says and does to reveal himself in the biblical text and in what he says and does to direct Christians' lives today. Students preparing for the pastorate, pastors desiring to increase their emphasis on Christ in their sermons, and those seeking Christ's presence in all of Scripture will find a help in Clowney's writings.
In this classic book, first published in 1965, Oral Roberts shares insights into who Jesus is by sharing how we can see Him in every book of the Bible...an encouraging reminder that He desires to be present in the lives of His people. And we can come to know who Jesus is...Savior, Deliverer, Healer, Restorer, Redeemer, Provider, Prince of Peace, and more...in the pages of God's Word.
