Most believers understand that worship is not a compartmentalized aspect of the Christian experience, but rather it is the motivation--the driving force--behind all that we do and are. We exist to worship God. For years we have been basking in God's love and worshipping Him with uplifted hands and hearts. Now we need to go deeper and see that God is also an awesome, mysterious being who should engender our silent, even dumbstruck, reverence for His holiness, His "otherness." Until we are undone by the knowledge of who God is in all His glory, we will only touch the edges of true worship. Matt Redman says, "When we face up to the glory of God, we find ourselves face down in worship." This book shows the biblical record of those who found themselves prostrate before God.
In the first volume of Donnie's life, "Face Down: The Donnie Foster Story" we read of the life God allowed Donnie to experience the first forty years of his life. I believe God anointed Donnie's conception with a heavy heart for the life Donnie would face. For forty-plus years, he spiraled down in a life of abuse leading to addictions and all the ramifications that come with it. In the world of addiction, every day is a crap shoot: You're as likely to live as you are to die. "But God"...those beautiful words...But God spared Donnie's life. Why? Because God said in his Word: "I will rescue you from your own people. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God." (Acts 26:17, 18 NIV) This verse says it all.
'I closed my eyes and turned the other cheek against the tarmac...the heat against the asphalt sweltered...the awareness of death, spit, and stench of urine was driven through my nostrils with every breath. I would still carry out my plan to end it all.' In this harrowing tale of abuse, addiction, and ultimate redemption, Aletha Smithson chronicles the life of Donnie Foster. Donnie lived his entire life Facedown. His abusive childhood taught him to keep his head down to avoid the wrath of his violent stepfather. He found solace in the prescription drugs he stole from his mother and the very same alcohol that made his stepfather belligerent. As Donnie got older, he turned to more powerful drugs: cocaine and meth. He was soon wrapped up in the dangerous world of vicious drug lords, acting as their minion. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for them or his next hit. It was not long before Donnie found himself at Corcoran State Penitentiary, lying facedown on the asphalt and reexamining his life. God spoke to him then, and after years of running from the law and God, Donnie turned his life around to become a totally new creation through Christ, realizing that truly all things are possible with God. If you have somehow forgotten that God is in the business of changing lives, making beauty from ashes, this story will make you a believer again and cause you to fall facedown before the almighty God and glorify his Son forever. E. Scott Feather Dean of Chapel and Global Ministries Grace College Aletha Smithson is the author of From the Potter's Wheel and As He Was Known. She lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with her husband.
The author of Desiring God reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Includes a study guide for individual and small-group use. Isn’t it true—we really don’t know someone until we understand what makes that person happy? And so it is with God! What does bring delight to the happiest Being in the universe? John Piper writes, that it’s only when we know what makes God glad that we’ll know the greatness of His glory. Therefore, we must comprehend “the pleasures of God.” Unlike so much of what is written today, this is not a book about us. It is about the One we were made for—God Himself. In this theological masterpiece—chosen by World Magazine as one of the 20th Century’s top 100 books, John Piper reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Then we will be able to drink deeply—and satisfyingly—from the only well that offers living water. What followers of Jesus need now, more than anything else, is to know and love—behold and embrace—the great, glorious, sovereign, happy God of the Bible. “This is a unique and precious book that everybody should read more than once.” —J.I. PACKER, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia
"Best-selling journalist, historian and author Paul Badde embarks on an exciting quest to discover the truth behind the Holy Face of Manoppello, a relic recently rediscovered and rumored to be the veil of Veronica...Badde was intrigued when he heard of a mysterious image in a remote Italian village--an image of a man's face on byssus cloth. Byssus, or sea silk, is a rare and delicate fabric woven from a silky filament produced by mollusks. It is claimed that the fabric is so thin and delicate that it is impossible to paint on--yet the image in Manoppello is clearly visible, and when laid over the image of the face on the Shroud of Turin, forms a perfect match..."--Dust cover flap.
Think Deeply // Love Widely The Kingdom of God calls believers to live faithfully in a way that flips the wisdom of worldly kingdoms on its head. In a culture that has become exponentially polarized it can be difficult to think deeply and love widely. The NIV Upside-Down Kingdom Bible provides readers with thoughtful, Scripture-based notes from a diverse set of trusted Christian voices that explores difficult issues facing Christians today, with features that are honest, nuanced, and filled with grace. The NIV Upside-Down Kingdom Bible provides hundreds of side-column notes, full page articles, essays, and book introductions that skillfully and thoughtfully address topics such as: race and ethnicity, environmental care, science, abortion, wealth and poverty, politics, baptism, technology, and others. Features: Complete text of the accurate, readable, and clear New International Version (NIV) Book introductions Nine topical essays on relevant issues Christians encounter today Over 200 full-page articles throughout Hundreds of side-column study notes Full list of topics: Abortion and Reproduction • Art and Worship • Baptism • Creation Care • Death and Afterlife • Divorce • Family and Kinship • Festivals, Food, and Drink • Grace • Holiness • Lament and Grief • Leadership and Power • Mental Health • Migration • Politics • Race and Ethnicity • Sabbath • Satan, Demons, Angels, and Giants • Science • Sexuality and Gender • Singleness and Friendship • Slavery • Social Justice • Technology and Media • Trauma and Resilience • Violence and Warfare • Wealth and Poverty • Witchcraft and Magic • Women
Just two words: "But God..." Understand their use in Scripture and you'll never be the same. Whether from the pen of Moses, Paul, or other biblical authors, "But God" appears in various forms hundreds of times in the Bible. To understand these two words as they are used in Scripture is to understand the gospel. This book focuses on nine of the most important appearances of this key phrase, drawing in numerous other passages of Scripture and in the process unfolding the magnificent drama of God's sovereign grace--from his mercy on Noah to our security in a resurrected Savior. James Montgomery Boice wrote, "May I put it quite simply? If you understand those two words--'but God'--they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely." Boice was right. To the left of "But God" in Scripture appear some of the worst human atrocities, characterized by disobedience and rebellion. To the left of "But God" is hopelessness, darkness, and death. But to its right, following "But God," readers of Scripture will find hope, light, and life. Following God's intervention, the story of Scripture becomes one of grace, righteousness, and justice. In fact, this phrase is used to describe God's activity in nearly every great salvation story in the Bible. It is the perfect phrase for highlighting God's grace against the dark backdrop of human sin. "But God" marks God's relentless, merciful interventions in human history. It teaches us that God does not wait for us to bring ourselves to him, but that he acts first to bring about our good. It also teaches us of the potential consequences if God were not to act. Scripture shows over and over that without God's intervening grace, without the "But God" statements in the Bible, the world would be completely lost in sin and under judgment. May the reading of this book, and of the biblical "But God" statements it contains, cause you to understand these two words, recall them regularly, and allow them to transform your understanding of God's grace and thus transform your very life.
"Matthew Barrett leads us to marvel at both how much and how little we know of God."--Tim Challies, blogger at challies.com; author of Visual Theology For too long, Christians have domesticated God, bringing him down to our level as if he is a God who can be tamed. But he is a God who is high and lifted up, the Creator rather than the creature, someone than whom none greater can be conceived. If God is the most perfect, supreme being, infinite and incomprehensible, then certain perfect-making attributes must be true of him. Perfections like aseity, simplicity, immutability, impassibility, and eternity shield God from being crippled by creaturely limitations. At the same time, this all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise God accommodates himself, exhibiting perfect holiness, mercy, and love as he makes known who he is and how he will save us. The attributes of God show us exactly why God is worthy of worship: there is none like him. Join Matthew Barrett as he rediscovers these divine perfections and finds himself surprised by the God he thought he knew. "Matthew Barrett's excellent book lays out in clear, accessible terms what the biblical, historic, ecumenical doctrine of God is, why it matters, and why its abandonment by great swathes of the Protestant world is something that needs correction."--Carl R. Trueman, professor, Grove City College; author of Grace Alone "Perhaps not since R. C. Sproul has there been a treatment of such deep theology with such careful devotion and accessibility. Read this book. And stagger."--Jared Wilson, director of content strategy, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; managing editor, For the Church; author of The Gospel-Driven Church "The knowledge of God is the soil in which Christian piety flourishes. I am grateful for the publication of None Greater and pray it will be a source of growth in godliness among those captivated by its vision of God's supremacy."--Scott Swain, president and James Woodrow Hassell Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary-Orlando; author of Reformed Catholicity
