Homosexuality has been at the forefront of debate in the church for the last quarter-century, with Biblical interpretation at the heart of this debate. Some biblical passages appear to condemn certain same-sex relationships or erotic practices, resulting in a challenge to clergy as well as laity regarding the preaching and understanding of these Biblical passages. In "The Man Jesus Loved," Jennings proposes a gay-affirmative reading of the Bible in the hope of respecting the integrity of these texts and making them more clear as well as persuasive. This reading suggests that the exclusion of persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or same-sex practices fundamentally distorts the Bible generally and the traditions concerning Jesus in particular.
Based on Kurt Bennett's popular-ish blog God Running, Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven-year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus' every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus' words than he was following Jesus' words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett's own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including: -Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God's love to others. -How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman's love languages (and how you can too). -The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ's extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions. -How to respond to critics the way Jesus did. -How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did. -How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat). -How Jesus didn't love everyone the same (and why you shouldn't either). -How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself--he even napped--and why you should do the same.-How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end. With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God's definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too. A life of loving like Jesus.
This stirring book explores Jesus's heart and compassion for every woman—giving them undeniable value and significance. Based on Jesus's encounters with women during the time of his ministry, this tender book uncovers how time and again Jesus went against the traditional conventions of his era by treating women with respect and love, showing the world what a vital role they play. Jesus lived in an era where women were considered property and of little value as significant individuals. But by following Jesus's example, readers will see how women should be cherished and uplifted. Each chapter touches on Jesus's interactions with a specific woman, their conversations, and the gifts he bestows upon her. One tells of the widow who was burying her son, only to have Jesus resurrect him. Another is of the woman who was crippled for eighteen years and how Jesus not only freed her from her physical malady, but freed her spirit as well. But more than a mere retelling of these encounters, this book is a love story—a romance between the Creator of the universe come to earth and the women he came to know. Through these women, we see his love and compassion for every woman, and we watch as he lifts us all out of our ordinariness into the sublime intentions he planned for us since the beginning of time.
How close can we get to Jesus? How close do you want to get? Six circles of relationship formed around Jesus in his time on earth. In the outermost circle, the Crowds who were curious. Next, the Five Thousand who were needy, while the Seventy worked and served in Jesus’ ministry; then came the Twelve who walked with Jesus, the Three who suffered and celebrated with him, and finally the One who sat beside him at the Last Supper. Jesus’ closest follower listened more closely than any other, and recognized the Savior when no one else did. Scripture promises if you move closer to God, he will move closer to you. Wherever you are in your pursuit of Christ, you can draw closer still. In TheOne Jesus Loves, you will learn about each of the six circles, and what it takes to move further in, closer and closer to Jesus. Which circle are you in today? Jesus is calling you closer. "After reading The One Jesus Loves, you’ll not only understand how to deepen your relationship with God by drawing closer into His ‘circle of intimacy,’ you’ll also see how becoming a closer follower of Christ can improve every other relationship in your life." —Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker and lead pastor of National Community Church “This book itself will be a gift to you. Robert Crosby has not just studied the costly grace of Jesus; he's lived it. This grace is a pool of fathomless depths. The deeper we go, the more healing we find.” —John Ortberg, author of Who Is This Man? and senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church
The day after Jesus' death, whatever small mark he made on the world seemed destined to disappear. Instead, his impact on human history has been unparalleled, leading believers and nonbelievers alike to ask, Who Is This Man? In Who Is This Man, bestselling author John Ortberg explores the paradox of Jesus, history's most familiar figure while simultaneously the man no one knows. Who Is This Man traces Jesus' incredible life and legacy from his days on Earth to the present moment, showing us: How his vision of life continues to haunt and challenge humanity The ways his influence has inspired movements in art, science, government, medicine, and education How his lessons about dignity, compassion, forgiveness, and hope continue to influence humanity Join John Ortberg as he shares how Jesus' influence has swept over history and how his vision of life continues to impact us today. Praise for Who Is This Man?: "Sometimes in the clutter and noise of 'religion,' we lose sight of who Jesus is. Once again, John Ortberg helps us do what he does best: he helps us see God as he really is and connect with him amid all the noise. This book is a gift." --Dr. Henry Cloud, psychologist, coauthor of the bestselling Boundaries books "We live in a period where the divide between the secular and the sacred has never been greater. Who Is This Man? bridges this gap by sharing in his inimitable and entertaining style the undeniable and profound impact of Jesus Christ on our world. His impact, over two thousand years later, is more profound on the day-to-day lives of people--believers or not--than the impact of any other person at any point in history. John shows how Christ came to teach us how to live and in the process changed the world forever and for good." --Ron Johnson, CEO, J. C. Penney
In his essay The End for Which God Created the World, the great theologian Jonathan Edwards proclaimed that God's ultimate end is the manifestation of his glory in the highest happiness of his creatures. Pastor John Piper has devoted his years of ministry to exploring the implications of this stunning truth for life and ministry. Understanding that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him has made all the difference for John Piper-and can transform your life as well. Here Piper passionately demonstrates the relevance of Edwards's ideals for the personal and public lives of Christians today through his own book-length introduction to Edwards's The End for Which God Created the World. This book also contains the complete essay supplemented by almost a hundred of Piper's insightful explanatory notes. The result is a powerful and persuasive presentation of the things that matter most in the Christian life.
The story of Jesus and the Beloved Disciple is a beautiful and intriguing love story, well worth being treated as serious literature and appearing between covers of its own. For this version of the story, editor Tobias Skinner has chosen to believe, for reasons set forth in the preface, that it was Lazarus who first wrote this version of the gospel. Who would be more inclined to write of Jesus as God in the flesh, as the incarnation of Logos, as infallible, as a worker of miracles-something the author of this gospel does far more often than the authors of the other three-than a man who believes Jesus saved him from death and who is so comfortable in his love relationship with Jesus that he can confidently and repeatedly refer to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and at the end as "the disciple whom Jesus sincerely loved"? Skinner here presents a readable alternative text for this ancient story of love.
"Jesus was the leader of a radical faction of Essene priests. He was not of virgin birth. He did not die on the Cross. He married Mary Magdalene, fathered a family, and later divorced. He died sometime after AD 64. This controversial version of Christ's life is not the product of a mind which wants to debunk Christianity. Barbara Thiering is a theologian and a biblical scholar. But after over twenty years of close study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospels she has developed a revolutionary new theory which, while upholding the fundamental faith of Christianity, challenges many of its most ingrained supernaturalist beliefs. JESUS THE MAN will undoubtedly upset and even outrage those for whom Christianity is immutable and unchangeable. But for many who have found the rituals of the contemporary church too steeped in medieval thinking, it will provide new insights into Christianity in the context of the 1990's.
This book is about the controversial passages in the Bible that are often used to limit, silence, and degrade women. Many people think these passages are misinterpreted because they contradict Scripture. However, the main problem is not with misinterpretations but mistranslations. In Woman the Glory of Man, you will see how these once-confusing passages harmonize perfectly with God's Word when they are correctly translated. The following Scriptures, and more, are covered in this book: 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Ephesians 5:22-24 Colossians 3:18 1 Timothy 2:11-15 Titus 2:3-5 1 Peter 3:1-6
