Growing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outside wondered about the God they worshipped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. A Stranger in the House of God addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers. Like a contemporary Pilgrim’s Progress, it traces the author’s journey and explores his experiences with both charismatic and evangelical Christianity. It also describes his transformation from religious outsider to ordained pastor. John Koessler provides a poignant and often humorous window into the interior of the soul as he describes his journey from doubt and struggle with the church to personal faith
You know people around the world are struggling. A homeless man holds a sign that reads, “Anything helps.” A poor child lives in a slum swarming with flies. A refugee mother is on the brink of starvation. You ask yourself, “But what can I do about such big problems?” You’re looking for long-term solutions. John D. Barry shares incredible, and often shocking, stories about working among the impoverished and unchurched in the U.S. and abroad. And since Barry is a Bible scholar, Jesus’ Economy is also deeply rooted in the Scriptures. It is a personal, sometimes funny, often heartbreaking account that presents a revolutionary pattern for lasting change. Jesus' Economy is based on self-sacrifice. His currency is love. It’s called Jesus’ Economy because it’s about creating a spiritual and physical economy for those who need it most. Here is a thoroughly biblical and compassionate pattern for addressing issues of poverty and offering the hope of the gospel. Jesus’ Economy: • Shows how you as an individual can best encourage renewal in your community. • Demonstrates how your church community or any group can alleviate poverty. • Presents a unified plan for creating jobs, spreading the gospel, and meeting basic needs. • Focuses on community development and sustainability—lasting change, globally and locally. Jesus’ Economy is a call to address our own spiritual poverty—as people who can too easily become distant from Christ—and it is a call to address the physical poverty all around us in a smart and sustainable way. Jesus’ teachings show that with simple, everyday choices, you can make the world a better place and create enduring change. Here’s how to live Jesus’ economy—a currency of love. 100% of author's proceeds go to the nonprofit Jesus' Economy, to fuel the movement of creating jobs and churches in the developing world.
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Many sermons preached today lack the divine knowledge and spiritual understanding available only through dynamic expository preaching. In Preaching: How to Preach Biblically, John MacArthur’' well-known passion for the Bible combines with the expertise of faculty members at The Master's Seminary to inspire and equip preachers in effective biblical preaching. Preaching: How to Preach Biblically flows from biblical foundations for expository preaching through a detailed process of developing expositions and creating sermons to the actual delivery of expository messages, connecting what pastors learn in seminary with the sermons preached in a local church. This volume shows how to progress purposefully from one phase to the next in preparing to minister to God's people through preaching. This book answers these questions and more: What is expository, biblical preaching? What are the theological and historical foundations for insisting on expository preaching? What are the steps involved in preparation for and participation in biblical preaching? What models exist for expository preaching today? The Master's Seminary faculty, with over thirty years' experience in preaching and seminary training of preachers, contributes a treasury of expertise alongside insights from expositor John MacArthur. While united on their commitment to exposition, the variety of individual expressions and methodological preferences discussed offers beneficial assistance for any preacher seeking a higher level of expository excellence.
ECPA BESTSELLER • A compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favor of a slower, simpler way of life “As someone all too familiar with ‘hurry sickness,’ I desperately needed this book.”—Scott Harrison, New York Times best-selling author of Thirst “Who am I becoming?” That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.” It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.
Explaining how to become a Christian hedonist, a bestselling author offers guidance on how to find spiritual joy to readers who are unsure of where to seek it.
Pilgrim Theology is a map for Christians seeking to better understand the core beliefs of their faith. Even though it's the study of God, theology has a reputation for being dry, abstract, and irrelevant for daily living. But theology is a matter of life and death. It affects the way you think, the decisions you make, the way you relate to God and the world. Reformed theologian and professor Michael Horton wrote Pilgrim Theology as a more accessible companion to his award-winning systematic theology The Christian Faith: widely praised for its thorough treatment of the biblical and historical foundations of Christian doctrine. In Pilgrim Theology, his focus is in putting the study of theology into the daily drama of discipleship. Each chapter will orient you toward a clear understanding about: Who God is. What our relationship is to him. And what our faith in Jesus Christ means in our daily walk as well as in the context of the narrative of Scripture and the community of the church. Through accessible chapters on individual doctrines, as well as frequent "Key Distinction" boxes that succinctly explain the differences between important themes, you'll gain an understanding of doctrines that may have sounded like technical seminary terms to you before: justification, sanctification, glorification, union with Christ, and others. You have a working theology already—an existing understanding of God. It's the goal of Pilgrim Theology to help you examine that understanding more closely and have it challenged and strengthened.
God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 This book is a cry from the heart of John Piper. He is pleading that God himself, as revealed in Christ's death and resurrection, is the ultimate and greatest gift of the gospel. None of Christ's gospel deeds and none of our gospel blessings are good news except as means of seeing and savoring the glory of Christ. Forgiveness is good news because it opens the way to the enjoyment of God himself. Justification is good news because it wins access to the presence and pleasures of God himself. Eternal life is good news because it becomes the everlasting enjoyment of Christ. All God's gifts are loving only to the degree that they lead us to God himself. That is what God's love is: his commitment to do everything necessary (most painfully the death of his only Son) to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying-namely, himself. Saturated with Scripture, centered on the cross, and seriously joyful, this book leads us to satisfaction for the deep hungers of the soul. It touches us at the root of life where practical transformation gets its daily power. It awakens our longing for Christ and opens our eyes to his beauty. Piper writes for the soul-thirsty who have turned away empty and in desperation from the mirage of methodology. He invites us to slow down and drink from a deeper spring. "This is eternal life," Jesus said, "that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." This is what makes the gospel-and this book-good news.
Theology—the study of God—is a concern for every believer, not just theologians or those in ministry. It's the goal of good theology to humble us before the triune God of majesty as we come to understand him better. This is a book of and about good theology. Award-winning author, theologian, and professor Michael Horton wrote The Christian Faith as a book of systematic theology and doctrine "that can be preached, experienced, and lived, as well as understood, clarified, and articulated." It's written for a growing cast of pilgrims—in ministry and laity—who are interested in learning about Christ as a way of living as a Christian. Who understand that knowing doctrine and walking in practical Christianity are not competing interests. The Christian Faith is divided into six parts, five of which each focus on an aspect of God, while the first part sets up an understanding and appreciation for the task of theology itself, addressing topics like: The source of theology (where the idea of theology comes from and what its limits are). The origin of the canon (how the modern Bible came about and why we can trust it). The character of theology (is the nature of theology practical, theoretical, or can it be both?). In a manner equally as welcoming to professors, pastors, students, and armchair theologians; Horton has organized this volume in a readable fashion that includes a variety of learning features: A brief synopsis of biblical passages that inform certain doctrines. Surveys of past and current theologies with contemporary emphasis on exegetical, philosophical, practical, and theological questions. Substantial interaction with various Christian movements within the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodoxy traditions, as well as the hermeneutical issues raised by postmodernity. Charts, sidebars, questions for discussion, and an extensive bibliography, divided into different entry levels and topics. At the heart of this book is a deep love for and curiosity about God. Its basic argument is that a personal relationship with God goes hand in hand with the pursuit of theology. It isn't possible to know God without studying him.
The Bible has a way of shocking us. If Americans could still blush, we might blush at the words, "Rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love" (Proverbs 5:18-19). But, of course, sin always tries to trash God's gifts. So we can't just celebrate sex for what God made it to be; we have to fight what sin turned it into. The contributors to this unique volume encourage you to do both: celebrate and struggle. This book has something for all-men and women, married and single-from contributors like John Piper, C. J. and Carolyn Mahaney, Mark Dever, Al Mohler, Carolyn McCulley, and others.
