The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.
"The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn't want them to hope. She wants them to die. Laura hasn't had it easy: she's survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry. She doesn't love talking to people worse off than she is. She craves it. But now someone's on to her -- Ryan, whose world falls apart when his pregnant wife ends her life, hand in hand with a stranger. Who was this man, and why did they choose to die together? The sinister truth is within Ryan's grasp, but he has no idea of the desperate lengths Laura will go to ... Because the best thing about being a Good Samaritan is that you can get away with murder."--Page 4 of cover.
Retells the Bible story about a kind person who cares for a stranger whom he finds beaten and left for dead, and reveals the lesson behind the Christian idea about loving one's neighbor.
The story of the good Samaritan in Luke 10 is one of Jesus's most well-known parables. It continues to fascinate readers with its powerful imagery and ethical significance. In this exposition, New Testament scholar Emerson Powery shows how this classic and beloved text can speak afresh to the life of the church today. Powery explains that in every generation, followers of Jesus need to be reminded that mercy is a natural consequence of faith. Jesus's parable of the good Samaritan emphasizes this point in a dramatic way by placing an "enemy" as the central hero of the story. Powery explores diverse interpretations of the good Samaritan, carefully investigates this parable within the theology of the Gospel of Luke, and connects the parable to contemporary events. The book encourages readers to think through the ethical implications of this story for their own contexts. The Touchstone Texts series addresses key Bible passages, making high-quality biblical scholarship accessible for the church. The series editor is Stephen B. Chapman, Duke Divinity School.
The good Samaritan story is known and celebrated worldwide by Christians and non-Christians alike. But what if our common understanding of this beloved parable has largely missed the point? In a world hungry for everyday heroes, the feel-good label "good Samaritan" is assigned to individuals who rescue or help people they don't know. Charles Tremblay explains that instead of merely promoting kindness to strangers, this famous story actually teaches mercy for our enemies. This is the more radical moral principle at the heart of Christianity, a principle sadly in short supply in our increasingly vindictive culture. The Heart of the Samaritan also examines the deep Christian typology underlying the short passage from Luke's gospel. Early church fathers taught this story from the framework of analogy, and this interpretation persisted for more than a thousand years before seeming to fall out of fashion by the mid-nineteenth century. What does Luke's good Samaritan reveal about mankind, Christ, the church, and more? The Heart of the Samaritan is a fresh look at a story you thought you already knew!
From personal experience to the words and works of Jesus, this book is a help to all who struggle with the guilt of sin. Read how the debilitating guilt over sin is overcome in Jesus. This book will take you on a journey from the depths of sadness to the joy of forgiveness.
Politics has become a synonym for all that is dirty, corrupt, dishonest, compromising, and wrong. For many people, politics seems not only remote from their daily lives but abhorrent to their personal values. Outside of the rare inspirational politician or social movement, politics is a wasteland of apathy and disinterest. It wasn't always this way. For Americans who came of age shortly after World War II, politics was a field of dreams. Democracy promised to cure the world's ills. But starting in the late seventies, conservative economists promoted self-interest as the source of all good, and their view became public policy. Government's main role was no longer to help people, but to get out of the way of personal ambition. Politics turned mean and citizens turned away. In this moving and powerful blend of political essay and reportage, award-winning political scientist Deborah Stone argues that democracy depends on altruism, not self-interest. The merchants of self-interest have divorced us from what we know in our pores: we care about other people and go out of our way to help them. Altruism is such a robust motive that we commonly lie, cheat, steal, and break laws to do right by others. "After 3:30, you're a private citizen," one home health aide told Stone, explaining why she was willing to risk her job to care for a man the government wanted to cut off from Medicare. The Samaritan's Dilemma calls on us to restore the public sphere as a place where citizens can fulfill their moral aspirations. If government helps the neighbors, citizens will once again want to help govern. With unforgettable stories of how real people think and feel when they practice kindness, Stone shows that everyday altruism is the premier school for citizenship. Helping others shows people their common humanity and their power to make a difference. At a time when millions of citizens ache to put the Bush and Reagan era behind us and feel proud of their government, Deborah Stone offers an enormously hopeful vision of politics.
The Good Samaritan reveals an insiders look at the effort for perfection in the Christian character. While the faces and places are not historically factual, they are characteristically revealing of the storya story every honest person can relate to because they have experienced it or know someone who has had similar experiences. From the pew to the pulpit, from the secular to most sacred, from the accepted to the unacceptable belief, this story summons couragecourage to lay aside pride, prejudice, and custom in disclosing the truthful condition of ones belief. Working as a paramedic, deputy coroner, EMS director, pastor, and registered nurseas well as seeing life from many perspectivesoffered author Sonny Harris a panoramic view and evaluation of core beliefs. These beliefs and findings are shared throughout this story and the evangelistic blues written and performed by Harris. The music and the stories within that music find daily acceptance in different cultures across the globe. Being born and raised in the Southeast during the baby boom generation gave the author the courage to challenge custom, belief, and practice for what lays ahead for the church and the world.