Concise, pithy chapters with dozens of charts, highlighted summaries and study questions make Graeme Goldsworthy's introductory text enormously useful for understanding how the Bible fits together as the unfolding story of God's plan for salvation.
Many congregations and their leaders are discouraged about the future of the church. John Bowen's conviction is that the solution is to be found not in new programs or strategies but in a recovery of theological vision--that of Jesus and his gospel, which transforms every aspect of life. This vision restores hope in the only way realistically possible. Words like mission, discipleship, church, evangelism, renewal, and church planting are used like billiard balls--all rolling around a single table, unconnected and bouncing randomly off one another. This book pulls these ideas together into a coherent and organic whole. The gospel is the hermeneutical key for understanding each of these topics and what draws them together. Thus, chapter 1 is an exposition of the gospel (God's determination to make all things new through Jesus Christ). Chapter 2 discusses discipleship (we only understand discipleship in light of the gospel), and chapter 3 covers church (we only understand church if we understand discipleship). Chapter 4 considers culture as the arena in which the gospel is lived and talked about, and chapter 5 builds on that with a discussion of translation, not only as a missional necessity but as a ministry which itself incarnates the nature of the gospel. The remaining chapters (on evangelism, the future of ""inherited churches,"" church planting, and leadership) demonstrate how the gospel is the integration point for all. The author's hope is that church leaders--evangelical and mainline, young and old, emerging and traditional, present and future--will have a transformative ""Aha!"" moment as this gospel hypothesis unfolds.
In this comprehensive exposition, a leading New Testament scholar explores the unfolding theological unity of the entire Bible from the vantage point of the New Testament. G. K. Beale, coeditor of the award-winning Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, examines how the New Testament storyline relates to and develops the Old Testament storyline. Beale argues that every major concept of the New Testament is a development of a concept from the Old and is to be understood as a facet of the inauguration of the latter-day new creation and kingdom. Offering extensive interaction between the two testaments, this volume helps readers see the unifying conceptual threads of the Old Testament and how those threads are woven together in Christ. This major work will be valued by students of the New Testament and pastors alike.
How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning—when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? Beaumont calls such in-between times liminal seasons—threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead. How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going is a practical book of hope for tired and weary leaders who risk defining this era of ministry in terms of failure or loss. It helps leaders stand firm in a disoriented state, learning from their mistakes and leading despite the confusion. Packed with rich stories and real-world examples, Beaumont guides the reader through practices that connect the soul of the leader with the soul of the institution.
For forty years, John Bowen has been a popular speaker, teacher, and preacher on university campuses, in churches and in classrooms, and at conferences across Canada. This book brings together forty of his best sermons, talks, and articles. You will be encouraged and you will be challenged. You will laugh and cry, think and pray--sometimes all at the same time. The topics are wildly various: "The Spiritual Quality of Craziness," "Vacuum Cleaner Church," "The Vocation of a Garbage Collector," "Spirituality in my Sixties," "What's Wrong with Amazing Grace?" and "Strong and Weak" (a reflection on his bypass surgery in 2017). The audiences are as varied as the subjects: a conference of Christians in science, the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Wycliffe College, a camp reunion, a diocesan conference, a church planting conference, his mother's funeral, and (not least) his own parish church in Hamilton, Ontario. This is a book to dip into or to read from cover to cover. You will not be disappointed.
Beginning with Adam and Eve and closing with the last of the prophets, Dr. Clowney takes a fascinating walk through the Old Testament, revealing Christ in places where he is usually overlooked.
Noted author and teacher John Bowen takes a unique look at what it means to witness to one's faith. Evangelism is something that all Christians can do as a "normal" part of being a follower of Jesus. Witty, wise, and biblically grounded, the book challenges in a gentle way. Includes study questions for congregational use.
Combining three incredibly important books for the teaching of the church, The Goldsworthy Trilogy offers a complete and comprehensive guide to understanding the gospel throughout the whole of Scripture. This collection, containing the hugely popular Gospel and Kingdom, Gospel and Witness, and The Gospel in Revelation, will be an essential guide to be used again and again for those who seek to understand the Bible in the light of who Jesus is. Those already acquainted with Goldsworthy's work will be familiar with his pithy and engaging style. Straightforward in his approach, he looks at how the Bible can only be understood through the eyes of the gospel. From this base of interpretation, he studies the Old Testament and its application for today, Israel's wisdom literature and its role in the Christian life, and the purpose and contemporary relevance of the book of Revelation, while his knowledge of Old Testament idiom and structure enhances his writing. This trilogy follows the Bible chronologically to give the reader a complete overview of evangelical biblical interpretation, forming an essential one-stop reference that will last a lifetime.
The Unity of the Bible represents Daniel Fuller’s lifelong effort to understand and expound this purpose by seeking the Bible’s answer to questions such as these. It is written especially to equip laypersons to carry out both evangelism and edification, and it will also help all Christians to put the Bible together to grasp “the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27