A Powerful Defense of The Protestant Tradition.

Winner of the 2024 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award and Popular Theology category; Winner of Credo Magazine's Award in Theological Retrieval

There's a movement among evangelicals of exploring the more sacramental, liturgical, and historically-conscious church traditions, including Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. This hunger for historical rootedness is welcome--but unfortunately, many assume that this need can only be met outside of Protestant contexts.

In What it Means to Be Protestant, Gavin Ortlund draws from both his scholarly work in church history and his personal experience in ecumenical engagement to offer a much-needed defense of the Protestant tradition.

Retrieving classical Protestant texts and arguments, he exposes how many of the contemporary objections leveled against Protestants are rooted in caricature. He shows how historic Protestantism offers the best pathway forward and to historical rootedness for Christians today.

In his charitable style, Ortlund demonstrates that the 16th century Reformation represented a genuine renewal of the gospel. This does not entail that Protestantism is without faults. But because it is built upon the principle of semper reformanda (always reforming), Protestantism is capable of reforming itself according to Scripture as the ultimate authority.

I find it hard to overstate the importance of this book for every pastor/minister, elder, and serious Bible student that I know. . .This book automatically becomes my new go-to resource explaining Protestantism. It is fantastic, and I thank God for it. . . --Bobby Harrington, co-founder of RENEW.org and Discipleship.org, founding pastor Harpeth Christian Church

I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. - John 8:12

Christians ought to be so totally committed to Christ that it is final. Of looking back over your shoulder to see if there is something better - let that never again be your experience.

A short but inspiring booklet on how to follow Christ with your whole heart.

A Bible with large print in an easy-to-carry format that is ideal to take with you wherever you are wanting to read and enjoy God's Word. This edition is published in large KJV Comfort Print type, which was designed exclusively for Thomas Nelson to be the most readable at any size.

This KJV Bible contains a unique layout for reading and exploring God's Word. With a single-column, line-matched format in large Comfort Print, this Bible easily fits in your hand making it ideal for reading and studying Scripture. In addition, the Bible offers thousands of cross-references at the ends of verses that allow you to easily find the connections within Scripture.

Features include:

• 43,000 cross-references at the end of verses allow you to find related passages quickly and easily
• The Presentation page is a special place to personalize this special gift by recording a memory or note
• Full 22,000 translator notes provide a look into the thinking of the translators with alternative translations that could
• Line-matched large-print type for a comfortable reading experience
• Classic verse-by-verse layout starts each verse on its own line so it's easy to navigate the text
• Portable personal-size format, perfect for everyday use
• Concordance for looking up a word's occurrences throughout the Bible
• Full color maps show the layout of Israel and other biblical locations for better context
• Ribbon markers make it easy to navigate and keep track of where you were reading
• Words of Christ in red quickly identify verses spoken by Jesus
• Gilded page edges help protect the edge of the page and provide a polished look
• Durable and flexible Smyth-sewn binding so the Bible will lay flat in your hand or on a desk
• Clear and readable 10-point KJV Comfort Print^(R)

They say there's no such thing as a perfect church. Well, one author decided to test that theory out for himself.

Peter DeHaan spent an entire year roaming from one church to another, visiting 52 different Christian congregations. In the process he learned what makes these places of worship unique, what makes newcomers feel like they belong, and what cringe-worthy shenanigans are guaranteed to keep visitors from ever coming back.

In his travels, Peter learned about different denominations and worship styles as well as what happens when imperfect humans gather together in the name of a perfect God. What he discovered was occasionally funny, always interesting, and at times absurd.

So absurd that he wrote a book about his experiences.

52 Churches is part religious exposé, part travel memoir, and 100% authentic. Peter refuses to hold back his punches. You'll cringe when this Christian author is singled out by a fire-and-brimstone preacher, unnecessarily determined to save his soul out of hell. You'll find yourself thankful that you weren't in Peter's shoes when the pastor told his congregation to greet one another with a holy kiss.

You'll read about Christian practices that are far different from your own, and in the process gain a deeper understanding of believers from all walks of life and denominational backgrounds: Protestant mainline, evangelical, and charismatic, Roman Catholic, and more.

If you're a pastor trying to engage newcomers, a seasoned church member looking for some chuckles, or a spiritual lurker curious about what goes on beneath the steeples of America's churches today, this book was written for you.

Read 52 Churches now for an insightful, unforgettable read about the strange and mysterious believers who meet together behind closed doors each and every Sunday.

The first expert critical treatment of Mormon visual art, featuring over 200 high-quality color illustrations

Nearly every major religion has a significant artistic tradition, and religion's relationship with art--sometimes inspirational, sometimes antagonistic, often complex--has generated a substantial body of writing stretching back centuries. In its nearly two centuries of existence, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has produced, inspired, and provoked a wide range of artistic responses. Yet that artistic output has not generated a commensurate amount of critical examination.

Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader seeks to fill a substantial gap by providing a comprehensive examination of the visual art of the Latter-day Saints from the nineteenth century to the present. It defines Mormon art broadly as art by, for, or about Mormons, including work by artists who share a Latter-day Saint identity and by those with no personal attachment who have responded artistically to Mormonism. The volume includes twenty-two essays by scholars from various disciplines, perspectives, and backgrounds who offer rigorous research and analysis of Latter-day Saint artistic production and culture alongside elegant reproductions of more than 200 works of Mormon art, including panorama paintings, quilts, architecture, sculpture, and cartoons, to film, gallery installations, indigenous works and more. Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader explores Mormon visual art in unprecedented breadth and depth.

Heralding the Loud Cry is a precious book, containing progressive light and truth for our time in relation to the Loud Cry of the Fourth Angel. Each chapter of the book reveals newer and deeper spectrums of this multifaceted diamond of truth - as if one were holding the diamond up towards the sun, light permeates off its illuminated sides in every direction, radiating outward, upward, downward and inward. In beautiful simplicity Camron Schofield shares the eighteen gems of wisdom he has collected on Righteousness by Faith from his personal sojournings out of spiritual Egypt to the Red Sea shore. Consider each one of these sermons on Righteousness by Faith a unique and precious stone that you can yet polish and beautify further in the experience of your own life.

b'a vital resource'
TLS

'Compelling collection'
Literary Review

b The Reformation was a seismic event in history whose consequences are still unfolding in Europe and across the world. /b

Martin Luther's protests against the marketing of indulgences in 1517 were part of a long-standing pattern of calls for reform in the Christian Church. But they rapidly took a radical and unexpected turn, engulfing first Germany, and then Europe, in furious arguments about how God's will was to be 'saved'.

However, these debates did not remain confined to a narrow sphere of theology. They came to reshape politics and international relations; social, cultural, and artistic developments; relations between the sexes; and the patterns and performances of everyday life. They were also the stimulus for Christianity's transformation into a truly global religion, as agents of the Roman Catholic Church sought to compensate for losses in Europe with new conversions in Asia and the Americas.

Covering both Protestant and Catholic reform movements, in Europe and across the wider world, this compact volume tells the story of the Reformation from its immediate, explosive beginnings, through to its profound longer-term consequences and legacy for the modern world. The story is not one of an inevitable triumph of liberty over oppression, enlightenment over ignorance. Rather, it tells how a multitude of rival groups and individuals, with or without the support of political power, strove after visions of 'reform'. And how, in spite of themselves, they laid the foundations for the plural and conflicted world we now inhabit.

The Excellencies of Christ is an extension of A. W. Pink's The Attributes of God where he explores the qualities of the person of Jesus Christ especially in relation to those who he has redeemed.

Contents:

I. The Fulness of Christ

II. The Radiance of Christ

III. The Condescension of Christ

IV. The Humanity of Christ

V. The Person of Christ

VI. The Subsistence of Christ

VII. The Servitude of Christ

VIII. The Despisement of Christ

IX. The Crucifixion of Christ

X. The Redemption of Christ

XI. The Saviourhood of Christ

XII. The Lordship of Christ

XIII. The Friendship of Christ

XIV. The Helpfulness of Christ

XV. The Call of Christ

XVI. The Rest of Christ

XVII. The Yoke of Christ

XVIII. The Quintessence of Christ

XIX. The Leadership of Christ

XX. The Example of Christ

Cute, not-so-cute, smart, not-so-smart...thin, not-so-thin... athletic or not-so-athletic. If you're breathing and moving around, you are labeled.

Labels attach themselves to us from day one, when our parents decide if we are fussy babies or easy. While we don't understand why we are called this or that when we are young, somewhere early in life we become aware of the words which are a part of society's definition of who we are. If we could only see ourselves as God does: beautiful, unique treasured creations who are absolutely, perfectly ENOUGH for Him to work in and through us.

Know that there is something so much more to you than the labels that have been attached to you. The Bible tells us that God was speaking to Jeremiah, and He told him, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart... - Jeremiah 1:5. This isn't just for Jeremiah but for you and for me. Before we were a zygote, God knew WHO we were. He set us apart for a specific task, a particular purpose, a distinct role in His story.

You are not an accident. While you may have been a surprise to your parents, you were no surprise to God. You have a unique spot in the universe that only YOU can fill. You matter. You alone matter. You matter today...right now. No decision or mistake changes the fact that you matter. You have a place, matchlessly suitable for the time in which you are living. And, most importantly, you matter to God.

I want to encourage you to take a journey with me--a journey to find the person within you who God designed and purposed you to be... before you were ever born.

They say there's no such thing as a perfect church. Well, one author decided to test that theory out for himself.

Peter DeHaan spent an entire year roaming from one church to another, visiting 52 different Christian congregations. In the process he learned what makes these places of worship unique, what makes newcomers feel like they belong, and what cringe-worthy shenanigans are guaranteed to keep visitors from ever coming back.

In his travels, Peter learned about different denominations and worship styles as well as what happens when imperfect humans gather together in the name of a perfect God. What he discovered was occasionally funny, always interesting, and at times absurd.

So absurd that he wrote a book about his experiences.

52 Churches is part religious exposé, part travel memoir, and 100% authentic. Peter refuses to hold back his punches. You'll cringe when this Christian author is singled out by a fire-and-brimstone preacher, unnecessarily determined to save his soul out of hell. You'll find yourself thankful that you weren't in Peter's shoes when the pastor told his congregation to greet one another with a holy kiss.

You'll read about Christian practices that are far different from your own, and in the process gain a deeper understanding of believers from all walks of life and denominational backgrounds: Protestant mainline, evangelical, and charismatic, Roman Catholic, and more.

If you're a pastor trying to engage newcomers, a seasoned church member looking for some chuckles, or a spiritual lurker curious about what goes on beneath the steeples of America's churches today, this book was written for you.

Read 52 Churches now for an insightful, unforgettable read about the strange and mysterious believers who meet together behind closed doors each and every Sunday.

In Holy Living, author Matthew Everhard explores the resolutions Jonathan Edwards wrote when he was just nineteen years old, revealing how they are still beneficial to Christians today.

Though not yet ordained, Edwards (1703-1758) wrote these short but powerful aphorisms to guide his life, and now they offer spiritual guidance to a modern audience as well. Following a brief biography of Edwards, the book then looks at each resolution under three main categories: (1) existential (considering the purpose of life); (2) ethical (considering the duty and character of the Christian); and (3) eschatological (preparing for the brevity of life followed by death and eternity). Lay readers, pastors, students, church elders, and study group members will find troves of timeless wisdom and guidance for how to live the Christian life.

The book is divided into five sections:

1. An Introduction to the Life of Jonathan Edwards
2. The Meaning and Purpose of Life
3. How Should We Then Live?
4. The Brevity of Life and Eternal World to Come
5. Why Did Jonathan Edwards Stop Using the Resolutions?

It includes the following topics:

• Edwards's Youth and Conversion to Christ
• The Early Pastoral Years
• The Writing of the Resolutions
• Faith and Assurance
• Peace Relationships and Self-Control
• The Brevity of Life
• Heaven and Hell
• Between Antinomianism and Legalism
• Reflections of a More Mature Saint
• Resolutions and the Gospel of Grace

In this new Pure Gold Classic edition, by Andrew Murray, we have combined three great classic works:

Waiting On God
Working For God
Be Perfect

Together, these present a trilogy of blessed truth that will guide Christians into a deeper, more intimate, and more fulfilling relationship with the Lord. Each book is comprised of 31 chapters, or lessons, designed to be month-long daily readings.

In this edition, each book builds upon the previous one in order to guide the reader to first wait upon God, in patient humility, for His will to be revealed in our lives; then to work for God, habitually, in His strength alone; and then to Bb perfect in heart and Christian maturity before God, seeking to be perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect. Murray beautifully unfolds Biblical truths to show the believers in Christ that before they can seek to be perfect they must first surrender the will in complete dependence upon God's working, and become co-laborers with the Lord amidst the trials and tribulations of this world that the cause of His Kingdom and the glory of His name might be proclaimed. The message of the book is wonderfully summed up by Rev. Murray; If God's purpose with the perfection of the individual believer is to be carried out, waiting and working for God must have much greater prominence given to it as the true glory of our Christian calling.

I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience... (Rev 2:2).

It is God who girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect (Psalm 18:32).

In Aiming to Please, Wes Bredenhof explains in his unique, readable style, how Reformed worship aims to help us please God more and more. All aspects of the service come under scrutiny: Is singing hymns biblical? Should the congregation say the votum? Why collection bags? Lord's Supper in the pews? And what about the role of organists, drums, the celebration of Christmas, and the use of projectors? Does covenant theology make a difference to how we worship? These topics and many more are addressed from the stance that we are not to worship God in any other manner than he has commanded in his Word.

Since its first publication in 1925 Streams in the Desert has become one of the most loved and best selling devotionals by inspiring generations of Christians. Enjoy this classic work and be filled with rich insight of God's love and purpose for his people.

One of Time's women of the century, Helen Keller, reveals her mystical side in this best-selling spiritual autobiography. Writing that her first reading of Emanuel Swedenborg at age fourteen gave her truths that were to my faculties what light, color and music are to the eye and ear, she explains how Swedenborg's works sustained her throughout her life.

Her life has been described as a lesson of faith, an inspiration of courage, and a symbol of religious truth to all the world. Mark Twain once said the two most interesting characters in the modern world were Napoleon and Helen Keller.

Helen Keller remains the most well-known and accomplished deaf/blind person in history. My Religion, originally published in 1927, is Keller's famous spiritual autobiography. She discusses mystical truths that were to my faculties what light, color and music are to the eye and ear.

In the period from the close of the Napoleonic Wars up through the immediate post-World-War II era the image of Martin Luther was transposed in Germany from a religious reformer and advocate of freedom to a symbol of völkisch nationalist identity, such that with the seizure of power by the Nazis, Luther was used to portray a symbiosis between the new regime and the tradition of Protestant religiosity. The Luther Myth traces the evolution of this image within the environment of nineteenth- and twentieth-century German nationalist sentiment, looking particularly at how Protestant Germans styled Luther to affirm the essentialist racial identity politics of the Nazis, the cult of authoritarian leadership around Adolf Hitler, the drive to impose state control over all competing sources of authority, and the victimizing of German Jews. In doing so, it sheds new light on why Nazism was able to co-opt German Protestantism as a source for legitimizing its seizure of power despite the fact that the animating core of Nazi ideology was radically subversive in relation to traditional Christian piety.

Using evidence drawn from not only theological works and literary and philosophical sources, but also speeches, theatrical works, public celebrations, and monuments, it pulls together the narrative of development and connects it over the longer term, offering an original contribution to scholarship on the topic and allowing readers a format for considering how similar dynamics are still at work in contemporary society and culture.

Christ's first preaching seems to have been summarized in one short but crucial sentence, like that of John the Baptist before Him: Repent ye: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). It is not appropriate in a brief study such as this to discuss that most interesting topic, the Kingdom of heaven--what it is and what the various periods of its development are--but these Beatitudes teach us much about those who belong to that Kingdom, and upon whom Christ pronounced its highest forms of benediction.

The following were taken from talks from the Brevis Talk Podcast. They have been edited in a few places from the original talks. It is the author's hope that these talks will speak to your heart in your journey with Christ.