One of the most renowned theologians of our time tells the story of the Bible in a way that everyone can understand. Shortly before he died in 1998, Lesslie Newbigin recorded a series of eight radio addresses on basic themes and central figures in the Bible. These addresses, which form the basis of this book, affirm the Bible as the story of the history of humankind. Newbigin invites readers to join him on a journey from Genesis through Revelation, introducing the great biblical figures along the way - Abraham, Moses, Noah, the prophets, Paul, and of course, Jesus. His characteristically lucid prose, reflecting a lifetime of faithful teaching and preaching, both challenges and inspires the reader to a deeper level of Christian discipleship. This authoritative, powerful summary of the Bible story is indispensable reading for individuals, teachers, clergy, and adult study groups. Lesslie Newbigin was a founding bishop of the Church of South India and associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches. He authored numerous books, including Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship; The Gospel in a Pluralist Society; and Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture.

The Great Dance is astonishing vision of human life and the mystery of its intersection with the life of the Triune God. Dr. Kruger charts a course from the Trinity to the incarnation to the union of humanity with God in Jesus Christ. In that light he offers a breathtaking interpretation of our human existence as participation in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit. He uncovers the untold dignity of our ordinary humanity--from motherhood to baseball, from relationships and music to golf, gardening and designing lakes. This is a book about who we are and why we are here and what is really happening in our lives. Step by step, Dr. Kruger walks us through the stratagems of evil and the messes we make of our lives. More important, he explains why we hurt, what we are really after and how to get there, and why faith in Jesus Christ is so critical for abundant life. The Great Dance is theology at its very best--steeped in tradition, yet unfamiliar and exciting, even revolutionary; deeply personal and honest, yet universally relevant. Written with pace and poetry and winsome grace, The Great Dance is the voice of the ancient church speaking to us across the ages through the pen of a Southerner who loves life. Baxter Kruger (PhD, Kings College, University of Aberdeen) is a theologian, writer, and fishing lure designer. A native of Prentiss, Mississippi, he has worked as a minister to college students, as a lecturer in theology, and as an associate pastor. He is an avid fisherman and golfer, loves coaching little league baseball and has designed a range of fishing lures called Dr. K's Klones. He and his wife Beth have three children -- Baxter, Laura and Kathryn.

The injunction 'Get real' usually means 'Leave your world of fantasy and return to what really is.' True Realism always and everywhere is to find out where joy resides. In the past year this magical gift got lost or mislaid in my life. Mike Mason has located it, given it voice, and helped me to recover it. Even one sip of Champagne for the Soul is a heady, exhilarating experience. -Brennan Manning, author of A Glimpse of Jesus: The Stranger to Self-Hatred If you were given the chance to be happy for the rest of your life, wouldn't you jump at it? In Champagne for the Soul, bestselling author Mike Mason explains that the Bible does make this offer. Yet most of us hang back, reluctant and skeptical. Theologically most Christians will agree that the Bible teaches and offers a life of joy; yet deep down we're not convinced that such a life is practical-for us or any ordinary person. But, says Mason, such joy truly is ours to claim and embrace. What you now hold in your hands is a call to throw off all worries and complaints and to come and share your master's happiness (Matthew 25:21). Is it possible to live every day in joy? You will never know if you don't try. These pages, drawn from the author's own ninety-day experiment in actively pursuing joy, will lead you on a journey that will help you-no matter what your circumstances-to escape the trap of worry, fear, and dullness and grab hold of the joy of the Lord. Mike Mason is the best-selling author of several books, including The Mystery of Marriage, The Mystery of Children, The Gospel According to Job, and Practicing the Presence of People. He and his wife, Karen, an M.D. in general practice, live in Langely, British Columbia, Canada, with their teenage daughter, Heather.

Jesus Christ is not a theoretical idea or a mere concept far removed from our human experience. In Across All Worlds, Baxter Kruger brings us face to face with the fact that Jesus has established a very real and personal relationship with us in our darkness. Jesus accepts us and walks with us because he is determined that we come to know His Father with him and life in His embrace.

C. Baxter Kruger is the Director of Perichoresis, an international ministry sharing the good news of our adoption in Christ with the world. He and his wife Beth have been married for 25 years and have four children. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree under Professor James B. Torrance in Aberdeen, Scotland. Baxter is the author of seven books, including The Great Dance and Jesus and the Undoing of Adam, and teaches across the United States, Canada and Australia. He is an avid outdoorsman and holds two United States patents for his fishing lure designs. He is the founder and President of Mediator Lures.

There are many books on preaching, but few, if any, on the theology of preaching. Yet, whether it is recognized or not, theology underlies any preaching that claims to be biblical. In Speaking God's Words Peter Adam builds confidence in preaching by laying a firm theological foundation for it. Preaching rests upon three great pillars: God has spoken, his words are now recorded in Scripture and he commissions people to explain, preach and teach his written words to their contemporaries. Throughout the book, using well-chosen illustrations, Dr Adam encourages preachers to give themselves to the demanding yet thrilling task of preaching God's words today.

By surpassing most traditional commentaries, Lane's work unveils Hebrews as a sermon rendered by a concerned preacher to his Roman church, which is under persecution and dangerously close to rejecting the faith. As an exposition of encouragement and exhortation, Hebrews addresses the central concerns of our contemporary church as well: the felt absence of God, a climate of uncertainty and insecurity, the tension between secular conformity and spiritual maturity and the treat of societal perversion and materialism to a Christian commitment. Christians are called upon to express a faith that is rooted in the future and to continue this life of pilgrimage with a radical new view of reality, which is based on sure confidence in the intervention of God in daily life. Tracing the writer's development thought by thought, rather than verse by verse, careful attention is paid to the cultural and historical background. This work is useful as a study guide for groups and individuals, or for any reader who wishes a mature understanding of the book of Hebrews.

We need to know who Jesus is. But where can we turn to find out? Many people look only to the New Testament for answers. But reader of The Servant King will find that the Old Testament, beginning with its very first pages, paints a portrait of the Messiah, the Saviour of the world: where he will come from, what he will be like and what he will do. By the time we reach the New Testament, much of the portrait has emerged, so that the Jesus we encounter is not a stranger. We are able to see, like the first disciples, that he is the Messiah already promised, the Servant King. With great skill, Desmond Alexander helps us see the portrait's first brush-strokes being laid down in Genesis and more being added as the Old Testament story unfolds. Then, as he guides us through the New Testament, we discover how the portrait is completed revealing Jesus in all his glory. This book brings the whole picture into view. It helps us see who Jesus was, where he stood in the plans of God and what he was sent to do. If we read with care and faith, The Servant King will help us enter the richness of God's Word, and we will understand better, not just who Jesus was, but who he is today. The Servant King is written with the sort of authority only a leading Old Testament specialist can command; but its deep learning is not allowed to intrude and the book has all the charm and helpfulness of a piece of enthusiastic Bible study, presented with freshness and accuracy. -Alec Motyer, Trinity College, Bristol T. D. Alexander (PhD, Queen's University, Belfast) is director of the Magee Institute for Christian Training at Union Theological College in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is also the author of Paradise to the Promised Land.

In this now classic book, noted scholar and author Harry Blamires perceptively diagnoses some of the weaknesses besetting the church with insights as fresh and relevant today as they were in the 1960s. Arguing that a distinctively Christian reasoning has been swept away by secular modes of thought and politically correct assumptions, the author calls for the recovery of the authentically Christian mind. America needs a shot of intellectual insulin directly to its oft-sleepy mind. Harry Blamires is calling out to Christians to think once again. To Blamires, Jesus is not some spongy source of giddy joy. He is the Christ-the hope of 'hard boiled' secularity. -Calvin Miller, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Must reading for those in places of spiritual leadership, and in whose hands in borne the responsibility for the nurturing of Christians. -Pulpit Helps Harry Blamires is a highly respected teacher and author of more than thirty books. He has won a wide following of both British and American readers for his provocative works in theology, education, English literature, and fiction. His other works include Where Do We Stand?, On Christian Truth, and The Post-Christian Mind.

Eucharistic Participation deals with the importance of the Eucharist, and in the process challenges Protestants (and especially evangelicals) to treat the Eucharist more seriously than they sometimes do.

In particular, Boersma re-addresses the two issues of the Lord's Supper as sacrifice and as real presence. These were the two issues central to the Eucharistic debates of the Protestant Reformation. This booklet is written from an attitude of sympathy with the motivations and concerns of the Reformers. At the same time, it suggests that it is possible to get beyond the disagreements of the Reformation period. If we take seriously the notion of participation-the idea that in the Eucharistic celebration we share in Christ and in his work-we can affirm both sacrificial language and talk of real presence-while at the same time holding on to the all-sufficient and unique character of Christ's sacrifice.

Participation, so Boersma argues, reconfigures our understanding of both time and space. If past, present, and future coincide in and through Christ, this means that what we do today in the Eucharist can participate in the unique sacrifice of Christ without undermining it. And if heaven and earth are reunited in and through Christ, this means that the heavenly reality of Christ's body can become really present in the celebration of the Eucharist. Serious ecumenical dialogue requires, therefore, that Protestants do justice to the theology of participation as they try to come to grips with the disagreements between Rome and the Reformation.

Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Bringing a distinctly Christian perspective to the subject of finding true rest in the midst of daily pressures, Siang-Yang Tan diagnoses what ails us and provides thoroughly practical steps to help us respond to Jesus' invitation. In this book, Siang-Yang Tan draws from a richness of experience to write with warmth and compassion. Since he himself knows the difficulty of slowing down in these hyperactive times, he is able to give practical guidelines to others, drawn from a wealth of information found in the Scriptures, empirical research, and psychological reports. . . . If rest is not easy for you to put into practice, learn from an author who is growing at a healthy pace and willing to bring others along on the journey. -from the Foreword, by Dr. Gary R. Collins SIANG-YANG TAN is professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He also serves as Senior Pastor of First Evangelical Church in Glendale, California. He has authored or co-authored eight previous books, including Disciplines of the Holy Spirit and Understanding Depression. He is an associate editor of The Journal of Psychology and Christianity.

What has been needed for a long time is someone sufficiently attuned to George MacDonald to undertake the careful editing necessary to make his provocative, content-packed sermons accessible to the thoughtful reader. Rolland Hein has done this task with extraordinary success. Here are more than thirty sermons made vitally alive for the contemporary reader. -E. Beatrice Batson, Wheaton College

Here holiness is presented as so beautiful and necessary that we covet it as a man dying of thirst covets water. I know of no other writer with a greater capacity to make faith real as the air we breathe, rich with the secrets of Paradise for which we would willingly break out hearts. -Robert Siege, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Rolland Hein is Professor of English at Wheaton College, where he has taught since 1970. He has had a lifelong interest in George MacDonald's writings, having edited several volumes of his sermons. He is also the author of George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker, a biography based on the letters of MacDonald and his family, The Harmony Within: the Spiritual Vision of George MacDonald, and Christian Mythmakers.

Revelation is probably the most read, but least understood book of the Bible. In Discipleship on the Edge, Darrell W. Johnson drives home the challenging and practical message of Revelation in thirty carefully crafted sermons. Paying careful attention to the circumstances surrounding its composition, Johnson shows that the book is not a Crystal ball but rather a discipleship manual. Thoroughly researched and accessible, this collection of sermons is a helpful resource for pastors and small group leaders who are looking for models to help them preach and teach from Revelation in a time when there is so much confusion about the future.

Revelation is probably the most read, but least understood book of the Bible. In Discipleship on the Edge, Darrell W. Johnson drives home the challenging and practical message of Revelation in thirty carefully crafted sermons. Paying careful attention to the circumstances surrounding its composition, Johnson shows that the book is not a Crystal ball but rather a discipleship manual. Thoroughly researched and accessible, this collection of sermons is a helpful resource for pastors and small group leaders who are looking for models to help them preach and teach from Revelation in a time when there is so much confusion about the future.

Back in print for the first time since Muggeridge's death in 1990, both published volumes of his acclaimed biography-The Green Stick and The Infernal Grove, plus the previously unpublished start to an unfinished third volume entitled The Right Eye-all brought together in one unabridged volume. There is not a flat page in this mingling of anecdote, comment and self-criticism. . . . An international throng of writers, politicians, soldiers, spies, traitors and eccentrics jostles in these page from Attlee to Wodehouse via Burgess and Philby, Churchill, de Gaulle, Gide, Chanel, Montgomery, Evelyn Waugh. -The Daily Telegraph Much of it . . . is very funny indeed; his description of being inducted into the mysteries of invisible writing when he joined the M16, for instance, is one of the great comic set-pieces that are artfully placed throughout the book. . . . Apart from these, the wit sparkles on almost every page. -The Observer . . . this is one of the most delightful and entertaining memoirs of our age. -The Washington Post A sure hand pushes the pen; a splendid mind guides the hand. There are paragraphs in this book that . . . are models of the best of clarity, grace and beauty in the English language. -The Dallas Morning News Born in 1903, Malcolm Muggeridge started his career as a university lecturer in Cairo before taking up journalism. As a journalist he worked around the world on the Guardian, Calcutta Statesman, the Evening Standard and the Daily Telegraph. In 1953 became editor of Punch, where he remained for four years. In later years he became best known as a broadcaster both on television and radio for the BBC. His other books include Jesus Rediscovered, Christ and the Media, and A Third Testament.

A personal day of prayer is a wonderful opportunity to find two things: renewed focus and clarity to our lives and renewed joy and peace in Christ. It comes to us as a gift in the midst of the challenges, opportunities and perplexities of our lives. As opportunity and gift, the day of prayer enables us to find spiritual and emotional space for an intentional encounter with Christ. Through this encounter we come to a renewed experience of the presence of the Spirit in our lives. This small booklet is intended to teach Christians how to spend a full day in the presence of Christ. Readers are given the opportunity to practise various spiritual disciplines and then to journal what God is speaking to them. Gordon T. Smith is president of Overseas Council Canada, which works with other Overseas Council affiliates to support and enable excellence in theological education in the developing world. He previously served as the dean and associate professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Poet and author Luci Shaw guides you into a deeper understanding of how to cultivate the life of the soul in relationship to God. Water My Soul speaks of the interior life in images of garden and wilderness, seed and soil, watering and waiting-metaphors for the process that leads to the spouting of the seed, the greening of the leaf, and the eventual harvest of flower and fruit. This book speaks straight to the heart, helping you enjoy a lifelong partnership with God as you cultivate a rich inner life-a life characterized by growth in wisdom and godliness. Luci Shaw is one of our best writers. Read this wonderful book, and for heaven's sake pick up some copies for your friends -Annie Dillard Water My Soul is a profoundly rooted book that reminds us all to slow down, breathe deeply, and experience God at work. Luci Shaw displays the wisdom of a woman who has lived well and the child-like wonder of a believer who continues to discover new reasons to believe. This book will be a classic-a volume to be reread whenever life seems to spin out of control. -Dale Hanson Burke Publisher, Religion News Service

Martin Luther is often thought of as a world-shaking figure who defied papacy and empire to introduce a reformation in the teaching, worship, organization, and life of the Church. Sometimes it is forgotten that he was also a pastor and shepherd of souls. Collected in this volume are Luther's letters of spiritual counsel, which he offered to his contemporaries in the midst of sickness, death, persecution, imprisonment, famine, and political instability. For Luther, spiritual counsel was about establishing, nurturing, and strengthening faith. Freshly translated from the original German and Latin, the letters shed light on the fascinating relationship between his pastoral counsel and his theology.

Theodore G. Tappert taught Church History at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also translated Pia Desideria by Philip Jacob Spener and The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

These days most people will grant that Jesus Christ was a great teacher who lived in a corner of the old Roman empire. Most also welcome his teachings as a sound basis for civilization. But what difference does that make now? Why has a whole religion been built on this person? What did he actually say and do? And how can we trust the written records about him? This fast-moving, highly readable book introduces Jesus of Nazareth honestly and openly, with no prior knowledge assumed. Michael Green is the highly respected author of more than fifty books. He has been Principal of St. John's College, Nottingham, Rector to St. Aldate's Church Oxford, and Professor of Evangelism and New Testament at Regent College, Vancouver. He now serves as Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University.

Artists often agonize over their work, even to the point of despair, in the modern world. This booklet by one of the twentieth century's most incisive art historians and cultural critics is a prophetic call to artists-craftsmen, musicians, visual artists and others-in all walks of life to weep, pray, think and work.

Hans R. Rookmaaker (1922-1977), founder of the art history department and professor of the history of art at the Free University of Amsterdam, made a significant contribution to the Christian understanding of art and is well known as the author of Modern Art and the Death of a Culture (1970). The Complete Works of Hans Rookmaaker (6 vols.) was published in 2003.

This Supplement is intended to provide a diverse and extensive range of additional practice material for use in mastering the grammatical content of Introducing Biblical Hebrew by Allen P. Ross (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001). It is based upon the writing system, vocabulary, morphology and syntax of Biblical Hebrew as these are presented in Introducing Biblical Hebrew, running parallel to the first 41 chapters of that volume. Chapters 1-6 deal progressively with the introductory issues of writing and pronouncing Hebrew, with practice based upon Genesis 1-2. Three types of exercise accompany the study of vocabulary, morphology and syntax: parsing of isolated forms, with emphasis upon the verb (chapters 10-41); two sections of sentences composed in Hebrew, the first focussed upon the material of the current chapter and the second containing longer sentences drawn from all the material encountered up to that point (chapters 3-41, with isolated phrases initially); and three sections of passages drawn directly from the Hebrew Bible (chapters 9-41) - isolated verses containing salient features of the grammar studied at that point, longer prose passages (Gen 1:1-2:4, 22:1-19, Deut 8-11, Ruth 1-4, Gen 37:12-36), and short poetic passages from the Psalms (Ps 1, 121, 133, 100, 103, 19, 113, 27, 91, 34, 8). Unfamiliar forms and syntax in the OT passages are footnoted, making it possible to read them without recourse to additional language tools.

David M. Clemens (PhD, University of Chicago) is a lecturer in Hebrew at Regent College.