Bible Ministry

Bishop, Bible scholar, and best-selling author N. T. Wright here provides a series of case studies on how to apply the Bible to the pressing issues of today. Among the topics Wright addresses are the intersection of religion and science, why women should be allowed to be ordained, what we get wrong and how we can do better when Christians engage in politics, why the Christian belief in heaven means we should be at the forefront of the environmental movement, and many more.

In Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us, Layton E. Williams proposes that our primary calling as humans is not to create unity but rather to seek authentic relationship with God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us. And that means actively engaging those with whom we disagree. Our religious, political, social, and cultural differences can create doubt and tension, but disunity also provides surprising gifts of perspective and grace.

The Hiddenness of God addresses the problem of divine hiddenness which concerns the ambiguity of evidence for God's existence, the elusiveness of God's comforting presence, the palpable and devastating experience of divine absence and abandonment, and more; phenomena which are hard to reconcile with the idea, central to the Jewish and Christian scriptures, that there exists a God who is deeply and lovingly concerned with the lives of humans. Michael C. Rea argues that divine hiddenness is not a problem to be explained away but rather a consequence of the nature of God himself.

Todd Wilson’s church was devoted to the gospel and had long aspired to be the kind of city on a hill Jesus talks about in the Sermon on the Mount. They wanted their hurting neighbors to see the light of Christ and be drawn to meet Jesus, and they found the answers they were looking for in Titus. In that often-overlooked book of the Bible, they discovered a call to be zealous for good works. Zealous for Good Works is an exposition of Titus with a particular focus on mobilizing the church towards acting in kindness and goodness toward her neighbors.

I Call You Mine is a six-week study focused on revealing the incredible spiritual insights available to those who embrace God's heart of adoption. Just as Jesus used stories to engage and teach, the Scripture passages and personal stories in this study uncover greater truths about adoption as God's children. Caring for the unwanted is a privilege, and the perspective gained when working with God in this way is humbling. Realize anew what it means to be chosen and redeemed.

In the biblical letter of 2 Timothy, the apostle Paul reflected on his passing life. It was but a vapor. He was a pilgrim, passing through this life and into the next. Moments 'til Midnight creatively peels back the curtain of Paul's final hours. Author Brent Crowe imaginatively retells the last 12 hours of Paul's life, from the perspective of the apostle himself. Along the way, listeners will be encouraged to live with purpose, to redeem the time, and to embrace the awesome reality that they too are on a sacred journey.

What can we learn about leadership and influence from Paul? Most Christians know something of the Apostle Paul's life and ministry, but what about the incredible team of influencers he assembled and mobilized? Who were they, and how did Paul lead this team to accomplish God's purposes? Even more, what can we learn from their successes and failures, and how can we imitate their qualities?

The satisfaction you seek dwells in the depths of God's word. Do you come to God's word with questions and doubts that arise from life's disappointments and hurts? Denise J. Hughes, author of the Word Writers Bible Study series, has been there, yet she's found a peace that runs deeper than her circumstances. You don't have to be a graduate student in seminary to be a serious student of the Bible. God's word is for everyone. Dive in and experience the joy that awaits in deeper waters.

Even a cursory glance at the news is enough to convince us that the world is falling into chaos. But we haven't seen anything that compares to what will happen in the final events leading to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Walking on water. Multiplying the fish and the loaves. Raising Lazarus from the dead. The miracles of Jesus may be well known, but they are often treated as nothing more than fanciful tales. Written as a companion volume to The Storytelling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables, this book by Jared Wilson argues for the historicity and importance of the miraculous events surrounding Jesus’s life and ministry.

In Elijah, Hamilton Smith traces the major events of the life of Elijah, the Prophet of God, with all the highs and lows in his work as a prophet. Elijah knew only too well the inadequacies of his own humanity - he was a man who was "subject to like passions as we are". But Elijah knew the living God, was conscious of His presence, and was aware that prayer brought him into contact with the greatest power in the universe.

The Bible has the astounding power to transform lives. The stories of people like Francis of Assisi, Antony of Egypt, Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. vividly demonstrate this. Why aren't more of us transformed by Scripture today? Too often we study biblical texts without believing that God truly inhabits this book. Scripture seeks to capture our minds, not merely educate them. In this book, Chris Webb explains that we can transform our Christian life by reading as lovers rather than as theorists.

How did The Simpsons, one of the most popular television shows in history, go from being attacked by many religious leaders for its lack of family values to being called one of the most theologically relevant programs in prime time? Religion journalist Mark Pinsky explores the individual characters, interviews several of the show's writers and producers, and concludes with a theological discussion.

In Are You Fit for Life? pastor Jack Graham examines this life in Christ. He argues that God calls believers to be both spiritually and physically fit - to honor Christ in one's body as well as in one's soul.

Christ as seen in the Offerings is a classic work by RF Kingcote which takes up in a simple way some of the offerings mentioned in Leviticus - a book which is commonly passed over as if it were not relevant to us today, but which is full of rich typical teaching.

We plead for God's deliverance from our pain and wonder why he keeps letting it go on. We are not alone. A cloud of witnesses surrounds us, and they help us understand. In these 35 creative retellings of Bible stories, Jon Bloom explores the hope and joy that Abraham, Moses, Naomi, John the Baptist, and others experienced in the painful process of discovering that God's promises really are more trustworthy than our perceptions.

Author Mac Barron assures us that Jesus loves us, even though we're human. We know this, because the Bible says so. Over and over and over again. With its hilarious, sometimes irreverent, and always humble reflections, this book will make you laugh and help you look at the Bible - and yourself - in a whole new way.

Long before the New Testament was a document, it was a sacrament. Jesus called the Eucharist by the name Christians subsequently gave to the latter books of the Holy Bible. It was the "New Covenant," the "New Testament," in his blood. Christians later extended the phrase to cover the books produced by the apostles and their companions; but they did so because these were the books that could be read at Mass.

The Gospels: The King James Version has continued to this day to be one of the most beloved and widely sought after translations of the Bible into the English language. Now more than 400 years old, the King James Version has been shaping Christians for centuries with its majesty and solemnity. Narrator David Cochran Heath brings his voice of clarity and warmth, making listening an experience the hearer will want to return to again and again.

A man who has consciously and deliberately walked the path of Christ, John Shelby Spong has lived his entire life inside the Christian Church. In this profound and considered work, he offers a radical new way to look at the gospels today as he shows just how deeply Jewish the Christian Gospels are and how much they reflect the Jewish scriptures, history, and patterns of worship.