One of the most famous religious figures of the Gilded Age, the period between 1865-1890, was Dwight L. Moody. Although many volumes have been written about the popular revivalist and his career, very little has been done to systematically assess the relationship of Moody's social ideas to his concern for reaching the masses. This work examines the relationship of the social views of Moody to the laboring man of the latter half of the nineteenth century in the United States and Great Britain. Through an examination of his career, one finds a man who sought to reach the working masses of the growing industrial cities of the United States and Great Britain with the gospel.

The author argues that the timing of the incarnation was God's response to mankind's readiness for the Christ. Evidence from natural science, developmental and counseling psychology, as well as the cultural history of the Jews, Greeks, and Romans provide the context. Viewed from this perspective, significant implications arise suggesting a shift in the Divine-human relationship from a thankfulness for rescue (from original sin), to thankfulness for the opportunity to freely choose to be an adopted child of the Divine. He suggests this new orientation seems more palatable to the modern mind.

The work examines the paleontology and biology of the vertebrate mega fauna of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument located in the state of Oregon. In addition, the geology of Central Oregon is discussed. All subject matter is presented based on biblical presuppositions that assume Genesis chapters 1-11 are written and inspired by God in historical narrative, and that there was a cataclysmic worldwide flood about 4,500 years ago.

This manuscript explores insights of the Reader Response Critics of biblical interpretation, giving special attention to the significance of the reader (and hearer, as well), as interpreters of scripture who are not only the recipients of meanings created by others but also are, themselves, creators of meaning. Part I - A Community of Interpreters - is a discussion of various features of reading and hearing scripture: when/how texts open and close, filters and lenses that influence what the reader/hearer seeks and discovers in a text, and the reader's/hearer's angle of vision. Part II - Of Mystery, Surprise and Expectation - introduces three specific lenses (mystery, surprise, and expectation) for use in the interpretation of scripture, along with illustrative samples of their exegetical and hermeneutical influence.

This is a theological re-interpretation of what it means for humanity to be made in the image of God. Unlike standard dogmatic works, it is predicated on the reality of the evolutionary origin of mankind, yet it also maintains and asserts the authority of divine providence. The dichotomy between science and faith is harmonized through the philosophical concept of middle knowledge to the natural world, thereby allowing the mutual coexistence of humanity's evolutionary origins and the existence of a God from whom all reality originated. It is when humanity had evolved to develop an introspective self-consciousness necessary to recognize the existence of God, that mankind becomes truly human. In this scenario, the incarnation of Jesus Christ becomes the validation of humanity as the unique creation of God -- beings made in and reflective of the divine image. It is only through the recognition of his bearing God's image that mankind is then able to understand how he is to live in the present moment as a reflection of that image. In a different view of Christian faith, Jesus Christ thus becomes not only the Savior of humanity (since physical matter cannot evolve into spiritual beings) but also the model of what it means to be an authentic human being.

Everyday Living is a biblically-based, illustrated, textbook/workbook which addresses topics homeschooled children ages 8-13 need to master for a health education credit. Each chapter opens with a creative, dialog-rich story about the Turners, a homeschool family of four, their French-speaking Grand maman, and their cousin Emaline. An informational and practical applications section related to the chapter's theme follows. The student will benefit from the varied interdisciplinary questions, vocabulary, puzzles, writing projects, experiments with results and conclusions, and field trips. Ideas for further reading, internet-based resources for additional research, and notes to parents are listed in the appendix. Upon completion of this text, the homeschooled student will be able to obtain educational credit for topics long overlooked by traditional curriculum writers but seen as essential for a well-rounded Christian homeschooler.

What does it mean when we hear the term: "Christian worldview and politics"? What better way to answer the question and explore the subject than to examine the lives and beliefs of seven influential Christians who modeled their beliefs in public? Here are Catholic and Protestant thinkers who bring Christian premises into play in the public arena (Kirk, Buckley, Henry, Neuhaus, Novak, Schaeffer, Colson). Together, they laid foundational ideas in their writings and lives that readers would be well advised to follow today.

While a great deal has been written about Martin Luther King, Jr., as a preacher and civil rights leader, the writer considers that few works have focused on the practical import of King's life and thought to contemporary society. This manuscript also devotes attention to how religious communities can embrace the power and meaning of King's vision, voice, and message.

Subtitled: A Commentary on the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles and an Introduction to Systematic Theology, this work provides a critical resource for church leaders and others interested in reformed theology by explaining the teaching of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion as drafted by English Reformers in the 16th century. With a focus on solid theological teaching, practical application, and spiritual formation, this volume is written for clergy, ministry students, and lay leaders. Essential Truths shows how the Anglican Reformers "got it right" on the central matters of the Christian Faith, and that these teachings are both biblical and relevant for today. This book is designed as an easy-to-find reference on the Articles and as an introduction to the basic themes of systematic theology. The foreword is written by J.I. Packer.

This work is an explanation of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-R (DSM) written on the backdrop of the Wizard of Oz.

This manuscript presents a documentation theory for the gospels, suggesting that Jesus was followed during his ministry by "speedy writers" to preserve his teaching. They wrote reports shortly after an occurrence for education and/or for publication. Remaining material was kept in a remnant record. These reports became the elements for the composition of the gospels: Matthew (education), Luke (publication) and Mark (remnant records). The gospel of John was composed of reports that were kept undivided. There are three instances in the New Testament which refer to Jesus' writers. And so this theory claims historical truth, e.g. that the spoken word in the gospels is authentic in all cases.The documentation theory is a model that makes it possible to answer critical questions about the gospels, including the synoptic problem, in a positive and biblical way.

This book gives the reader a chance to rediscover the historical teacher Jesus and his teaching. What was he like as a teacher? How was he like and unlike the scribes? What was the source and nature of his authority? What does his teaching have to do with theology, discipleship, and spiritual formation, then and now? How do we practically assimilate Jesus' teaching into our lives today? This book defines Jesus' teaching in terms of its nature, meaning, purpose, its place in the life and mission of the historical Jesus, and its place - or omission - in church life today. The unifying thesis: Personal, direct discipleship to Jesus is possible today through an intellectually and spiritually discipled approach to the teaching of Jesus. Our fundamental relationship to Jesus is one of apprentice to teacher. If we don't understand the historical Jesus as "teacher," then we may misunderstand the risen Jesus and his message today. Knowing the Jesus of today involves knowing the Jesus of yesterday as truthfully as we can.

This book reveals the real meaning of the book of Jeremiah by understanding the ancient culture of and the specific literary forms of communication employed by the author. To comprehend correctly, the reader must learn to recognize and accept the comparative thought process the author uses. Specifically, both direct and inverse parallelisms are analyzed as preparation for the main focus of the book which is the macro-inverted parallelisms that make up this intriguing and important book of the Old Testament.

Many Christians are unaware of increasingly successful attempts to link Christianity to Hitler. Pointing to the support of German Christians for Hitler; the Nazi party platform's support for "positive" Christianity and to Hitler's promises to support and protect the churches; pointing also to Hitler's Catholic upbringing, his Concordat with the Vatican, and his public profession of Christianity; and also arguing from centuries of Christian anti-Semitism, secular extremists paint Christianity as a religion of fanaticism and intolerance. The manuscript responds to these accusations, showing the secular nature of Hitler's thought, and the incompatibility of biblical Christianity with hatred and cruelty of any kind.

A new paradigm for the Genesis creation story is here presented, including a new translation and explanation of Genesis chapters 1 and 2 which accurately reflects original inspired Scripture, yet harmonizes with science in regard to time. The writer asserts that this book brings significant new substance to the origins debate and offers a truly credible solution to the Genesis problem. Hebrew scholars have rigorously reviewed this translation. With an accurate translation of Genesis as the core, a comprehensive framework for biblical origins is laid through a discussion of science, age, design theory, biology, astronomy and anthropology. Opinion polls show the biblical community is deeply divided over the origins issue. This book attempts to heal that divide.

Is there wisdom about the Middle East conflict, or are we stuck with our many points of view? The Ishmael Factor pursues that question, struggling with the postmodern challenge to transcendent wisdom. Yet it does find a “Master Narrative” through philosophical treatment of biblical thought. The story of Isaac and Ishmael is reflected politically and religiously in the Middle East, and the Christian interpretation of that story, in which “human religion” creates only guilt and pride, is the key to understanding the conflict. It shows also why secular liberals are friendly with fundamentalist Islamism: they share their resistance to Transcendence. And the book shows the source of that resistance. It sketches a naturalistic account of human origin that accounts rationally for the biblical diagnosis of the “human jihad” being revealed in the Middle East.

(Working title and tagline: The Scripture Code…unlocking spiritual wealth           

 A savvy method of Bible memorization)

Do you Scripture Code?

Your answer to this question will frame your life as you face the challenges, decisions, and temptations before you today.  The goal of The Scripture Code is to erase the words, “I can’t memorize,” from the vocabulary of God’s people of faith. The outcome of The Scripture Code is FAITH STRONG.

The discipline of The Scripture Code will…

·       Stimulate the mind

·       Enlighten to the truth

·       Access God’s character and will

·       Impart wisdom

·       Encourage godliness

·       Establish a sure foundation

·       Accumulate spiritual wealth

·       Teach faith principles

·       Enable righteous living

·       Provide a built-in concordance

Make FAITH STRONG your banner.  Go ahead, say “yes” to the question, “Do you Scripture Code?”  The next faith generation is banking on it.

 “The discipline of reading and memorizing God’s Word is the best way to keep my heart aligned with God’s priorities.”  Mr. Whitney T. Kuniholm, President, Scripture Union/USA

“As we meditate on and memorize His Word, our hearts are calibrated to follow His wonderful purpose for our lives.” Camilla L. Seabolt, Executive Director, Community Bible Study

Why is it that there is no difference in the depression rate between believers and non-believers? Why is it that believers have the same divorce rate as the non-believers? Why it is that too many believers today spend their entire lives living in the wilderness of need although the Lord has already made available the Promised Land of nothing missing and nothing broken?

The answer is that too many are afraid to cross over the formidable river of doubt in order to face the fierce lions of fear and insecurity. Alas, even those that do engage in battle lose because they neither understand their enemy nor have the right weapon to win victory.

This is where Love Deficit comes in. Love Deficit identifies the root cause behind the lack of victory in our lives, exposes how it shows up, and then pin-points the steps to take to get rid of our nemesis once and for all. After reading this book, the reader will want absolutely nothing to do with fear and everything to do with love.

God Sex is an adult non-fiction study of secular sexuality and God’s views regarding it. Few try to connect God with sex, but that is just what this book does. Within the pages of this book is an exploration of human sexuality through the eyes of the One who created sex. Dr. Sweetman combines biblical truths with social theories and contemporary research to seek out the answers we need regarding sex, sexuality, and sexual behavior.

This book covers a variety of tough topics including promiscuity, porn, abortion, sexual abuse, homosexuality, polygamy, and marital sex. The book is blatantly real because of the world in which we live. More than two hundred sources were used in researching for this book, including secular and religious and scholarly and contemporary books, articles, and websites. There is also a collaboration of anonymous testimonies submitted by real people who have gone through the situations addressed within God Sex. 

This book is meant to reach out across the expanse of fear, hate, and misunderstanding that surrounds sex and offer God’s grace, help, and healing. It is also intended to educate both the believer and non-believer in the stark truths God has outlined in His Word regarding sex and sexual conduct. 

This book addresses the danger of losing our fundamental freedom -- that of freedom of conscience -- in this country in large part because of the historical amnesia and  cultural loss of awareness of our evangelical roots. It discusses the need to look to our past and attempt to rediscover the foundational wisdom, the governing principles, and the religious roots upon which this unique nation -- the world's beacon of democracy -- was built. Particular focus is given to the original intent and inspired wisdom of the Founders, who intended a country where religion, and particularly Christianity,  was not imposed, but clearly welcomed and encouraged. 

Everything the Bible teaches about human relationships reflects our biological natures, for obvious reasons, but even Westerners of faith have lost sight that God made us flesh and blood human beings with instincts to survive and procreate. Our traditional sexual and other moralities reflected people caring for each other and for children, knowing that men and women are different and are naturally drawn together in families.

The author uses evidence and logic to affirm Biblical teaching about marriage, while placing our current tolerances of homosexuality and transvestism in their unique historical context: our often well-meaning rejection of the physical differences and biological relationships between people since World War Two. We claim to be an age of science, but we’re rejecting human biology God created.

Other peoples (Christian and not) believe in biology: gender, family, and species are facts. They get on with their lives. For we in the postmodern West, gender and family aren’t facts, although they’re among our post racial identities. They’re just not biological. In our desire to be inclusive, we’re replacing male and female as the basic dualism of life with heterosexuality and homosexuality, dividing men from women. Bogged down with abstraction, we’re becoming unsure about species.

Evidence abounds that our culture is unraveling at the seams. It is “defining deviancy up” and tearing decency down--normalizing the deviant and demonizing the normal. Having lost its internal moral gyroscope, our culture is now in spiritual and moral free fall.

Evidence abounds, as well, that there is a massive disconnect between what many Christians say they believe and how they actually live. This indifference to truth by believers accounts at least in part for the fact that the culture has become morally desensitized. The demoralization of culture is linked directly to the "desalination" and "delumination" of the church. Salt can lose its salinity. Light can lose its clarity. When this happens inside the body of Christ, radical difference is replaced by monotonous sameness as the church becomes an eccentric caricature rather than an authentic picture of what Christ expects it to be. The inevitable consequence of this kind of spiritual anemia in the church is the demoralization and dissolution of the culture.

This book is a passionate appeal for a return to robust Christianity, a fervent call to the contemporary body of Christ to become a first-century church in a twenty-first-century world.

Jesus was all about the personal encounter. Person to person. Face to face. No one was ever the same after an encounter with Jesus. But what happened during these encounters? Have you ever imagined what is was like for Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman or the Ruler whose son was ill? What did they think, feel or wonder?

In the Beginning was the Verb: Encountering Jesus in John's Gospel describes sixteen personal encounters as recorded in the Gospel of John and imagines what it must have been like for some characters you know well (Pontius Pilate) and for some you have never met (a young rabbi who witnessed the taking of the woman caught in adultery). Sacred imagination is joined together with insights from Dale Bruner's commentary on John to convey both biblical insight, pastoral wisdom and missional challenge.

It's time to encounter Jesus like never before. Person to person. Face to face. You will never be the same after an encounter with Jesus.

According to His Excellent Greatness outlines a foundation for a biblical approach to art—both the art Christians buy and the art we make. After assessing the current art market, tracing a biblical approach to art, and giving a biblical rubric for aesthetic assessment, this concise volume speaks to the issues affecting the Christian artist today—pinpointing that our aesthetic conflict with the world is one of identity and authoritative naming. It then unpacks some reasons that the most representative mainstream Christian art has become so irrelevant and mediocre. It concludes with practical questions and answers on a variety of particular aesthetic questions and a rousing call to the church to renew her arts for the cause of Christ’s kingdom.

Decision-making for individual believers or  ministry leaders in local churches or Christian organizations is challenging. We long to get things right but struggle to know what is best. The reality is that discernment of what’s best does not come naturally to us nor does God expect it to be! A wonderful promise to cling to however, comes from David’s prayer, “Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalms 143:8a).  Guidance ultimately is about the hope of finding the way we should go. This book seeks to shed light on that process.  

The Apostle Paul prayed specifically for the church in Philippi that they would grow in their ability to discern or approve what was best (Phil 1:5). Guidance to God’s will is a matter of discerning God’s best. Discernment, however, carries deeper implications about decision-making than just a choice between options. The purpose of this book is not to present a simple formula for finding God’s will in a situation, but to offer a biblically based theology of guidance for life and ministry. It is designed to help individuals, church ministry leaders and Christian organizations discern God’s best and facilitate decision-making for them.

The call to ministry is a call to suffering.  As a result countless pastors are leaving the ministry discouraged and disillusioned with the the church and even with God himself.  While most books deal with the emotional side of the struggles of ministry, the purpose of this book is to help the pastor regain a spiritual and theological perspective to enable the pastor not only to survive the struggles and challenges, but to maintain a positive view of the ministry and God's work through him.  The book focuses on the high cost of ministry by looking at the challenges, struggles, and discouragements that plague the pastor.  The book provides the pastor with a biblical perspective in order that the pastor might remain steadfast in the face of the struggles.  This is done by first examining the biblical teaching regarding the purpose and nature of suffering and then delving into the biblical priciples that govern the minister's understanding and perspective of God, himself, and the ministry that he might maintain spiritual and emotional health even in the midst of the struggles.

SEEKING SON LIGHT is written from a conservative evangelical point of view.  It is a Bible study book designed for independent study, small groups and Sunday schools.  It is made up of three sections (each section covers one topic) and contains twenty six individual lessons.  The target audience is new believers and those who wish to grow in their spiritual maturity.

With the recent discussions regarding Paul and justification, there is a renewed interest in, and appreciation of, the Greco-Roman background of the New Testament. Special care has been taken to examine Paul’s writings in light of the cultural evidence and its impact on various interpretations. This study was written out of the desire to demonstrate, through exegetical and historical avenues, the significance of the Greco-Roman background on the Apostle Paul’s use of pi,stij. This work looks to the canon of Scripture and other historical sources to determine the origins and developments of Paul’s use of pi,stij, especially in the cultural Sitz im Leben of the author’s original audience. It is argued that Paul’s use of pi,stij presents a unique development and progression from the former uses of this concept of faith. In addition, his usage sheds light on the study of the NT.

The life of St. Peter is an inspiration because we see so much of ourselves in him. If Jesus can change this impulsive, conflicted, uncertain man into the greatest of saints, then surely there is hope for us. Peter was the disciple who told Jesus to go away. Peter tried to walk on water and about drowned. One minute Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah, and the next minute he is sorely rebuked. Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. Yet it is Peter who is given the keys to the kingdom. Peter is the first disciple to enter the empty tomb. Peter eats with the Risen Lord and is then told to go and do likewise. When Peter stumbles, falters, makes a mistake, we are able to identify with his human nature. When Peter grows, develops, matures, and changes right before our eyes we are attracted to and have even greater interest in Peter. Out of his human nature Peter's spiritual nature is revealed, and we are given a vision to live like never before. What then is Peter's vision? It is a vision--a life plan--that encourages us to become participants in the divine nature of Jesus Christ.   

Listentalk: Conversation Is an Engine is about finding the “Aha!” moments God plants in our lives through ordinary conversation with the people around us. These “Aha!” moments alter our life direction, draw us closer to God and show His purposes, and bind us together into resilient and thoughtful communities.

Have you ever wondered what part (if any) science plays in the Genesis creation story? If so, The First Four Days was written for you. Physicist Delmar Dobberpuhl masterfully explains the scientific side of how God created the universe and rapidly matured it from Days 1 through 4 of Creation week. Instead of beginning with science and attempting to mold Scripture to fit it, he starts his analysis with God's Word and describes the scientific processes that were involved in each step of the creation and maturation of a perfect habitat for humankind.

According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, science is "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws especially as obtatined and tested through scientific method."  As the author explains, the truths scientists have discovered about this world must be complementary and not contradictory to God's Word. In this book Dobberpuhl fills in the details of the creating-and-making account (CMA) in Genesis chapter 1 with speculation that is based on complementary scientific theories and discoveries. Furthermore, he provides new insights and answers to questions about what God did during Creation week.

Leadership is broken. Not even our most applauded leaders can fix it. We see the demise of leadership all around us—in our churches, ministries and Christian businesses. We even see it in the efforts launched in the name of Jesus. The brokenness of leadership is not found in a lack of talent, experience and success. It goes deeper. There's a fatal flaw—a root of failed leadership that conferences won't touch and self-help books shy away from. At the core of it all, leadership is a heart issue. Jesus pounded away at it with His disciples, yet we gloss over it in our endeavors to achieve and build the identity we crave. The result has left Christian leaders everywhere bolstering their eloquence, building their skillsets and polishing their successes, all the while missing the calling of leadership Christ has placed on their lives. Broken Leadership is a mandate to the church to lead the world with altared hearts, hearts that are placed on God’s altar over and over again—not relying on training and talent, but on a newfound heart from God that allows Him to lead through us.

On the missing persons list for months, a detective finds Katie wandering the streets of Tijuana Beach, Mexico. They perform a late night rescue and bring her back across the border without a passport or identification. After being promised "world class rehab" an appearance on the Tyra Banks Show has a shocking end.

"Mom" Katie pleads, "Why doesn't God just take my addiction away?" She lies in intensive care, fighting for her life after an overdose which leads to a conviction and jail time for her boyfriend.

How does one go from star student, young wife and mother- to losing custody of her child, divorced and living on the street as a hard core drug addict? How far will her mother go in an attempt to save her life? The answer is surprising, even shocking to most people.

If there is a typical story of addiction, this is not it.

The outrageous idea of the book is that God wants to use professors as professors to reach others, transform the academy, and meet the needs of the world. God is on a mission to redeem and restore this fallen world and as members of one of the most influential institutions in society, Christian professors in the university play an important role in that mission. Becoming a missional professor will require a clear vision of God’s heart for the lost and man’s purpose and calling under the banner of Christ, an understanding of the significance of the university as a cultural shaping institution and mission field, and a desire for Christian wholeness in a fragmented world. This idea is outrageous because many Christian professors aren’t living missionally and need a clear vision of such a life and role models to lead the way. Still, many are living missional lives as professor and need encouragement to “excel still more” (1 Thessalonians 4:10, NASB). We all need God’s grace and mercy as we try to faithfully follow Christ within the university.

The Eight ‘I’s of

SpiderLOGIC™

- A Gift

   Of Webs & Wisdom –

Awaken to a world that surrounds and engages you; wherever you are… and move more rapidly in the direction of your life’s most authentic desires. How?

• Draw lessons of life and holy insights from one of God’s “four things which are little upon the earth but they are exceedingly wise…”
• Apply principles which will enable you to see beyond your eye-sight; a powerful and intuitive inner-vision that awaits your arrival called ‘I’sight!
• Begin weaving the Wisdom of Nature into the Web of a richer, fuller Life! 

The iconic spider, benefitting from 300 million years of experience, has mastered to perfection, a lifecycle full of astounding proficiencies. From Intuition to Innovation, with strands of Illumination, Inspiration, Immersion, Improvisation, Integration and Isolation, SpiderLogic spins you the eternal guideposts for accessing your ‘Portals to Heaven’!

Travel this Gossamer Trail with the 8 “I”s that will guide you to greater Joy and Happiness.

“The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in king’s palaces.” Proverbs 30:24, 28

Countless people struggle with the conflict between the Bible and main-stream society, particularly where the two focus on the scientific and moral ethical questions raised by the Old Testament. The deadliest battleground is the book of Genesis. That book alone has claimed the spiritual lives of millions of people, and is often itself the ammunition levelled by secular society against the church and Christianity. As a Christian and as a scientist, I have long wrestled with the biggest questions that mankind has posed and on which the Bible speaks, and nearly gave up my faith in the process. In this book I document that struggle, and how I’ve found it possible to not only reconcile the Old Testament with the 21^st century, but also how my faith was strengthened and deepened in the process. This book is a must read for all students entering academic life, for all adults who have allowed the secular world to silence their witness, and indeed for all enquiring minds.

The Beginning of Wisdom was written to provide a religious and historical perspective for decision making as its readers travel through life pursuing their careers, raising families, serving in the community, selecting ministers for their churches and discharging other civic obligations. The book recalls to mind principles that were once unquestioned by which previous generations successfully governed their lives, and applies these principles to the often confusing choices of modern life.

For good or ill, our lives have consequences far beyond the horizons within our view. The story of our Judeo-Christian faith, our nation and Western civilization is written in the lives of individuals impacted by the God of the Bible.  Our History begins not with a village, government, or philosophy, but with the individual who honors and fears God. The decisions we make each day, in the capacities in which we serve, are important and do have ramifications in the greater global sense. Regardless of one's wealth, education, or power, we each have the ability to make a positive difference within the sphere of our lives from which we can still project a benevolent light upon those who depend upon us.

The conscious resolution to try to be good people does not necessarily always require us to be heroes.  Sometimes all that is required is that we refuse to be turned to the dark side.  Sometimes we may be placed in a certain position or circumstance simply as caretakers to do our best, hold the line, and present a godly example. Often the role God would have us play does not demand that we be brilliant, strong or daring, but simply honorable, honest, and trustworthy.

We really have no way of accurately ascertaining the good that may ultimately flow from honest action that we regard as merely routine attempts to do the right thing.  When we throw a pebble of truth, goodness, or courage into the great pool of life, it is impossible to know the lives that may eventually reap a positive benefit from the benign ripples set in motion.  We know only that the power of a good example has the potential to touch the world and positively impact the future in ways that might astonish us.

In summary, we may not be the best judges of what God will ultimately deem most significant in our lives.  We are each created for a particular moment, opportunity, or situation wherein we will be given the chance to utilize the unique talent, resolve, ability, or gift given to us by God to make a difference, or set an example, and realize God's purpose-if we but have the loyalty, courage, and the faith to do so.  Surprising though it may seem, it may just be that, in the grand scheme of things, our lives are not meant to be just about us.

The Beginning of Wisdom is a thoughtful, conversational, and encouraging book of hope.  It is not based upon theory or opinion, but timeless principles that have always been successful when applied consistently.  Specific scriptural references and figures as diverse as George Washington, Sir William Blackstone, Alexis De Tocqueville, J. R. R. Tolkien, F. A. Hayek, C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton illuminate its pages with relevant wisdom making the book an interesting and engaging read covering the major components of a successful life.

Are you and your family moving internationally?

Are your teenagers protesting, sulking, or downright angry?

Are you anxious about or already struggling to navigate an unfamiliar language, culture, school system and church setting?

Moving Abroad and Dragging Your Teenagers with You is a practical guide for Christian parents of international business families as they embark on the journey of moving abroad for the first time.  Testimonies of triumphs and failures from seasoned veterans help families think through and prepare for the challenges that lie ahead, including the physical, mental and emotional demands they may face as they move to a foreign country and then continue to move internationally or return home.  In addition, the specific challenges of raising teenagers in a Christian household as they are exposed to various other Christian and religous cultures are addressed. 

While some advice is given by the author who has worked as a youth pastor in multiple transient and international settings for nearly ten years, much of the advice is given by parents of teenagers and teenagers who have recently moved or young adults who moved as teenagers and who have now had time to reflect on their experience. 

Gideon's Cry is about reaching the elusive goal of manhood. It follows the journey of Gideon found in Judges 6-8, looking at how God raised him up as a godly man on a vital mission. It pulls the biblical lessons from this passage, interweaving pieces of the author's own story of trying to grow up and find out how to be a man of faith as an encouragement to young believers and searchers that they are not alone.

The journey of manhood begins in a world of fear and uncertainty. When God intersects this world, though, things start to happen. He helps aspiring young men move beyond self-doubt (better stated, doubt of Him), apathy, and timidity into a life of increasing action, power, and intimacy with the Lord as He works in and through them. Gideon's story, like ours, is a story about worship. God makes people into godly men and women not just for their own benefit but for his glory, and true manhood is found in realizing and accepting this fact, learning to glorify God in everything.

Brief Description: The full working title of this work is Ancient Church: The Culture of Discipleship in the First Church Planting Manual: And Introduction to the Didache. It is a popular academic work that can serve both popular and academic audiences. It is an introduction to one of our earliest Christian documents known as The Didache, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. The goals of this book are three: (1) To generally introduce the modern reader to this historically important document: (2) To present a picture of the culture and shape of the earliest Church particularly with regard to forming disciples; (3) To provide some challenging answers to pressing questions about how the modern Church conducts ministry today. The resulting implications of the book is that the culture of the earliest Churches was not only radically different, but also significantly more healthy and effective in its mission of making disciples (Matt. 28:19-20).

How can one stand firm in their faith through the suffering and chaos in the world?

Where is God when His people are living their lives as they see fit?

What becomes of life when there is no longer a clear distinction between God’s people and the world?

How does God remain faithful when His people have rejected Him?

The Book of Judges reveals the faithfulness of God, even when His people have not been faithful.

This guide will take the user on a journey through the complete Book of Judges with thought-promoting questions and minimal commentary.  The aim of this guide is to invite the user to get into Scripture, from which they can be taught by the Holy Spirit, and help them consider how the LORD would have them apply the lesson to their daily lives.  The guide will provide a small group with structure while prompting discussion of the Bible passage.  

God is alive and speaks to average girls like you and me. Christian women everywhere long to hear a word directly from the Lord. Most certainly God speaks to us through Scripture. Still we long to hear a word from God that is more individualized, tailored exactly for each one of us for every situation we face. We wonder if God still speaks to his people today, but we don't really know how to listen to him. 

God Speaks to Average Girls Like Me takes the mystery out of hearing and knowing God's voice. The moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, God sends his Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is the voice of God within us. God loves us so much, he desires to spend time with us daily in two-way conversation. God has more to say to us than a "yes" or "no" to our requests. When we make time to listen to his voice, and write down what we hear, he speaks to us in sentences, paragraphs, and pages.

This book includes how to discern God's voice from Satan's, ten things that keep us from hearing God's voice, and much more.

Anthropologists know that people in societies all over the world think it wrong to murder, rape, and steal, not because they have ever even heard of the Ten Commandments, but from social experience and basic human nature. Religion is not necessary to teach us the elements of being good neighbours. Instead, it is the basis of higher ethical teaching – like the superiority of spiritual over material values, humility and selflessness, the brotherhood of man, and the moral dignity of the individual. This religious morality, in fact, often goes against human nature and the pressures of society. The unique status of Man in a divinely ordered universe is central to this higher morality, but materialism, especially in the form of evolutionary biology, regards Man as simply another animal species, and the mind and free-will as illusions. It not only abolishes God, but abolishes us as moral beings. Humanists believe that their liberal values can happily co-exist with atheist materialism. I argue that this is a delusion, and that their belief in human rights, in particular, is really based on the Christian heritage of Western civilisation. When this is stripped away, genuine atheist moralities can only lead to the worship of the individual or the state, or of power itself.

     What happens when we die? Where do we go? What will we be doing? What will we experience? Will we be with our loved ones again? These are but a few of the questions I experience daily in my work as a hospice chaplain, ministering to the dying and the ones they leave behind.

     This book is an attempt to answer these and many other questions about death and the eternal journey that lay ahead. We begin by first taking a look at death itself and then progressing chronologically through each individual step of what we will all experience in the hereafter. Think of this book as our GPS directions, a roadmap if you will, of this trip through forever, with all its stops and turns, until we reach our final destination.

     Numerous theology books cover Eschatology in a systematic manner, but this book looks at death and eternity from a purely personal point of view. The book answers the questions: “What happens to my deceased loved ones?” “What will happen to me?”

Within the past three centuries there have been no major historic revivals whose scope and influence were as vast as the First Great Awakening. In our current century, however, most would agree that the Church is not advancing with the same degree of influence, scope, and power as in times past.  In this regard, an enlightening study of the most prolonged spiritual awakening in the history of both Europe and our Nation would likely provide encouragement and hope to all who love the Church and her Lord.  The primary aim of this book, therefore, is to provide a historically accurate account of the First Great Awakening and the principal leaders who inspired its advancement. Within this manuscript the reader will "visit" cities, towns, churches, and villages throughout both Europe and the Colonies to learn of the phenomenal transformation that occurred when God “walked among the nations.”  Detailed accounts of the ministries of Whitefield, Wesley, and more than a dozen additional leaders used by God to advance this Awakening are likewise chronicled. A concluding chapter provides a comprehensive and practical overview of the Great Awakening renewal groups, which should interest readers involved in Christian service.

This book contains hundreds of short, powerful prayers that focus on thirty different heart matters that influence our lives.

The bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 that the heart is the wellspring of life—feelings and thoughts flow from it. Actions spring from it. Like a wellspring, what’s in our hearts gushes up and pours into our days.

Our heart is intended to be a source of blessing that pumps love, energy, and delight out into our experiences. When it’s flowing with love, creativity and beauty, we can live out our God-given dreams.

Yet, things happen that shut us down and steal our passion to pursue everything God has for us. Attacks of discouragement, sorrow, and doubt can pierce us deeply and destroy the joy we are purposed to hold and share.

These prayers bring restoration. By using scripture and petitioning God, these daily prayers rebuild and refresh our hearts and ultimately bring life change.

In this day and age when it seems as though danger is lurking around every corner, many of us offer up prayers to God for protection, guidance, or deliverance from all of the trouble that life brings us on a daily basis.

 Wouldn’t it be nice to know whether or not God actually hears your prayers, and that He cares enough to answer? What a relief it would be to know that you really are safe in His arms - that He really does “have your back.” So how can you be sure of this?

  How do you know if your prayers will get answered? Are you confident that what you are asking for is His will? Or are you simply offering up your heart, hoping that this Great Big God will have mercy on you?

 These are some of the questions that plagued me - and my relationship with God - for many, many years. As I have asked the Lord for wisdom in these areas, He has shared with me some powerful insights into His Word and His will. It is now my privilege to share these insights with you.

The hardest thing to do is to trust in the presence and power of an invisible being. In what capacity would we be able to love and worship something we cannot see, and in what manner would we reasonably be able to accept that entity as a living, all-powerful, all-knowing creator who expects adoration from creation? The purpose of the book, Is Praise What You Do? Developing a Passion for Praise, a Will to Worship is to answer the issue of how to have a transformative line of communication that links us to a closer relationship with God. The lesson of this book directs readers to the acts of Praise and Worship as the most proficient methods to increase faith and intimacy with God beyond the confines of tradition and liturgy, but rather daily.

Submission is under a constant, brutal public scrutiny. And it has become difficult, if not impossible, to have any sane discussion about submission without eliciting rather strange responses. There is even the notion that submission is like navigating through a treacherous minefield designed to rob us of our freedom and independence. For those who hold this view, it is critical to know where the bombs are buried to successfully navigate the terrain and avoid being held back from having the kind of relationships they desire. Some view submission through a gendered logic lens where a wife must subordinate herself, her interests, and her all, to the point of becoming second class to the husband so as to empower him to lead. Yoked: Submission at the Heart of Relationships, challenges these notions about submission. It views submission as a general principle that must be practiced in all relationship types, regardless of status, disposition or gender, in all spheres of life. To be submissive or rebellious is in our power to choose. And a failure to be submissive is tantamount to a conscious choice of sowing into the very foundation of our relationship the seed of its destruction.

In the Counsel of Two’s:

Wisdom for Living from Pairs of Biblical Characters

This book follows pairs of biblical characters, who are face to face, at odds with each other. The opportunity exists in this book to work through these very human, biblical confrontations and to learn from them. As each chapter opens up another biblical narrative, the reader’s goal should be to see the lives of people today in those characters’ stories. The characters of Martha and Mary, Rachel and Leah, David and Bathsheba, and others become the mirrors in which we can see our own common difficulties.

There is a wisdom to be gained from these pairs of biblical characters that goes beyond just learning biblical history or finding solutions to human problems. That wisdom is to develop the mindset, common to each story, and to see reality the way God sees it, that is, through the eyes of faith. The lessons learned in this book are not just about being obedient to God and adopting moral standards, but they are about being transformed into people, who more naturally see life’s difficult situations in the light of God’s view point.

Popular sentiment insists homosexuality is an innate and immutable characteristic similar to skin or eye color. By claiming to be “born this way,” homosexuals intend to remove moral approbation for same-sex intercourse and marriage. A review of scientific research addressing homosexuality reveals that while there are some findings which correlate between biological or genetic factors and a higher incidence of homosexual behavior, to date nothing has been found which indicates causation. The review of relevant claims begins with a summary of Freud, Kinsey, and the APA’s shift in stance regarding homosexuality. This is followed by a survey of issues related to brain plasticity, prenatal hormones, and research addressing specific brain structures. Next, data regarding twin research and genetics is summarized along with other pertinent claims associated with these findings. Debate surrounding sexual orientation change efforts is also reviewed. The conclusion is reached that homosexuality is not a Mendelian trait and claims that modern science requires Christians to revise traditional Biblical hermeneutics regarding homosexuality are misguided. While some scientific data regarding homosexuality is quite intriguing, to date no research has proved genetic or biological causation.

Because we are prone to weakness and delusion, we often believe we can find more comfort and fulfillment in a path of sin and rebellion than in God’s path of sanctification and holiness.

We thus have a desperate need to know we are eternally secure in our Father’s care and that He will protect us (even us!) from abandoning ourselves to the frailties of our fickle natures and our wavering wills.

This work provides assurance of eternal security that is grounded in the very words God declares about Himself – namely, I AM and I AM WHO I AM (Ex. 3:14).

These words reveal God as the “ground” of being, and the study shows how a security grounded here is a rock-solid security.

The study also provides conceptual clarity in troublesome areas like free will and personal identity since confusion in these areas often prevents believers from embracing their eternal security in Christ.

The manuscript addresses every issue in a balanced and insightful way so that the believer’s security in Christ becomes relevant and real. I believe most readers will respond with a sense of assurance and empowerment as they realize the full significance of their salvation in Christ.

Evolution is a threat to the Christian faith, right? Wrong.

Many people view a world created entirely through evolution paganist, spiritually unhealth, and even a mark of Satan. With regards to the Church, this spells trouble. As society progresses to an increasingly evolutionary framework, the Church is at risk of being marginalized to the edges of society. Fear that a viewpoint may affect one's beliefs is never a good reason for rejecting it, especially when a little investigation reveals it does nothing to diminish the Christian faith.

Not only can evolution be reconciled with the pillars of Christianity, but it may actually shed a profound new light on such central topics as the sinful nature and slavery to the flesh. Freedom from sin takes on a whole new meaning when one recognizes that the battle a human spirit wages against the sinful nature is really a struggle to overcome the selfish desires cemented in the flesh by evolution. Human life is a constant toiling to reestablish the spirit in a position of authority over a flesh build by evolution, as present in the Garden, so that human existence will no longer be confined to the life of an animal.

(Working title: When Grandma Doesn’t Remember)

Alzheimer’s. Dementia. Senility.

Call it what you will … it is devastating to families. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, today one in nine Americans over the age of 65 (more than 5 million) are living with Alzheimer’s disease.

While adults can grasp the debilitating effects of memory loss, explaining them to children is not easy.

Andrew was five years old when his grandmother moved into an Alzheimer’s facility. Within his first few visits, he became everyone’s little buddy … especially his grandma’s. Andrew drew pictures to put up on her walls; shared his children’s Bible; prayed with her; sang with her; and often simply sat and held her hand. It was okay with Andrew that she often didn’t know who he was. He knew who she was.

Watching Andrew interact with his grandma provided the inspiration for “When Grandma Doesn’t Remember.” It is my prayer that this book will help families lovingly engage family members afflicted with memory loss.

You are an actor. You are also a Christian. For years your experience in training has been steeped in secular technique that has grown your artistry, but kept your faith in isolation. In The Actor as Fire and Cloud, learn not only how your faith is a vital part of your craft, but how only through the application of God’s Word can your artistic gifts come to a fruition of purpose and excellence impossible under the secular paradigm. How can a theatre artist be called to be both an excellent actor and an active participant in the expansion of God’s Kingdom? Whether picking this book off the shelf of your local bookstore or using it as a supplementary text in the drama classroom, The Actor as Fire and Cloud, will translate biblical virtues into cognate acting tools. In other words, practicing the virtues that make you an excellent person can correspond equivalently to the practiced theatrical virtues that make you an excellent actor. Finally, a book is available to the Christian actor that speaks both to her craft and her faith! 

A New Kind of Human is about the death and resurrection of Jesus lived out rhythmically in the life of his followers.  Sometimes believers are in the rhythm of death. Sometimes they are in the rhythm of life.  A painful divorce, lost friendship, unrealized dream, failed business and besseting sin are not badges of shame or reminders of weakness.  They are all opportunities to participate in the power of Jesus' death and resurrection at work in our bodies (2 Corinthians 4:10).  The problem many Christians face is viewing Jesus' death and resurrection as one-time static events.  His death begins the Christian life through the forgiveness of our sins.  His resurrection ends the Christian life by enabling our resurrection from the dead to be with him. While death and resurrection are one-time events for Jesus.  They are not one-time events for Christians. Death and resurrection form the rhythm of the Christian life, just as breathing provides a rhythm for our bodily life.  When Christians embrace the rhythm of dying and rising with Jesus, they will find far greater power, comfort and meaning for life. 

Joan and the Fish—A Study of the Book of Jonah

Surprisingly, the story of Jonah might be similar to our own story. True, we probably have never purchased a one way ticket to escape to a far- away city (although we might have felt like it at times), nor have we been thrown overboard only to be swallowed up by a great big fish. Preaching to people considered to be our enemies, some of whom might be on the top ten wanted list of Homeland Security, seems unthinkable. Nonetheless, as we examine Jonah’s life, it becomes evident that we can relate to him in so many ways.

This is a unique, modern day account of the transparent life of Jonah that helps us to peer into Jonah’s soul in relation to our own, giving us fresh perspective and practical insight through biblical study interwoven with real-life stories.

This book will greatly benefit those who desire an in-depth study of the Word of God, both men and women, from young adults to prime timers, whether they are new to Christ or are mature Christians.

Is the Bible a compilation of mere  human accounts, or is it God's word for mankind given in human languages under divine inspirtaion?

Is the Bible filled with contradictions and errors, or is it only a case of the Bible being misunderstood and misrepresented?

Does the Bible teach irrational doctrines, or is the Holy Bible is too lofty for the human mind to comprehend?

These are some of the questions that crop up and create barriers between Muslims and Christians when it comes to discussing the Bible.

Christians in general take if for granted that the Holy Bible is God''s word for humankind. However, when this fundamental belief of the Christian faith comes under attack by Muslims, Christians are either shaken in their faith due to shallow understanding of the Bible or shy away from Muslims, unable to adequately answer their questions. Both of these responses damage Christian witness.

Christmas may indeed be the most wonderful time of the year for many Americans.  The season is alive with wonder as people young and old open their hearts to its festive delights. While the yearly extravaganza leading up to December 25 remains a wondrous expression of familial love, sacrificial giving, and the common bonds of our humanity, it is surely not a national celebration of the birth of a Savior in the Bethlehem manger. Long ago the Nativity Stories and Christmas, twin icons of the Christian faith, were nearly identical, but not anymore. The chasm separating the stories of Jesus' birth from the way Christmas is now celebrated in America seems unbridgeable. How can we traverse the immense divide that separates the gaudy commercial spectacle of the modern Christmas from the original observance of Christ's birth? How can we recover the simplicity and piety of the festival as it was once celebrated? The place to begin is to recognize the historical forces that resulted in such a disparity between the modern imitation and the ancient original. One of the aims of this book is to trace the centuries-long process by which the authentic Christmas has been lost, and then to point the way to its recovery. 

The mss Chains of Freedom looks at the ‘freedom narratives’ that have shaped our thinking and particularly our religious freedom.

   The starting point is the New Testament with a concentration on Paul who, the mss will argue, was ‘an apostle of freedom’ before he was an ‘apostle’ of any particular Christian doctrine.

     The mss then travels through history noting the high water mark of freedom that came with Constantine and the loss of freedom through the rulers of Roman Empire eg Theodosius II and Charlemagne. Their time was followed by the Dark Ages where freedom was non-existent.

      The Reformation was a freedom movement. Luther’s book, The Freedom of the Christian, was a return to Paul’s radical freedom but Luther and Calvin had problems passing their freedom on to people who had a different understanding.

     The consequence was the Radical Reformation on which historians have underlined the ‘radical’ and have not given credit to the calmer voices of this movement. They crafted the freedoms that we now enjoy. This culminated in Jefferson’s amendment (1791) which gave freedom.

      The mss has a creative twist in that it will show that most of the ‘freedom narratives’ were written in prison. eg Paul, Socrates, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nelson Mandela.

This is a book of apologetics, presenting arguments for the existence of God, primarily from human nature. I believe that most Christians would like to be able to defend their faith intellectually, particularly in discussions with their children and their non-Christian friends, but many are unable to do so. While there are many good books of Christian apologetics on the market, few seem to communicate effectively with ordinary people. This is an attempt to fill that void – a book written by a layman (a lawyer and former judge), for laypeople. It presents most of the traditional arguments for God, but makes those arguments more accessible by approaching them from the standpoint of human nature and experience.

This book also draws on my experience as a trial lawyer, explaining to ordinary folks in everyday language what witnesses, including experts, have said about complicated subjects. I have used frequent illustrations and humor, where appropriate. I have attempted to “punch up” each chapter with “Howard’s Laws,” short, witty restatements of various arguments. Each chapter and most sub-sections are introduced by a pithy quote from a famous or significant author. All of these features are designed to do what I have done professionally all of my adult life – communicate complicated subjects to ordinary people.

Like Bruce Jenner, Western culture is confused and changing.  The rate of that change is breathtaking.  The direction of that change is baffling.  Why is homosexual expression suddenly the new drug?  Why are Christians who show public unease at the latest sexual revolution the new racists?  Why are those who live by principles of conscience the new criminals? A growingly hostile cultural landscape leaves many biblically-minded Christians feeling like strangers in a strange land.

The first chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans does for bewildered Christians in Western society precisely what a wise doctor does for a confused patient: it bestows understanding, illuminates hidden networks of cause and effect, diagnoses the root of surface symptoms, provides context and history, and prescribes a certain cure, thus imparting vision and hope.

As the only current, book-length explication of the authoritative insight abiding in this crucial chapter, A Romans One Handbook for 21^st Century Disciples equips Christians to discern God’s active command of our culture and prepares us to engage the residents of our society with the conquering love and gospel of Christ. 

Today’s Christians are largely unaware of a tsunami headed their way, and very few are prepared for it. This threat comes in the form of new genetic data which overturn their traditional understanding of the origin of mankind. This book first provides a basic introduction to the anthropological and genetic sciences which are producing these new data, then summarizes the many different lines of evidence which point to a long gradual evolution of mankind from an ancestor shared by Neanderthals and other hominids, as well as the primates. Theists who choose to deny this evidence do so at their own peril, but also that of their children, parishioners, friends, neighbours, and colleagues who will also encounter these new data. A far better response is to become informed and to have a ready reply. This book therefore also seeks to identify areas of our theology which need to be reconsidered, and also provides novel interpretations of Scripture to facilitate that reconsideration. This book is a must-read for all students entering academic life, for Christian teachers and leaders engaged in ministry, and indeed for all enquiring minds.

Lovable. Is God? Are we? How about those “prickly people”? We try everything we know to improve a relationship and yet we keep getting skewered. The answer to making peace in relationships is given in the two greatest commandments: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. Before we can ever love those prickly people, we need to begin at the beginning.

Explore cutting edge research into the biblical personality of Jesus – who is the Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength of God. Examine our own personalities, each created with a tiny slice of Jesus-Genius.

Learn how to love God through the medium of personality. Grow in appreciation of our lovable selves. Be equipped to transform the Prickly into the Pleasing.

For those not sure how to make peace with God, who struggle to be at peace with themselves, or who fail at navigating personality clashes with prickly people - this book will open the door to real, lasting peace. 

Life is a series of intertwined stories. Some are funny.  Some are tragic.  Some thrill our souls.  Some cast us into the depths of despair.  Some are epic, but most are average and ordinary.  Numbed by the mundane routine of life, we often become distracted and miss the lessons God has for us.  We don’t pause to consider that life’s ordinary events contain God’s extraordinary lessons.  When the circumstances of life intersect with the principles of God’s Word, something miraculous happens, and we are forever changed. 

Jesus often used parables and physical examples to convey deep spiritual truths to his audience. Can God still use ordinary things, and events to teach His life-changing principles?  Can God speak to us through a routine trip to the doctor? Can He really use a hamster to teach us a life-changing principle about time management? Will God make Himself known to us though a microwave cart? Yes! Yes! And yes!  The stories of your life are unfolding according to God's divine script. Everything happens for a reason. God is attempting to instruct, to communicate, and to change us through our "life parables."  

     There can be no doubt that worship lies at the center of God’s heart, so it should lie at the center of all believers’ hearts. Acceptable Worship discusses the teaching of Scripture, both from the Old and New Testaments, which answers this critical question: What did Jesus mean when He insisted that true worship must be in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)? While Jesus made many statements instructing and encouraging people to worship the Father, there was no more profound summary statement made by Him than this one. If we are effectively able to unpack what He had in mind when He said that, then we will land at the heart of worship, which lies at the center of the infinitely deep heart of God. What understanding could be more profound?
      The core of Acceptable Worship is the unpacking of that truth, and then, helping believers understand the implications of those truths for their everyday lives.

The Impaling Fence thinks outside the boxes of “pro-choice” and “pro-life” positions to find creative perspectives for those in the middle who are uncomfortable with the extremes of both sides. It will draw on insights from writers who are pro-life and writers who are pro-choice, and will seek strategies that will take both sides into account.

The book will look at abortion and choice from biblical and theological perspectives, as well as from medical and constitutional perspectives. It will take into account the contributions of the Women’s Movement, recent studies in fetology, and recent legislation on state and federal levels. Our bibliography at this point includes 11 books, 13 newspaper and magazine articles, and input from 38 web sites. We are calling our position a “stewardship of life” position. As Christians, we should consider ourselves stewards of life. As stewards of life on this planet, we need to revere both the life we partner to conceive, and the life of persons already born, so that as Albert Schweitzer said, we can “enable whatever life we can to attain its highest development.”

Working Title: Ward/Government verses God

            A hundred years ago the statue of the anti-Christ sounded like a fear producing demonic wonder. Today it just sounds like a robot with a cell phone. Like other Biblical prophecies that became clear as they were fulfilled, Revelation seems less outlandish than it once did. The fog clears as its events approach and we find things previous hidden suddenly in plain sight.

            Moreover, there is a new perspective growing in the Body of Christ. Though newly discovered by many, it is an old perspective and it is Jewish. What a wonder! A Jewish understanding of the Jewish symbols brings insights.

            What’s the coming war with evil? It’s the same old war that has always been. It is the conflict over authority between human governance and God. The fight is already on, but is there an escape before it gets bloody? When is the rapture? Perhaps not when most think. Revelation was meant to reveal—but not until its insights are at hand. If we are the last generation, we should be the one to finally understand it.

One in three women will be a victim of domestic violence in her lifetime, and this is true even in the church. There are victims crying on the inside, needing understanding and help, possibly sitting near you every Sunday. Maybe like me, you are one of those women, confused and suffering in painful silence. Or perhaps you are aware of a family member or friend who needs your effective support.
This book provides hope, inspiration and a pathway for victims of abuse to become true survivors – the “overcomers” and “more than conquerors” we were meant to be. It includes information about abuse to bring understanding and clarity where there was once confusion. There are steps and strategies to choose from to address the unhealthy dynamics of abusive relationships. It describes a process of healing from the emotional devastation caused by abuse. And it offers help for parents who want to see their children set free from the generational cycle of domestic violence.
Hope and effective help are available. Be encouraged that you are not alone, and begin your journey with me to becoming a true survivor.

How did the Gospels come to be written?  More specifically, what is the exact historical relationship between the first three Gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke?  This question, known as the "Synoptic Problem", lies at the heart of our understanding of the entire New Testament and of early Christianity.  How we answer this question will affect profoundly how we read the rest of the Bible, how we view Jesus himself, and ultimately how we see ourselves in the light of the Christian message.

Luke the Composer proposes a new way of looking at this question, beginning by approaching the Gospel writer Luke not only as a theologian or as an historian, but also as a skilled author, and indeed the composer of a great work of art.  By reading his Gospel as a carefully crafted composition - with a purposefully constructed beginning, middle and end - we can come to appreciate how and why he arranged the contents of his Gospel in the way he did.  This then gives us a much clearer understanding of which written sources he used (specifically, the Gospels of Matthew and Mark), and of how and why he used them in the way he did.

2.6 million Americans deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting the spread of terrorism in the 21st Century. Many were killed. Many came home with psychological, spiritual, and physical wounds. To help the wounded learn to heal, and to succor all whose lives have been touched by terror, we must provide the special care they need. No less important, we require an understanding of PTSD, the most common disorder that terrorists intend to inflict. PTSD Manual: Learning to Heal is derived from Christian Cognitive Therapy. It provides answers to the special needs of the afflicted, and it simplifies the complexities of PTSD. Meaningful attachments that are shared by Soldiers in combat are driven by the need to survive. Survival after trauma is also mostly about attachments. From flashbacks to flash tempers, from nightmares to the loss of interest in sex, the Manual, using actual case histories, teaches that secure attachments can be achieved, first to our Heavenly Father, and then to family and friends.

One of the reasons there is little genuine spiritual growth among the members of the body of Christ today is that there are few patterns of Christ’s servants who exhibit real spiritual growth.  Today there are few like D. L. Moody, Hudson Taylor, George Mueller, A.B. Simpson, or Charles Finney to lead today’s Christians by their example and spiritual life. This makes the need for seeing patterns of people who have grown in their spiritual walk greater now than possibly any time in Christian history.  The apostle Paul is a New Testament example of a person who has grown in his service to God. This book seeks to show that the prophet Jeremiah also is a worthy pattern of a servant of God. While the pattern of Paul’s life is relatively known amongst Christians, Jeremiah’s pattern is almost unknown to the vast majority of the Christian public.  This book seeks to fill that gap and highlight Jeremiah’s life as a pattern of a down-to-earth person who grows with God and is changed by God to accomplish great things for God. The author hopes Jeremiah’s pattern will help deepen the spiritual roots of today’s members of the body of Christ.

Solving the Immigrant Church Crisis: The Biblical Solution of Parallel Ministry (Acts 6:1-7) addresses the crisis of the immigrant church in which a complex of cultural and linguistic factors creates a reticence on the part of immigrants to transfer financial and decision-making authority to succeeding generations, and this results in a culturally irrelevant ministry to those generations, an exodus of believers from the church, a spiritually immature remnant, and an inability to reach the lost. The thesis of this book is that parallel ministry, based on Acts 6:1-7, is the biblical solution to the crisis in the immigrant church. While there are at least two main aspects of this crisis, a spiritual-relational and an ecclesiastical aspect, this book focuses on the ecclesiastical aspect of defining the biblical structure of church government. Specifically, this book is for immigrant churches primarily in the United States and offers them a biblical and practical solution to the problem plaguing them for over two centuries of how to minister effectively to the succeeding generations.

This book will help Catholic school teachers consciously and successfully form their students in the Catholic worldview by integrating a Catholic worldview (the Catholic answers to life’s big questions, or engaging life’s big questions with the mind of the Church) into their teaching. 

Onboarding is big news in today’s business world reflected in secular best sellers such as The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, You’re in Charge, Now What?, and The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan. Such books show business leaders what to do during the first few months in a new job so that they experience both long term tenure and success.

Even though U. S. churches employ well over 600,000 clergy,[1] few resources provide the same help for pastors and staff starting a new job in a church, whether they are seasoned pastors or rookies.

Initial success the first few months is crucial to long term ministry success because longer tenure correlates to growing and healthier churches.[2] Unfortunately, declining churches are led by pastors with tenures of less than four years.[3] A rocky start often contributes to short tenures.

Avoiding the Rocky Start provides practical, biblical tools and insight to help ministry leaders onboard successfully, thus positioning those leaders for longer and more satisfying tenures. Avoiding the Rock Start is the definitive onboarding tool for both seasoned and rookie pastors and staff beginning a new job in a church.

This book is based upon university level curriculum used to train hundreds of men and women in leadership. It exposes the reader to the powerful and often misunderstood philosophy of leadership called Servant Leadership. Often people have the understanding that followers should serve their leaders, like subjects would serve a king. However, servant leadership believes one's position does not entitle one to be served but to serve (just as Christ has served us). Combining research-driven, proven methods of effective leadership with biblical exegesis, this book will equip readers become the leader their followers need them to be.

This text is a study based on an empirical analysis of a charismatic, covenant and ecumenical Christian Community located in Augusta, Georgia, USA. Data from over 100 interviews and 300 questionnaires provide to a Christian reader of how this community fleshes-out the daily living of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It documents the many stories of members of the Community who have made a life-time covenant commitment to practice Christianity charismatically and ecumenically (consisting of twelve different Christian denominations). This work is not theoretical or theological that speaks of what should be but, rather, of what is, nor is it an academic piece directed to a scholarly community. It is, rather, based on real-life experiences of more than 300 Christians and is designed to be read by an educated Christian. Evidence will be presented that fulfills, at least in a significant way, how the Alleluia Christian Community has been and is revolutionary, making it possible to live the high call of the gospel in practice and not just in theory.

 

The Biblical God of Natural Selection: When Religion and Science Collide argues that, contrary to the polemics of high-profile scientists and philosophers of science such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, evolutionary biology provides empirical evidence for Christian teachings on the related issues of human origins, the origin of evil, and the existence of a beneficent Deity.

Although the book is a monograph that I hope will make a contribution to the interdisciplinary field of Religion and Science, it is written in a readable style that should be accessible to all who are interested in the controversies between the two fields of knowledge. It has a narrative theme that focuses on the ongoing battle between religion and science for priority as fields of knowledge that began in the seventeenth century, when theology held sway, and continues up to the present time, when the pendulum has swung so far to the other extreme that we now live in the age of scientism, which is the belief that science is not only the highest form of knowledge but the only valid form of knowledge.

In the name of fidelity to the Bible, the famous Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, teaches visitors that the entire cosmos was formed only six thousand years ago. They propose that the Old Testament contains eyewitness descriptions of dinosaurs, that there was no death in the natural world until Adam’s sin, and that the ancient Hebrews anticipated modern astrophysics.

Academically rigorous, yet carefully written to engage the person in the pew, Ben Stanhope’s respectful book contends that modern archeological and linguistic discoveries about the Bible’s ancient context show that the Museum has frequently misunderstood the Hebrew texts and that these discoveries correct our understanding of the Bible’s theological goals in ways that resolve much of the tension between religion and science.

Then Came the Hispangelicals focuses on the growing number of Hispanics that are embracing the Evangelical faith. The broader Evangelical community is somewhat aware of this unprecedented development, but is not necessarily focused on trying to understand it and its implications for Evangelicalism moving forward. The church needs to appreciate the character and makeup of the multitude of Hispanics that are today filling Evangelical pews. Thus, this book gives a much needed overview of the unique character of the Hispangelical (Hispanic Evangelical), drawing insights from Latin American history, philosophy, culture, and religious syncretism.

The aim of this book is to identify and describe significant worldview differences that exist between Evangelicalism that came forth from Protestantism, and Hispanics that come from a Counter Reformation and Baroque mentality. Hispangelicals find themselves between two worlds, that of Evangelicalism and that of the Latin American mind.  Then Came the Hispangelicals is not only descriptive of who Hispanic Evangelicals are, but seeks to provide biblical/Christ-centered perspectives that can help Evangelicalism-at-large and Hispanic Evangelicals to understand the challenges and the opportunities the Hispangelical has to contribute to  Evangelicalism in a positive way.

Book Description: Christianity understands the religion of Jesus to be a continuation of Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish momentum, culminating in the person of Christ. The New Testament clearly connects the arrival and work of Jesus with the "Day of the Lord" forecast by Israel's prophets. This "Day of the Lord" anticipation was based upon the in-breaking of God into human history at the time of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, to create a unique witnessing community, shaped by a culture-changing covenant, and tied to a geographical land-area that would make it central to all trade, communication, and military movements of its day. The height of this monotheistic witness to the nations occurred during the almost century-long combined reigns of David and Solomon, and their expansive and influential rules. But as Israel's size and influence declined, during the 9th-7th centuries, her prophets began to predict a new in-breaking of God that would accomplish three things world-wide: (1) a purifying judgment that would reset the scales of justice and remove the degrading effects of evil; (2) the carving out of a remnant community deeply devoted to Yahweh, expanding to include international participation; and (3) the ushering in of a Messianic age in which goodness, harmony and righteousness would pervade every dimension of life. Jesus' unique  activities caused his disciples to connect the prophetic "Day of the Lord" with his coming and redemptive work. Jesus did something that no one had anticipated, however, splitting the "Day of the Lord" into two divine in-breakings. What no one saw coming--not Israel's prophets, nor John the Baptist, nor Jewish religious leaders, nor Saul/Paul before his conversion, nor even Jesus' disciples themselves at first--was that the "Day of the Lord" would be split in two by Jesus--the first in-breaking of incarnation as well as the anticipated second coming of Jesus. Yet this is precisely the state of affairs that keeps Christian theology linked to its Israelite (Old Testament) foundation, while re-adjusting its outcomes in a manner that neither Judaism or Islam, dependent on exactly the same scriptures, perceives.

Although the apostle John endorses “Lamb” 29 times in Revelation  (more than double any other title for Christ) and uses a term that is employed nowhere else in the New Testament to this end (??????), very little, if any, attention has been given to this unique word and its sophisticated Christological implications. In fact, those works that investigate the Apocalypse of John for its Christological content have, both historically and more recently, settled for overly simplistic interpretations of unique verbiage John employs to describe Christ –particularly the Lamb. Even a work by Loren John’s (The Lamb Christology of the Apocalypse of John: An Investigation into Its Origins and Rhetorical Force. [Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2014]) that deals exclusively with this title and the associations thereof falls short of a comprehensive appreciation for what the apostle is accomplishing with this unique designation. Therefore, in an effort to cultivate this clearing that exists in the Christological forest, this book will endeavour to reach a robust understanding of Revelation’s Lamb. Ultimately, this project argues that the apostle’s use of “Lamb” (??????) throughout his Apocalypse yields a multi-faceted Christological presentation of Jesus Christ that is dependent on the paradoxical theme of glory in humility—a theme that is introduced when the Lamb first emerges in Revelation 5 (without the definite article) and endorsed every time the title is employed in the remainder of the Apocalypse (with the definite article). This interpretation affords this particular symbol a great deal of linguistic flexibility throughout the remainder of Revelation where it is endorsed to advance a sophisticated Christology and its many corresponding theological implications.

Christians with psychological disorders often struggle with guilt; they believe that their disorder stems from their “weak faith.”  Often friends, pastors, and even counselors suggest they read their Bible and pray more, but this frequently makes depressed or anxious Christians even more guilt-ridden, because this focuses them on what they should be doing better for God, NOT on what God has done for them through the Gospel of Jesus. How can Christian counselors correctly diagnose the spiritual/theological issues, guided by Luther’s Reformation theology, so clients can receive the forgiveness and spiritual strength won for them by Jesus Christ?

Rick Marrs, Ph.D, a Christian counselor and psychologist before becoming a Lutheran pastor and seminary professor, has been teaching Christian counselors and pastors the importance of properly diagnosing clients’ needs for Gospel or Law for over three decades.

As a result of the explosion of brain research during the last three decades I have identified ten simple learning strategies of the brain that will ensure hearers an increased level of head knowledge, heart knowledge and living knowledge. The three knowledge areas correspond to three memory sytems in the brain. Each chapter that explains a strategy is organized in three unique sections: past unhelpful practices, how the brain works, and a fresh look from the new perspective. This is an attempt to help readers judge for themselves the validity of the inferences drawn from the brain's functioning and also become more intentional in their preaching and teaching. The best recommendations from experienced homileticians are also now validated by the research findings.

The book faces directly the challenge of bridging the long-recognized gaps between reason and emotion (head and heart knowledge) and between faith and deeds (heart and living knowledge).

The brain research reveals so much more of what God originally created and enables us to take still greater advantage of the potential He has given us by consiously using the brain's learning strategies.

Learning Through Literature - Farmer Boy

Children and adults alike love good stories. It makes sense that language skills are best learned by reading fine literature and by working with good writing models. And not only that, but great books can also be used as springboards to many different areas of study. This curriculum covers:

• Art
• Bible
• Character
• Economics
• Geography
• Home Economics
• Language Arts
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies

Learning with Literature - Farmer Boy stands apart from other book studies in that it is overtly Christian in its approach. Rich lessons flow from the pages of this novel, such as bullies, freedom, keeping your word and learning from your mistakes. This is how it is with good literature. A wealth of topics to think about and discuss are provided. All is interesting and motivating due to the students’ involvement with the story.

This book is suggested for grades 4-8. Although younger students would thoroughly enjoy and benefit much from it, if the book, Farmer Boy is read to them and the activities chosen are the ones on their level. The focus of the author is to expose students to a Christian world view in every discipline of life through good literature.

Was the United States founded as a Christian nation? Often the answer to this question begins and ends with the writings of the Founding Fathers. This book sheds new light on the history of Christianity in America by exploring how issues of religious freedom and the relationship between church and state played out at the state level in the early republic. In particular, the New England states, led by Connecticut, maintained religious establishments well after ratification of the Bill of Rights. Exploring the purpose and function of the church establishment from the perspective of both its supporters and opponents offers important insight into how issues of religion shaped the political and social battles in the early republic.  Allegiances with political parties, confrontations with a rapidly changing (and liberalizing) society, and attacks in the media were situations with which the defenders of the religious establishment faced in the early 1800s, and which many evangelical Christians believe are relatable today. Evangelical Christians may discover that in the early republic period the meaning and application of religious liberty was very much contested, and that if history is any indication perhaps those who desire a stronger connection between the government and Christianity today should be careful what they wish for.

(Working Title: Enough! Break the Shackles of Debt)

Imagine Christian families and individuals breaking their cycle of debt, and staying out of debt for the rest of their lives. With household debt at an all time high, this would be a game changer and a powerful witness to God’s grace.

Many good books have been written on the subject by authors such as Dave Ramsey and Larry Burkett. From my research however, I could not find any who tackle the root of indebtedness; the reason why people get into debt in the first place.  Some examples, such as overspending, are superficially named but none explore when and how people got caught in the debt trap.

This key issue is what Enough! Break the Shackles of Debt(Enough!) addresses.

Directed at people who seem chronically in debt or keep falling back into a debt pattern, Enough!offers Biblical strategies on breaking the debt cycles and staying out of debt. It takes readers through practical steps of identifying their own root cause(s), with subsequent steps they can take to remain debt-free for the rest of their lives. In so doing, Enough!fills a unique yet paramount missing link in understanding and overcoming debt.

This book addresses a contemporary issue within modern Christianity: the relevancy of Christian faith in the workplace.  The Church lacks an effective education program that articulates the theology of work to an increasingly work-focused culture.  This is one of the reasons for the decline of Christianity in North America.  Trading with Godaddresses this issue in three sections.  First, it takes the reader through history by highlighting Scripture and the writings of Church theologians, from the early Church leader John Chrysostom to the current theologian Miroslav Volf.  Theis grounds the reader in the theological concepts of work developed over time. Second, the book creates a simple and practical three-fold theological model for Christians to apply daily through their working lives.  The model is conceptually simple yet was constructed based upon generations of theological writings.  Third, the book builds seven practical steps to apply the theological model based on the author’s thirty-four years of professional workplace experiences and theological research. These steps are illustrated by personal stories to emphasize each attribute.  It is written for all Christians in the workplace and for church professionals give guidance to working Christians.  The book benefits the reader during their faith journey by fusing the generations of theological writings and concepts with real-world practical applications.

Why is this Important?

Like many Christians today, my 34 years of professional career was spent with little understanding of the relationship between my work and my Christian faith.  Towards the end of my career, I started investigating faith in the workplace and realized that I was not alone.  Most churches have not filled this void, primarily due to their lack of knowledge or prioritization.  My passion for work and faith propelled me into enrolling at a seminary to study graduate-level theology.  I wanted to fuse theological concepts with practical workplace applications.  I then spent 18 months researching the theology of work.  This book was the result of my journey.

Some things can’t be learned from a textbook or in the sterile environment of the classroom. A few months in the pastorate convinced me that I was not adequately prepared for the pressures and strain of leading the local church. One morning, only six months into the pastorate, I found myself sitting alone in my study feeling utterly despondent over the direction of the church and my ineptness. I cried out to the Lord, “If this is what pastoral ministry is all about, I’m not sure I can last 35 more years. It’s going to take a better man than I...”

Seminary taught me much, but not all. No amount of professional training, coaching, and/or personal counsel could have adequately prepared me for what was to come on the field and in the local church. I had much to learn about genuine faith, the struggle with doubts and fears, the destructive nature of sin, the healing power of grace, the overwhelming demands of ministry, developing an identity, protecting the sanctity of marriage and family, and the joy that comes from serving.

A tension (ever growing) has developed between a contemporary Western and a classically Christian understanding of freedom. My book examines this tension between negative freedom and positive freedom through specific literary works by John Milton, T. S. Eliot, Flannery O’Connor, and Walker Percy.

To show the relevance of this tension to the current moment, I begin by analyzing the dominant notion of freedom (negative freedom) in contemporary American culture as revealed both by recent Supreme Court cases and by recent popular songs. To address the philosophical roots of this dominant notion of freedom, I provide both an analysis and a strong critique of Isaiah Berlin’s famous essay “Two Concepts of Liberty” in which he argues for negative freedom and against all forms of positive freedom (of which Christian freedom is but one). I provide strong definitions of both forms of freedom. 

As part of my critique of negative freedom, I examine thinkers both ancient and modern who have embraced positive freedom as a profounder and more important freedom and show, through an examination of the authors noted above, that negative freedom without positive freedom results in a loss of the spiritual foundations for all freedom and, thus, of negative freedom itself. I devote a full chapter to John Milton’s Paradise Lost because Milton’s Satan is the best and most influential portrait of a being caught in the contradictions arising from a demand for absolute negative freedom.

This deep foundation is necessary to demonstrate how thoroughly negative freedom has displaced positive freedom in the literary, political, and popular mind, a displacement rooted in the Romantic notion (first suggest by William Blake) that Satan is the hero of Paradise Lost. This foundation also prepares readers to understand and appreciate the profound alternative offered by Eliot, O’Connor, and Percy.

My thesis is that each author’s work, by examining the divorce of negative from positive freedom, shows how this divorce arouses the desire to dominate Being, leading to the spiritual vice of acedia, and ending either in self-tyranny or in a violent and murderous tyranny over others. Conversely, each author’s work points to the spiritual and (potential) political renewal that occurs when human beings shift from a demand for absolute negative freedom to positive freedom by which they are united with Being (and with God) through the classical transcendentals: the True, the Good, and the Beautiful.  The result is beings whose identities are received more than constructed.

My book, with notes, is roughly 114,000 words, and is completely written, though I understand it will require editing and revising before publishing, with—most likely—a significant reduction in notes. If accepted for publication, I believe I can have it ready to publish within a year.

The overall focus of the entire book of Isaiah is the Messianic hope. There are Messianic portraits concerning The Messianic King, The Servant, and The Anointed Conqueror within the entire book. The focus of one prophet, named Isaiah, fluctuates through changing times and circumstances, through his age and maturity, as well as through God’s overwhelming communications with His prophet concerning what he should write. Because of the accuracy of Isaiah’s prophetic messages, and then the change in focus later on in his ministry, many scholars find it unlikely that one prophet was the author of the entire book of Isaiah. This commentary will provide overwhelming evidence that the entire book was written by one man: Isaiah, the son of Amoz. 

Is Christian faith nothing more than intellectual suicide?

Why does God seem hidden and unavailable to a world that desperately needs him?

What is the reason for hell?

Why is there so much injustice and evil in the world?

Is the Bible really God’s word? How can we know?

Is it arrogant to believe that Christianity is the only correct religion?

Does God hate homosexuals?

Questions like these plague the minds of many Christians and also serve as barriers that keep others from the Christian faith. Apologetics on Offense and Defense is a resource that provides answers to honest and tough inquiries about Christianity. Positive apologetics is making a strong case for the essential beliefs of the faith, while negative apologetics is providing thoughtful yet respectful answers for the objections people have. Utilizing contemporary thinking from theology, philosophy and science, this book will offer compelling evidences for important beliefs like the resurrection of Jesus and the uniqueness of the Bible, while also taking on the important questions that are a hindrance to faith. Focusing on the offensive and defensive aspects of apologetics means that the reader will be well equipped to clear the hurdles that stand between them and a rational and responsible understanding of the truths of Christianity.

While the past three decades have witnessed an explosion of interest in near-death experiences,  less media attention has been given to similar phenomena that occur before, during and after final death. They go by various names: deathbed experiences, visions of the dying, terminal lucidity, or end-of-life dreams and visions. A recent peer-reviewed study of a New York hospice unit found over 80 percent of the patients reporting visions of the afterlife, including interactions with angels and deceased relatives. Much research has been done in multiple cultures over the past 130 years, including large studies connected with top universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard. Yet Christians seem largely ignorant of these powerful phenomena, leaving a significant gap in the literature.

Tentatively titled Deathbed Experiences as Evidence for the Afterlife, I have documented more than eight hundred relevant studies, books, and articles, often published in peer-reviewed journals, though rarely in religious publications. Such experiences give strong evidence for the afterlife, in a way consistent with Christian theology.  

This book should appeal to those questioning the afterlife, attending the dying, counseling the grieving, or seeking evidence for the truth of Christianity.

In an increasingly secularized culture, theological higher education plays a key role in the development and training of young ministers. As many recent studies have demonstrated decreasing faith identity in emerging generations, the Christian campus provides an opportunity for students to realize a secure identity in the faith. Specifically, studies such as the National Study of Youth and Religion demonstrate a loss of the Christian language, or the ability to verbalize one’s faith. The immersive environment of college campus provides an effective response to this cultural condition, especially for students pursuing vocational ministry after their undergraduate studies. This study combines an extensive literature review along with a focused phenomenological study to answer the question: How does the Christian college or university graduate ministerial students prepared to engage a secular culture when many of them struggle with the ability to put their own faith into words?

Liberating Inner Eve explores women’s role in society and the family, from the challenges of overcoming social/historic/personal restrictions to the celebration of “feminine genius.”

Written in a conversational, easy-to-understand style, Liberating Inner Eve is a reflective guide that demonstrates ways of applying Biblical teachings to overcome the weight of historic conditioning that continues to echo in women's lives, restricting them from experiencing high levels of self-love and personal power.

Liberating Inner Eve offers the tools I use within my counseling practice with much success, to a wider audience, to empower women to manifest Christian values of equality, freedom, and mutual care in their life’s unique circumstances.

Jesus was involved in the production and distribution of scarce furniture.  So there must be Biblical views of economics issues like minimum wage, taxes and income inequality.  This book uses the Christian worldview and ten Biblical Commandments of Economics to explain those views to our fellow Christians in the pews.

The New Testament includes the Apostle Paul’s two letters to Timothy and one letter to Titus. Together, these three letters have been called the Pastoral Epistles, because Paul was teaching his two associates and those they were mentoring how to be pastors.

Five times in the Pastoral Epistles, Paul uses a formula unique to him: “Pistos ho logos.” English Bibles often translate the Greek formula, “This is a faithful saying.” We have been taught this rendering is adequate and the contents of the attendant sayings are somewhat random. This thinking was codified by George Knight more than fifty years ago in The Faithful Sayings in the Pastoral Letters.

I contend in each of these sayings Paul is highlighting Jesus’ faithfulness in providing our salvation. Thus, the formula is better translated as “The Word is Faithful,” where “Word” has roots in John 1:1 et al., and “Faithful” is a name for Jesus.

The Star Wars saga has captivated audiences for over 40 years because we all love a good story. If God wrote a book, you’d expect it to be captivating as well. In fact, God did give us a book and it too tells a story. It is filled with heroes and villains, courage and cowardice, the good, the bad and the ugly. While Star Wars is a nine-part, multigenerational epic, God’s story is a five-part adventure spanning centuries. And, as in Star Wars, good prevails over evil in the end.

            God’s story has a name: the “Pentateuch” (“five-fold book”), or its original title, the “Torah”. The Bible’s first five books are the beginning because they are the central core of the Bible’s themes and message. The Torah, though, is not “law” but an engaging story largely devoted to comparing and contrasting two complex personalities, Abraham and Moses. In doing so, it establishes God’s discipleship model for believers of all times through real-life examples in five carefully constructed parts.

            Do you want to really understand God’s method for spiritual growth and maturity? If so, this book is your invitation to the Torah.

Christian Education: A Fresh Look at How We Teach Jesus is a Christian Education textbook that looks at the various components of a Christian Education Administration class. The book addresses the practical components of how a church leader oversees, maintains, and grows his or her Christian Education program in the local church. The book addresses, in real ways, the issues of volunteers, recruitment, screening, evaluation, organization, and budgeting. The book also examines, from both a historical and contemporary point of view, the purpose of Christian Education. It will be a great classroom learning tool for the Bible college student and a helpful addition to the library of anyone who oversees and works with Christian Ed in his or her church. Each chapter will be between 3,500 and 4,000 words and will have questions at the end.

After a terrible mistake in the delivery room, an OB/GYN resident goes on a soul-seeking journey halfway across the world that challenges everything he knows about OB/GYN status quo. Written in the spirit of his friend Abby Johnson's Unplanned, Two Patients: My Journey from Abortions to Pro-Life Health Care is Dr. John Bruchalski's spiritual and medical conversion story. Dr. Bruchalski's memoir reveals the darkness lurking in plain sight in our medical school classrooms and hospital halls, as well as the forgiveness and hope that awaits doctors and their patients on the other side. Dr. John Bruchalski is challenging the OB/GYN status quo by pioneering a new frontier in the pro-life movement today: total life-affirming medicine at Tepeyac OB/GYN in Fairfax, Virginia. That new frontier is one in which physicians respect women’s fertility, treat children with compassion at each moment of biological growth, and grieve alongside mothers and fathers when a pregnancy is lost. His practice defies standard medical business models by serving uninsured patients while redefining women's health standards across the country. In Two Patients, Dr. Bruchalski gives us a glimpse of just how merciful and extraordinary the relationship between a doctor and his two patients—mother and child—is truly meant to be.

The book analyzes the paradoxes of evil and suffering presented in the book of Job using the contexts of theological and individual characteristics, culture and language, and lived experiences.  It integrates observations of Job’s existential alienation and his transformative encounter with God with contemporary notions of chaos theory and a cosmic Godhead.  It also uses concepts from transformational change theories to show how Job’s encounter led to a new foundation for understanding evil and suffering, constructing meaning through suffering, and the restoration of Job’s faith.

The product of a groundbreaking statistical analysis built from a unique database of thousands of discussions and debates on Christianity, The Christian’s Arsenal will arm readers to triumph in their discussions with nonbelievers. Using an innovative data processing technique subjecting a vast set of dialogues with the unsaved to sentiment analysis, game-changing new arguments for Christianity have been constructed and perfected.

Inside, you’ll find the devastatingly powerful evidence which was uncovered, including:

-Eyewitness testimony to the greatest of Christ’s miracles from contemporary non-Christians

-Royal records of the Apostles’ divine power from overlooked archives

-Physical proof of Christ’s omnipotence from published scientific studies, and more.

Effortlessly outmaneuver any opponent by knowing their next moves before they do. Not only have the arguments which proved to be the most effective for Christianity been identified, inside you’ll find all of the most common counters to these arguments. Subjected to the same analysis to identify the most effective replies, The Christian’s Arsenal will guide you every step of the way in using these fresh confirmations of the faith through its inventive argument tree format. The battle for the future of the Kingdom is raging. Enter the Arsenal and become unbeatable.

The debate over creation vs. evolution has raged in this country for more than 100 years. The faithful believe that the words of Genesis are inspired and true while the claims of science are an evil tool of the devil. The unbelievers claim that science has all of the answers, that the words of Genesis are myths or worse, and that the faithful are misguided Neanderthal flat earthers. Quite a few authors have written books that dive deeply into science to show that Darwinian evolution due to natural causes is impossible to support scientifically. These books tend to put the average student, pastor, or Christian layperson to sleep. They also fail to show that the story in Genesis is supported by science. My book, with the working title Creation = Big Bang + Evolution, attempts to remedy those two faults. The thesis posits that science and Scripture tell the same story of creation. In language that people with only a modest high school level of science can understand I show how the book of God’s creation and the book of God’s inspired words tell the same story. For anyone whose faith is challenged by science, this is a must read.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ENDURANCE OF ISRAEL – A BRIEF HISTORY OF JEWISH PEOPLE by DAVID SEDACA   THE ENDURANCE OF ISRAEL—A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE  starts with the calling of Abraham and the Early Biblical period and ends with life in the modern State of Israel. The book is an overview of the history of Israel and seeks to explain the connection between the Jewish people of the Bible and the State of Israel. Hardly a day goes by without news about Israel. Yet, most people fail to connect the modern state of Israel and the Israel of the Bible. Many books have been written on this subject; however, albeit they are good, most of them are too long for the modern reader. This book seeks to fill that vacuum by presenting in a shorter but detailed form a description of the religious, social, and political history of the Jewish people. This book is intended for a general audience; some readers may have in-depth knowledge of the Bible, while others know what they are taught in churches and congregations. However, the vast majority are unaware of Israel's complete history. Without being the religious book, the author believes that the existence of the Jewish people and the rebirth of the State of Israel can only be understood in the light of the Holy Scriptures, for they describe the peculiar relationship between God and the Jewish people.  From reading this book, the general audience can  understand the continuity of the history of biblical Israel, the endurance and travails and the Jewish people since the beginning of the Common Era, and modern-day Israel. After the biblical times, and having been evicted from their land 2000 years ago, the Jewish people continue to exist as an identifiable nation. The title of this book indicates that the theme is the "endurance" of the Jewish people despite having been persecuted and having endured hardships throughout the centuries. That endurance led to the establishment of the modern state of Israel. This book explains chronologically the history of the Jewish people. In 15 chapters, the author gives a comprehensive analysis of the religious, social, and political factors that have allowed the continued existence of the Jewish people. Although the book is not divided into sections, its content can be divided into three sections. The first section is chapters 1 through 6, which tells the history of the Jewish people and ancient Israel, from the calling of Abraham over 3,000 years ago, until the waning of Judaism in the land of Israel in the III and IV centuries of the Common Era. The second section, chapters 7 to 9, deals with Jewish life amid other cultures and their struggle to maintain their identity as a particular people since they left their homeland, and during the hardships and persecutions during the Middle Ages.  This section speaks of the influence of Sephardic Jews of Spain in Jewish religion, thought, and philosophy, and the development Ashkenazi Judaism in Germanic and Slavic countries. The third and final section, chapters 10 to 15, deal with the movements within Judaism that led to the formation of Jewish denominations and how these movements let to the establishment of a Jewish homeland. It only includes a description of Israel's major wars since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. The book ends with an epilogue in which the author presents a final analysis of the history of the Jewish people as presented throughout the pages of the book. The author does not express his personal opinion on the events narrated in the book and does not take up a position regarding the present conflicts facing Israel today. The author ends the book by presenting two possible explanations of the historical phenomena: the endurance of Israel. The historical phenomenon of the continued existence for more than 3,500 years of the Israelites can be understood in two ways: either it is merely a historical-social rarity, or it is the fruit of divine providence.        

In our times, more Christians are falling into sin and we have been witnessing a number of our highly-respected Christian leaders being tempted into moral failings. The Bible says that in the last days, “sin will be rampant everywhere” (Matt 24:12, NLT). Undergirding this surge of sinfulness is a subtle, emotional mega trend in which people are getting increasingly more shameful and yet more shameless at the same time. This silent rise in the level of both shamefulness and shamelessness in our societies is indeed making our world more corrupt, chaotic and wicked, and it is impacting Christians as well as our churches. Notwithstanding, God originally created us with natural and healthy shame to safeguard our spiritual and moral condition but shame was corrupted by sin at the Fall. Hence Jesus came to die for both our sin and shame. Having been forgiven of our sins, Christians must now learn to appropriate on a daily basis Jesus’ victory over our corrupted shame to sensitize us to our natural and uncorrupted shame to help deter us from further sinning and churches must learn the ways Paul used healthy shame to inculcate Christian identity and ethos.

For centuries, biblical scholars and archaeologists alike have longed for historical proof to verify the most important story in Jewish history: the 430-year Israelite sojourn (Exod 12:40) in Egypt and the exodus. Evidence of Hebrew residence in this land has been so elusive that such a discovery often is viewed as stumbling on biblical archaeology’s holy grail. Egyptologist James Hoffmeier once wrote that as for the Israelite sojourn and exodus, no clearly identifiable support has come to light in Egypt until now. Ironically, few scholars have engaged in any serious pursuit of potential evidence. The opposite is true for the research behind the present work. This volume claims to present—for the first time in history—the groundbreaking discovery of interconnecting archaeological, epigraphical, and iconographical evidence that attests to the presence of Israelites in Egypt from 1876–1446 BC, the exact period required by biblical chronology for their inhabitation there as foreigners. This evidence is vital to the book’s title, because as James Hoffmeier stated correctly in 2014, one of ancient Israel’s creeds (Deut 26:5–8) emphasizes the sojourn and exodus from Egypt as foundational to Israel’s origins as a people. The world needs to hear of this story’s veracity.

In recent years, the subject of perseverance and apostasy has drawn a renewed attention as believers have wrestled with issues of justification and assurance of salvation. To make an in-depth study of perseverance and apostasy in the New Testament, I apply the grammatical-historical method in the exegesis of relevant passages against the socio-historical circumstance of each community of the New Testament, dealing with questions such as whether genuine believers can apostatize and lose their salvation, whether apostates can be restored with repentance, how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility work together to result in either perseverance or apostasy, and whether the New Testament writers maintain unity or disunity on the subject. From my inductive study based on biblical-theological and exegetical methods of interpretation, I find that the New Testament writers maintain a uniform concept of apostasy since they address a common belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God incarnated in the flesh. Apostasy is different from backsliding and defection in that it is a calculated rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ; so apostates, as the book of Hebrews affirms, cannot be restored. Also, genuine believers are preserved by God through His Spirit unto salvation, so biblical warnings and exhortations are designed to realize the elect’s perseverance rather than suppose a possibility of their loss of salvation through apostasy. My book sets out to affirm the unity in the New Testament over perseverance and apostasy and invalidate viewpoints that challenge the authority and authenticity of the Scripture.

This study seeks to do four primary things. First, it makes the connection between authorial intention and literary devices such as literary allusion explicit. Authors allude, not readers. In order to trace the logical progression whereby the author has been rejected as the controller of meaning, this study briefly summarizes the history of the hermeneutical discussions that have led to the current reader-response approaches to texts. Second, it seeks to clearly define the term "literary allusion" as well as related terms so that specific and meaningful discussion can take place in the broader field of intcrtextuality. Third, it sets forth certain criteria whereby the claim that a literary allusion is present in a text can be defended. Fourth, it demonstrates that by accurately defining the term "literary allusion" and identifying literary allusions via their working parts the interpretation of texts is significantly enhanced.

The history of Israel is filled with men and women who made an impact in the society in which they lived. These people were people of faith, people who had a personal relationship with their God and served as God’s instruments to speak to his people. Men and women can make a difference in the lives of others because they have within themselves the strength of character and the will to face difficult situations with courage, faith, and determination. We live in a world in which people think that they cannot change their situation. These people give up whenever they are confronted by opposition or with a situation they believe is hopeless and will never change. The purpose of my book is to help readers learn more about men and women who were used by God to make a difference in the lives of others. The book will also motivate the readers to be inspired by the struggles and accomplishments of these men and women in Israel.

Given the high expectations with which the 20th century began, the extraordinary toll of violence due to war, terrorism, and genocide, came as a horrifying surprise. Much more so when abortion is considered. Abortion has been responsible for more human deaths than all other forms of modern violence put together. Sadly, a substantial number of these deaths have occurred in nations with sizable Christian populations. The faith of many Christians---Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical---has been distorted by ideas and worldviews that have made a mockery of the discipleship called for by Jesus. A renewed emphasis, and a deeper wisdom, regarding discipleship, the biblical story and worldview, is necessary on the part of all who teach the faith. The Christian home should be part of that renewal. Who better to teach the biblical worldview, and model the Christian lifestyle with its God-given emphasis on the value and dignity of all human beings, than Christian parents?

Join me on a journey to follow the footsteps of the Israelites on their way home from Babylon. The Lord sent warning after warning for His children to return to Him with all of their hearts and to forsake the idols in their lives, but time and again they ignored the warnings until it was too late. The Lord sent His beloved community into exile for the sins they had committed with a promise that after seventy years He would bring them back to the land of Israel. We know that the Lord had good plans for Israel, even in their time of discipline. He used those seventy years of living in a foreign land to rid His people of their misplaced affections. Return to Me begins with the Israelites return home from Babylon. Some of the topics covered are addressing the idols in our lives, unity in the body of Christ, how to persevere in the face of opposition, and walking in obedience to the Lord’s call on your life.

Traditionally, students of the Bible held that the Hebrew calendar day extended from evening to evening. In recent years, however, the consensus on the biblical day has largely shifted, under the influence of critical methodologies among other factors, from evening to morning inception so much so that some scholars now speak as if the matter lies beyond debate. Without discounting the biblical support for morning inception, this study revisits the evidence for evening inception, arguing that an even stronger case can be made for this time system. By examining the literary and temporal framework of the accounts of two foundational events in the history of biblical Israel, the Exodus in Exodus 12-13 and the giving of manna in Exodus 16, it will be demonstrated that the two original religious observances given to the nation, the Passover and Hag hamatzot (the Feast of Unleavened Bread) not only confirmed their covenant relationship with the Lord and facilitated their departure from Egypt. They also provided a lasting template for the seven-day Hebrew week and for an evening-based Hebrew calendar day. Without resolving all the questions or complexities, this study aspires to broaden again the range of discussion on the Hebrew calendar day.

Finding it difficult to see Genesis beyond stories with moral insights? Worse, is it just a collection of Hebrew myths? If not, what’s its place in the histories of the world? The Monterey Mishna: GENESIS is a modern rendering of the text, with embedded answers to those questions. It dares call itself a Mishnah because the Hebrew word, Mishnah, simply means instruction. Like some rabbinic perceptions, Christian traditions can also miss the text’s full meaning. If you are: a Pastor, a Bible study leader, or merely interested in understanding the Jewishness of the Old Testament; a Rabbi or other Jewish person seeking a relationship with G-d beyond a cultural affinity; or a Messianic Synagogue member struggling with the role of your traditions and the freedom that comes with grace in the Messiah; then The Monterey Mishna: GENESIS can be not only an understandable text, but new insights. It gives the non-Jewish believer Jewish eyes and draws the Jewish reader to see beyond its archaic procedures.

Was Ramesses II the pharaoh of the Exodus? It seems not since some archeologists place the fall of Jericho earlier. What’s the place of Exodus in the histories of the world? The Monterey Mishna: EXODUS is a modern rendering of the biblical text, with embedded answers to those and other questions. It dares call itself a Mishnah because Mishnah simply means instruction. Like some rabbinic perceptions, Christian traditions can also miss the text’s full meaning. If you are: a Pastor, a Bible study leader, or merely interested in the Jewishness of the Old Testament; a Rabbi or other Jewish person seeking a relationship with G-d beyond a cultural affinity; or a Messianic Synagogue member struggling with the role of your traditions and the freedom that comes with grace in the Messiah; then The Monterey Mishna: EXODUS can bring not only an understandable text but also new insights. It gives the non-Jewish believer Jewish eyes and draws the Jewish reader to see beyond its arcane procedures.

Even Biblically-literate Christians neglect Leviticus. Few understand it, including pastors. Reading this Jewish book through non-Jewish eyes limits most. Those who seek to master it face obstacles: often a lack of non-technical commentary or its spiritualization. Too often, Christian writers have tried to hammer Leviticus into its spiritual meaning for the Church while Jewish reviewers stick to technical detail. Like some rabbinic perceptions, Christian traditions can also miss the text’s full meaning. If you are: a Pastor, a Bible study leader, or merely interested in the Jewishness of the Old Testament; a Rabbi or other Jewish person seeking a relationship with G-d beyond a cultural affinity; or a Messianic Synagogue member struggling with the role of your traditions and the freedom that comes with grace in the Messiah; then The Monterey Talmud: LEVITICUS is a commentary and translation that gives the non-Jewish believer Jewish eyes and draws the Jewish reader to see beyond its arcane procedures.

The Monterey Mishnah: NUMBERS deals with the thirty-eight-year trip from Sinai to Canaan. Its central story is Israel’s faith-failure approaching Canaan. Rabbinic Judaism believes this to have been on Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the fifth Jewish month. Solomon’s temple and Herod’s temple both fell on that date. Numerous other disasters have followed on Tisha B’Av, including the Nazi party instituting the “Final Solution of the Jewish Problem” in 1941. The Monterey Mishna: NUMBERS is a modern rendering of the text, with embedded insights into the events. It dares call itself a Mishnah because Mishnah simply means instruction. Like some rabbinic perceptions, some Christian traditions can also miss the text’s full meaning. If you are: a Pastor, a Bible study leader, or merely interested in understanding the Jewishness of the Old Testament; a Rabbi or other Jewish person seeking a deeper relationship with G-d beyond a cultural affinity; or a Messianic Synagogue member struggling with the role of your traditions and the freedom that comes with grace in the Messiah; then The Monterey Mishna: NUMBERS can be not only an understandable text, but give new insights. It gives the non-Jewish believer Jewish eyes and draws the Jewish reader to see beyond its arcane procedures.

The Christian theologian, Karl Barth, called Romans 1:18-32 the darkest passage of scripture. There, Paul says God ignores people who ignore him and turns them over to the lusts of their hearts. It’s a catalog of self-inflicted ruin. It is a dark passage, but to think it the darkest, Barth had surely forgotten Deuteronomy 28-29. There Moses foretells the tragedies that will befall the Jewish people because of their turning from him. Deuteronomy looks at three extended addresses of Moses as he reviews the Law, plus details of his death. The writing the book falls in a short period of a few weeks as Moses desperately pleads with Israel to be true to God upon entry into Canaan. The Monterey Mishna: DEUTERONOMY is a modern rendering of the text, with embedded insights into its story. It dares call itself a Mishnah because Mishnah simply means instruction. Like some rabbinic perceptions, some Christian traditions also miss the text’s full meaning. If you are: a Pastor, a Bible study leader, or merely interested in understanding the Jewishness of the Old Testament; a Rabbi or other Jewish person seeking a deeper relationship with G-d beyond a cultural affinity; or a Messianic Synagogue member struggling with the role of your traditions and the freedom that comes with grace in the Messiah; then The Monterey Mishna: DEUTERONOMY can be not only an understandable text, but new insights. It gives the non-Jewish believer Jewish eyes and draws the Jewish reader to see beyond its arcane procedures.

Finding the Messiah, What the Magi Saw and Much More, © 2021 (full version) How did the Magi, those Wise Men of the east, find the Christ Child using the stars when no one else did? The story begins with the ancient star movements.  Before the Bible was written, the Bright Morning Star observed by Noah and his generation foreshadowed the Seed of the Woman: Immanuel, who is Jesus. Christ’s forefather, Jacob, foretold His coming.  Balaam prophesied of His star.  The Wise Men saw His star in the east.  They journeyed to Jerusalem, not knowing how or where to find Him, but confident of His birth.  King Herod sent them to Bethlehem in search of the Child. That night, hours before their expected morning departure from Jerusalem, the cloud cover lifted.  And the star reappeared, still at the Child in the constellation Virgo, the Virgin who bore the Bright Morning Star!  As they traveled to Bethlehem by starlight, it went before them, positioning over Virgo’s Child as they arrived at dawn.  Then they found the real Child and worshipped Him! What did they see?  How did they know?  Why only them?  Who was this Child?  Come and see!

Solomon's Wine of Adultery: The Lost Message of the Song of Songs provides a new understanding of the message and meaning of the Song of Songs (hereafter, the Song). The book is organized into eight probing questions: 1. Why retranslate the Song? 2. Who is the Lover? 3. Who is the Beloved? 4. What kind of love does the Wife want? 5. Why is the Song a love lament? 6. Who is the author? 7. Who is the Wife really talking to? 8. What is the Song really about? The book is written in a style that is accessible to the serious lay student of scripture, but its ground-breaking hermenutic will be of interest to an academic audience. I have grounded this book in an examination of the Hebrew text of the Song, looking closely at grammar, definition choices, and comparative studies of words as used elsewhere in the Old Testament. I have also considered historical, cultural, archeological, and ancient biblical manuscript evidence in my analyses. Where many traditional translations of the Song have glossed over puzzling or difficult passages, I have endeavored to take the text seriously and let it speak for itself, providing an updated literal word-for-word translation of the Song. This has led to insights that have been astounding. The Song is not simply a love song, but is actually a love lament. At the heart of the chiastic structure of the Song is a Hebrew word for "love" that is always connected to promiscuity and adultery in the rest of the Old Testament. Furthermore, I believe the Song was not written by Solomon, but by his first wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, who is his preeminent wife (hereafter, the Wife) mentioned in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. The Song is not a fictional work, but an intimate, autobiographical document in which the Wife shares her love and heartbreak over her relationship with Solomon. The Song was written after the Wife was unjustly removed from her position as Solomon's preeminent queen. As a result, the entire Song is structured as a conversation between the Wife and a group of people who are her only access to Solomon. Thoughout their relationship, the Wife poured out faithful covenantal love to Solomon. But Solomon's unfaithful response was the pursuit of fleshly pleasures and indulgence in many women. In this sense, the story that the Song tells about Solomon parallels the biblical testimony of Solomon's many wives and concubines and how they ultimately led his heart into unfaithfulness. Traditional translations miss or obscure these aspects of the Song. Through these insights, this book provides a foundational hermeutic for a fresh translation of the Song. At the conclusion of the book, I share the lessons that the Song has for us. The story of the Song carries a prophetic warning that an abundance of God's blessings can lead to the temptation of selfish, fleshly indulgence. The Song teaches us that by surrendering our own ways and holding onto God's ways in the midst of difficulties, we come to know the depth of God's heart and love for us. In turn, we then have an opportunity to reveal the depths of God's love to others.

As global migration increases, foreign-born people arriving in the United States are at their zenith. Recent studies indicate that one in eight people living in the United States is an immigrant. Both the dispersed peoples of the world and micro-expressions of churches will continue to increase. More than 95% of dispersed global unreached people groups (UPGs) live within Metropolitan areas, illustrating the diverse minority and diaspora backgrounds within urban environments. Conjoining the migration of unreached peoples with their choice of settling within comprised ethnic enclaves, the possibility for gospel reconciliation significantly increases. As diaspora immigration continues, implementing effective urban church planting strategies is paramount. One method to fulfill the Trinitarian mission of the church exists in cultivating cultural oikos within ethnic enclaves in urban environments.

It is one thing to contemplate the philosophy of evil from the scholastic halls of academia or the comfort of one's living room couch; it is another matter entirely to experience it first-hand and face-to-face, and suffer a ferocious tempest deep within one's soul. In the latter case, one may undergo a crisis of faith and be tempted to follow the advice of Job’s 'friends'; he may be tempted to 'curse God and die'. Evil has vexed philosophers and the church for Millenia, representing the most significant challenge for both Christianity and the existence of God,  inevitably becoming the "nuclear option" for atheists to argue against the existence of God. However, is it possible that evil actually presents a powerful argument for the very existence of God? Can the existence of evil be used, in the words of Anselm, "to shatter the rigid resistance of unbelievers"? In fact, evil logically necessitates the existence of God and the argument that is most often raised against the existence of God, backfires.

C. S. Lewis and the Irish Imagination seeks to explore the Irish background and influences on C. S. Lewis’s imagination and his writing. This is the first full-length critical study which examines Lewis as an ‘Irish writer’ rather than, as he has been largely viewed to date, as a writer who was merely born in Ireland prior to being absorbed by the Oxbridge establishment. The work follows a largely chronological approach and the principal events in and influences on Lewis’s life are closely examined where they impact on his work. The exception to this methodology occurs in chapter five where Lewis is considered in relation to two other Irish fantasists, Lord Dunsany and Forrest Reid. It is frequently mentioned, and rightly so, in critical and biographical studies of Lewis, how Norse mythology made an indelible imprint on his imagination, but little critical attention has been given to the influence of the Celtic – and in particular the Irish – myths and legends on Lewis’s thought and writings. This work reveals the extent of the Celtic Otherworld as the inspiration and imaginative impulse for much of the created world of Narnia and will be new to many readers. C. S. Lewis and the Irish Imagination explores the interface between Lewis’s life and work and is central to our understanding of the man: the Irish background, in many cases, helps illuminate the work.

The aim of this manuscript is to provide the proper hermeneutics of the Beatitudes, presented at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.  This will be accomplished by providing an exegetical study of the Greek word Makarios which is translated loosely as Blessed at the beginning of each Beatitude. Providing the proper hermeneutic of the Beatitudes will allow for a correct interpretation, changing the notion that the Beatitudes are actions that One must strive to maintain or obtain to establish their place in the Kingdom of Heaven.  The goal is to provide assurance in One's salvation by interpreting the Beatitudes as qualities and promises that a believer already owns in the present but also in the future.  This assurance will rest on interpreting the word Makarios as happy or flourishing. The correct interpretation of the Beatitudes will be seen in translation where the word Blessed is replaced, changing the whole meaning of the text.  For example, "Flourishing are the poor in spirit because theirs is the kingdom of God." The goal of this manuscript is to reveal that the Beatitudes are not a checklist of qualities a person must perform to receive salvation but, however, describe the condition of an already saved individual.