The Heavens of Idolatry


Book Description

So you say youre not a perfectionist. Your idea of a perfectionist is someone who is well on their way to being perfect, and that does not describe you. Perfectionism is so cleverly disguised by its symptoms and ripple effects, but the problem is the same at the heartidolatry. The Heavens of Idolatry challenges Christ followers to consider the possibility that other gods may have set up a throne in their heart. As believers we may find ourselves living to please these gods, with our identity and worth hanging in the balance of acceptance. Or, being the diligent Christians that we are, we may have elevated ourselves by setting impossible standards for someone else. It is the striving and confusion that ensue that causes big problems in a persons life. Lisa Stough writes to fellow perfectionists as well as all Christians who are tired of hiding inside their Sunday clothes, who have given up on God all together, or who might be wondering what the big deal is about perfectionism. She brings Scripture, insight, and experience together into a journey you can call your own.




Soul Idolatry Excludes Men Out of Heaven


Book Description

Learn to recognize the subtle ways that a person's inner life bows down to various false gods. David Clarkson details a list of everyday idols and the worship of them that one can use to detect soul idolatry in their lives. His call is that God is very serious about idols and Christians should be serious as well. This edition is the complete sermon as published by James Nichol in 1864.




We Become What we Worship


Book Description

The heart of the biblical understanding of idolatry, argues Gregory Beale, is that we take on the characteristics of what we worship. Employing Isaiah 6 as his interpretive lens, Beale demonstrates that this understanding of idolatry permeates the whole canon, from Genesis to Revelation. Beale concludes with an application of the biblical notion of idolatry to the challenges of contemporary life.




Sipping Saltwater


Book Description

Everybody's thirsty. We're thirsty for a world without suffering. A world defined by peace, joy, and love. We're thirsty for paradise. How do we try to quench this thirst? We sip saltwater. We consume things that look, feel, and sound as if they'll quench our thirst, but they only make us thirstier. Sipping Saltwater points us to the only drink that will satisfy us now and eternally-Christ's living water-and shows us how to drink it. Book jacket.




The Idolatry of God


Book Description

We must lay down our certainties and honestly admit our doubts to identify with Jesus. Rollins purposely upsets fundamentalist certainty in order to open readers up to a more loving, active manifestation of Christ's love. He explores how the Good News actually involves embracing the idea that we can't be whole, that life is difficult, and that we are in the dark. By joyfully embracing our brokenness, and courageously accepting the difficulties of existence, we truly rob death of its sting and enter into the fullness of life.




Complexity and Creativity


Book Description

Within the book of Revelation, John provides a unique and fascinating portrait of Jesus. This monograph examines John's interaction with imagery from his cultural context (Roman emperor worship), from the key writings of his apparent religious heritage (the Old Testament), and from convictions shared within the wider early Christian community. In the sections devoted to each of these three sources (Roman emperor worship, the Old Testament writings, and early Christianity), Naylor provides an assessment of the way that John utilizes images, phrases, and motifs from each in his depiction of Jesus. The interaction with this material represents, Naylor argues, not a haphazard conglomeration of material from divergent sources, but rather a complex, well-developed set of religious convictions concerning Jesus, creatively expressed in this early Christian writing.




Idols of the Heart


Book Description

Were all idol-worshippers at heartputting loves, desires, and expectations ahead of God. But theres good news! Elyse shows us how we can identify our idols and battle besetting sins.




Practicing the King's Economy


Book Description

The church in the West is rediscovering the fact that God cares deeply for the poor. More and more, churches and individual Christians are looking for ways to practice economic discipleship, but it's hard to make progress when we are blind to our own entanglement in our culture's idolatrous economic beliefs and practices. Practicing the King's Economy cuts through much confusion and invites Christians to take their place within the biblical story of the "King Jesus Economy." Through eye-opening true stories of economic discipleship in action, and with a solid exploration of six key biblical themes, the authors offer practical ways for God's people to earn, invest, spend, compensate, save, share, and give in ways that embody God's love and provision for the world. Foreword by Christopher J. H. Wright.




Between Heaven and Earth


Book Description

How is Yahweh to be differentiated from other deities? What is Yahweh's relationship to Israel in exile?".




Our Oneness in Christ


Book Description

This book starts by establishing that all believers in Christ are already, in fact, one with each other in Christ. This leaves us with the challenge, not of creating unity where it does not exist, but of living consistently with the oneness that already exists. The first section explains why living consistently with our oneness is important, including God’s commands and expectations, the benefits of living in oneness and the hazards of living contrary to the truth. Part two explains what oneness is and is not, including the concepts that oneness is a harmony of diverse believers each doing their own part, not unison, unanimity or strict conformity to the same mold. The third section deals with practical barriers to living in oneness—selfishness, misunderstandings, heresy, and incorrect understanding of the origin of the organizational divisions in the universal Church—and suggests how to overcome them.