Incarnation & Inclusion, Abba & Lamb


Book Description

The question addressed in this brief work is how Christ-followers might hold the tension of these two abiding and complementary truths: 1. Christ's one-of-a-kind revelation 2. Abba's all-inclusive love. Brad Jersak believes that Sacred Scripture and Christ himself affirm both these doctrines in a mind-blowing fullness. And yet those who enthusiastically profess either one of these two truths frequently do so at the expense of their complement. Jersak is neither an exclusivist nor a pluralist. He argues for both the unique revelation of Christ and the inclusive love of Abba. IN lays out biblical and experiential evidence for integrating and celebrating both these truths together, espousing the beautiful gospel of Christ's unique revelation of Abba's all-inclusive love. By "Christ," Jersak refers not to some abstract, ethereal or disincarnate spirit. Following the Apostolic tradition, he specifies Christ as" our one Lord Jesus Christ," the Lamb crucified and risen, whose singular revelation unveiled God as our eternal, cruciform and loving Abba. His primary lens for this synthesis is the prologue of John's Gospel, where we see: God's One and Only Lamb, crucified and risen-this Word who speaks ALL into being, this Light who shines on all and in all, this Life who breathes life into all, this One unveils God as Our All-merciful, All-embracing Abba. God's banqueting table is wide open because of Christ. The higher our Christology, the wider we will perceive the reach of Abba's love. The banquet metaphor is a way to think about both the uniqueness of Christ and the inclusivity of his Abba. The Master of the feast instructed his servants to invite and compel all to join in the feast. There's a seat and setting reserved for every human in history. IN magnifies both these glorious truths clearly.




Baxter's Explore the Book


Book Description

Explore the Book is not a commentary with verse-by-verse annotations. Neither is it just a series of analyses and outlines. Rather, it is a complete Bible survey course. No one can finish this series of studies and remain unchanged. The reader will receive lifelong benefit and be enriched by these practical and understandable studies. Exposition, commentary, and practical application of the meaning and message of the Bible will be found throughout this giant volume. Bible students without any background in Bible study will find this book of immense help as will those who have spent much time studying the Scriptures, including pastors and teachers. Explore the Book is the result and culmination of a lifetime of dedicated Bible study and exposition on the part of Dr. Baxter. It shows throughout a deep awareness and appreciation of the grand themes of the gospel, as found from the opening book of the Bible through Revelation.




Bahá'í Ethics in Light of Scripture: Doctrinal fundamentals


Book Description

There is a fundamental discrepancy between man as he is and man as he could be, if only he recognized his true being and purpose. Ethics is the discipline by which man can understand how he can pass from the first condition to the second. Udo Schaefer's Bah ' Ethics in Light of Scripture is an attempt to analyse the underlying structures and detect the interior architecture of the Bah ' moral system and is a step towards developing a Bah ' moral theology. Doctrinal Fundamentals, the first of two volumes, provides a historical overview of the Bah ' Faith, a systematic survey of it doctrines and an overview of the origin and derivation of moral values. It considers the metaphysical nature of human beings and human responsibilities, looks at reason and conscience, and explores liberty and its limits. Schaefer's second volume deals with concrete values - the virtues, divine commandments and principles of social ethics from a Bah ' perspective.




Honest Advent


Book Description

In a world that's difficult to make sense of, and a season that's so often overtaken by consumerism, here you'll find heart-stirring illustrations and thought-provoking meditations designed to show you the raw, powerfully sacred story of Christmas in a new light. Has the joy of the holiday season become painfully dissonant with the hard edges of life? Do you feel weary from the way Christmas has become a polished, predictable brand? You aren't alone. For too many of us, Christmas has lost its wonder. What if we stopped treating the Christmas story as something that happened a long time ago and started believing that it's a story that's still happening today? From celebrated artist and storyteller Scott Erickson comes Honest Advent, 25 days of illustrations and meditations that will help you rekindle the wonder of this season. Honest Advent creates a space for you to encounter the Incarnate Christ in unexpected places: like a pregnancy announcement in an era of political unrest and empirical bloodshed, the morning sickness of a Middle Eastern teenager, and the shocking biology of birth that goes far beyond the sanitized brand of Christmas as we know it today. Within the pages of Honest Advent, Erickson teaches us the valuable lessons he's learned about: Finding hope and light in the darkest winters What it means to embrace the unexpected How God uses everyday vulnerability to help us understand ourselves, and our faith, better Through powerful benedictions, prayers, and questions for honest reflection, you'll discover how the wonder of God-with-Us is still happening today: in your unexpected change of plans, your unaccomplished dreams, your overcrowded lodging, and your humble stories of new beginnings. Praise for Honest Advent: "Scott Erickson's beautifully crafted book helped me see God-with-Us with fresh eyes. Honest Advent is no shallow seasonal gift book; it's an invitation to explore the divine flourishes of everyday human vulnerabilities. A transformative read, regardless of the time of year." --Jonathan Merritt, author of Learning to Speak God from Scratch "Beautiful. Evocative. A wake-up call to the mystery of life." --John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry




What the Faith is All about


Book Description




Her Gates Will Never Be Shut


Book Description

Everlasting hell and divine judgment, a lake of fire and brimstone--these mainstays of evangelical tradition have come under fire once again in recent decades. Would the God of love revealed by Jesus really consign the vast majority of humankind to a destiny of eternal, conscious torment? Is divine mercy bound by the demands of justice? How can anyone presume to know who is saved from the flames and who is not? Reacting to presumptions in like manner, others write off the fiery images of final judgment altogether. If there is a God who loves us, then surely all are welcome into the heavenly kingdom, regardless of their beliefs or behaviors in this life. Yet, given the sheer volume of threat rhetoric in the Scriptures and the wickedness manifest in human history, the pop-universalism of our day sounds more like denial than hope. Mercy triumphs over judgment; it does not skirt it. Her Gates Will Never Be Shut endeavors to reconsider what the Bible and the Church have actually said about hell and hope, noting a breadth of real possibilities that undermines every presumption. The polyphony of perspectives on hell and hope offered by the prophets, apostles, and Jesus humble our obsessive need to harmonize every text into a neat theological system. But they open the door to the eternal hope found in Revelation 21-22: the City whose gates will never be shut; where the Spirit and Bride perpetually invite the thirsty who are outside the city to "Come, drink of the waters of life."




Living Fearless


Book Description

Jamie Winship spent nearly 30 years living and working in conflict zones, and during that time he has learned an important truth: all human conflict originates from fear, and fear originates from a false view of God, ourselves, and others. Until we exchange what's false for what's real, we will never experience being fully alive, fully human, and fully free. Unpacking the power of knowing our true identity in Christ, Winship takes us on a journey of telling ourselves the truth, changing our mindsets, and experiencing actual life transformation that leads to radical courage in the face of all that life throws at us. With humor, clarity, and real-life practicality, Living Fearless is your invitation to listen closely to what God is trying to say to you about himself, about the person he created you to be--and also about all those other people he created and loves. If you want to discover the incredible difference abiding in Christ will make in your life and faith, get ready to do "a new thing" with God.




A Beginner's Book of Prayer


Book Description

This beginner's guide to prayer will guide Catholics who need help learning to pray.




A More Christlike God


Book Description

Whether our notions of ‘god’ are personal projections or inherited traditions, author and theologian Brad Jersak proposes a radical reassessment, arguing for A More Christlike God: a More Beautiful Gospel. If Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the radiance of God’s glory and exact representation of God’s likeness,” what if we conceived of God as completely Christlike—the perfect Incarnation of self-giving, radically forgiving, co-suffering love? What if God has always been and forever will be ‘cruciform’ (cross-shaped) in his character and actions? A More Christlike God suggests that such a God would be very good news indeed—a God who Jesus “unwrathed” from dead religion, a Love that is always toward us, and a Grace that pours into this suffering world through willing, human partners.




The Book of Hebrews


Book Description

The book of Hebrews appeared during a critical time in the history of the early church. The destruction of Jerusalem was impending and many of the believers believed the end of the world was near. However, Paul warned the church against entertaining a false hope, for he knew they were misguided with their beliefs. It was a critical time—the apostles were passing away, and soon the church would be left alone. It was in this hour of perplexity that the book of Hebrews appeared with needed light and comfort. The people needed a clear conception of the work Christ was doing for them in the courts above, and this book explained the delay in His return, and restored their wavering faith. The conditions and problems which the church then had to meet are not unlike those facing the church today. While the early church was living at the time of the fulfillment of the first part of Christ’s prophecy—the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple, we are living at the time of the fulfillment of the second part of the prophecy—the coming of the Lord Jesus in the clouds of heaven. As there was misconceptions of Christ’s work in the sanctuary then, so there are those now who likewise err. There is as much need today of a thorough study of the Scriptures as there was then, and more so. The book of Hebrews was a great factor in stabilizing the apostolic church in the crisis hour before the fall of Jerusalem, and it is hoped that a discussion of the mighty themes of the book of Hebrews will be of some help to the church of God today. All need to have their eyes fastened on our great High Priest and the work He is doing in the sanctuary above. And may it be the blessed privilege of many with “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” (Heb. 10:19, 20.) This was the prayer and hope of the author of Hebrews, and this also is the hope of the author of this volume.