Best Jesus, the Gospels & Acts

Now, in The Prodigal God , Keller takes his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity and uses the parable of the prodigal son to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation. "An amazing, thought-provoking, illuminating work." "Explain, explode, expose, explore—all of these Jesus did by telling the parable of the prodigal son. In this book, Timothy Keller shows us something of how this story actually reveals the heart of God, and, if we read it carefully, our own hearts. This brief exposition is unsettling and surprisingly satisfying. Today Redeemer has nearly six thousand regular attendees at five services, a host of daughter churches, and is planting churches in large cities throughout the world.

James Martin, SJ, gifted storyteller, editor at large of America magazine, popular media commentator, and New York Times bestselling author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything , brings the Gospels to life in Jesus: A Pilgrimage , and invites believers and seekers alike to experience Jesus through Scripture, prayer and travel. He has a knack for giving a new perspective to the familiar, making the reader exclaim, ‘Ah, yes!’ A superb gift.” ( Archbishop Desmond Tutu ). Martin has produced a remarkable combination of modern scholarship on the Gospels, his experiences on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, his own creative imagination and sense of humor, and wise advice pertaining to Christian life.” ( Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. Throughout, vivid details of his search in blistering heat for holy sites both authentic and dubious anchor this complex, compelling spiritual testimony.” ( Publishers Weekly, Starred Review). New Testament scholarship opens up the life of Jesus so that the Gospels can speak to each of us personally and transform us as they did their first hearers.” ( John W. Martens, PhD , Associate Professor of Theology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota). Learned yet highly accessible, he weaves together a number of insights gleaned from the Gospels, a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Ignatian spirituality, and his personal and pastoral experience. A gifted storyteller and spiritual director, Father James Martin, SJ, invites readers to experience the stories of the Gospels in a completely new, vivid, and exciting way to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus. Martin provides personal stories from his own life, the most up-to-date biblical scholarship, and powerful anecdotes from beloved spiritual teachers, and brings the reader along on his own real-life travels through the Holy Land.

Beginning with Jesus' birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels. (Roy B. Zuck, Bibliotheca Sacra, October-December 2010). "The work will yield a rich harvest of information, pastoral support, and insight for all who read it." Laid out in simple format for easy absorption by readers, the author's explanations of his findings require no formal training to follow and understand them. "Bailey has a gift of clear, lively expression; he takes advantage of his personal experiences, interest in Hebrew poetic structure, and knowledge of Arabic to bring insights into NT interpretation." "A rich and fascinating anthology of exegetical essays reflecting on gospel texts through the lens of Middle Eastern culture and rhetoric. Another valuable contribution of this book is the introduction to, and interaction with, great Eastern commentaries long forgotten or largely unknown to Western Biblical Scholarship. The author of more than 150 articles in English and in Arabic, his writings include Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes , The Good Shepherd , Open Hearts in Bethlehem: A Christmas Drama , and The Cross and the Prodigal . Traveling around the globe to lecture and teach, Bailey spoke in theological colleges and seminaries in England (Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol) Ireland, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Latvia, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, and Jerusalem. He was active as a Bible teacher for conferences and continuing education events in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, and he taught at Columbia, Princeton, and Fuller Seminary.

The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew , and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers. In this wonderfully readable book, not only could Jesus spin a yarn, he could challenge whole world views in the process.” ( Dr. Ben Witherington, III, Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary ). With her characteristic wit and learned, iconoclastic imagination, Levine presses readers of the parables-especially Christian readers-to question their assumptions, curb their biases, and read Jesus’s words afresh with ancient eyes. A perfect introduction for the merely curious, but even passionate readers who have lived with these stories for decades will find their eyes and hearts opened by Levine’s provocative insights.” ( Mark Allan Powell, editor of the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary ). It wittily and carefully and thoroughly and relentlessly rips the parables from our ‘all knowing’ hands and un-domesticates them and gives them back to us in a form which Jesus himself doubtlessly intended.” ( Jim West, Zwinglius Redivivus ).

This collection contains: Be Right (Romans), Be Wise (1 Corinthians), Be Encouraged (2 Corinthians), Be Free (Galatians), Be Rich (Ephesians), Be Joyful (Philippians), Be Complete (Colossians), Be Ready (1 & 2 Thessalonians), and Be Faithful (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon). Be Wise (1 Corinthians): Be Wise guides us through Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, where he encourages his fellow believers to embrace a life of wisdom and truth. Be Joyful (Philippians): Discover Paul's secret to finding joy in Christ as Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe leads you on a verse-by-verse tour through the book of Philippians.

This Bible is filled with references and study aids to strengthen your Bible reading.

Seldom does one find serious scholarship so easy to read.” – The Times , Book of the Year A New York Times bestseller, this major new history of the knights Templar is “. a fresh, muscular and compelling history of the ultimate military-religious crusading order, combining sensible scholarship with narrative swagger" – Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem A faltering war in the middle east. These are the first Knights Templar, a band of elite warriors prepared to give their lives to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Over the next two hundred years, the Templars would become the most powerful religious order of the medieval world. In this groundbreaking narrative history, Dan Jones tells the true story of the Templars for the first time in a generation, drawing on extensive original sources to build a gripping account of these Christian holy warriors whose heroism and alleged depravity have been shrouded in myth. His aim is to present a gripping historical narrative, and in this he succeeds… As he describes it, the order comes across as a combination of Blackwater, Goldman Sachs, Kroll International, FedEx, Fort Knox, Bechtel and the Red Cross. Information is unreliable and easily manipulated, allowing conspiracy theories to take root and spread.” – Cullen Murphy, The Washington Post "Dan Jones has created a gripping page-turner out of the dramatic history of the Templars, from their spiritual warrior beginnings until their tragic destruction by the French king and the pope. …In Jones’s bravura account, this tension between aristocratic killer and humble monk shadows the Templar story. “Gripping… Jones tells the story of the Templars with energy and verve, regalling readers with well-chosen details and anecdotes. He has done precisely that.” – Peter Frankopan, The Telegraph "Business chiefs listen up, especially in the world of big tech where egos are becoming rather inflated . The caution, although not explicit, comes in the epic story of the warrior monks known as the Knights Templar whose activities have given rise to much speculation and theories, some reasonable and some absurd. “The story of the Templars, the ultimate holy warriors, is an extraordinary saga of fanaticism, bravery, treachery and betrayal, and in Dan Jones they have a worthy chronicler. “A fresh, muscular and compelling history of the ultimate military-religious crusading order, combining sensible scholarship with narrative swagger, featuring a cast of exuberantly monstrous sword swingers spattering Christian and Islamic blood from Spain to Jerusalem.” -- Simon Sebag Montefiore author of Jerusalem: The Biography "In this thrillingly lucid account, Dan Jones demystifies the Templars in a story spanning hundreds of years and countless rulers, knights and archbishops, a seemingly disproportionate number of whom ended up beheaded . Anyone who has read Jones’s earlier medieval chronicles will know what to expect here: fast-paced narrative history depicted with irresistible verve, bloody battle scenes and moments of laugh-out-loud wit. There are contemporary parallels, too, with the Templars eventually being laid low by the medieval equivalent of a kind of 'fake news': anti-Templar propaganda spread by the church. “Thank God this book is sane… Jones tells the engrossing story of an ascetic order of warrior knights chiefly dedicated to the defense of pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem… Templars is based on a wide-ranging and thorough research and relies overwhelmingly on primary sources… It reads like a morality tale.” – Robert Irwin, Literary Review. Jones examines the storied Templars, an organization of quasi-monastic warriors who rose to fame and power in the midst of the Crusades, only to rapidly collapse in questionable scandals . Jones chronicles the Templars’ actual record of great military achievement, fiduciary responsibility, exceptional faithfulness, and lasting cultural significance.” --Booklist. A thrilling dynastic history of royal intrigues, violent skullduggery, and brutal warfare across two centuries of British history.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Young Stalin. “Dan Jones’s epic portrait of the medieval royals is a timely reminder that things haven’t always been so rosy for those on the throne.” —GQ. There is fine scholarly intuition on display here and a mastery of the grand narrative; it is a supremely skillful piece of storytelling.” —The Sunday Telegraph. “If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones or The Tudors, then Dan Jones’ swashbucklingly entertaining slice of medieval history will be right up your alley. “Jones is a born storyteller, peopling the terrifying uncertainties of each moment with a superbly drawn cast of characters and powerfully evoking the brutal realities of civil war.” —The Evening Standard. “Dan Jones has an enviable gift for telling a dramatic story while at the same time inviting us to consider serious topics like liberty and the seeds of representative government.” —Antonia Frasier. Dan Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of The Templars, The Plantagenets, Wars of the Roses, and Magna Carta . He wrote and presented the popular Netflix series Secrets of Great British Castles and appeared alongside George R.R.

This collection contains: Be Right (Romans), Be Wise (1 Corinthians), Be Encouraged (2 Corinthians), Be Free (Galatians), Be Rich (Ephesians), Be Joyful (Philippians), Be Complete (Colossians), Be Ready (1 & 2 Thessalonians), and Be Faithful (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon). Be Wise (1 Corinthians): Be Wise guides us through Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, where he encourages his fellow believers to embrace a life of wisdom and truth. Be Joyful (Philippians): Discover Paul's secret to finding joy in Christ as Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe leads you on a verse-by-verse tour through the book of Philippians.