The Birth of the Church is Volume 2 of a continuing curriculum series highlighting New Testament characters responsible for leading the early church in its formation. Already adopted for use on the mission fields of North India, The Birth of the Church has proven to be a valuable tool in equipping the emerging churches and the training of its leaders. This curriculum which offers several weeks of study, is designed to deepen one's understanding of the Biblical characters God used to impact His Kingdom and establish His church. This book will equip present day readers to become the servants of the Most High God in today's world. Mary Ann Bishop is a Bible teacher, recording artist and conference speaker. Because of her heart for the lost, in 2000 she and her husband, David, founded White Harvest Trading Company and White Harvest Foundation, (www.whiteharvesttradingco.com) a ministry bringing hope to the unreached people of Southeast Asia. Presently David and Mary Ann work in China, Vietnam and Turkey providing business platforms for their partners who target people groups in these areas. Products from these groups are imported and sold in their store located in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. David and Mary Ann reside in Pawleys Island and are the parents of two children, Wesley and Elizabeth. Bruce Chandler teaches art classes, paints commissions as well as local and historical landmarks for prints. Bruce also paints murals for residences, churches and businesses, the largest of which is 79 feet long and located in Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina. The highest paintings are located in numerous Super Wal-Mart stores, and the most humorous can be found in a Litchfield, SC beach house. Bruce has illustrated four books, been featured in Craft and Design Magazine, and designed a painting for the cover of Seabreeze Magazine.

Perspectives on Our Father Abraham is a collection of thoughtful articles honoring Marv Wilson -- author of the seminal text Our Father Abraham -- on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday. Nineteen Jewish and Christian scholars here offer various studies related to the patriarch Abraham. Readers will profit from these engaging, even groundbreaking, studies of Abraham both in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and in other ancient and contemporary traditions. This book encompasses a uniquely broad range of traditions having to do with Abraham and brings Jews and Christians together in fruitful dialogue.

Here is Jim Moore at his best, telling the heart-warming stories as he teaches us about the Bible. In this 6-session, video-based study, Dr. Moore uses key Scriptures that distinctively shape us as United Methodists. There are two sessions from the Old Testament and four sessions from the New Testament. Each session also lifts up and uses core terms and life application topics taken from the Wesley Study Bible to help you grow as a faithful follower of Jesus as you practice your faith in everyday life.This study can be used with aDVD (sold separately), in which Dr. Moore introduces the Scripture and tells why it is important for you. A leader s guide and DVD are also available. "

Jeremiah Part 1- "Return to Me" - Precepts for Life Study Guide for the Radio/TV broadcast series by Kay Arthur.
In the days of Jeremiah, Israel's spiritual condition was much like our nation's today. God chose Jeremiah to call people to turn from sin and idolatry and return to Him. Facing unbelievable opposition, Jeremiah warned the people that God's holy wrath that would soon be poured out.

Living for God's Glory - Precepts for Life Study Companion for the radio / tv broadcast series by Kay Arthur. God commanded us to glorify Him in our bodies, which He purchased through the blood of His Son. Know God and return to His glory through this life-changing study.

Ephesians - "The Mystery of God's Church - Our Identity, Our Walk, Our Warfare" - Precepts for Life Study Guide for the radio / tv broadcast series by Kay Arthur. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul prays God will "open the eyes of their hearts" to know "what is the hope of His calling" on their lives. Learn how to walk in a manner worthy of this holy calling.

Over the past twenty-five years research on Paul's life and thoughthas yielded a wealth of new, sometimes controversial theories concerningsuch crucial questions as Paul's Jewishness and his relationto the Jesus tradition. This volume provides an excellent overviewof recent trends in Pauline studies and introduces fresh work onthe Thessalonian correspondence and Christianity.

Written by a distinguished scholar of the New Testament, thebook ranges widely over themes related to Paul, his theology, andhis role in the formation of the church. Of special interest arechapters that challenge the so-called "New Perspective" on Paul setforth by people like E. P. Sanders and James D. G. Dunn, thatdiscuss the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls in reframing ourperspective on the Jewish backgrounds of Christianity, and thatrelate the Pauline understanding of justification to recent ecumenicalagreements.

Presenting cutting-edge New Testament scholarship in accessibleessays, this volume will benefit everyone interested in Paul, early Christianity, and the Jewish roots of both.

With a scholar's mind and a pastor's heart, Tom Wright walks you through Mark in this guide designed especially with everyday readers in mind. Perfect for group use or daily personal reflection, this study uses the popular inductive method combined with Wright's thoughtful insights to bring contemporary application of Scripture to life. This guide by Tom Wright can be used on its own or alongside his New Testament for Everyone commentary on Mark. It is designed to help you understand Scripture in fresh ways under the guidance of one of the world's leading New Testament scholars. Thoughtful questions, prayer suggestions, and useful background and cultural information all guide you or a group more deeply into God's Word. Discover how you can participate more fully in God's kingdom.

"Triumphant Return" is an upbeat, positive proclamation of the tremendous prophecies about the Second Coming and the awesome transformation of humanity that will unfold when Christ ushers in the Kingdom of God.
Key Features Include:
"- Christ's Triumphant Return- your role in the coming Kingdom of God.
- Why are the Rapture and the Second Coming under attack today?
- How should we understand the Bible's prophecies: Literal or symbolic? Past or future?
- The coming Millennial Kingdom of God- the key to understanding prophecy
- Historical evidence disproves the false theory that Revelation's prophecies were fulfilled in A.D. 70
- What did the Early Church believe about the Second Coming? The early Christians taught Christ's return will be literal, imminent, and premillennial.
- Fascinating new research about the remarkable prophecies pointing to the nearness of Christ's premillennial return
- Astonishing evidence the Muslim Koran acknowledges Israel's right to the Promised Land
- How should the promise of Christ's return transform your faith and daily walk with God?
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During the special Pauline Jubilee Year, Pope Benedict XVI used his Wednesday audiences as an opportunity to meet one of the most influential persons in the history of Christianity, Saint Paul. Meeting Saint Paul is the complete collection of these twenty-one papal reflections.

Ever since the first century, Christians have regarded Isaiah as a high point in the Old Testament prophetic literature. Its themes of messiah and suffering servant, deliverance from exile and new creation--to name a few--have been viewed as reaching particular fulfillment in the gospel. Then too, the impact of Isaiah on the church's language of worship and hymnology, and on the Western tradition of art and literature, is beyond measure. The book of Isaiah has also received more than its fair share of scholarly examination, with various theories of its origin and composition proposed. Originating in a 2008 Tyndale Fellowship conference on Isaiah, Interpreting Isaiah presents some of the most significant evangelical scholarship on Isaiah today. Essays on recent scholarship and the theology of Isaiah offer valuable overviews that bring readers abreast of current understanding. And more sharply focused studies in particular Isaianic themes and texts explore issues and exercise methodologies that will interest and reward diligent teachers and preachers of the Old Testament.

Jeremiah Part 1- "Return to Me" - Precepts for Life Study Companion for the Radio/TV broadcast series by Kay Arthur.
In the days of Jeremiah, Israel's spiritual condition was much like our nation's today. God chose Jeremiah to call people to turn from sin and idolatry and return to Him. Facing unbelievable opposition, Jeremiah warned the people that God's holy wrath that would soon be poured out.

IF YOU COULD HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANTED, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE? We dream of what we'd do if we won the lottery or happened onto some other financial windfall. Solomon, son of King David didn't need such luck -- the world was his for the taking. So what did he want more than anything? To "discern between good and evil." God blessed Solomon with the wisest of hearts and through the Smart Guide to the Bible Series: Solomon, you'll see how you, too, can be blessed with God's wisdom through his writings in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. Yes, "you" can make the choice for a wise heart from God.

Life in the Spirit Precepts for Life Study Guide for the radio / tv broadcast series by Kay Arthur. Be conformed to the image of Christ, as man was designed to be, through this powerful study of the Holy Spirit - His leading, filling, wisdom, intercession, righteousness, peace, joy and comfort.

With a scholar's mind and a pastor's heart, Tom Wright walks you through Matthew in this guide designed especially with everyday readers in mind. Perfect for group use or daily personal reflection, this study uses the popular inductive method combined with Wright's thoughtful insights to bring contemporary application of Scripture to life. This guide by Tom Wright can be used on its own or alongside his New Testament for Everyone commentary on Matthew. It is designed to help you understand Scripture in fresh ways under the guidance of one of the world's leading New Testament scholars. Thoughtful questions, prayer suggestions, and useful background and cultural information all guide you or a group more deeply into God's Word. Discover how you can participate more fully in God's kingdom.

Have you noticed how sometimes you have a story in the back of your mind that keeps coming up, even when you're talking about something else? In Ephesians, throughout its worship, prayers and instructions for living, Paul can't contain his joy and amazement at the larger story of God's plan to save us in Jesus the Messiah. These eleven studies from Tom Wright will help us see the significance of our role in God's grand narrative, and encourage us to live more fully as people who are lavishly loved by God. This guide by Tom Wright can be used on its own or alongside his New Testament for Everyone commentary on Ephesians. It is designed to help you understand Scripture in fresh ways under the guidance of one of the world's leading New Testament scholars. Thoughtful questions, prayer suggestions, and useful background and cultural information all guide you or a group more deeply into God's Word. Discover how you can participate more fully in God's kingdom.

The Crash Course series is an adult small group study series, produced in partnership with Christianity Today International, designed to give participants a thorough overview of a particular segment of Scripture or Bible topic in an engaging and thought-provoking way. - Solid Bible content - Easy-to-lead format - Creative and engaging discussion questions - Relevant life application

The letters of the Apostle Paul changed the world like no others before or since, and they continue to strike us afresh with their panoramic vision of human history and destiny.

Preeminent New Testament scholar and churchman N. T. Wright here offers a fresh perspective on the Apostle Paul's content and convictions. Wright ranks Paul as "one of the most powerful and seminal minds of the first or any century," endlessly engaging and perennially elusive. Yet, with recent research, Wright argues, we can now sketch with confidence a new and more nuanced picture of the Apostle and the radical way in which his encounter with Jesus redefined his life, his whole thought-world, his mission, and his expectations for a world made new in Christ. The result: a masterful, engaging, and enlightening portrait that situates Paul in his time and for our own.

Isaiah Part 2 - "Comfort For His People" - Precepts for Life Study Guide for the radio / tv broadcast series by Kay Arthur. Even as Isaiah warned about the awful consequences of sin, he also delivered God's message of consolation. Study how the Holy God will ultimately humiliate sin and exalt justice and righteousness. Explore the hope of the coming Messiah, His universal kingdom, justice and restoration

Leader Guide: provides process guidance for weekly group sessions. The Leader Guide understands the role of leader as facilitator of small-group sessions. Procedures for guiding sessions include: directions for using related video segments, and questions for discussion.

Psalms 10 sessions, 60-90 minutes Make a deeper connection to the world of the Psalms so that these well known scriptures can help you give voice to all aspects of our human experience---joy, faith, uncertainty and sorrow. Make a deeper connection to the world of the Psalms so that these well known scriptures can help you give voice to aspects of our human experience---joy, faith, uncertainty and sorrow.

During two weekly video segments, experience a varied presentation of individual psalm texts, including dramatic reading, music, dance, and images. Listen to insights into specific psalms presented by one of two biblical scholars through an informal, roundtable conversation format.

Ideal experience for adults who are interested in the practice of prayer and worship and would like to connect prayer practice with Scripture. The study is accessible for adults with little prior Bible experience.

Life in the Spirit - Precepts for Life Study Companion for the radio / tv broadcast series by Kay Arthur. Be conformed to the image of Christ, as man was designed to be, through this powerful study of the Holy Spirit - His leading, filling, wisdom, intercession, righteousness, peace, joy and comfort.

No single approach to reading the Bible can do justice to its complex history and content. There are as many different ways of understanding Scripture as there were people involved in its composition. Advocating a pluralistic reading that acknowledges the many voices speaking in the Bible, Susan Gillingham offers theological, historical, and literary insights into the compilation of Scripture and the development of biblical studies. Providing one of the most accessible and helpful introductions to the Bible available, this volume clearly outlines the main issues in understanding Scripture and demonstrates, using Psalm 8 as an example, the best method for reading the Bible today. "Not just another ephemeral book on postmodern theory. It is both a survey and an argument: she contends that the Bible itself is a complex book that can best be understood by the plurality of methods that are actually being used to read it. In engaging and practical terms she discusses historical, literary, and theological approaches to the Bible.... This is one of the first and best introductions to biblical interpretation that treats the postmodern situation of biblical studies seriously and constructively. It will make an excellent textbook in courses on exegesis and interpretation and for use in ecclesiastical study groups." - Religious Studies Review

Isaiah Part 2 - "Comfort For His People" - Precepts for Life Study Companion for the radio / tv broadcast series by Kay Arthur. Even as Isaiah warned about the awful consequences of sin, he also delivered God's message of consolation. Study how the Holy God will ultimately humiliate sin and exalt justice and righteousness. Explore the hope of the coming Messiah, His universal kingdom, justice and restoration

Easter from the Back Side
J. Ellsworth Kalas
Using an approach similar to the one he took in "Parables from the Back Side" and other books in the popular Back Side series," " author J. Ellsworth Kalas opens up new possibilities of insight into the biblical Easter story. The author looks beyond the traditional gospel scriptures to connect the story of Christ s resurrection with other stories and scriptures throughout the Bible, including both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Kalas s creative approach both clarifies basic teachings and introduces new possibilities of meaning, even for those who are most familiar with the Easter story. Enriched with contemporary illustrations and personal experiences, this volume will provide new perspectives on Easter. Chapter titles and Scriptures include: Why We Need Easter (Genesis 3:1-7, 22-24); Easter from an Ash Heap (Job 19:13-27); Easter for the Disillusioned (Ecclesiastes 2:14-26); Ezekiel Celebrates Easter (Ezekiel 37:1-10); Easter Is a Love Story (John 20:1-18); Late for Easter (1 Corinthians 15:1-11); and Forever Easter (Revelation 21:1-4). J. ELLSWORTH KALAS is president of Asbury Theological Seminary and has been part of the faculty there since 1993, after thirty-eight years as a United Methodist pastor and five years in evangelism with the World Methodist Council. He has been a presenter on Disciple videos, is the author of the "Christian Believer "study, and has written more than thirty books, including the popular Back Side series; "Longing to Pray: How the Psalms Teach Us to Talk with God; Strong Was Her Faith: Women of the New Testament; "and "What I Learned When I Was Ten."

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"The Social World of the New Testament: Insights and Models" surveys essential contributions made by leading scholars of the social-scientific approach to New Testament studies. Including important essays by Bruce J. Malina and John J. Pilch, among others, this book acts as a comprehensive collection of the most important essays and articles in the field. Included are topics vital to the social scientific interpretation of the New Testament, organized under three headings:
INSTITUTIONS
- Kinship: All in the Family: Kinship in Agrarian Roman Palestine--K. C. Hanson
- The Patron-Client Institution: God in the Letter of James: Patron or Benefactor?--Alicia Batten
- Economics: Jesus and Agrarian Palestine: The Factor of Debt--Douglas E. Oakman
CULTURE
- Honor and Shame: Loss of Wealth, Loss of Family, Loss of Honor: The Cultural Context of the Original Makarisms in Q--Jerome H. Neyrey, SJ
- Purity: The Epistle of James in Rhetorical and Social-Scientific Perspective: Holiness-Wholeness and Patterns of Replication-- John H. Elliott
- Social Location: Was Jesus a Peasant: Implications for Reading the Jesus Tradition (Luke 10:30-35)--Douglas E. Oakman
- Social Location: The Social Location of the Markan Audience--Richard L. Rohrbaugh
- Gender: Who Should Be Called "Father"? Paul of Tarsus between the Jesus Tradition and Patria Potestas--S. Scott Bartchy
- Space: "Teaching You in Public and from House to House" (Acts 20:20): Unpacking a Cultural Stereotype--Jerome H. Neyrey, SJ
- Healing: Healing in Luke-Acts--John J. Pilch
- Evil Eye: Paul, Galatians, and the Evil Eye-- John H. Elliott
- Limited Good: "He Must Increase, I Must Decrease"(John 3:30): A Cultural and Social Interpretation--Richard L. Rohrbaugh and Jerome H. Neyrey
MODAL PERSONALITY
- Modal Personality: Ancient Mediterranean Persons in Cultural Perspective: Portrait of Paul--Jerome H. Neyrey, SJ and Bruce J. Malina