When Augustus Ceasar became Emperor of Rome, Judea was made a Roman province.

For 400 years the prophets of Israel had been silent. Priests read the Scriptures aloud in the synagogues while Roman officers patrolled the streets, heavily taxing the Hebrews.

The prophecies whispered of a coming Messiah who would save God’s people.

This novel develops and expands upon the people and story lines in Season 1 of the TV series The Chosen.

The events portrayed revolve around Jesus and people with whom He came in contact, including those He chose to be His disciples and their families, beginning with the shepherds to whom His birth was announced by the angels.

Who are you becoming? That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. By outward metrics, everything appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren't pretty.

So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: 'Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.' It wasn't the response he expected, but it continues to be the answer he needs.

Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you'll find a compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favour of a slower, simpler way of life.

Do you find it hard to make time for Bible study?

You intend to do it, but before you know it, another week has passed and you haven’t picked up God’s Word. This book provides simple tools for you to open the Bible regularly and dig into God's Word—even if you only have five minutes!
 

• Minutes 1–2: Read a few verses pulled from a lengthier passage. If time allows, read the full passage listed for you in each Bible study.
• Minute 3: Understand. Consider thoughtful questions designed to help you apply the verses from the Bible to your own life. Consider these throughout your day as well.
• Minute 4: Apply. Read a brief devotional based on the scripture you read. Think about what you are learning and how you can apply the scriptural truths to your own life.
• Minute 5: Pray. A prayer starter will help you to begin a time of conversation with God.

It is now generally accepted that the nature of human thought has much to do with the structure and function of the human body. In Spirituality in the Flesh, Robert C. Fuller investigates how our sensory organs, emotional programs, sexual sensibilities, and neural structures shape religious phenomena. Why is it that some religious traditions assign spiritual currency to pain? How do neurochemically-driven emotions such as fear shape our religious actions? What is the relationship between chemically altered states of consciousness and religious innovation? The body has recently become a subject of investigation among scholars of religion. Many such studies focus on the concept of the body as a cultural construct. Whereas these treatments helpfully demonstrate how cultures construct ideas about the body, Fuller asks how the body itself influences religious concepts. Seeking to establish a middle ground between purely materialistic or humanistic arguments, he skillfully pairs scientific findings with religious truths. Both perspectives could learn from the other: Fuller takes scientific interpreters to task for failing to understand the inherently cultural aspects of embodied experience even as he chides most religion scholars for ignoring new knowledge about the biological substrates of human behavior. Comfortable with the language of scientific analysis and sympathetic to the inherently subjective aspects of religious events, Fuller introduces the biological study of religion by joining our unprecedented understanding of bodily states with an experts knowledge of religious phenomena. Culling insights from scientific observations, historical allusions, and literary references, Spirituality in the Flesh provides fresh understandings that promise to enrich our appreciation of the embodied religious experience.

Experience Jesus Really, Finding Refuge Strength and Wonder Through Everyday Encounters with God

In this present age we are all becoming disciples of the Internet. We are addicted to distraction. We idolize our instant access to a never-ending avalanche of information. We think we're finally holding the keys to a better life.
But if that's true, why are we wrestling with ever-increasing levels of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and despair? The fact is, we live in a world of weary, skeptical pragmatism--and it's keeping us from experiencing the God we are dying without.

John Eldredge presents a powerful alternative to the soulless, disenchanted world we find ourselves living in today: the path of the ordinary mystic. Readers who join Eldredge on this journey will:

• Regain childlike faith in the reality of God's constant, available presence to those who seek him;
• Discover the biblical foundations for the mystical tradition in Christianity; and
• Learn practices, habits, and prayers that will transform their ability to hear the voice of Jesus in their day-to-day lives.

Every human yearns to return to Eden, to a state of unbroken communion with the God who created us for adventure and intimacy with him. The mystic is awake to the truth that God is still with us--and we experience the refuge of his powerful, healing presence if we learn to open our hearts to him.

As a trauma-informed professional life coach, Janell Rardon spends a good deal of her day-to-day work with brokenness--broken families, broken relationships, broken hearts and souls. In response to the pleas of her clients, she developed a set of emotional health tools that help them repair the broken parts of their lives. In Stronger Every Day, she shares those powerful tools with you. In this heartlifting book, she helps you to - transform pain into meaning - experience secure attachment with God - shape healthy thoughts - shift from shame to self-compassion - practice healthy assertiveness - set mental and emotional boundaries - understand triggers and defense mechanisms - regulate emotional highs and lows - cultivate healthy human connection With inspiring Scriptures, quotes, prayers, personal stories, and case studies, Rardon sets you on the path of emotional health so that you can be stronger than ever--every day.

Exodus is the Rosetta stone for unlocking the Old Testament and the thread of redemption throughout Scripture. The exodus served as the primary model of God’s idea of redemption, not just in the Old Testament but even in the New, where it is used as one of the keys to understanding the meaning of the cross of Christ. Over six sessions, participants in this Bible study will walk through the first 15 chapters of Exodus. You’ll relive the experience as God hears the cries of His people and responds by sending a deliverer, ultimately giving us a pattern for recognizing His work in the world. (6 sessions)

Session Topics:

• Problem
• Deliverer
• Discouragement
• Deliverance
• Redemption
• Worship

Start each day on a positive and inspiring note with 366 refreshing devotions especially for women. When the Day Breaks will help you deepen your relationship with God and encourage you to be a shining light, reflecting His image to others throughout the day. As you make time to meet with God in the early morning, let the sunrise remind you of what Jesus did when He rose as the Sun of Righteousness in our midst. This hardcover devotional is beautifully designed, and a ribbon marker allows you to mark your progress through the book.

A collection of Bible verses, prayers and liturgies for use during times of change, concern, and celebration. While many books provide prayers for worship and daily prayer, few books help clergy and lay people acknowledge, celebrate, or mourn the more secular events of their daily lives. Here, at last, is a collection of prayers, biblical references, liturgies, and reading appropriate for use on birthdays, at the birth of a child, on a couple's engagement, wedding, or wedding anniversary. Other prayers acknowledge the pain of divorce, illness, and the death of loved ones. Resources are also provided for celebrating the beginning of a new job, the move to a new home, and retirement. An excellent pastoral companion for clergy, this book is also helpful to lay people who want to mark the important moments in their lives.

We all have times when we feel trapped by life. A world of dysfunction seems to hem us in on every side as our hearts yearn for horizons that seem just beyond our grasp. We search for pathways forward we just can't seem to find. But, as Derek Webster demonstrates, God wants to lead us to health. How do we do that? Viewed through the lens of the familiar Old Testament Bible story of Joseph, Your Mess, God's Masterpiece shows us a way to journey from trapped to triumphant living. This book will help you move from the mess you're stuck in, to become the masterpiece God longs for you to be.