'Joshua and the Rhetoric of Violence' examines the book of Joshua as a construction of national identity. This pioneering New Historicist analysis shows how the Deuteronomist used war oracle language and epic historical lore to negotiate sociopolitical boundaries. It asserts that text and context interacted in a programme consolidating King Josiah's authority in the wake of Assyrian imperial collapse. The book argues that the conquest narrative is not simple 'us against them' propaganda but a complex web of negotiations defining identity and otherness. The analysis draws on Foucault's principle that power is something exercised rather than merely possessed.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Turn to Jesus when your trials and tribulations seem to wear you down. Turn to Jesus when you feel all hope is gone. Turn to Jesus when you need someone who will never leave nor forsake you. Jesus is your very present help in all you go through in this life.

In "God is Not Looking for a Part-Time Lover but a Committed People," author Belinda Nored encourages all who are looking for strength, comfort, and spiritual guidance to turn to Jesus. Nored, who committed her life to the Lord more than twenty years ago, uses a wide range of Scriptures to show how a renewal of your commitment to the Lord will allow him to restore what is broken and discusses what God expects of you to gain eternal life. She teaches how to let go and let God handle it all.

"God is Not Looking for a Part-Time Lover but a Committed People" invites Christians to explore life to the fullest of their imaginations and to try Jesus. He is the answer.

Outreach 2018 Recommended Resource of the Year (Leadership) A Top Ten Book for Parish Ministry in 2017, Academy of Parish Clergy The practice of ministry requires pastors and Christian leaders to serve as moral theologians in their communities. Ministers must preach about morally challenging texts, teach about moral issues and conflicts, offer moral counsel, and serve as an example regarding the shape of faithful Christian life. Grounding pastoral ethics in spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines, this book provides tools for facing the day-to-day demands and seizing the opportunities of being a moral teacher. An essential text for practical ministry courses.

In recent years researchers in human personality have come to a rarely achieved near unanimous conclusion: human personality is structured around a very few major traits, probably five in number. These factors, sometimes called the Big Five and represented by the acronym OCEAN, are Openness to experience Conscientiousness Extroversion Agreeableness Neuroticism How does this Five-Factor Model fit with a Christian understanding of human nature? How does it compare or contrast with the way Jesus lived, taught and counseled? James Beck looks at prominent themes in the teaching and ministry of Jesus and how they relate to the five personality factors. Here is a study of the Christian implications of the new model--a study that will offer fresh insights for students, pastors and therapists alike.

The last 10 years have seen an upturn in the number of people reporting difficulties with emotional and mental health issues, particularly anxiety and depression. And, it is often the strongest who struggle under the weight of all they have nobly tried to shoulder. Turn to the Bible, and this truth is played out in the lives of some of its greatest characters. King David led a nation - yet wrote some of the Bible's bleakest laments. Elijah worked outlandish public miracles - and later pleaded God to take his life. Dedicated, hardworking mother and woman of God Naomi acknowledged that she had become characterised by bitterness. And lifelong God follower Job found himself longing for a death that would not come. This book affirms that depressive illness can strike anyone - not least the capable, busy people with the `can-do' attitude of the title. This special bespoke edition for the Christian market takes a destigmatising, thoroughly informed approach to depression, with a foreword by Will Van Der Hart, whose own experience of ill mental health led to him founding Mind & Soul, the leading Christian mental health organisation.

Is your church prepared to care for individuals who have experienced various forms of abuse? As we continue to learn of more individuals experiencing sexual abuse, domestic violence, and other forms of abuse, it's clear that resources are needed to help ministries and leaders care for these individuals with love, support, and in cooperation with civil authorities. This handbook seeks to help the church take a significant step forward in its care for those who have been abused. Working in tandem with the resources and videos found at churchcares.com, this handbook brings together leading evangelical trauma counselors, victim advocates, social workers, attorneys, batterer interventionists, and survivors to equip pastors and ministry leaders for the appropriate initial responses to a variety of abuse scenarios in churches, schools, or ministries. Though the most comprehensive training is experienced by using this handbook and the videos together, readers who may be unable to access the videos can use this handbook as a stand-alone resource.

Condensed into 31 accessible chapters, The Story Bible: The Bible As One Continuing Story Of God And His People sweeps you into the unfolding progression of Bible characters and events from Genesis to Revelation. Using the world’s most popular modern-English Bible, the New International Version, and printed in the exclusive Zondervan NIV Comfort Print® typeface, it allows the stories, poems, and teachings of the Bible to read like a novel. Like any good story, The Story is filled with intrigue, drama, conflict, romance, and redemption—and this story’s true!

Features:

• Selections from the accurate, readable, and clear New International Version (NIV)
• Events, characters, and teachings of the Bible are arranged chronologically
• Short transitions between each chapter to connect the reader to the continuing story
• Timelines of Bible events
• Foreword by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee
• List of characters and who they are
• Discussion questions for each chapter
• Exclusive Zondervan NIV Comfort Print typeface
• 11.5-point print size

A critical assessment of church planting strategies and practices, offering a biblical, theological and historical foundation for this component of mission. Attention is given to the postmodern and post-Christendom context for contemporary church planting. This is really a book on ecclesiology and mission from an Anabaptist perspective, using church planting as a way in to a range of issues.