Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind." At the beginning of creation, Adam and Eve were holy, undefiled by sin, and it was that "kind," that consecrated state of mind, that God commanded be reproduced. Of all His commands, it is this command that both lost and saved have chosen to obey. The lost, who see no need of God or His church, reproduce after their kind: Like father, like son. Then look at the saved and you'll find his "kind" in fellowship with God and with His church: "Like father, like son." (LL157) Jerry Blout's series of devotional messages give guidance to face every practical bump on the road of our journey here on Earth. I found that in some of these lessons, Jerry's personal experiences modeled many of my own, and the counsel coming from the Bible verses he cites made me feel I was hearing directly from Jesus. I highly recommend these messages of life lessons to those who desire spiritual growth. Pastor Randall James, Immediate Past Chairman Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee I have been reading your daily devotional messages and have been blessed. I know that Adrian would be honored that you took his thoughts and wrote devotionals from them. May God bless many lives through this book of devotional thoughts. Joyce (Mrs. Adrian) Rogers

While Protestant Christians made up only a small percentage of China's overall population during the Republican period, they were heavily represented among the urban elite. Protestant influence was exercised through churches, hospitals, and schools, and reached beyond these institutions into organizations such as the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) and YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association). The YMCA's city associations drew their membership from the urban elite and were especially influential within the modern sectors of urban society. Chinese Protestant leaders adapted the social message and practice of Christianity to the conditions of the republican era. Key to this effort was their belief that Christianity could save China - that is, that Christianity could be more than a religion focused on saving individuals, but could also save a people, a society, and a nation. Saving the Nation recounts the history of the Protestant elite beginning with their participation in social reform campaigns in the early twentieth century, continuing through their contribution to the resistance against Japanese imperialism, and ending with Protestant support for a social revolution. The story Thomas Reilly tells is one about the Chinese Protestant elite and the faith they adopted and adapted, Social Christianity. But it is also a broader story about the Chinese people and their struggle to strengthen and renew their nation - to build a New China.

Life in this world is challenging. Brokenness and sin surround us. Controversies and confusion about complicated issues seem endless. It’s easy for Christians to be overwhelmed as they struggle to remain faithful to God’s teaching in a rapidly changing world. Along with the changes have come great problems and difficult questions.

What kind of future does Africa have? What, if anything, can the children of God do for their native lands and peoples?

Problems are not solved until we acknowledge them and face them openly, honestly, and courageously. In Biblical Christianity in Modern Africa, Wilbur O’Donovan addresses the problems facing the church in Africa from a biblical perspective. He wisely and boldly confronts issues that challenge the church in Africa, such as: Urbanization, Pornography, Poverty, False teaching, Broken marriages.

Denominationalism Although modern Africa’s problems are great, they are not intimidating to God. God does not change, and remembering what God did for his people in the past will help us know what he can do today. Biblical Christianity in Modern Africa reminds us that the wisdom of God is the answer to the problems of Africa today, just as they were to the people who lived thousands of years ago.

For contemporary Western readers, it can be easy to miss or misread cultural nuances in the New Testament. To hear the text correctly we must be attuned to its original context. As David deSilva demonstrates, keys to interpretation are found in paying attention to four essential cultural themes: honor and shame, patronage and reciprocity, kinship and family, and purity and pollution. Through our understanding of honor and shame in the Mediterranean world, we gain new appreciation for how early Christians sustained commitment to a distinctive Christian identity and practice. By examining the protocols of patronage and reciprocity, we grasp more firmly the connections between God's grace and our response. In exploring kinship and household relations, we grasp more fully the ethos of the early Christian communities as a new family brought together by God. And by investigating the notions of purity and pollution along with their associated practices, we realize how the ancient map of society and the world was revised by the power of the gospel. This new edition is thoroughly revised and expanded with up-to-date scholarship. A milestone work in the study of New Testament cultural backgrounds, Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity offers a deeper appreciation of the New Testament, the gospel, and Christian discipleship.

John Foxe's ground-breaking chronicle of Christian saints and martyrs put to death over centuries remains a landmark text of religious history. The persecution of Christians was for centuries a fact of living in Europe. Adherence to the faith was a great personal risk, with the Roman Empire leading the first of such persecutions against early Christian believers. Many were crucified, put to the sword, or burned alive - gruesome forms of death designed to terrify and discourage others from following the same beliefs. Appearing in 1563, Foxe's chronicle of Christian suffering proved a great success among Protestants. It gave literate Christians the ability to discover and read about brave believers who died for expressing their religion, much as did Jesus Christ. Perhaps in foretelling, the final chapter of the book focuses upon the earliest Christian missions abroad: these, to the Americas, Asia and other locales, would indeed see many more martyrs put to death by the local populations.

Studying Christianity in China introduces an emerging academic trend in contemporary Chinese scholarship. Through qualitative interviews with leading experts in Chinese Christian studies, Naomi Thurston has investigated the ongoing conversation between China and Christianity. Since the 1980s, this conversation has given rise to an interdisciplinary academic field that is quickly gaining traction as a cutting-edge, cross-cultural discourse. The Chinese intellectuals driving this field are encountered as unique transmitters of cultural knowledge: they are cultural mediators working in a range of humanities and social science disciplines who are not only re-interpreting Western theology, but are also lending a new voice to Chinese expressions of the Christian faith. As such, they are at the forefront of a novel force in World Christianity.