This book explores a sequence of important questions about Jesus that have relevance to our own faith journeys; Where did Jesus start from? What did he meet on the way, both in the annual journey with his family to Jerusalem for the Passover and also in his inner spiritual journey? How did these encounters shape his life, activity and message? To help readers with these questions, 'ground-level insights' are offered, both from recent advances in the historical Jesus studies and from the author's own research visits to Israel-Palestine. Part of the author's aim is to show, in a respectful but honest way, that there is plenty of evidence in the Gospels that Jesus himself grew and developed in his own life journey. At each step of the way, he considers how this relates to Christian discipleship, particularly in relation to our attitudes to those who are strangers.

This is an innovative investigation of the puzzling animal imagery found in three 2nd-century BCE texts: the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85-90), the Testament of Naphtali and Daniel 7. It urges that a sense of cultural change is required to understand this well-known imagery, and argues in particular that the mentality underlying the kosher legislation played a significant, even if unconscious, role in the imagination of the various authors. A reading of the Animal Apocalypse is offered which argues that the author utilized the unclean precisely because they represent for him the forces of chaos set in opposition to God. Bryan acknowledges that the bizarre creatures of T. Naph. 5 and Daniel 7 belong to a different kind of imagery (Mischwesen), but argues that awareness of the influence of the kosher mentality opens up new explanations. As mixed creatures, they represent a radical break with order. They are an intense form of unclean creature, and those whom they represent are perceived to be living embodiments of the powers of chaos.

Set in the turbulent South in the 1950s, Memphis is the story of Huey Calhoun, a white radio DJ whose love of good music transcends race lines and airwaves. Thanks in part to his passionate persistence, "race" music reaches the center of the radio dial, quickly exploding throughout mainstream America. But when Huey falls for a beautiful black singer he has set on the path to stardom, whether the world is really ready for this music, and their love, is put to the test.

'CODE ADAM' is a screaming reality into the ears of a casual church world, a voice of urgency in a wilderness of mediocrity. Where are the mighty men and women that will change our times? Where are the servants of God who will operate fearlessly with power undaunted and undimmed by earthly fear? They are missing from the map of God's usefulness in a time when He needs us most! If you need a reason to be somebody in God, dare to tread the pages of this provocative and insightful book. Herein lies an understanding of where we are on Gods prophetic clock, and where we should be as a people of God in the most crucial hours of human history.