The New Beacon Bible Commentary is an engaging, indispensable reference tool to aid individuals in every walk of life in the study and meditation of God's Word. Written from the Wesleyan theological perspective, it offers insight and perceptive scholarship to help you unlock the deeper truths of Scripture and garner an awareness of the history, culture, and context attributed to each book of study. Readable, relevant, and academically thorough, it offers scholars, pastors, and laity a new standard for understanding and interpreting the Bible in the 21st century.Each volume features: Completely New Scholarship from notable experts in the Wesleyan traditionConvenient Introductory Material for each book of the Bible including information on authorship, date, history, audience, sociological/cultural issues, purpose, literary features, theological themes, hermeneutical issues, and moreClear Verse-by-Verse Explanations, which offer a contemporary, Wesleyan-based understanding derived from the passage's original languageComprehensive Annotation divided into three sections, which cover background elements behind the text; verse-by-verse details and meanings found in the text; and significance, relevance, intertextuality, and application from the textHelpful Sidebars, which provide deeper insight into theological issues, word meanings, archeological connections, historical relevance, cultural customs, and moreExpanded Bibliography for further study of historical elements, additional interpretations, and theological themesPaul's letter to the Philippians is 'a small gem'. One of the shortest of Paul's letters, it is perhaps the most beloved by the church. No doubt, this is due in part to its high concentration of memorable passages that constantly challenge and encourage the people of God.

Is our gospel witness too small? Should the gospel be proclaimed in words only? Or should we preach the gospel in deeds--and when necessary use words? Or are we missing something in playing the witness of words against deeds? If you are concerned about evangelizing the post-Christian West or the world beyond, you have probably debated this issue. And evangelical instincts drive us to Scripture. In Recovering the Full Mission of God, Dean Flemming joins biblical scholarship with missionary experience as he surveys the Old Testament and then looks closely at the New Testament and the early church. Flemming shows how the three strands of telling, doing and being relate in the mission of God and his people. Here is a book in touch with the missional realities of our time and grounded in the missional vision of biblical revelation. It gives us a clear vision of the rich and multifaceted nature of "gospeling" the kingdom of God.

For many Christians, the book of Revelation inspires confusion and fear. It's seen as a coded screenplay for the end times, or it's just too strange to understand. The problem, Dean Flemming contends, is that when we read Revelation as focused on the future, we miss what it says about what God is doing in the world now. Revelation is one of the richest texts in Scripture for understanding both God's mission to make everything new and how the church is caught up in that mission. In Foretaste of the Future, Flemming mines this largely untapped resource by introducing a missional reading of Revelation. Drawing from a variety of cultural perspectives, Flemming explores Revelation's original context, key themes, and transformational message that rings out for each new generation. By reading Revelation in light of God's mission, we gain a renewed vision of God's great purpose to redeem and restore all creation through the work of the slain Lamb. We also see how God's people are called to help offer a foretaste of salvation and healing now, along with insight on how to contextualize this mission in particular settings. A missional reading not only invites us to imagine the future; it teaches us to let the future cast its light into the present to guide our way.

Winner of a 2006 Christianity Today Book Award Honored as one of the "Fifteen Outstanding Books of 2005 for Mission Studies" by International Bulletin of Missionary Research From Cairo to Calcutta, from Cochabamba to Columbus, Christians are engaged in a conversation about how to speak and live the gospel in today's traditional, modern and emergent cultures. The technical term for their efforts is contextualization. Missionary theorists have pondered and written on it at length. More and more, those who do theology in the West are also trying to discover new ways of communicating and embodying the gospel for an emerging postmodern culture. But few have considered in depth how the early church contextualized the gospel. And yet the New Testament provides numerous examples. As both a crosscultural missionary and a New Testament scholar, Dean Flemming is well equipped to examine how the early church contextualized the gospel and to draw out lessons for today. By carefully sifting the New Testament evidence, Flemming uncovers the patterns and parameters of a Paul or Mark or John as they spoke the Word on target, and he brings these to bear on our contemporary missiological task. Rich in insights and conversant with frontline thinking, this is a book that will revitalize the conversation and refresh our speaking and living the gospel in today's cultures, whether in traditional, modern or emergent contexts.