God's identity is beyond what we could ever fully express in human words. But Scripture uses one particular word to describe the distinctiveness of God's character: the Hebrew word hesed.

Hesed is a concept so rich in meaning that it doesn't translate well into any single English word or phrase. Michael Card unpacks the many dimensions of hesed, often expressed as lovingkindness, covenant faithfulness, or steadfast love. He explores how hesed is used in the Old Testament to reveal God's character and how he relates to his people. Ultimately, the fullness of hesed is embodied in the incarnation of Jesus.

As we follow our God of hesed, we ourselves are transformed to live out the way of hesed, marked by compassion, mercy, and faithfulness. Discover what it means to be people of an everlasting love beyond words.

God desires for us to pour out our hearts to Him, whether in joy or pain. But many of us don't feel right expressing our anger, frustration, and sadness in prayer. From Job to David to Christ, men and women of the Bible understood the importance of pouring one's heart out to the Father. Examine their stories and expand your definition of worship.Also available: "A Sacred Sorrow Experience Guide" (9781576836682, sold separately), to help individuals or small groups get the most out of this book.

What did Jesus write in the sand while the angry crowd dropped their stones and drifted away? Michael Card suggests scholars have debated the wrong question for years, and that we should ask not what Jesus wrote but why. He points us to a deeper understanding of the creative impulse, our hunger for beauty and its essential part of our lives in Christ.

Jesus' life is a song that still resonates down through the ages. His deeds and words speak with beauty and mystery, both comforting and confounding us. Who is this man? Over the course of his career, singer-songwriter Michael Card has explored the depths of Scripture by bringing together biblical study and the power of the imagination. Now he sheds light on the life of Jesus through lyrical reflections on the four Gospels. These forty meditations lead us to a place where Jesus becomes real and we can hear him with both hearts and minds. Listen again to the life of the Nazarene. And discover anew the music of Christ in your soul.

"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth." - John 16:13 "He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth." - John 19:35 With time and experience comes wisdom. John, the longest-surviving of the apostles, recorded in his Gospel a portrait of Jesus that displays the depth of years of reflection on who Jesus is and what he means to the world. Writing in light of the philosophies of his day, John describes Jesus as the incarnate Word, the divine Logos, the embodiment of all truth and wisdom. In this last volume of the Biblical Imagination Series, Michael Card completes his work on the four Gospels. He shows how John stands alongside the other Gospel writers to fill out the picture of Jesus' divine identity, with stories and sayings of Jesus not recorded by the others. This Jesus reorients our understanding of ourselves and the world around us, offering us nothing less than the way, the truth and the life. Like John before him, Card has written these words so that we may better believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing we have life in his name.

This is an anthology written by the writers' group, Breathe. We are a small group located mostly in the extreme north of Maine. However, a few of our members have moved to other parts of the globe. This is our fifth book together.

"You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:13-14 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church." Matthew 16:18 The world tries to define us in different ways. We try to define ourselves one way or another. But who are we really? How does God define us? The Gospel of Matthew was written to a group of Christians who didn't yet know who they were. They were faithful Jews in the synagogue community in Galilee who had found the Messiah. Jesus had changed everything. But how should they think of themselves now, as Jewish or Christian? What did it all mean? Matthew writes his Gospel to help his readers define their new identity as followers of Jesus the Messiah. Michael Card unpacks how Matthew's emphasis on fulfillment confirms their Jewish connection to the Torah, while his focus on the kingdom helps them understand their new identities in Christ. Matthew presents this process of redefinition as an exercise of the imagination, in which Jesus reshapes who we are in light of who he is. Come alongside Matthew in this pilgrimage, and discover how your new identity in Christ fulfills all that you are meant to be.

With this Bible study, a companion book to "A Sacred Sorrow" (9781576836675, sold separately), you and your small group can fully grasp the importance of voicing your heart's joys and pains to the Father. Job, David, Jeremiah, and Jesus Himself understood the necessity of lament.

"The ultimate reason for getting to know Peter is so together we might better know Jesus. For the story of Peter is the story of Jesus. Perhaps, if you and I do our best, the same will be said of us someday"--Michael Card. In A Fragile Stone, songwriter and musician Michael Card explores the dynamic, contradictory life of the apostle Peter. The fruit of years of careful study, A Fragile Stone revisits well-known passages and discovers unexpected insights, painting a portrait of Peter that is both familiar and jarring. With a scope spanning the entire New Testament, Card reveals how the impetuous fisherman of the Gospels was transformed into the pivotal leader of the early church. The life of Simon Peter thus serves as a model for Christian discipleship, offering hope that we likewise can be changed as Jesus calls us to follow him. This companion study guide, written by Michael Card with Dale and Sandy Larsen, provides nine inductive Bible studies on the life of Peter, with discussion questions for group study or individual reflection.

Most of us, at some point, experience the sense of God's absence. Michael Card says that rather than letting the distance widen, this is exactly the time for a deeper pursuit of God. The method he proposes is recovery of the profound, biblical practice of lament.

"The lordship of Christ should include an interest in the arts," writes Francis Schaeffer. "A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God, not just as tracts, mind you, but as things of beauty to the praise of God." Many Christians, wary of creating graven images, have steered clear of artistic creativity. But the Bible offers a robust affirmation of the arts. The human impulse to create reflects our being created in the image of a creator God. Art and the Bible has been a foundational work for generations of Christians in the arts. In this book's classic essays, Francis Schaeffer first examines the scriptural record of the use of various art forms, and then establishes a Christian perspective on art. With clarity and vigor, Schaeffer explains why "the Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars."

"Follow Me," Jesus told them, "and I will make you into fishers of men " Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. --Mark 1:17-18 The Gospel of Mark is a book of action and passion. Events happen one after another, with a vivid sense of immediacy and urgency. Jesus? emotions come through strongly--at times he is angry and distressed, other times filled with compassion. In this volume, Michael Card provides a lively tour of the Gospel of Mark. As a friend and interpreter of Simon Peter, Mark gives firsthand glimpses of the life and ministry of Jesus in vibrant and energetic narration. The first Gospel to be written, Mark is a "pamphlet for hard times," encouraging Christians that all their sufferings were already endured by Jesus. Accompany Mark on his journey with Jesus. The more clearly you see Jesus here, the greater your passion will be for him.

Winner of a Chicago Book Clinic 2004 Design Award A Fragile Stone explores the dynamic life of the apostle Peter, revisiting well-known passages and revealing unexpected insights. Author Michael Card sketches out Peter's life, showing how the impetuous fisherman of the Gospels was transformed into the pivotal leader of the early church. "The ultimate reason for getting to know Peter," Card explains, "is so together we might better know Jesus. For the story of Peter is the story of Jesus. Perhaps, if you and I do our best, the same will be said of us someday." Peter's life serves as a model for Christian discipleship, offering hope that we likewise can be changed as Jesus calls us to follow him.

Have you ever had an experience where you felt particularly aware of God? If God is real, and we are created in God's image, then it makes sense that our minds and bodies would be designed with the perceptive ability to sense and experience God. Scientists are now discovering ways that our bodies are designed to connect with God. Brain research shows that our brain systems are wired to enable us to have spiritual experiences. The spiritual circuits that are used in prayer or worship are also involved in developing compassion for others. Our bodies have actually been created to love God and serve our neighbors. Award-winning journalist Rob Moll chronicles the fascinating ways in which our brains and bodies interact with God and spiritual realities. He reports on neuroscience findings that show how our brains actually change and adapt when engaged in spiritual practices. We live longer, healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives when we cultivate the biological spiritual capacity that puts us in touch with God. God has created?our bodies to fulfill the Great Commandment; we are hardwired to commune with God and to have compassion and community with other people. Moll explores the neuroscience of prayer, how liturgy helps us worship, why loving God causes us to love others, and how a life of love and service leads to the abundant life for which we were created. Just as our physical bodies require exercise to stay healthy, so too can spiritual exercises and practices revitalize our awareness of God. Heighten your spiritual senses and discover how you have been designed for physical and spiritual flourishing.