This book having been years in the making is a remarkable testimony of God's Amazing grace and saving power! A one hundred percent true account of a transition out a backslidden state of a gun-toting life of crime and addiction, to a "fiery love affair" with Jesus and a strong commitment to advancing His Kingdom. From sacrificial giving, mentoring, volunteer work, and evangelizing, I am no longer a prisoner of the state of Alabama, but a "prisoner of The Lord." My only desire for this book is that it reaches those it has been ordained to reach for the Kingdom of God. God has commissioned me to take this message of hope where it is needed most. To a lost and dying world. Jesus has done the impossible in and through me. He's transformed me from a dope dealer to "hope dealer."

Focusing on the 4th and 5th centuries, Michael Gaddis explores how various groups employed the language of religious violence to construct their own identities, to undermine the legitimacy of their rivals, & to advance themselves in the competitive & high stakes process of Christianizing the Roman Empire.

There are four ways to die, and only one of them requires an intruder. Suicides, accidental, and natural deaths can occur without any evidence from outside the room. But murders typically involve suspects external to the crime scene. If there’s evidence of an outside intruder, homicide detectives have to prepare for a chase. Intruders turn death scenes into crime scenes. Join J. Warner Wallace, former atheist, seasoned cold-case detective, and popular national speaker as he tackles his most important case ... with you on the jury! With the expertise of a cold-case detective, J. Warner examines eight critical pieces of evidence in the “crime scene” of the universe to determine if they point to a Divine Intruder. If you have ever wondered if something (or someone) outside the natural realm created the universe and everything in it, this is the case for you.

New, valuable understandings of the historical and religious contexts of New Testament writings continue to emerge. This accessibly written introduction examines over two dozen such crises and how the biblical text addresses, reflects, and embodies them. From the ministry of Jesus, to the rise and propagation of the Christian movement, to the epistles of Paul and other leaders, to a vision of God's final cosmic victory, the New Testament books are succinctly introduced in literary, historical, and theological perspective. Designed for optimal classroom use, each chapter offers four primary features: (a) definition and exploration of relevant contextual crises; (b) connections with the biblical writings; (c) primary features of the biblical narrative; and (d) an application section that engages the student directly and invites thoughtful response.

The art of the Netherlands (Dutch and Flemish) is unique in Early Modern Europe in its concern for military cruelty against civilians, principally the peasantry. Decimated by time and changes in taste, this popular iconography proves varied and extensive, stretching from Bruegel to and past Rubens. 'Massacres of the Innocents' continue to be a favourite subject through the Eighty Years War, in contrast to ruling-class glorifications of war. Dutch patriotic siege prints lay claim to 'scientific' precision in landscapes free of military terror, while the idea of military conquest is presented as generous rather than cruel in the ever-popular figure of Scipio Africanus. Most of the pictorial material is unfamiliar, some of it even to specialists and never before published; new light is shed on the more familiar phenomena of the civic guard groups and Ter Borch courtier-officers, 'good soldiers' overcoming a bad image.

The word that perhaps best characterizes the Puritans and Covenanters is "faithfulness." Whether Edward Dering preaching boldly before a fuming Queen Elizabeth, or Sandy Peden evading the king's men on horse, or Hugh Mackail undergoing the torture of "the Boot" and then execution for his faith, the Puritans' and Covenanters' courage and conviction shines as bright as ever today. In this collection of thirty brief biographies (with seven illustrations), Hannula brings these stories to life, both for young people who should grow up knowing their spiritual ancestors and the heroes of our faith, and for adults who need to make their acquaintance for the first time. Because of the fierceness with which they were persecuted, many left Britain for America to worship God freely. If we are to truly understand ourselves, our theological heritage, and our current situation, we need to know the stories of these brave and faithful men and women and the legacy they left.