This volume brings together respected biblical scholars to evaluate the turn toward "empire criticism" in recent New Testament scholarship. While praising the movement for its deconstruction of Roman statecraft and ideology, the contributors also provide a salient critique of the anti-imperialist rhetoric pervading much of the current literature.

This book is a spiritual GPS guideline for your life. It will pick you up and give you a recipe for navigating through many of the storms life will bring. Following the principals of this book will help you in areas of marriage, career and overall life. Success is in reach of the believer in Christ, this book will help you and aid you along with your bible in figuring out the "why's", of life. The solutions come with understanding that with every journey on land and sea there must be a way to reach your destination. Sometimes even with a map there is a need to plot a different course. Still trying to reach the same destination just taking a different way. This book will strengthen faith to help you reach your destination.

In Simply Jesus, bestselling author and leading Bible scholar N.T. Wright summarizes 200 years of modern Biblical scholarship and models how Christians can best retell the story of Jesus today. In a style similar to C.S. Lewis’s popular works, Wright breaks down the barriers that prevent Christians from fully engaging with the story of Jesus. For believers confronting the challenge of connecting with their faith today, and for readers of Timothy Keller’s The Reason for God, Wright’s Simply Jesus offers a provocative new picture of how to understand who Jesus was and how Christians should relate to him today.

A true story of men against the sea.

The church is heading into a "perfect storm" of cultural forces. Will you sink beneath the waves, or ride the winds of the Spirit? An array of cultural forces is coming together to present the church with unprecedented challenge and unequaled opportunity. Such "category 5" realities as postmodernism, postChristendom attacks on belief in God, and the threat of global warming have coalesced to make a "perfect storm" that will leave people uncertain of their place in the world, and all they have previously believed in. Like the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm, the church can cower and cry out for relief. Or, when everything is spinning and whirling in the wind, the church can go out to meet the storm, embrace the gale, . . . and pass out kites. From the Circuit Rider review: "Like other books Sweet has written and compiled, The Church of the Perfect Storm is thought-provoking and compelling. The material flows in such a way that allows readers to grasp the gravity of the situation. However, as with most futuristic material, there is also a sense in which readers may want to know: 'Okay, now what? Where do we need to steer this ship? Are mainline and evangelical churches so off-course as to fail to weather the rising tides that are here and soon coming?' Readers of this volume may enjoy the description of a post-Christendom world, but they may also want to know more about the prescription for the days ahead. (Click here to read the entire review.)

How do you turn your struggles into strengths? Beloved Bible teacher Sheila Walsh teaches readers how the daily spiritual practices of confession, meditation on God’s Word, and prayer result in fresh freedom in Christ. In her long-awaited book, Sheila Walsh equips women with a practical method for connecting with God’s strength in the midst of struggle. From daily frustrations that can feel like overwhelming obstacles to hard challenges that turn into rock-bottom crises, women will find the means to equip themselves for standing strong with God. Using the spiritual applications of confession, prayer, and meditation on Scripture to form a daily connection to Jesus, women will learn how to experience new joy as a child of God who is fully known, fully loved, and fully accepted. In In the Middle of the Mess, Walsh reveals the hardened defenses that kept her from allowing God into her deepest hurts and shares how entering into a safe place with God and practicing this daily connection with him have saved her from the devil’s prowling attacks. Though we will never be completely “fixed” on earth, we are continually held by Jesus, whatever our circumstances. Sheila Walsh acts as our guardian in In the Middle of the Mess as she shows us we’re not alone in our struggles, guides us through a courageous journey of self-discovery, and reminds us where to find hope, comfort, and strength in tough times.

THE STORM BEFORE THE CALM Angel H. Davis is not just a veteran marriage and family counselor who has seen God's healing grace at work in those she's counseled. She has been through a purging, rejuvenating storm in her own marriage and has survived to tell of the joy that comes in the morning. Strikingly personal and empathetic, Angel's guidelines for personal and marriage growth demonstrate how remarkably God can change two people even if only one devotes him- or herself to doing marriage God's way. Her book will help you discern the real enemy of your soul, how to change your marriage, and the way current trials set you up for future fulfillment. According to Angel, most marriages are neither a complete disaster nor "made in heaven." They face tribulation that can tempt anyone at one time or another to jump ship, yet that is almost never the right course. So since you're likely in a marriage that's among the majority, this book is almost certainly for you, no matter what storm may be blowing through your married life. ANGEL H. DAVIS is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Certified Professional Christian Counselor, who has been in practice since 1985. By way of her own inner healing, she discovered the spiritual and emotional health and wholeness available through the Lord. Since then, her passion is to see others set free by the "renewing of their minds." She and her husband Lee live just outside of Athens, Georgia, have been married more than 30 years, and have two grown daughters, Megan and Haley.