Five weeks after she’s brutally attacked and beaten in her home, Arykah Miles-Howell returns to church determined to reclaim her title as the First Lady of Freedom Temple Church of God in Christ. Not fully recovered from the loss of her unborn child, Arykah deals with broken women who bombard her with problems of their own. With the help of her supporters, affectionately known as Team Arykah, and her loving husband, Bishop Lance Howell, Arykah manages to overcome her personal struggles. She proves to the congregation that she is a force to be reckoned with when Bishop Lance’s ex-girlfriend tries to take Arykah’s place on the front pew. Will Arykah keep her eye on the prize and stay covered and protected in the armor of God, or will she strip down to nothing but her flesh, boxing gloves, and stilettos and jump in the ring to battle?

If 28-year-old Monique Morrison had only one wish, it would be to fall in love with a man sent from God; a man who will cherish her forever. But Monique makes a huge mistake when she chooses to help herself. Going against her Christian values, she decides to play house and move in with her musician boyfriend, Boris Cortland. Boris is in no hurry to get to the altar now that Monique has already signed on to play the role of a wife. Though she's in church Sunday after Sunday, praying for God to touch Boris's heart and turn him from his wicked ways, it seems Monique's pleas are going unanswered. Suffering from neglect, rejection, and plenty of verbal abuse, Monique has all but given up on her dream of a relationship that represents unconditional love; that is, until Adonis Cortland moves in and does for Monique all of the things that Boris won't do. Could Boris's own cousin be the man Monique had been seeking? "This book is profound yet enlightening. The characters are believable and unique. The storyline is entertaining, and the readers of the book should definitely walk away examining their own lives and how their lives affect others." —Pastor Ricky Harris of Alpha and Omega Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context. John weaves together themes of light and darkness, falsehood and truth, and what it means to be children of God in community. He explores the theme of love as central to God's nature and thus as the defining characteristic of those who follow him. The Letters of John teach us about handling conflict, discerning orthodox belief, and measuring Christian conduct. Gary Burge shares perspectives on John's letters that reveal their enduring relevance for our twenty-first-century lives. To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's context, each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context. Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible. Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved. This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

In this insightful and thought-provoking novel, a pastor's friend is lured onto a dangerous path by a scheming woman.

Jovinianus, about whom little more is known than what is to be found in Jerome's treatise, published a Latin treatise outlining several opinions: That a virgin is no better, as such, than a wife in the sight of God. Abstinence from food is no better than a thankful partaking of food. A person baptized with the Spirit as well as with water cannot sin. All sins are equal. There is but one grade of punishment and one of reward in the future state. In addition to this, he held the birth of Jesus Christ to have been by a "true parturition," and was thus refuting the orthodoxy of the time, according to which, the infant Jesus passed through the walls of the womb as his Resurrection body afterwards did, out of the tomb or through closed doors.