This book pursues the conviction that the cosmic conflict imagery in Revelation is the primary and controlling element in the account of the aspiration of the Roman Empire and the imperial cult in Asia Minor.

In his well known hard-hitting style, Tony Evans challenges readers to gain a deeper appreciation of their salvation by comprehending how sin offends and separates us from the Holy One. Get prepared to have your gratitude for salvation 'totally' deepened and your walk with Christ 'totally' transformed.

Strange how one little word, the Greek word pistis, can make a profound difference in understanding the Bible. Pistis is usually translated "faith," but in different contexts of the New Testament the word can have several other meanings such as "faithfulness," "trustworthiness," "solemn promise or oath," "proof or pledge," "conviction," and "doctrine (of the Christian faith)." This book will challenge the reader's understanding of Paul's expression pistis Christou, "faith/faithfulness of Christ," and the use of the pistis word group (verb, noun, and adjective) throughout the New Testament. Given the Old Testament background to this word, one will learn how the apostle Paul utilized an obscure phrase from the prophet Habakkuk to refer to a coming Messiah who in turn lived in faithfulness to the Father's will to die on a cross for the sins of the world. This book will reveal how the gospel is emphasized throughout the New Testament in terms of "the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah." New and fresh interpretations of various texts will challenge the traditional understandings of such texts. When a person comprehends pistis as God's faithfulness and the Messiah's faithfulness, the only human response is pistis itself, meaning faithfulness as described in Hebrews 11. God is faithful and Jesus is faithful. Will he find us faithful?

Abstract theology is overrated, for God can be found in even the most ordinary of things. Jesus used things like a lily, sparrow, and sheep to teach about the kingdom of God. And in the Old Testament, God repeatedly describes himself and his saving work in relation to physical things such as a rock, horn, or eagle. In God of All Things, pastor and author Andrew Wilson invites you to rediscover God in this way, too--through ordinary, everyday things. He explores the idea of a material world and presents a variety of created marvels that reveal the gospel in everyday life and fuel worship and joy in God--marvels like: Dust: the image of God Horns: the salvation of God Donkeys: the peace of God Water: the life of God Viruses: the problem of God Cities: the kingdom of God God of All Things will leave you with a deeper understanding of Scripture, the world you live in, and the God who made it all.

New York Times bestselling author of the Spenser series of crime thrillers - Book 2 in the series - Appie Knoll is the kind of suburb where kids grow up right. But something is wrong. Fourteen-year-old Kevin Bartlett disappears. Everyone thinks he's run away -- until the comic strip ransom note arrives. It doesn't take Spenser long to get the picture -- an affluent family seething with rage, a desperate boy making strange friends...friends like Vic Harroway, body builder. Mr. Muscle is Spenser's only lead and he isn't talking...except with his fists. But when push comes to shove, when a boy's life is on the line, Spenser can speak that language too. "A brillant, and cynical, comic tragedy or tragic comedy of manners. Long may Parker wave." -- Los Angeles Times

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of peace. Gathering contributions from theologians, pastors, and practitioners, Shawn Graves and Marlena Graves cast a vision of Christian nonviolence in today's world, not only responding to the realities of war but also offering a deeper understanding of peace—a holistic shalom.

Millions of Christians have struggled with how to reconcile God's love and God's judgment: Has God created billions of people over thousands of years only to select a few to go to heaven and everyone else to suffer forever in hell? Is this acceptable to God? How is this "good news"? Troubling questions—so troubling that many have lost their faith because of them. Others only whisper the questions to themselves, fearing or being taught that they might lose their faith and their church if they ask them out loud. But what if these questions trouble us for good reason? What if the story of heaven and hell we have been taught is not, in fact, what the Bible teaches? What if what Jesus meant by heaven, hell, and salvation are very different from how we have come to understand them? What if it is God who wants us to face these questions? Author, pastor, and innovative teacher Rob Bell presents a deeply biblical vision for rediscovering a richer, grander, truer, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and repentance. The result is the discovery that the "good news" is much, much better than we ever imagined. Love wins.