These phrases describe the Pharisees. And they describe our own evangelical community. Yet most of us have failed to appreciate the rich parallels to ourselves. We have focused on the pharisees as negative characters. By so doing, we forfeit the practical benefit God intended by revealing so much about them. In this honest, eye-opening book author Tom Hovestol examines the Pharisees. Exploring their historical and biblical roots, he discovers penetrating truths that can warn, enlighten and protect believers to avoid their disastrous path. Book jacket.

In this honest, eye-opening book, author Tom Hovestol examines the Pharisees. Exploring their historical and biblical roots, he discovers penetrating truths that can warn, enlighten, and protect believers to avoid their disastrous path.

Can God make something of this mess? If anyone can create the term messiology, it’s George Verwer. Founder of the world’s largest missions organization, George has spent nearly 60 years leading gospel movements around the globe. Witness to not a few failures—including his own—he can still say this: “I believe history will show that God was doing way more in the midst of our messes than we realized at the time.” In Messiology, George reflects on his life and ministry to remind us that God works in mysterious ways. He cautions us from getting critical. He urges us toward love, patience, affection, and grace. Major in the majors, minor in rest, and trust God always, even in failure. Read Messiology, and remember that we’re better together, even when we fall.

Wisdom's Wonder offers a fresh reading of the Hebrew Bible's wisdom literature with a unique emphasis on "wonder" as the framework for understanding biblical wisdom. William Brown argues that wonder effectively integrates biblical wisdom's emphasis on character formation and its outlook on creation, breaking an impasse that has plagued recent wisdom studies. Drawing on various disciplines, from philosophy to neuroscience, Brown discovers new distinctions and connections in Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Each book is studied in terms of its view of moral character and creation, as well as in terms of the social or intellectual crisis each book identifies. Most general treatments of the wisdom literature spend too much time on issues of genre, poetry, and social context at the neglect of discussing the intellectual and emotional power of the wisdom corpus. Brown argues that the real power of the wisdom corpus lies in its capacity to evoke the reader's sense of wonder. An extensive revision and expansion of Brown's Character in Crisis (Eerdmans, 1996), this book demonstrates that the wisdom books are much more than simply advice literature: with wonder as the foundation for understanding, Brown maintains that wisdom is a process with transformation of the self as the goal.

Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.