First published in 1700, The Christian¿s Reasonable Service (De Redelijke Godsdienst) ran through twenty Dutch editions in the eighteenth century alone! The title is derived from Romans 12:1, ¿I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.¿ It expresses what God requires from man, and particularly from the Christian, that he serve Him in Spirit and in truth¿intelligently, rationally, and in harmony with and response to God¿s revelation of Himself, His Word. With a decidedly Puritan flavor and representing Reformed experiential religion at its best, Wilhelmus à Brakel systematically moves through the major doctrines of the Bible in hopes of seeing the minds of God¿s people renewed for the purpose of promoting godliness. Throughout his work, but particularly in the practical application of each doctrine, à Brakel strives unceasingly to exalt the name of Jesus as the name that the Father has given above every other name¿there being no other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

The purpose of Your Reasonable Service is to bring clarification to the issue of spiritual gifts. A number of important questions about the subject are answered, founded in an honest attempt to discover what the Bible says about the gifts. How many spiritual gifts are there? How do I discover my gift? Can I have more than one gift? Should I have all the gifts? Can I have all the gifts? How can I most effectively use my gifts? Do my personality traits or natural human abilities have any bearing on my giftedness? What is the purpose of spiritual gifts? How can I know how other Christians are gifted, and what does that mean for me? What impact does a proper biblical understanding of the gifts have on the local church? If the purpose is to bring clarification, the goal is to provide a tool that pastors, churches, and laypersons can use to determine Gods design for their service to the Lord. One area of the Holy Spirits work that surely needs emphasis in the church today is the work that God desires to do through His church by the exercise of the spiritual gifts given to each and every saint. The bottom-line objective is to help each believer, each church member, discover their Holy Spirit-given motivation for ministry. That motivation is your spiritual gift. A great motto for a church would be, Every member a minister. Of course, for that to happen, the pastor and membership would need to get serious about understanding and discovering the spiritual gifts of each member. I believe that any Bible-believing church would find the results of such an effort to be a tremendous blessing.

DIVAwakened to deeper love for God by a revelation of His passionate love for us./div

A Godward Life is the first of three devotional volumes by John Piper, each feature 120 vignettes that focus on the radical difference it makes when we choose to live with God at the center of all that we do. Scripture-soaked and touching on the issues which most affect our lives today, A Godward Life is a passionate, moving, and articulate call for all believers to live their lives in conscious and glad submission to the sovereignty and glory of God.

Healthful Living was originally published by the Medical Missionary Board, Battle Creek, Michigan, under the title Instruction Relating to the Principles of Healthful Living.So popular when it first came out that it became necessary to come out with a second and then a third edition the first year.We have reproduced this 1898 third edition which also contained two additional chapters, God in Nature and The Spirit Filled Life.In the third edition an appendix of parallel Scripture references was included. This Scripture referenced appendix will be found exceedingly helpful in making clear to the mind of the reader the fact that the principles presented in this work are not mere human inventions; but are a part of the divine order appointed for the human family at the beginning, and which is to be restored when all things are made new.Wherever it has been received, this book has been recognized as a veritable storehouse of seed thoughts relating to the great practical themes with which it deals.

Worship That Pleases God: The Passion and Reason of True Worship is a comprehensive book ranging far beyond the sanctuary to the private altar, to the heart of the worshiper and even to the workplace. Whole-life worship is the kind that pleases God. "...let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praiseÉAnd do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Hebrews 13:15, 16 NIV). A worship leader for more than thirty years, Dr. Phifer, brings a passionate writing style and sound biblical interpretation to this search for the meaning of "spirit and truth" worship (John 4:24). Dr. Phifer believes that True Worship establishes the Kingdom of God in our hearts, our homes, our places of worship as well as in the workplace and the marketplace. This book is about much more than what happens on Sunday morning. "Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit," the three characteristics of the Kingdom of God found in Romans 14:17, form the themes of each section of the book. Section One, Righteousness, deals with a biblical theology of worship. Dr. Phifer offers biblical definitions for the essential elements of worship and he presents seven biblical models for worship. Section Two, Peace, presents the priority of worship as the factor of church life that is intended to bind generations and cultures together in a bond of peace. Section Three, Joy, treats the daily life of the believer dealing with issues of craftsmanship, creativity and the spiritual warfare of private worship. Paul urged the Roman church to "...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (of worship)" (Rom 12:1 NKJV [NIV]). Worship That Pleases God is a passionate book presenting that reasonable service of worship to God.