Women were there. For centuries, discussions of early Christianity have focused on male leaders in the church. But there is ample evidence right in the New Testament that women were actively involved in ministry, at the frontier of the gospel mission, and as respected leaders. Nijay Gupta calls us to bring these women out of the shadows by shining light on their many inspiring contributions to the planting, growth, and health of the first Christian churches.

The study of Paul's Thessalonian letters is enjoying fresh interest today. These texts are considered by many to be amongst the earliest extant Christian documents. They are included in conversations about early Jewish and Christian apocalypticism. New insights are coming from examination of the religious, socio-cultural, and political contexts of Roman Thessalonica. And, looking back, these letters have played an important role in the development of Christian eschatology.

N. T. Wright—widely regarded as the most influential commentator and interpreter of Paul—deftly unpacks this dense and sometimes elusive letter, detailing Paul's arguments and showing how it illuminates the Gospel from the promises to Abraham through the visions of Revelation. Wright takes a deep dive into Romans 8, showing how it illuminates so much else that God reveals in Scripture: God the Father, Christology, and the Spirit; Jesus' Messiahship, cross, resurrection, and ascension; salvation, redemption, and adoption; suffering and glory; holiness and hope.

In Revelation for the Rest of Us, world renowned New Testament scholar and author Scot McKnight explores the timeless message of Revelation and how it disciples readers into dissidents of the ways of the world and empire, calling them to the courageous challenge of faithful, or allegiant, witness.

In this important work addressing a significant gap in current theological literature, the authors argue that by jettisoning a doctrine of good works, the contemporary church contradicts historical Protestantism and, more importantly, biblical teaching.

What does it mean to be human? This timeless question proves critical as we seek to understand our purpose, identity, and significance. Amidst the many voices clamoring to shape our understanding of humanity, the Bible reveals important truths related to our human identity and vocation that are critical to the flourishing of all of creation. Carmen Joy Imes seeks to recover the theologically rich message of the creation narratives starting in the book of Genesis as they illuminate what it means to be human.

For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth".

After the release of their groundbreaking book, A Church Called Tov, which recorded the stories of abuse and toxic church cultures at some of the most prominent churches in the United States, New Testament scholar and blogger for Christianity Today Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer heard from a flood of people who had experienced similar instances of abuse. In Pivot, Scot and Laura help churches to implement practices, establish priorities, and cultivate the Kingdom Gospel-centered qualities that form goodness cultures.

Combining narrative with keen critique of contemporary debates, author and historian John Dickson gives an honest account of 2,000 years of Christian history that helps us understand what Christianity is and what it's meant to be.

Prayer is the source of Jesus's most astonishing miracles and the subject of Jesus's most audacious promises, and yet, people find prayer to be boring, obligatory, or confusing. Join Tyler Staton, author, pastor, and national director of the 24/7 Prayer movement, as he invites you to discover the incredible gift of prayer.

Do miracles still happen today? This book demonstrates that miraculous works of God, which have been part of the experience of the church around the world since Christianity began, continue into the present. Leading New Testament scholar Craig Keener addresses common questions about miracles and provides compelling reasons to believe in them today, including many accounts that offer evidence of verifiable miracles.

Does your knowledge of the Old Testament feel like a grab bag of people, books, events, and ideas? How many times have you resolved to really understand the OT? To finally make sense of it? Perhaps you are suffering from what Sandra Richter calls the "dysfunctional closet syndrome". If so, she has a solution. Like a home-organizing expert, she comes in and helps you straighten up your cluttered closet. Whether you are a frustrated do-it-yourselfer or a beginning student enrolled in a course, The Epic of Eden will organize your understanding of the Old Testament.

King's Cross is Timothy Keller's revelatory look at the life of Christ as told in the Gospel of Mark. There have been many biographies of Jesus, but few will be as anticipated as this one by Keller, the man Newsweek calls "a C. S. Lewis for the 21st century". In it, Keller shows how the story of Jesus is at once cosmic, historical, and personal, calling each of us to look anew at our relationship with God.

Parakeets make delightful pets. We cage them or clip their wings to keep them where we want them. Scot McKnight contends that many, conservatives and liberals alike, attempt the same thing with the Bible. We all try to tame it. McKnight's The Blue Parakeet calls Christians to stop taming the Bible and to let it speak anew to our heart. McKnight challenges us to rethink how to read the Bible, not just to puzzle it together into some systematic belief but to see it as a story that we're summoned to enter and to carry forward in our day.

The Resurrection accounts of Jesus in the Gospels are the most dramatic and impactful stories ever told. One similarity unites each testimony - that none of his most loyal and steadfast followers could "see" it was him, back from the dead. The reason for this is at the very foundation of the Christian faith.

In Stand Firm: Living in a Post-Christian Culture, Dr. John MacArthur drafts biblical battle plans for maintaining a life of Christian faithfulness. God has revealed what kind of people we are to be in a hostile world, and by his word and spirit, He supplies us with everything we need to persevere in holiness, humility, and love.

Based upon powerful insights from the scriptural book of Ephesians, and seasoned with personal stories and practical wisdom, Defined challenges you to let the One who knows you best be the One who guides your heart the most. It’s time for all of us to live in the amazing light of His acceptance, abundance, and strength.

Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man's description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother?

Significant events such as birth, marriage, and death are milestones in our lives in which we experience our greatest happiness and our deepest grief. And so it is profoundly important to understand how to approach and experience these occasions with grace, endurance, and joy. In On Birth, Timothy Keller - theologian and best-selling author - helps us understand both physical and spiritual birth, as well as how baptism connects the two. Keller draws on 45 years as a pastor and a parent to consider what it means to receive a new birth as well as to be reborn.

Pastor and author John MacArthur examines the gospel as explained by Jesus Himself, helping listeners understand the true way to salvation. Only Jesus demonstrates how genuinely following Jesus as the crucified and risen Lord is the only way to be saved and to receive God's promise of eternal life.

For most of us, fear is something we try to avoid. And fearing God hardly sounds like an occasion for joy. But Jerry Bridges shows how the fear of the Lord is actually the key that opens the door to a life of true knowledge, wisdom, blessing, and joy. We all want a deeper, more intimate relationship with God - one that's characterized by joy. But how does fearing God lead to joy? After all, aren't we supposed to love him and live in intimate relationship with him?

The world has changed in so many ways, and many of us no longer feel confident when it comes to evangelism, especially with the rise of hostility toward Christian points of view. Keeping quiet is becoming our default position. Yet the world has not changed in one way: It still needs Jesus. Renowned evangelist Becky Pippert draws on decades of conversations about Christianity around the world to call and equip ordinary Christians to share Jesus through their ordinary day-to-day conversations.

Every generation faces the temptation to wander from orthodoxy—to seek out the jolt that comes with false teaching, and to drift with cultural currents. And so every generation must be awakened again to the thrill of orthodoxy, and experience the astonishment that comes from stumbling afresh upon the electrifying paradoxes at the heart of the Christian faith. In The Thrill of Orthodoxy, Trevin Wax turns the tables on those who believe Christian teaching is narrow and outdated.

Most Christians would agree that the Bible provides a basis for mission. But Christopher Wright boldly maintains that mission is bigger than that - there is in fact a missional basis for the Bible. The entire Bible is generated by and is all about God's mission. In order to understand the Bible, we need a missional hermeneutic of the Bible, an interpretive perspective that is in tune with this great missional theme. We need to see the "big picture" of God's mission and how the familiar bits and pieces fit into the grand narrative of Scripture.

What is Christianity? It is Christ. Nothing more, nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology and not a philosophy. Christianity is the Good News that beauty, truth, and goodness are found in a Person. And conversion? It's more than a change in direction; it's a change in connection.

Is praying a duty or a delight? J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom say that it's both; an essential, expected practice as a follower of Christ, but also a privilege and joy. As we start out learning to pray properly, however, the delight often seems to be missing. Here is practical help for active, honest praying that involves all of who we are - heart, hands and head - and moves us to deeper obedience, joy and intimacy with our Father.

Who exactly is the Holy Spirit? What does he do in our lives? How can we know him more deeply, and is it possible to tap in to his power? Should we pray to the Holy Spirit? Is it possible to be aware of his promptings and speaking into our lives? Dr. Scot McKnight answers these questions and more in this comprehensive examination of what the Bible says about this divinely important but often confusing member of the Trinity.

Although the cross is God's decisive deed in human history, the full meaning of it is far too much for a mere human mind to grasp. But through Henry Blackaby's careful examination, the cross becomes not a doctrine, but an experience. You'll be overwhelmed with the utter significance of Christ's death, leading you to a stronger sense of God's power in your daily life.

Every person on the planet was born for significance, created by God to make a difference in his kingdom. Fulfilling God’s purpose is a lifelong endeavor, but it comes with a cost. God is a perfect father who looks for chances to pour blessings into the lives of his children. But he is also a father who loves us and doesn’t want to increase our blessing beyond what we have the heart and maturity to carry well. What does it look like when significance is carried well? God is glorified, we are strengthened, and the people around us benefit.

In Running Scared, Edward T. Welch investigates the roots of fear in the human soul and the ramifications of living in the grips of anxiety, worry, and dread. Welch encourages listeners to discover for themselves that the Bible is full of beautiful words of comfort for fearful people (and that every single person is afraid of something). Within the framework of 30 topical meditations, Welch offers sound biblical theology and moment-by-moment, thoughtful encouragement for life-saving rescue in the midst of the heart and mind battlefield of rampant panic-stricken responses.