It's almost second nature for Christians to call God Father. Jesus taught his followers as much, although for them it was apparently a surprising practice. The worshiping community of the Old Testament used fatherly images for understanding God's character and actions, but "Father" was not a common way for believers to address God. In Knowing God the Father Through the Old Testament, Christopher Wright explores in depth the images that pervade the biblical narratives, psalms, and prophetic texts of the Old Testament.

In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin draws a winsome vision for biblical cultural engagement in which faithfulness to Scripture and sensitivity to culture walk hand in hand. If Christians want to speak with a fresh, engaging and constructive voice within our culture, we need to press deeper into the core truths of the Bible.

The book of Ecclesiastes seeks to answer the question: "What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?" The book's writer is Qoheleth, who wants to understand the meaning of life as far as he possibly can with the tools of his own empirical observation and reason. He struggles to reconcile the beautiful world that we love and enjoy with the baffling world of injustice, suffering, and death. Qoheleth circles around an abyss of nihilism and pessimism. He lives with unanswered questions. Yet he remains a believer.

Do you desire to look and act more like Jesus and walk daily in the power heaven promises? Developing the fruit of the spirit will enable you to express the might of God himself and make you more than a conqueror in every situation! The fruit of the spirit are more than just nice Christian character traits. They are supernatural powerhouses - not something you do but who you are in him. They demonstrate your true identity as a child of God. Gloria Copeland, noted author and minister of the gospel whose teaching ministry is known throughout the world.

Would you like true joy? Healthy relationships? To live free from anxiety? You actually can if you let God’s Spirit grow his fruit in your heart. Your witness for Christ is only as good as the fruit your relationship with him produces. The Fruit of the Spirit points you toward a lifestyle that makes the gospel you proclaim attractive to others because they can see its results in your everyday life, emotions, demeanor, and actions.

Forgiving anyone in a meaningful way is one of the hardest things a person has to do. If you do not, resentment and vengeance begin to consume you. It is nearly impossible to move past transgression without forgiveness, but few people have the resources and the tools to forgive others fully and move on with their lives.

On account of the superficial points of agreement between Islam and Christianity, many don't see how tremendously deep the divides between them really are, and fewer still have considered the evidence for each faith. How is jihad different from the Crusades? Can we know the life of Jesus as well as the life of Muhammad? What reason is there to believe in one faith over the other, and what difference can the Gospel really make?

Many seek reassurance or perceived unity by creating doctrinal statements, but that misses the point. Doctrine is necessary, but it is not the solution. In his new book Until Unity, New York Times best-selling author Francis Chan tells listeners that the real problem is shallow or even nonexistent love for each other. Although the Bible commands unity, some will resist these unifying efforts. We see it every day. We have to hate sin, love truth, and pursue unity for the church.

Why is the third person in the Godhead - the one Jesus said would be the believer's ultimate source of truth and comfort - the source of such confusion? In The God I Never Knew, Robert Morris clearly explains that the Holy Spirit's chief desire is for relationship - to offer us the encouragement and guidance of a trusted friend. This insightful and biblically-based book moves beyond theological jargon, religious tradition, and cultural misconceptions to clarify what the Holy Spirit promises to do in your life.

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.

Exciting, revolutionary power is available exclusively to you as a Christian. It's the supernatural power to transform human nature, to enable you to be the salt and light to your world, to help you face any crisis, and to bring about a dramatic but peaceful revolution in those around you. You cannot buy this extraordinary power, nor can you find it by searching the earth for it. As a Christian it resides in you already, an awesome gift from God that you have only to claim and use once you know and accept its Source.

We are at war. Not with a foreign government or domestic terrorists or a creepy new artificial intelligence hell-bent on taking over the world. No, it’s a war we feel deep inside our own chests: we are at war with lies. The problem isn’t so much that we tell lies but that we live them. We let them into our bodies, and they sabotage our peace.

In our current culture, the church and prayer are often dismissed as irrelevant. But when believers gather and pray together, powerful things happen: the Spirit equips the saints for ministry, the helpless are met with help, and believers experience the joy of being led by the Spirit of Jesus. In this audiobook, Paul E. Miller, bestselling author of A Praying Life, casts a vision for a return to the simple yet life-changing practice of praying together. Through personal stories and biblical examples, Miller teaches the why, what, and how of praying together.

How does Jesus live in my heart? What does it look like to have a personal relationship with Jesus? Can I actually do what Jesus did when He walked the Earth? In Michael Koulianos' landmark book, prepare to experience Jesus Christ at a whole new dimension - through the person, presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

This little audiobook is hard to swallow. In it, A. W. Tozer teaches plainly who the Spirit is and why we should desire him but why few of us do. He instructs us in how to be filled with the Spirit but first poses this question: Do you really want to be filled?

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.

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?

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.

John Piper invites you to experience deeper intimacy with God through these thought-provoking and soul-enriching meditations. Whether you are just discovering the divine richness of Scripture or have long been a passionate student, you’ll find a deeper understanding of God and renewed insight for your journey.

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.

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?

In Happiness, noted theologian Randy Alcorn dispels centuries of misconceptions about happiness and provides indisputable proof that God not only wants us to be happy, he commands it. The most definitive study on the subject of happiness to date, this book is a paradigm-shifting wake-up call for the church and Christians everywhere.

Embrace the Lord's pattern for prayer. God longs for us to spend time with Him. Yet while His invitation is extravagant, too often we struggle to spend even brief moments with our Heavenly Father. For some, action has replaced prayer. For others, requests can take priority over relationship, as we try to mold God to our desires. How did the simple act of prayer become so complicated? Renowned pastor and author John MacArthur invites you to experience the art of prayer.

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.

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.

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.

Prayer is as necessary to the Christian as breathing is to the human body - but it often doesn't come quite as naturally. In fact, prayer in the church often gets subtly pushed to the side in favor of pragmatic practices that promise tangible results. This book focuses on the necessity of regular prayer as a central practice in the local church - awakening us to the need and blessing of corporate prayer by examining what Jesus taught about prayer, how the first Christians approached prayer, and how to prioritize prayer in our congregations.

It can be easy to have a heart filled with worship on a Sunday morning as the church band is playing your favorite song. But then comes Monday morning's commute and Tuesday afternoon's pile of laundry. How do we maintain a heart of worship in the daily grind? Darlene Zschech has spent her life thinking and teaching about worship. With wisdom and contagious joy, she shares her thoughts on what worship truly is and how it should invade every facet of our being.

Whether you know it or not, you have the authority to change the world through prayer. When God said, “Let mankind rule over all the earth,” He was arranging the dominion of the world so that the partnership of mankind was essential for the accomplishment of His purposes. Through his unique perspective on this often-misunderstood subject, best-selling author Dr. Myles Munroe takes the mystery out of prayer, providing practical answers for difficult questions about communicating with God.

Times of disaster are unavoidable. We don’t get to choose whether or not to live in such times. We can only choose what to do with the time that we live. Will we let fear and darkness overwhelm us, or will we choose to shine the light of hope? In Hope in Any Crisis, pastor and best-selling author Bill Johnson reveals the powerful divine protection offered to you as a believer, three responses you can experience in times of uncertainty, and your responsibility to have hope in all things.