In this remarkable New York Times bestseller, Joel Osteen offers unique insights and encouragement that will help readers overcome every obstacle in their lives.

The six Old Testament books dealt with in this volume of the Commentary are part of a larger unit originally copied on one scroll and called, for the sake of simplicity, the books of the twelve or minor prophets. The prophetic visions, liturgies and oracles contained in the twelve books were collected over a period of more than 300 years and given their final shape not earlier than the middle of the fifth century BC. In his opening chapter Dr Watts provides the historical and liturgical background to the books and discusses the nature and role of prophecy in worship. In the style established for the series, the NEB translation of the text then follows, divided into brief sections alternating with sections of commentary. The results of Old Testament scholarship and modern theological though are conveyed to the student and the layman in simple language.

A man's body is found decapitated, wrapped in plastic, and stuffed in the trunk of a Fleetwood Cadillac parked outside a federal courthouse. The car's owner is a sweet-natured con man who's on trial for mail fraud--but innocent of murder. Kansas City defence attorney Lou Mason has no idea how a corpse ended up in his client's car. But when the victim is identified as a criminal defendant in a sexually charged lawsuit, Mason is forced to team up with a woman from his past--a brilliant FBI agent who may be playing head games of her own.

We read the Bible and interpret Scripture in order to live in grace-filled relation to God's divine purpose.When we approach the Bible as Scripture author, Joel Green, takes seriously the faith statement that the Bible is our Book; these scriptures are our Scripture. We are not reading someone else's mail--as though reading the Bible had to do foremost with recovering an ancient meaning intended for someone else and then translating its principles for use in our own lives. When we recall that we are the people of God to whom the Bible is addressed as Scripture, we realize that the fundamental transformation is not the transformation of an ancient message into a contemporary meaning, bur rather the transformation of our lives by means of God's Word. This means that reading the Bible as Scripture has less to do with what tools we bring to the task, however important these may be, and more to do with our own dispositions as we come to our engagement with Scripture. We come not so much to retrieve facts or to gain information, but to be formed and ultimately, transformed. Scripture does not present us with texts to be mastered but with a Word, God's Word, intent on mastering us, on shaping our lives.

This volume offers patristic comment on the first half of the third article of the Nicene Creed. Readers will gain insight into the history and substance of what the early church believed about the Holy Spirit and his work.

Christoph Blumhardt's Action in Waiting was first published over a century ago, but his teaching on the kingdom of God, which influenced such luminaries as Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is as pertinent today as it was to his own generation.

Twenty years ago, on the last day of session, the New York State Legislature created a publicly funded school district to cater to the interests of a religious sect called Kiryas Joel, an extremely insular group of Hasidic Jews. The sect had bought land in upstate New York, populated it solely with members of its faction, and created a village that exerted extraordinary political pressure over both political parties in the Legislature. Marking the first time in American history that a governmental unit was established for a religious group, the Legislature's action prompted years of litigation that eventually went to the Supreme Court. The 1994 case, The Board of Education of the Village of Kiryas Joel v. Grumet, stands as the most important legal precedent in the fight to uphold the separation of church and state. In The Curious Case of Kiryas Joel, plaintiff Louis Grumet opens a window onto the Satmar Hasidic community and details the inside story of his fight for the First Amendment. This story—a blend of politics, religion, cultural clashes, and constitutional tension—is an object lesson in the ongoing debate over freedom of vs. freedom from religion.

Jon Bennett is a top Wall Street strategist turned senior White House advisor. But nothing has prepared him for the terror that he will face. Saddam Hussein dispatches his top hit men to assassinate the President of the United States. Iraqi terrorists spread carnage throughout London, Paris, and Riyadh . . . and the Butcher of Baghdad has a nuclear ace in his hand that he has not yet played. Only a solid Arab-Isreali coalition against Iraq can keep the U.S.--and other Western nations--from certain devastation. And only Bennett and his beautiful partner, Erin McCoy, can make that happen. Their secret project--a billion-dollar oil deal off the coast of Gaza--could be the basis for an historic peace treaty and enormous wealth for every Isreali and Palestinian. But just before a treaty can be signed, Isreali commandos foil an Iraqi Scud missile launch, recovering a nuclear warhead and evidence that the next attack will level Washington, New York and Tel Aviv. Now, the Isreali Prime Minister gives the American President an ultimatum: Melt down Baghdad within one hour . . . or Israel will do it herself. From Jerusalem, Bennett and McCoy must summon all their stealth and savvy to save themselves--and the world--from absolute destruction.