The uninterrupted and predictable cycle of human desires often demands conquests and betrayals. Several ancient kingdoms find themselves bound in a protracted struggle for individual and collective relief from their common enemy, the Mizar of Fortress Sorek. A young family unexpectedly finds itself in the midst of this life-changing drama that will catapult them within three days into an unknown and certain future. The husband and father has to choose the immediate course of his life without his wife and young daughter by his side. None who have ventured into his predicament have ever returned home to their families. He is determined to be the first.

Nathan Adams and his younger brother Jared and twin sisters Jenna and Sophia are your typical small town children. That is, until they are abducted by an evil wizard and brought to another world where magic rules. This family has something of value, something that could prove to be fatal to all of them, and they must discover what it is and find a way to escape before it is too late. With the help of some interesting new friends they meet along the way the children begin to uncover clues as to why they were brought to this world in the first place, and the major role they are playing in the war between good and evil. "Children's Gate" is a coming of age story that takes you back to the insecurities and fears of childhood and the joy of pure imagination that resides within all of us!

"Jesus's words 'the poor you will always have with you' (Matthew 26:11) are regularly used to suggest that ending poverty is impossible. In this book Liz Theoharis critically examines both the biblical text and the lived reality of the poor to show how this passage is taken out of context and distorted. Poverty is not inevitable, Theoharis argues. It is a systemic sin, and all Christians have a responsibility to partner with the poor to end poverty once and for all"--Jacket

"This is a book about submission and subversion, injustice and justice, heroes and villains." In Feminism, Queerness, Affect, and Romans: Under God? Jimmy Hoke reads Romans with an innovative, intersectional approach that produces distinctive meanings for passages that probe how queer wo/men who first encountered Paul's letter could have engaged with it. Though Paul's letter to the Romans arguably contains the Bible’s strongest condemnation of queer wo/men (1:26–27), that is not the letter's full story. Hoke turns a feminist and queer gaze toward Paul’s conception of faith and ethics, making explicit how Paul's theology throughout Romans has been affectively motivated by imperial notions of gender, race, and sexuality. Moving beyond Paul's singular voice, Hoke engages with a feminist and queer praxis of assemblage to generate plausible ways wo/men of Rome interacted with this epistle. By engaging affect theory, Hoke brings to life not only ideas and words but the feelings and sensations that moved in-between some of the earliest Christ-followers, revealing how queer wo/men were there among them and what that means for queer wo/men today. Hoke includes a reader's guide with key terms used throughout the book, making this an excellent option for both students and scholars beginning to engage not only Paul's letters but also the complex worlds of feminist, queer, and affect theories.

This theological treatment of the Book of Judges is fresh, original, imaginative, scholarly, and relevant. In his commentary E. John Hamlin pays careful attention to the structure and meaning of the text of Judges, and he elucidates the "risk" that Israel faced in the Promised Land -- the risk of living among the "Canaanites," of adopting their ungodly practices and their way of organizing society (the way of death). Hamlin's characterizations of the various liberator judges are particularly thought-provoking. Each chapter concludes with "Perspectives" on the text -- reflections on the ancient context of the Judges accounts, insights from the Asian cultures among which Hamlin has lived and worked, and applications to modern situations.

NAGAD's life was perfect until it was torn apart by the ravages of war. Now, haunted by his past, this young conscript must meet the enemy in battle. With shaking rage the nations collide in a fierce conflict for dominance. Yet more is at stake than the survival of a people. The dispute contests the claim of immortal supremacy, the outcome to prove whose god reigns omnipotent. And so, Nagad of Benjamin pushes on through the raging tide of battle. But to no avail. Soon crushed by the mighty war machine of Philistia, thousands of Hebrew soldiers lay slaughtered upon the carrion infested field. Hope has abandoned them. Then it is remembered, that in the days of their fathers, any army that bore the Ark of the Covenant could not be defeated. They need the Ark, for only then can the Chosen of God prevail against the enemy. But they are wrong. "An amazing, vivid account of biblical events is historically accurate where God's judgments, treacherous journeys, blood battles and even romance come alive to the reader in this skillfully written epic story." -Rev. Judith Wiegman

As the first comprehensive study of fortification systems and defensive strategies in the Levant during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900 to 1500 B.C.E.), this book is an indispensable contribution to the study of early warfare in the ancient Near East.

The Pauline collection for the poor in Jerusalem is the most famous example of financial support for geographically distant groups in early Christianity. Recent assessments of the Pauline collection have focused on patronage to explain the social relations between Jerusalem and the Pauline groups and the strategies adopted by Paul. Through a comparison with the Greco-Roman world and a close reading of the texts, this study challenges the recent approach and proposes that other factors shaped Paul’s stance. Paul was interested in reassuring the Corinthians about the financial outcome of the collection and dispelling doubts that he might take advantage of them. The collection was an action modeled on divine generosity and an exchange within a reciprocal relationship between Christian groups. This study also surveys intergroup support between Christian groups in the first three centuries CE. This practice involved churches from most of the Mediterranean Basin and was known even outside of Christian circles. Transfers of money were organized according to a consistent pattern modeled on local charitable practices. The Pauline collection had similar characteristics and can be seen as part of this widespread economic practice.

Studies of the Apocalypse have long neglected the royal and messianic dimensions of its portrait of the Lamb. In this volume, Justin P. Jeffcoat Schedtler offers new insights on this topic, arguing that royal and messianic ideologies and discourses are not merely evident in the book of Revelation but also constitute one of its primary organizing principles. Moreover, they shape Revelation's Christology. Schedtler explores ideologies of kingship in the ancient Greek and Roman world, as well as Second Temple Judaism. Making previously unexplored connections in Revelations' ideological portrait of the Lamb, he shows that the portrayal of Jesus as God's chosen viceregent, offers new insights into several of the central Christological tenets in the text. They include the Lamb's reception of the scroll to rule on God's behalf, his place on a heavenly throne, the many benefactions he offers to those who remain faithful to him, and the hymnic praise he receives in response.