The Bible is not some dusty textbook, but a veritable circus of humanity, with high-soaring saints, back-talking donkeys, left-handed kingslayers, and all the glory and gore you can fit inside the big top of this biblical tent. And everywhere in this story is God who, in his wild and passionate love for humanity, is shepherding history toward the birth and ministry of Jesus the Messiah. Do you already have a good grasp of the Old Testament? Wonderful. This book will be an enjoyable review. Do you not know the difference between the Bible and The Hobbit? Also fine. This book will be a helpful map into unknown territory. By the time we're done, you won't know all the ins and outs of the story, but you will have a strong grasp of the major movers and shakers. We will sit shotgun with patriarchs and prophets. Each one will take us a little farther down the Old Testament road until we get to the goal: to Jesus, the one in whom the whole story finds fulfillment and meaning.

Reading the Old Testament can seem like exploring an old, mysterious mansion, packed with of all sorts of strange rooms. The creation room, vast and sublime. The exodus room, with hardhearted pharaohs and dried-up seas. The war room, with bloody swords and crumbling walls. The tabernacle room, with smoking altars and dark inner sanctums. What does this odd and ancient world have to do with us, who are modern followers of Jesus? As it turns out, everything! Every chapter in the Old Testament, in a variety of ways, tells the story that culminates in Jesus the Messiah. What Christians today call the Old Testament is what Jesus and the earliest believers simply called the Scriptures. That was their Bible. From its pages, they taught about the Messiah's divine nature, his priestly work, his ministry of salvation. The Christ Key will reintroduce readers to these old books as ever-fresh, ever-new testimonies of Jesus. By the end, you will see even Leviticus as a book of grace and mercy, and you will hear in the Psalms the resounding voice of Christ.

Jesus revealed Himself to be the cornerstone of the church. But He has built His church, and continues to build it, through apostles and prophets, people who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now a leader of the New Apostolic Reformation gives us new insights into how the people called to crucial roles in the church--apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor and teachers--must work together to fulfill their divine purpose. For the first time since the Early Church, God is harnessing apostles and prophets to fulfill the promises of His divine plan. Prepare to play your part!

Why a book specifically on supporting the workers of the church? Special attention needs to be given because workers of the church are at increased risk of sadness, despair, stress, frustration, cynicism, anger, and disappointment. Written in a plain down-to-earth style this book will educate the professional church worker, thereby improving their relationship with the congregations they serve.

In our postmodern, pluralistic world, there are plenty of genuinely spiritual people who consider Christ a way to heaven, or even their way to heaven, but who refuse to acknowledge Him as the one and only way for everyone. In their estimation, anyone who stresses an exclusive, saving faith in Jesus Christ is at the least intolerant and, at worst, completely ignorant. Yet as Rod Rosenbladt shows in this booklet, there are numerous evidences that support the centrality and exclusivity of Christ. He draws on these here to affirm that even in the face of sophisticated theological attacks, God's Word--and Christ's unique claims--still hold true. In defending solus Christus Christians need not disregard the noble words or deeds of unbelievers throughout history. But there is One whose words and works stand far above all others, and whose entire existence proved His exclusive claims. And He deserves not only our worship, but our witness before a lost world.

The Sky Atlas unveils some of the most beautiful maps and charts ever created during humankind's quest to map the skies above us. This richly illustrated treasury showcases the finest examples of celestial cartography—a glorious art often overlooked by modern map books—as well as medieval manuscripts, masterpiece paintings, ancient star catalogs, antique instruments, and other curiosities. This is the sky as it has never been presented before: the realm of stars and planets, but also of gods, devils, weather wizards, flying sailors, ancient aliens, mythological animals, and rampaging spirits. • Packed with celestial maps, illustrations, and stories of places, people, and creatures that different cultures throughout history have observed or imagined in the heavens • Readers are taken on a tour of star-obsessed cultures around the world, learning about Tibetan sky burials, star-covered Inuit dancing coats, Mongolian astral prophets and Sir William Herschel's 1781 discovery of Uranus, the first planet to be found since antiquity. • A gorgeous book that delights stargazers and map lovers alike With thrilling stories and gorgeous artwork, this remarkable atlas explores our fascination with the sky across time and cultures to form an extraordinary chronicle of cosmic imagination and discovery. The Sky Atlas is a wonderful book for map lovers, history buffs, and stargazers, but also for those who are intrigued by the many wonderful and bizarre ways in which humans have sought to understand the cosmos and our place in it. • A unique map book that expands beyond the terrestrial and into the celestial • A wonderful book for map lovers, obscure-history fans, mythology buffs, and astrology and astronomy lovers • Great for those who enjoyed What We See in the Stars: An Illustrated Tour of the Night Sky by Kelsey Oseid, Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski, and Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot On and Never Will by Judith Schalansky

In our age when the church can too often seem like a poor copy of the world, Chad Bird challenges us to reclaim the astounding originality of our ancient, backward faith. Where the world stresses the importance of success, Bird invites readers to embrace nine specific failures in the areas of our personal lives, our relationships, and the church. Why? Because what human wisdom deems indispensable is so often an impediment to our spiritual growth, and what it deems insignificant is so often essential to it. With compelling examples from the Bible and today, Bird paints an enticing picture of the counterintuitive, countercultural life that God wants for us. He helps readers delight in all of the ways that Jesus turned the world upside-down, allowing us to experience true freedom, not from our weaknesses but in the midst of them.

Most of us are regular people who have good days and bad days. Our lives are radically ordinary and unexciting. That means they're the kind of lives God gets excited about. While the world worships beauty and power and wealth, God hides his glory in the simple, the mundane, the foolish, working in unawesome people, things, and places.In our day of celebrity worship and online posturing, this is a refreshing, even transformative way of understanding God and our place in his creation. It urges us to treasure a life of simplicity, to love those whom the world passes by, to work for God's glory rather than our own. And it demonstrates that God has always been the Lord of the cross--a Savior who hides his grace in unattractive, inglorious places.Your God Is Too Glorious reminds readers that while a quiet life may look unimpressive to the world, it's the regular, everyday people that God tends to use to do his most important work.

HOLY HITCHIKING FOREIGN HIGHWAYS relates an odyssey on four Continents. Vernon Elgin began hitchhiking rural dirt roads in Pennsylvania when he was an adolescent. He graduated from dirt and asphalt to concrete, from Armstrong County Route 210, to Pennsylvania Route 422, to U.S. Route 66. Most of his hitchhiking conveyed him to work or college; all of it afforded him pleasure and adventure. He frequently broached religion as a topic of conversation with the driver. More often than not he received a stimulating response. He credits his education on the road for contributing to his future clergy profession.