Bible readings, selections and meditations Books

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Book SynopsisEvangelist Roger Carswell has a burden to reach the lost with the good news of the gospel. He is also deeply concerned that Christians should have a love for those without Jesus. In this carefully crafted devotional journal of 52 readings, he has brought together a selection of Bible passages, prayers and hymns designed to help us all cultivate a soul winner's passion. Trade ReviewOur Lord Jesus did not say, 'You shall do witnessing.' He said, 'You shall be my witnesses' (Acts 1:8). Implications of this difference are profound and far reaching in that evangelism is not limited to a few who have the 'gift'; it is, rather, the privilege of everyone whose life is grounded in Christ. Emerging from this conviction, Roger Carswell presents the heart, soul, and practical routines of gospel witness. -- Christopher Castaldo (Lead Pastor, New Covenant Church, Naperville, Illinois)...this book is a great encouragement and stimulation to evangelism, written by a man, who has worked tirelessly for the gospel for decades. It's been great to see what has kept him going. -- Rico Tice (Evangelist; Co–founder of Christianity Explored Ministries)

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Book SynopsisThe mountains of Scotland have long drawn people to their rugged peaks and rolling tops. Drawn by the physical quest, the desire for solitude or for many, the deeper search for purpose and meaning in their life experience.Martin C. Haworth was drawn to wild places, searching for that connection with something pure and great. In that search, he has known the spiritual glimpses that God communicates to us through the awe-inspiring grandeur of wild places. Join him in this devotional journey through the Scottish hills. Trade Review... combines first hand testimony to the power of God in creation and the revelation of God in Scripture. The hand of God revealed in what He has made and the heart of God revealed in what He has said. Martin takes us on his personal journey in a way that invites us to join him in the growing discovery of the goodness of God. -- Stephen Gaukroger (Director of Clarion Trust International)In a remarkable blend of Scripture, personal experience and devotional style, Martin Haworth journeys through the awe inspiring wonder and grandeur of the Scottish hills to the glory and honour of the Creator of all things. Every chapter opens up a new perspective on the realities of life as one man comes to know and understand the saving grace of his Creator God. -- Wayne Sutton (Senior Pastor, Carrubbers Christian Centre, Edinburgh)Most hill walkers and mountaineers appreciate that there is more to the experience than reaching the summit and enjoying the view. "A Clearing of the Mists" helps us navigate through a number spiritual themes brought to life by the experiences of the author as he climbs the mountains of Scotland. -- Mike Pescod (Abacus Mountaineering and Chairman, Fort William Mountain Festival, Fort William)

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Book SynopsisSo often, just like Jonah, we are blinded by our situations, culture, or our own hearts. So often we ignore what we know God is calling us to do - and we are always left feeling incomplete and far from Him.Anywhere but Nineveh is a thirty day devotional which inspires and focuses the mind, not on our rebellion, but instead on a God who speaks to us and on "One greater than Jonah" Who did not run away.Trade ReviewIn all of his phases, Frank Sellar has been consistent - a man sold out for the good news of Jesus, committed to encouraging any form of positive ministry to the weird and wonderful thing that is church, and someone whose generosity and encouragement always leaves us thankful for the encounter.I know reading this book will do the same for you. -- Keith Getty (Hymn-writer)Through a skilful re-telling of Jonah's story, this gem of a book has pastoral warmth, penetrating application, and a simplicity and directness that will challenge and inspire your walk with God. It exposes our fears, helps us to pray, points us to Christ, and refreshes our souls. Prayerfully read a section each day, and within the month your understanding of God and your motivation to serve Him will surely have changed! -- Jonathan Lamb (Minister–at–large for Keswick Ministries, IFES Vice President, and former Director, Langham Preaching)Some books take much reading and leave little impression. This wonderful book takes little reading but leaves a deep impression. Daily portions of Jonah make for a rich diet - edifying, humbling and encouraging, with challenging insight and perceptive prayer. One cannot but fail to travel with Jonah into a deeper awareness of the purposes of God, ultimately to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a book rich in the grace that drives us to our knees and to the heart of our loving, forgiving, sovereign Lord. -- Simon Austen (Rector, St Leonard's, Exeter, UK)

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Book SynopsisThe Servant Songs of Isaiah are a beautiful topic for a devotional. Set in the context of Israel's failure, few places in the Old Testament speak so clearly about the merciful Messiah. To quote Henri Blocher, 'In them our Savour found the blueprint of His mission. From them Jesus learned that He would have to suffer for us; that He would die for us, as though He were a criminal, under the weight of our sins. How holy the ground we tread when studying the songs!'

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Book SynopsisSometimes when we most need to read and pray, for example when illness strikes, and energy is low and concentration is a struggle, we feel least able to do so.David Short compiled this little book of brief morning and evening meditations for times like these. When we are facing an uncertain future, pain, or depression, and can’t find peace, Christ is our Rock and God our Comfort, guarding our hearts and minds. Through thirty–one days of Bible verses, prayers, and hymns, The Bedside Book helps you to bring yourself and your concerns into the presence and loving care of God our Father.Trade ReviewThis wonderful combination of brief Bible reading, hymn and thoughtful prayer is a blessing to the heart, an encouragement to the spirit and a renewing of faith to the soul at times when people are fragile and vulnerable. It points to Jesus, the great physician of the soul. I cannot recommend Professor Short's little book too highly, having used it myself on innumerable pastoral visits almost continuously over many years. -- Frank Sellar (Former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland)This is not a book written in the ivory towers of academia, but forged at the bedside of the sick, suffering, and dying. As a very young and very inexperienced leader in the local church I had the privilege to serve with David. His grace, generosity, encouragement, biblical counsel, and humility were unforgettable. It is with great joy that I enthusiastically recommend this book to all who experience suffering, and to all who seek to serve the suffering in the Spirit of Christ. -- John H. Munro (Senior Pastor, Calvary Church, Charlotte, USA)

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Book SynopsisContaining one hundred theologically-rich but easy-to-read devotionals, this book has been written to provide some Emergency Rations to help you survive the struggles of life. Keep it near at hand - and find strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.Trade ReviewEmergency Rations is the kind of book you can pick up and read five minutes at a time. These brief, challenging, and encouraging nuggets of truth will fortify your faith and spur you on to face each day with boldness to live for Christ. -- Mike Fabarez (Pastor of Compass Bible Church, Columbia, California and Author of 'Lifelines for Tough Times')With one hundred splendid devotionals, which treat fourteen kinds of life struggles common to Christians worldwide, Pastor Philip De Courcy skillfully dispenses biblically-based, practically-illustrated, and eternally-wise counsel by which to survive these difficulties. -- Richard Mayhue (Research Professor of Theology Emeritus, The Master’s Seminary, Sun Valley, California)These devotional insights point the reader in the right direction, to our great and good God. Philip De Courcy's insights are consistently biblical, relevant, and interesting. -- Michael A. Grisanti (Professor of Old Testament, The Master's Seminary, Sun Valley, California)In this book my friend and bible teacher Philip De Courcy serves up some bite size truths that will help you survive the tough times with your joy intact. Read it and rejoice anew in the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! -- Keith Getty (Hymn-writer)My hope is that this collection of devotions might encourage you to discover the "unsearchable riches" of Christ. -- Freddie McLaughlin (Former President, Baptist Association in Ireland)

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Book SynopsisAs the Church Year passes, we anticipate the next festival and season, in much the same way as gardeners look for the first signs of spring or the first frosts of winter, as they plan their planting activities. So, in the Church, Advent passes into Christmas and Epiphany with a speed that seems driven by activity as much as reflection; but the approach of Ash Wednesday can catch us unawares, especially in a year with an early Easter. St Brigid’s Day and Candlemas, set at the beginning of February, warn us that we need to think about how to make the most of the weeks to pray our way, once more, through the days of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. By taking the Cross, and even more specifically, the words Jesus spoke while nailed to that Cross, over the course of some weeks, rather than a few hours on Good Friday, we have time to consider more deeply the inner themes and conclusions. This meditation will help us to prepare for Holy Week, with a mind and heart familiar with the readings and ready to be filled with our own prayerful reflections. If this small book can prompt a mindset of deliberately slowing the pace of the contemplation of Christ’s words, and especially those from the Cross, then it has fulfilled its purpose.

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Book SynopsisDo you want a daily devotional book that delivers riches every day? Do you want to read something profound, something life-changing?Mary Werner has produced a delightful daily devotional made up of quotations selected from the last twenty centuries of Christian experience. These allow us to benefit from the wealth of wisdom of past pilgrims on the road to enlightenment.Each day opens with a passage of the Bible that is then illuminated from the writings of Great Christian figures and authors. These gems come from a wide variety of sources, early Christians like Cyprian and Iranaeus; then Jerome, Anselm or Francis of Assissi; Thomas a Kempis; Martin Luther and Jonathan Edwards pop up; as do John Donne; Blaise Pascal and John Wesley; also included are more contemporary figures such as Frances Ridley Havergal, George Macdonald - and many more from each and every century of thought.Refined by the passage of time, these ideas remain as relevant today as when they were written. They will enrich your times of meditation with a freshness and clarity that sets you up for the day.Whether you use it for a few moments before the daily rush gets under way, on the train or bus, or as you wind down at night, 'Inspirational Gold' will provide the ideal companion.

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Book SynopsisAt Christmas time whilst singing carols about 'gentle Jesus, meek and mild' we can miss that this time-dividing man had an edge about what he had to say. His parables are sometimes not 'nice spiritual stories'.They capture the imagination, they paint timeless pictures, but they are also more than that. When you read, you get the unnerving sense that through them Jesus can see right through you. They can be unsettling, challenging, able to change you - that the sense of shame and lost-ness that we often feel, may be provided with answers in what he has to say.The Parable was an unusual form of teaching to Jesus' hearers, the Old Testament has only one main example, yet one third of Jesus' recorded words in the New Testament are parables. If these stories were so important to him, they should also be important to us.Jesus was a communications genius, his parables convey important spiritual truths - appealing to young and old, rich and poor, educated and non-educated - because they are a not just a story to be understood, they are a spiritual temperature gauge.Deceptively simple, often taken from everyday Palestinian life; the parables are not just aimed to inform, don't even stop at transforming peoples' lives, but go further; to become part of the means Jesus uses to secure faith in men and women's hearts - they put us in touch with his mind.Trade ReviewThe outlines, illustrations and explanations are first class. With skill and sensitivity the writer gets below the radar and detonates the parable right on your lap. This is a must for the preacher's bookshelf on the parables. -- David McCullough, The Covenanter Witness (Magazine of the Reformed Presbyterian Churches of Scotland) (Magazine of the Reformed Presbyterian Churches of Scotland and Ireland)Have you ever asked about a familiar parable, "What was Jesus teaching?" Do you have to teach the parables in Sunday School, Bible class or club? This book will help to sharpen up your thinking and prevent bland story-telling. It will also suggest ideas and illustrations for preachers and make good devotional reading material. -- Timothy Reynolds, Grace Magazine"...lively illustration and contemporary application. The parables are thus allowed to do their intended work of getting under the reader's radar and shaping his or her worldview. In each case the authors take the biblical text seriously and seek to understand it within its contexts. Helpful for all readers, this book can also act as a useful standard for any would-be expositor to see how it is done." -- The Churchman

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Book SynopsisThe second letter to the Corinthians is Paul's personal appeal to the church he founded in Corinth, a church influenced against Paul by false prophets. In describing the type of Church Leader that is pleasing to God, Paul reveals more about himself than in any other of his writings. It is as if we can see into his soul as he lovingly points out the faulty attitudes of the church at Corinth.In addition to guidance on leadership and on other subjects he also wrote about Christian giving. Paul was eager for the church to participate in the relief fund he was putting together for poor believers in Jerusalem. His rulings on these matters need to be applied to today's church. Geoffrey Grogan is also the author of Mark: Good News For Jerusalem in the Focus on the Bible commentary series.Trade Review"I compare this commentary to a ‘spotted dick' pudding: good and wholesome with some interesting spicy bits. It certainly provides food for thought (and action)." -- Olie Bullock, Nota Bene (UCCF Magazine)

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Book SynopsisIf you look at a family album we will begin to get an idea of the events, which have occurred in the life of that particular family. John's Gospel gives a snapshot of Jesus life and the lives he changed. John's gospel tells the story of Jesus the saviour of the world who came in flesh to forgive sins. Simon Vibert invites us to come and see the lives Jesus changed. But all these characters that we meet are not the one that the people had been waiting for. Jesus was that one but all these characters were "signposts" that pointed to Jesus so that might cause us to respond. Ideal for individuals or small group studies.Trade Review"John the evangelist was a consummate chronicler and Simon Vibert's book reflects his genius... Vibert shows us how the form is the vehicle that carries the story forward. In fact we feel close to these people and are drawn into their stories." -- Paul Wells (Emeritus Professor, Faculté Jean Calvin, France and Editor in Chief of Unio cum Christo)"Lives Jesus Changed reviews sixteen cases as they appear in John's Gospel, each short chapter commenting on one of them and ending with searching questions to the reader. This book is readable, analyses with simplicity each event of persons meeting the Lord Jesus. It's language is not technical. It attempts to lead the reader into something of a structured understanding of Scripture, with sparing cross-references." -- English Churchman

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Book Synopsis No matter how enthusiastically we embrace doctrinal teaching it has no real power unless accompanied by action. James Boice tackles key areas of conflict in the Christian's life - avoiding hypocrisy, guarding our tongues using our wealth appropriately, perseverance.If you really believe then it will show in your life. James is a practical book, too practical in dealing with our own shortcomings, errors and sins! And it is so direct that we cannot easily dismiss or escape from James' teaching. Prepare to be challenged! Trade ReviewReadable, practical, helpful, pointed. Read it and then tackle the questions! -- The Banner of Truth Magazine 'James Boice was one of the greatest Bible teachers of the twentieth century. This exposition of James is an outstanding help, displaying Boice's penetrating mind and easy to read style. I warmly commend it to pastors and all other Bible students.' -- Eric Alexander (Conference speaker and formerly minister St George's Tron, Glasgow for 20 years)"This exposition of James is one of Boice's most practical books and has abiding relevance for Christian men and women today. Readers will gain a richer understanding of what it means to have a faith that really works." -- Philip Graham Ryken, Senior Minister, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia (President, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois)

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