Simply Jesus

Author(s): Joseph M. Stowell
Publisher: Multmonah
Price: $1.99       (Apr 18 – 24)

Simply Jesus. What would it mean to fix our attention fully on the Person of Christ? To approach Him apart from systems, formulas, religion, and well-meaning Christian culture? To see Jesus Himself? And how would that change us? Moody Bible College President Joseph Stowell ponders these probing questions — showing through dramatic stories and surprising insights how believers can experience significant life-change as they encounter Christ — our model of understanding, love, and courage, today. Simply Jesus identifies experiences that can awaken the realization of our basic need to focus on Him … like temptation, trouble, and surrender. A book intended for both spiritual seekers and Christians who are ready for a fresh, personal encounter with the Savior their heart searches for. Clear, stylish typeset, with user-friendly links to referenced Scripture.

Eat Your Way to Life and Health: Unlock the Power of the Holy Communion

Author(s): Joseph Prince
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Price: $3.99       (May 1 – 31)

Let the holy Communion revolutionize your life and health!

Through engaging Bible-based teaching, Pastor Joseph Prince unpacks a revelation of the Communion that has never been more relevant than right now. Along with showing you why the holy Communion is God’s ordained way to release life, health, and healing to us, Pastor Prince also tackles the tough questions:

Is God punishing me with sickness and disease?
Is it really God’s will to heal me?
Do I qualify for His healing power?
What do I do when I don’t see results?
Can God heal my loved ones?
The enemy wants you to believe that God doesn’t care and that your situation is hopeless. But because of the cross, you can have full assurance in your heart that God wants you healed and whole. Learn how you can access His healing power with just the simple act of eating.

In Eat Your Way to Life and Health, discover a God who loves you so much, His Son paid for your healing on Calvary’s cross.

Be deeply encouraged as you read powerful testimonies from people who have received healing through a revelation of the Communion, despite being told their conditions were terminal or incurable.

Whatever circumstances you are confronted with today, God has a word for you: Don’t give up. There is hope. He has made a way for you!

 

Contending with Paul (Books 1 & 2) – Nov 16/24

Contending with Paul: The Hidden Story Behind the Writing of Matthew, Mark, and Luke
Author(s): William Joseph Cobble
Publisher: N/A
Price: $4.99      

Top 10 International Best Seller Rankings:

#1 in “Biographies of Judaism” (United Kingdom, June 2024)
#2 in “Christian History” (United States, August 2024)
#5 in “Christian History” (Australia, September 2024)
#9 in “Theology” (Canada, August 2024)

Using a blend of history, theology, biography, and literary criticism, Contending with Paul focuses primarily on the first two generations of the Christian movement. It is the first generation who would initially debate how the message of Jesus should be presented to the Gentile world (non-Jews) and what would be expected of those Gentiles who desired to follow Jesus. It is the second generation of believers who began to write in a new literary genre that Christians call “gospels.” The Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, and the Gospel of Luke, are the earliest three to have survived, and it is through these writings that the debates of the first generation get carried forward by the second. Though all three gospels were written after the death of Paul, it is asserted by the author that each gospel writer contended with his continuing influence in some way, though each from their own distinctive vantage point.

Paul’s influence may be underestimated if one only counts his 13 extant works in the New Testament. For the benefit of using a round number, it can be estimated that Paul ministered for 30 years. Also, for the sake of a round number, the churches and individuals to whom he corresponded may be estimated to be 20. Supposing he wrote to each of these entities twice a year, Paul’s total ministerial correspondence would rise from his 13 extant works to an output of 1,200. Paul would likely have been a dynamic figure in person as well. He is portrayed as a vigorous traveler and a gifted debater. Herein lies the influence. Not only is it credible that this influence would have been felt by the gospel writers, it may have been impossible for them to completely isolate themselves from it.

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Contending with Paul 2: What Paul’s Letters Tell Us About Their Author(s) – And Why We Should Listen
Author(s): William Joseph Cobble
Publisher: N/A
Price: $2.99      

An Amazon #1 New Release in: “Christian Education,” “Christian Bible History and Culture,”
and “Christian History.”

The Christian New Testament contains twenty-seven works, thirteen of which are letters claiming to be written by Paul. Yet, since the 1800s, critical scholars have adamantly disputed his authorship of six of these. Why?

In 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3, Paul warns of a counterfeit letter “allegedly from us,” and instructs his congregation: “Let no one deceive you in any way.”
If First Century forgers were circulating letters claiming to be written by Paul, could any of these have found their way into the New Testament? How would we know?
Do Paul’s seven Undisputed Letters reveal any signs of editing or alteration?

“Contending with Paul 2” examines the journeys of all thirteen of Paul’s letters and the Book of Hebrews. Approaching these letters as historical documents, the author looks through the eyes of the scholars in order to understand what they see.

What is found will enrich the reader’s knowledge of all of Paul’s letters. It will also provide much to consider regarding the six Disputed Letters and the power they continue to wield.

In Feast or Famine: A Novel (The Egyptian Chronicles Book 2)

Author(s): Mesu Andrews
Publisher: WaterBrook
Price: $1.99       (Ends June 5)

Thrust into an arranged marriage, the daughter of ancient Egypt’s high priest plays a pivotal role in Joseph’s biblical narrative in this powerful novel from the award-winning author of Potiphar’s Wife.

After four-year-old Asenath’s mother is murdered by Egypt’s foreign rulers, the child is raised to be a priestess by her overprotective father—high priest of Egypt’s sun god. For fifteen years, Asenath is sequestered in the upper levels of Ra’s temple, convinced it is her destiny to heal the land by becoming queen to the next Egyptianpharaoh. But when Egypt’s foreign king instead gives her as a bride to the newly appointed vizier—a Hebrew named Joseph—her entire world is shaken.

Beyond the walls of her tower, Asenath discovers treachery, deceit, and conspiracy that force her to redefine her destiny and weigh where her true loyalties lie. Can she still trust the gods of Egypt? Or is Elohim, the foreign God of her husband, the one who will heal her nation during the feast and famine to come?

 

Misreading Scripture: Apr 19/25

Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes
Author(s): E. Randolph Richards and Richard James
Publisher: IVP Academic
Price: $6.99       (Ends Apr 30)

The Bible was written within collectivist cultures. When Westerners, immersed in individualism, read the Bible, it’s easy to misinterpret important elements—or miss them altogether. In any culture, the most important things usually go without being said. So to read Scripture well we benefit when we uncover the unspoken social structures and values of its world. We need to recalibrate our vision.

Combining the expertise of a biblical scholar and a missionary practitioner, Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes is an essential guidebook to the cultural background of the Bible and how it should inform our reading. E. Randolph Richards and Richard James explore deep social structures of the ancient Mediterranean—kinship, patronage, and brokerage—along with their key social tools—honor, shame, and boundaries—that the biblical authors lived in and lie below the surface of each text. From Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar to Peter’s instructions to elders, the authors strip away individualist assumptions and bring the world of the biblical writers to life.

Expanding on the popular Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, this book makes clear how understanding collectivism will help us better understand the Bible, which in turn will help us live more faithfully in an increasingly globalized world.

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Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes
Author(s): E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien
Publisher: IVP
Price: $3.99       (Ends Apr 30)

Over 100,000 Copies Sold Worldwide!

Understand Scripture on Its Own Terms

What was clear to the original readers of Scripture is not always clear to us. Because of the cultural distance between the biblical world and our contemporary setting, we often bring modern Western biases to the text. For example:

When Western readers hear Paul exhorting women to “dress modestly,” we automatically think in terms of sexual modesty. But most women in that culture would never wear racy clothing. The context suggests that Paul is likely more concerned about economic modesty—that Christian women not flaunt their wealth through expensive clothes, braided hair and gold jewelry.
Some readers might assume that Moses married “below himself” because his wife was a dark-skinned Cushite. Actually, Hebrews were the slave race, not the Cushites, who were highly respected. Aaron and Miriam probably thought Moses was being presumptuous by marrying “above himself.”
Western individualism leads us to assume that Mary and Joseph traveled alone to Bethlehem. What went without saying was that they were likely accompanied by a large entourage of extended family.
Biblical scholars Brandon O’Brien and Randy Richards shed light on the ways that Western readers often misunderstand the cultural dynamics of the Bible. They identify nine key areas where modern Westerners have significantly different assumptions about what might be going on in a text. Drawing on their own crosscultural experience in global mission, O’Brien and Richards show how better self-awareness and understanding of cultural differences in language, time and social mores allow us to see the Bible in fresh and unexpected ways.

Getting beyond our own cultural assumptions is increasingly important for being Christians in our interconnected and globalized world. Learn to read Scripture as a member of the global body of Christ.

Finding Christ in the Straw: A Forty-Day Devotion on the Epistle of James

Author(s): Robert Hiller
Publisher: 1517 Publishing
Price: $3.99      

James wrote to Christians whose faith was under attack. Persecution, false teachings, and loveless actions were troubling God’s baptized people.

Things have not changed much for the church in these latter days. Though Luther referred to this letter as “an epistle of straw,” James gives much wisdom to Christ’s troubled bride.

In his foreword to Finding Christ in the Straw: A Forty-Day Devotion on the Epistle of James, Robert M. Hiller writes “[Martin] Luther felt that this letter lacked the focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ to warrant much of his energy. Straw has its benefits but is not all that useful in the long run.”

However, these forty devotions, based on James, will both challenge and comfort you, while showing you Christ in the straw.

 

Two Devotional E-Books: Feb 26/25

The One Year Book of Psalms
Author(s): William Petersen & Randy Petersen
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Price: $2.99       (Ends Feb 28)

Experience the beauty of the Psalms as you come to understand them and apply them like never before.

This one-year devotional contains all 150 Psalms and 20 other songs in Scripture, divided into daily readings. The devotions include helpful background information on the psalm, a related hymn stanza, and a practical application thought. Biweekly “Interludes” further aid understanding by explaining things such as acrostic psalms or Hebrew poetic style. Indexes included for easy reference.

This daily devotional extends an invitation to fall in love with the Old Testament book of Psalms as it offers readers:
Rich biblical insight on each passage
Sound doctrine informed by historical context
Encouragement to draw closer to God in an honest, authentic way
For 365 days, learn to praise, rejoice, lament, and seek the Lord alongside the psalmists.

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One Good Word a Day
Author(s): Kristin Demery, Kendra Roehl, & Julie Fisk
Publisher: Tyndale Momentum
Price: $2.99       (Ends Feb 28)

If you were to pick one word for the year, what would it be?
Invite . . . Abide . . . Balance . . . Simplify . . . ?

Every January, many of us proclaim our word for the year, choosing something inspiring that will help us set our intention for the coming months. But what would happen if rather than choosing one word for an entire year (because let’s face it, some of us forget by March), we focused on one good word each day—one thought-provoking, spiritually relevant, and encouraging word that reveals the many lovely and delightful truths of who Jesus is in our lives?

One Good Word a Day, by the creators of the online community, The Ruth Experience, offers simple, but deeply spiritual meditations that will help readers linger on one word each day so they can identify and reflect on how Jesus as the Word influences their daily lives.

Jesus is more than one word. He offers us abundance, hope, peace, kindness, courage, mercy, and so much more. One Good Word a Day reminds readers that in Christ, we find all we need to live encouraged and uplifted every day.