Study Commentaries

When Brian Doyle passed away at the age of 60 after a bout with brain cancer, he left behind a cult-like following of devoted listeners who regard his writing as one of the best-kept secrets of the 21st century. Doyle writes with a delightful sense of wonder about the sanctity of everyday things, and about love and connection in all their forms: spiritual love, brotherly love, romantic love, and even the love of a nine-foot sturgeon.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic in portraying the savior’s humanity in different aspects with his deity. Since Mark presents the savior as a slave, he does not tell his genealogy and status, because the ancestry of a slave is not worthy of note. Furthermore, in contrast to Matthew, who presents to us the savior’s marvelous teachings and parables concerning the heavenly kingdom, and John, who presents his profound revelations of the divine truths, Mark’s intention is not to impress us with the slave’s wonderful words, but with his excellent deeds in his gospel service.

The world is filled with counterfeits. And the church is not immune, as false ideas and doctrines can infect believers and congregations. So when it comes to spiritual teachers, messages, and movements, how can we tell fact from fiction? The answers are found in 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, and Jude, where the apostles provide practical insights for discerning truth.

Editors Denis Alexander and Alister McGrath gather other intelligent minds from around the world to share their startling commonality: Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists were instrumental in their conversions to Christianity. Despite a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, all are united in the fact that they were first enthusiasts for the claims and writings of the New Atheists. But each became disillusioned by the arguments and conclusions of Dawkins, causing them to look deeper and with more objectivity at religious faith.

You were made to make disciples. Jesus gave His followers a command: “Follow Me.” And a promise: “I will equip you to find others to follow Me.” We were made to make disciples. Designed for use in discipleship relationships and other focused settings, Multiply will equip you to carry out Jesus’ ministry. Each of the 24 sessions in the audio book corresponds with an online video at www.multiplymovement.com, where New York Times best-selling author David Platt joins Francis Chan in guiding you through each part of Multiply.

A verse by verse commentary on the book of Isaiah (chapters 1-39), taking special care to notice the local circumstances surrounding the writing (the threat of Assyria, the growth of Babylon, the sins of Judah), while allowing the many references to the coming-Christ serve as the sizzle to the steak of the letter.

The road of spiritual growth can get bumpy. From the new believer to the seasoned disciple, we all experience frustrations and setbacks in our pursuit of God. And perhaps no one understands spiritual struggles better than the apostle Paul. In the book of 2 Corinthians, Paul shares a revealing look at his own challenges, and offers a profound message of encouragement for every believer.

For both Ruth and Esther, God used stressful circumstances to bring about his eternal purposes. Ruth's commitment to the God of Naomi affected every generation to come, as she became an ancestor of King David and more importantly, Jesus Christ. Esther's obedience led to the preservation of her people at a moment in history when all seemed lost.

An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of the Scriptures. Walk through the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the community of faithful Christian believers who were scattered about the region of ancient Asia Minor as he sought to share the gospel message in an encouraging and instructive manner. This was Peter's magnus opus, a work that has served to encourage and guide Christians for these many centuries. The text is organized into 18 short Bible studies, each useful for a 30-minute personal study, or an hour group study. Table of Contents 1 Peter 1:1-12. An Affirmation of Hope 9-2 1 ...

“Open your ears,” says James Montgomery Boice. “Hear the voice of Christ. Believe him. Turn to him. Throw yourself upon him. Receive him as your Savior.” Even in the midst of pain and persecution, we are to live as Christ would live. Volume 3 of the Gospel of John shows Jesus turning to all who had received him in the midst of, and in spite of, growing hostility from the authorities of Judaism.

In the early 19th century, Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, conceived the idea of extracting a gospel purified of what he saw as extraneous philosophical, mythological, and theological elements. To do so, he took verses from the four canonical gospels and arranged them into a single narrative, focusing on the actual words of Jesus.

We are called to live a life obedient to God. But what does this look like? And how can we live in a way that's pleasing to Him? The answer is found in faith. Long considered the father of faith, Abraham sets the standard for what it means to be obedient. The book of Genesis holds the remarkable story of Abraham, a man who would give birth to a nation, and make the way for our Savior. Part of Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe's best-selling "BE" commentary series, Be Obedient has now been updated with study questions and a new introduction by Ken Baugh.

Have we been taught to discount the veracity and deeper meaning of our emotional resonance with the world around us? In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis looks at the curriculum of the English "prep school" and begins to wonder if this subliminal teaching has indeed produced a generation who discount such a nature.

Even people who are not professing Christians think they are familiar with the story of the Nativity. Every Christmas, displays of Jesus resting in a manger populate lawns and churchyards, and songs about shepherds and angels fill the air. Yet despite the abundance of these Christian references in popular culture, how many of us have examined the hard edges of this biblical story? Timothy Keller takes listeners on an illuminating journey into the surprising background of the Nativity.

In recent years, the theological—and, more specifically, Roman Catholic—question of the supernatural has made an astonishing return from seeming oblivion. David Bentley Hart's You Are Gods presents a series of meditations on the vexed theological question of the relation of nature and supernature. In its merely controversial aspect, the book is intended most directly as a rejection of a certain Thomistic construal of that relation, as well as an argument in favor of a model of nature and supernature at once more Eastern and patristic.

In a fast-paced, technology-based era when drive-thrus, cell phones, laptops, and Internet banking are the norm, it's sometimes hard to fathom that God doesn't appreciate our frail attempts at spiritual shortcuts. Through the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, with insight from Paul's letter to Philemon as well, Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe illustrates that working for God's Kingdom requires tenacity, never-ceasing prayer, and protective battle gear that only God can provide.

Sinai to Zion is an exciting study of how the Bible uses the Exodus story as the basis for its vision concerning the glorious and triumphant return of Jesus the Messiah. For the first time, this book presents a thorough examination of many often overlooked, yet critically important Old Testament texts that the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament authors looked to as describing the return of Jesus.

Life is full of imitations. Which is why today's culture needs genuine, transparent people of God. People of purpose, not perfection. Believers who crave real spiritual growth. But what does this look like? The book of Genesis provides the answer, where we find three men who experienced an authentic life: Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

Many pastors, students, and teachers have come to know and depend upon James Montgomery Boice’s scholarly yet accessible commentaries on the most popular books of the Bible. Here is an addition to the Boice commentaries that has a unique focus. Instead of examining an entire book of the Bible, it provides listeners with an in-depth look into Matthew 5-7, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Genesis begins the Bible and is foundational to it. In recent years, it has become commonplace for both humanists and churchmen to sneer at anyone who takes Genesis 1-11 as historical. Yet, to believe in the myth of evolution is to accept trillions of miracles to account for our cosmos. Spontaneous generation, the development of something out of nothing, and the blind belief in the miraculous powers of chance require tremendous faith.