Learn something new this Christmas as you explore the oft-overlooked characters behind the Christmas story, like the wise men, Simeon, Anna, and Herod. The Characters of Christmas will show you a familiar Jesus from a fresh perspective.

Most Christians are familiar with the opening words of Genesis: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” But push beyond those iconic words, and sometimes the details get a little hazy. And strange. God walked around in a garden? Eve was made from Adam’s rib? A talking serpent? And what the in the world were the “Nephilim”? In The Characters of Creation, Daniel Darling re-introduces listeners to the story they thought they knew.

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.

All My Knotted-Up Life is a beautifully crafted portrait of resilience and survival, a poignant reminder of God’s enduring faithfulness, and proof positive that if we ever truly took the time to hear people’s full stories . . . we’d all walk around slack-jawed.

The Watchmaker’s Daughter is one of the greatest stories of World War II that listeners haven’t heard: the remarkable and inspiring life story of Corrie ten Boom—a groundbreaking, female Dutch watchmaker, whose family unselfishly transformed their house into a hiding place straight out of a spy novel to shelter Jews and refugees from the Nazis during Gestapo raids. Even though the Nazis knew what the ten Booms were up to, they were never able to find those sheltered within the house when they raided it.

Are you weary? Worn out by the bills that keep stacking, a virus that keeps raging, or a heart that keeps aching? If so, the book of Esther brings welcome news: Relief will come! To be clear, you didn't ask for this struggle. You want to get past it. You don't know how much longer you can hold up. But what if God is with you in this difficult season? When life seems off the rails, remember this truth: the minute you bow your head to pray is the moment God lifts his hand to help.

With vulnerability and honesty, Jerry Sittser walks through his own grief and loss to show that new life is possible - one marked by spiritual depth, joy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of simple and ordinary gifts. This 25th anniversary edition features a new introduction and two additional chapters, one which provides help for pastors and counselors.

King's Cross is Timothy Keller's revelatory look at the life of Christ as told in the Gospel of Mark. There have been many biographies of Jesus, but few will be as anticipated as this one by Keller, the man Newsweek calls "a C. S. Lewis for the 21st century". In it, Keller shows how the story of Jesus is at once cosmic, historical, and personal, calling each of us to look anew at our relationship with God.

When God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, Abraham was childless. Yet through many obstacles, temptations, and even failures, Abraham became an example of faith as he learned to trust God's promises regardless of circumstances. In this faith-filled book, Michael Youssef takes you through Abraham's incredible journey of faith, encouraging you to trust God's timing and plan when the road gets difficult.

The good news that God’s Word proclaims is a recipe to use in times of disaster. That is to say, it comes as a relevant announcement only to those who are in trouble for one reason or another. This book calls for more realism in facing life’s challenges and a richer view of God and his purposes to match them.

This best-selling textbook surveys the grand narrative of the Bible, demonstrating how the biblical story forms the foundation of a Christian worldview.

In The Courage to Stand, best-selling and award-winning author Russell Moore calls listeners to a Christ-empowered courage by pointing the way to real freedom from fear - the way of the cross. That way means integrity through brokenness, community through loneliness, power through weakness, and a future through irrelevance. On the other side of fear is freedom: the freedom to stand.

Enjoy the magnificent panorama of Scripture like never before! Pastor Skip Heitzig shares a "flight" plan for all 66 books of the Bible to help you better understand the context and significance of each.

From the first persecutions of the Jews in the fourth century to the horrors of the Holocaust, from Israel-bashing in today's press to anti-Semitism spouted from the pulpit, this painful book tells the tragic story that every Christian must listen to. In a freshly updated and expanded edition of this pivotal work, Dr. Michael Brown exposes the faulty theological roots that opened the door to anti-Semitism in church history, explaining why well-meaning believers so often fall into the trap of hate...and showing how you can bring an end to the cycle of violence.

We’ve grown way too comfortable with the story of Jesus. Nice man, right? Taught us to love one another. Said not to judge people. Tragically killed by his enemies. We celebrate his birthday every year. It’s time to put away this small, safe version of Jesus, says Cy Kellett, host of Catholic Answers Live. Nobody that bland could have transformed the world as he did.

The greatest revolution of all time was about to begin.... When Pontius Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he thought he was putting an end to the Jewish uprising that had been threatening the authority of the Roman Empire. What Pilate didn't realize, however, was that the real revolution was just getting started.

In Twelve Unlikely Heroes, pastor and best-selling author John MacArthur uses his deep knowledge of the Bible and history to take us back to see these three-dimensional men and women in their own times and cultures. In doing so, it becomes clear how their dramatic stories apply to us today. People who might at first seem foreign quickly become familiar and unforgettable - particularly as they reveal the true Hero behind every witness, the power counterbalancing every weakness, "the Author and Finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1).

Learn something new this Christmas as you explore the oft-overlooked characters behind the Christmas story, like the wise men, Simeon, Anna, and Herod. The Characters of Christmas will show you a familiar Jesus from a fresh perspective.

In his subtle and engaging investigation into the life and times of Jesus, Thomas Cahill shows us Jesus from his birth to his execution through the eyes of those who knew him and in the context of his time—a time when the Jews were struggling to maintain their beliefs under overlords who imposed their worldview on their subjects. Here is Jesus the loving friend, itinerate preacher, and quiet revolutionary, whose words and actions inspired his followers to journey throughout the Roman world and speak the truth he instilled.

“Jesus - the Jesus we might discover if we really looked,” explains Wright, “is larger, more disturbing, more urgent than we had ever imagined. We have successfully managed to hide behind other questions and to avoid the huge, world-shaking challenge of Jesus’s central claim and achievement. It is we, the churches, who have been the real reductionists. We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety; the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience; Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale. Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important...."

N. T. Wright argues that every world view must explain seven “signposts”, indicators inherent to humanity. Using the Gospel of John as his source, Wright shows how Christianity defines each signpost and illuminates why we so often see them as being "broken" and unattainable. Drawing on the wisdom of the Gospels, Wright explains why these signposts are fractured and damaged and how Christianity provides the vision, guidance, and hope for making them whole once again, ultimately healing ourselves and our world.

Should we always forgive? Is forgiveness always even possible? Does forgiveness enable evil? Does it sacrifice justice? Are there ANY limits? In a world where the ugliness of rage and retaliation are driving the story line, Unconditional? offers the beauty, reconciliation, and total restoration of forgiveness the way Jesus taught us to live it.

Best-selling author John Ortberg shares how Jesus' influence has swept over history and how his vision of life continues to impact humanity today. Jesus' impact on our world is highly unlikely, widely inescapable, largely unknown, and decidedly double-edged. It is unlikely in light of the severe limitations of his earthly life; it is inescapable because of the range of impact; it is unknown because history doesn't connect dots; and it is doubled-edged because his followers have wreaked so much havoc, often in his name.

Beginning with Jesus' birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels. Bailey examines the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus' relationship to women, and especially Jesus' parables. Through it all, Bailey employs his trademark expertise as a master of Middle Eastern culture to lead you into a deeper understanding of the person and significance of Jesus within his own cultural context.

In The Secret Message of Jesus, McLaren clears away the dust of 2,000 years of the Christian religion to get to the most important questions facing Christendom: Could it be that the church has misunderstood or, in some cases, intentionally distorted Jesus' core message?

For decades Americans were vaguely aware that Islamist barbarians were in the deserts of the Middle East and in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, executing "infidels" and raiding villages with unrecognizable names. The Muslim world seemed far away, remote, and irrelevant to our daily lives. Then came the terrorist attack of 9/11, followed by attacks at Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon, San Bernandino, Orlando, and more. Now terrorists seem to be emerging everywhere, unleashing senseless death and destruction on our nation.

In what are billed "culture wars", people on the political right and the political left cite Jesus as endorsing their views. Garry Wills argues that Jesus subscribed to no political program. He was far more radical than that. In a fresh reading of the gospels, Wills explores the meaning of the "reign of heaven" that Jesus not only promised for the future but brought with him into this life.

Jack Miles's book is a provocative and revisionary look at the life of Jesus, in which many of the most well-worn truths about Christ are recontextualized and revisited. It does not look for the historical Jesus, but takes the Gospels as the sole source about his life.

What is Christianity? It is Christ. Nothing more, nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology and not a philosophy. Christianity is the Good News that beauty, truth, and goodness are found in a Person. And conversion? It's more than a change in direction; it's a change in connection.

John the apostle must have thought he had seen everything. Having been with Jesus all the years of his ministry, John witnessed more miracles than he could count, saw more displays of power than he could comprehend, and experienced more love than he could fathom. And one unforgettable morning young John outran Peter to his Savior's empty tomb. Just as Christ took John on a lifelong journey into the depths of His love, He will do the same for you.