Recommendations based on "The Pilgrim's Progress From this World to that which is to Come : Delivered Under the Similitude of a Dream; Wherein is Discovered the Manner of His Setting Out; His Dangerous Journey; and Safe Arrival at the Desired Countrey"

"C.S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way." — Anthony Burgess, New York Times Book ReviewOur moral consciousness and moral judgements are proof to the human race that a moral being exists—God.Mere Christianity explores the core beliefs of Christianity by providing an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith. A brilliant collection, Mere Christianity remains strikingly fresh for the modern reader and at the same time confirms C. S. Lewis’s reputation as one of the leading writer and thinkers of our age.The book brings together Lewis’ legendary broadcast talks during World War II. Lewis discusses that everyone is curious about: right and wrong, human nature, morality, marriage, sins, forgiveness, faith, hope, generosity, and kindness.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was called a lot of names by people. Many of the religious leaders of the day were jealous of his success and wanted to discredit him in the eyes of the public, so they said all sorts of crazy things about him. They whispered that he was an illegitimate child. They accused him of being demon-possessed. They denounced him to the Roman authorities as a rioter and a threat of public peace. In this five-session video Bible study (DVD/digital videos sold separately), pastor and author Rich Wilkerson, Jr. reveals how one of their nicknames for Jesus was true: “Here is a . . . friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). In the religious leaders’ minds this was one of the greatest indictments imaginable, but for Jesus it was a sign of success because it was the very definition of his mission. Today, Jesus still calls us “friends,” not because of who we are or what we have done but because of who he is. While he was on earth, he knew that people needed to feel as if they belonged before they would want to behave. Rich shows that by following his example, we can have the same clear conviction and compassion for the lost that Jesus did. When we embrace the truth that we all need Jesus equally, and when we trust him to bring transformation in people’s hearts, we will walk as Jesus walked, experiencing the glory of God in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. The Friend of Sinners Study Guide includes video discussion questions, Bible exploration, and personal study and reflection materials for in-between sessions. Sessions include: Missed Message Weight Shift Lost and Found Comfortably Uncomfortable How to Be Great Designed for use with the Friend of Sinners Video Study (sold separately).

Do you find it more difficult to think of Jesus Christ as a human, like you, than to think of him as God? You may believe in God, and you may believe Jesus is God, but many Christians find it difficult to think of him as a real person--fully human as he was fully divine. Award-winning author Max Lucado reveals in this video Bible study (DVD/streaming video sold separately) that in order to really know God and understand the Gospel, it's essential that we take a closer look at Jesus' humanity. The concept of Jesus' human and heavenly nature is difficult to wrap our minds around. He's the God who formed the universe and, at the same time, knows your personal struggles...because he went through the same things. For thirty-three years, Jesus felt everything you have ever felt. Weakness. Weariness. Sadness. Rejection. His feet got tired. His head ached. He was tempted and his strength was tested. The purpose of this study is simple: by journeying through these six lessons with a small group, you will get to know Jesus—and, therefore, God—like you never have before. And by learning more about the person Jesus was and is, we come to understand more clearly the people we were created to be. The Jesus Study Guide includes: Video teaching notes Group discussion questions and activities Bible exploration and prayers Weekly personal study and reflection materials. Get ready to study who Jesus was while he walked this earth and what that means for your life today. In doing this, you will get to know God, his purpose for you, and his love for you like you never have before. *Designed for use with the Jesus: The God Who Knows Your Name Video Study, available on DVD or streaming video, sold separately.

Packed with new supplementary materials, each Scofield® Study Bible is durable and made to withstand daily use. Each volume includes a presentation page for gift giving, a full-color map section, and attractive binding in a variety of styles to suit any occasion. This hardcover edition combines the renowned Scofield® study notes and reference system with the historic King James Version translation. Generations of Bible students have chosen the Scofield® Study Bibles for its unique study and reference features. Clean, clear text and annotations are laid out in an easy-to-read format, guiding readers to a fuller understanding of the Bible. The Scofield® Study Bible III KJV includes cross references that link topics and words together, introductions to the various books of the Bible, a superb system of chain references, the concordance, study notes, charts and diagrams, a subject and a proper name index, and much more. * An exclusive, subject-based topical chain reference system. * Over 100 boxed factual articles and lists. * Expanded introductions with detailed outlines of each book. * An expanded Subject index. * Study not biblical references are in "chapter-and-verse" format. * Side-column references are grouped by chapter and verse. * Over 550 in-text definitions of proper nouns for people and place names. * Nearly 70 in-text black and white maps and charts. * In-text articles of nearly 250 notes crucial to understanding the Scofield®. * Indexes to Proper Nouns, Chain References, and Subjects. * 16 pages of accurate, full color New Oxford Bible Maps (with index of places and natural features). * Bottom-of-the-page study notes. * Sectional headings. * Select KJV Concordance. * Red Letter.

A stunning new edition of this timeless allegory of heaven and hell, repackaged and rebranded as part of the C.S. Lewis Signature Classics range. C.S. Lewis's dazzling allegory about heaven and hell and the chasm fixed between them, is one of his most brilliantly imaginative tales which will appeal to readers of all ages. Lewis communicates deep spiritual truths through the sheer power of the fantastic. In The Great Divorce the writer in a dream boards a bus on a drizzly afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed from his expectations and comes to significant realisations about the ultimate consequences of everyday behaviour. This is the starting point for a profound meditation upon good and evil. "If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell."

The bestselling and prize-winning Israeli author Meir Shalev describes the many "firsts" of the Bible – the first love and the first death, to the first laugh and the first dream – providing a fresh, secular and surprising look at the stories we think we know.The first kiss in the Bible is not a kiss of love. The first love in the Bible is not the love of a man and a woman. The first hatred in the Bible is the hatred of a man toward his wife. The first laugh in the Bible is also the last. In Beginnings, Meir Shalev reintroduces us to the heroes and heroines of the Old Testament, exploring these and many more of the Bible’s unexpected "firsts." Combining penetrating wit, deep empathy, and impressive knowledge of the Bible, he probes each episode to uncover nuances and implications that a lesser writer would overlook, and his nontraditional, nonreligious interpretations of the famous stories of the Bible take them beyond platitudes and assumptions to the love, fear, tragedy, and inspiration at their heart. Literary, inquisitive, and honest, Shalev makes these stories come alive in all their complicated beauty, and though these stories are ancient, their resonance remains intensely contemporary.

In 1987, an IRA bomb buried Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter beneath five feet of rubble. Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, " I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them." His words caught the media's ears -- and out of one man's grief, the world got a glimpse of grace. Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else -- for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In What's So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy? Yancey sets grace in the midst of life's stark images, tests its mettle against horrific "ungrace." Can grace survive in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust? Can it triumph over the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan? Should any grace at all be shown to the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and cannibalized seventeen young men? Grace does not excuse sin, says Yancey, but it treasures the sinner. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventions with its insistence on getting close to sinners and touching them with mercy and hope. It forgives the unfaithful spouse, the racist, the child abuser. It loves today's AIDS-ridden addict as much as the tax collector of Jesus' day. In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace's life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He asks, How can Christians contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear? And he challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know, What's So Amazing About Grace?

William Tyndale (1494-1536) was the first person to translate the Bible into English from its original Greek and Hebrew and the first to print the Bible in English, which he did in exile. Giving the laity access to the word of God outraged the clerical establishment in England: he was condemned, hunted, and eventually murdered. However, his masterly translation formed the basis of all English Bibles including the King James Bible, many of whose finest passages were taken unchanged, though unacknowledged, from Tyndale's work.

Is it possible to disagree politically and love unconditionally? The reaction of evangelicals to political and cultural shifts in recent years revealed what they value most. Lurking beneath our Bible-laced rhetoric, faith claims, books, and sermons is a relentless drive to WIN! But the church is not here to win. By every human measure, our Savior lost. On purpose. With a purpose. And we are his body. We are not in it to win anything. We are in it for something else entirely. That something else is what this book is about. You'll discover: How to take a stand the right way. You'll learn how to make your case with a posture of humility and understanding, rather than being fueled by the fear of losing something. How to view politics through the lens of faith. Learn curiously, listen intentionally, and love unconditionally. How the life of Jesus and his teaching applies to modern-day challenges in a fresh way. The "biblical" stand may not be what we've been taught. Jesus never asked his followers to agree on everything. But he did call his followers to obey a new command: to love others in the same way he has loved us. Instead of asserting our rights or fighting for power, we need to begin asking ourselves: what does love require of me?

A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike. Each volume employs three main, easy-to-use sections designed to help readers live out God's story: LISTEN to the Story: Includes complete NIV text with references to other texts at work in each passage, encouraging the reader to hear it within the Bible's grand story. EXPLAIN the Story: Explores and illuminates each text as embedded in its canonical and historical setting. LIVE the Story: Reflects on how each text can be lived today and includes contemporary stories and illustrations to aid preachers, teachers, and students. --Philippians-- In Philippians, Paul speaks to the character of God, the character of the believer in Christ, and the character of believers together in Christ; and he invites theological reflection on the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ in ways that--were this letter absent from the New Testament--certain aspects of God's redemptive plan and our response to it would be shifted into the realm of speculation. Edited by Scot McKnight and Tremper Longman III, and written by a number of top-notch theologians, The Story of God Bible Commentary series will bring relevant, balanced, and clear-minded theological insight to any biblical education or ministry.