40 Questions About Biblical Theology

Posted on November 30, 2020 by Carl Simmons

Because what we know about God dictates what we do about God. . . .

40 Questions About Biblical Theology

Jason S. DeRouchie, Oren R. Martin, and Andrew David Naselli. 40 Questions About Biblical Theology. 400p., $27.99, Kregel Academic.

To understand what the entire Bible teaches about any given subject, we must practice biblical theology. By surveying the whole canon of Scripture, we can best discern what God has revealed about any particular issue. But doing so requires answering a number of important questions:

  • What type of biblical theology will we choose?
  • What overall story does the Bible tell?
  • How should we understand the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?
  • How does our topic fit within salvation history?
  • How do we apply the truths we discover?

40 Questions About Biblical Theology provides resources to answer these key questions in order to guide readers in their own study and practice of biblical theology. Other vital topics the authors address include how to understand typology, key themes in biblical theology, and how Christians should relate to Old Testament promises.

Ideal for courses on biblical theology, for pastors, and for anyone who teaches or interprets Scripture, 40 Questions on Biblical Theology will deepen your understanding and application of the whole counsel of God.

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Faith Not Fear

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Carl Simmons

Walking through the difficult times . . .

Christine Keller. Faith Not Fear: When It’s God’s Plan You Win. 170p., $15.99, Deep River Books.

Throughout her motherhood journey, Christine Keller experienced numerous tragedies that could have understandably triggered an abandoning of her faith. But that is not what happened. Quite the opposite in fact. Working through the tragedies fueled her faith and propelled her toward a deeply personal relationship with Jesus. Christine was reminded time and again that when God is in control there is no need to fear but all the reasons for faith.

FAITH Not Fear is a tale of overcoming great fear and learning to walk in abiding faith and peace. Christine reveals the horrors of her plunges into the dark pits of terror, rage, and desperation, but she also describes mountaintops marked by joyful singing and dancing. The struggle is real but so is the hope. This is not a book about blind faith or quick fixes—it is a book about God’s faithfulness.

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Avoiding a Parental Freakout

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Carl Simmons

Ready to send your kids off to college? Be prepared, with advice from a professor at the other end. . . .

Michael J. Bozack. Avoiding a Parental Freakout: Straight Talk from College Professor to Christian Parent. $16.99, Deep River Books.

Students across America have learned that the transition from high school to college is one of the toughest assignments they have ever received. And, for a Christian student, achieving success in a secular university is even harder. Did you know that . . .

  • Only ~ 32% of high school seniors graduate with the skills they need for college.
  • Only ~ 20% of entering college students have the basic quantitative skills necessary to compare ticket prices or calculate the cost of food.
  • By the end of their freshman year ~ 30% of college students drop out.
  • The four-year graduation rate for students attending public colleges and universities is currently 33%. The six-year rate is 58%.
  • More than 85% of college students feel overwhelmed and 51% report that “things are hopeless.”

Christian students are not immune to the bad statistics. They should be our best college students, but many are falling prey to the same forces that derail secular students. What is a parent to do?

Help is here! In this book, we give Christian parents the straight scoop on how to prepare your kids for college. Far more Christian students end up at secular colleges and universities than Christian colleges, but there are few resources to help parents. We show you what to do, what to avoid, what critical information you need, and which battles to fight. We offer tons of talking points to share with your kids. And best, we save you sleep, frustration, money, heartaches, pints of Baskin-Robbins double chocolate, and hours of watching the Hallmark Channel to chill out.

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Kerux: Zephaniah-Malachi

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Carl Simmons

For all you Minor Prophets fans in the audience. . . .

Zephaniah-Malachi

Gary V. Smith and Timothy D. Sprankle. Zephaniah-Malachi: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching. Kerux Commentaries. 384p., $32. 99, Kregel Academic.

Kerux Commentaries enable pastors and teachers to understand and effectively present the main message in a biblical text.

Each volume uniquely combines the insights of an experienced Bible exegete (trained in interpretation) and a homiletician (trained in preaching). These two authors work together to explain the essential message for the original listeners or readers, unpack its timeless truth, and then provide a contemporary restatement and communication insights for the key biblical concept. Every book is a resource designed and written with the real needs of the pastor and teacher always in sight, providing many ways to creatively express the principal thought in a biblical passage.

Based on the Big Idea preaching model, Kerux enhances the reader’s ability to deliver a message that is biblical, cohesive, and dynamic.

Zephaniah-Malachi unfolds the messages of the final four minor prophets, including the key themes of repentance, the temple, the day of the Lord, and a coming kingdom in which Messiah will reign and bring cleansing and restoration. Smith and Sprankle aid the preacher in bringing these books to life for modern congregations and helping contemporary followers of Christ apply their timeless principles.

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Rx for Grief

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Carl Simmons

A counselor talks about her own repeated experiences with grief—and what comes after. . . .

Jane Amelia Smith. Rx for Grief: Hope through God’s Truth. $15.99, Deep River Books.

Jane Amelia Smith’s third published book gives us a look at who she is and how she responded to the deaths of the four people dearest to her.

While she is no stranger to death on a professional level, Jane experienced an all-consuming grief following the deaths of her own dear loved ones. In response, Jane began a search for truth. Eventually, she turned to reading the Holy Bible, as well as books pertaining to quantum physics and NDEs (near-death experiences). This reading confirmed her long-standing belief that theology and science affirm one another. She emerged from her search with a new appreciation for God’s awesome wonder, as evidenced through every aspect of His creation, from the earthly home He prepared for us to the microscopic particles we are made from as identified through quantum physics. God has a plan for both our living and our dying. Her research became an adventure of a lifetime—an adventure she would like to share with all other terminally mortal beings.

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Abandoned?

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Carl Simmons

Need a light read that goes into some heavy places? Read on. . . .

Ruth Billings. Abandoned? $14.99, Deep River Books.

Sue had delayed going through her mom’s stuff after her death. Just going into her mom’s room made her depressed. She wasn’t surprised to find that her mom had kept her dad’s letters, but it was many months after her mom’s death that she found them.

Sue found more than just her dad’s letters tucked away in the bundle of papers, though, and the other note she found didn’t make any sense to her at all. She determined that it must have confused her mom also. Otherwise, surely, her mom would have told her about it years ago.

Sue had never known her dad, Joe de Cou, because he had been declared Missing in Action just after she was born. But subsequent odd events suggested he might not have died. Decades later, she was determined to find out—to go on a quest for her own peace of mind. She just wanted to know for sure what had happened to him. . . .

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Soul Anatomy

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Carl Simmons

Soul Anatomy: Finding Peace, Hope, and Joy in the Psalms (eBook)

George Roberston. Soul Anatomy: Fiding Peace, Hope, and Joy in the Psalms. 240p., $17.99, New Growth Press.

How do you worship when you’re depressed? Where do you find words to express inexpressible joy? What do you pray when you need hope?

Soul Anatomy is a biblical guide for working through emotional turmoil in a gospel-centered way. It shows how the Psalms serve as a God-authored script by which to express every category of the human experience. 

The Bible’s inspired hymnbook guides believers through the highest summits and lowest troughs of life and invites the not-yet believer to a Redeemer who ultimately experienced all of the emotions of these prayers in his incarnation.

Author George Robertson enables readers to find a sympathetic Savior in the Psalms who experienced every human emotion, and he helps men and women see the God-inspired vocabulary for expressing every feeling to the Father.

Soul Anatomy helps men and women respond to the love of God in all the ways the psalmists do: spiritually, vocationally, physically, and volitionally. As divinely inspired prayers, God offers the vocabulary he welcomes from us when we do not know how to pray.

Discover the heart of Jesus through the prayers of Jesus, the high priest who can sympathize with us. 

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Heaven’s Ambassadors in the Making

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Carl Simmons

Heaven's Ambassadors in the Making: Becoming the Person You Were Created to Be

Greg Allenby, Benjamin Graham, and Timothy Wambura. Heaven’s Ambassadors in the Making: Becoming the Person You Were Created to Be. 144p., $15.99, Deep River Books.

The parable of the Prodigal Son speaks of the wayward son coming to his right mind while working among the pigs. Unfortunately, many people don’t have a right mind to come to because they have not had godly people in their lives to teach them what is right. Words like faith, hope, and love often don’t have much meaning to people unless someone has provided them with examples.

Ambassadors in the Making provides examples of what it means to follow Christ’s commandments to serve, trust, and be generous. These examples allow people to reclaim the holy existence God has already given them.

This book tells the stories of two ministries on opposite sides of the world that both transformed lives of individuals who were once spiritually lost. The transition houses, orphanages, schools, and hospitals in the ministries are considered embassies of heaven, outposts in a foreign land, staffed by ambassadors for Christ.

Readers will be inspired to become ambassadors who partner with the Holy Spirit to enable the hurting souls around them to become all that they were created to be.

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40 Questions about Typology and Allegory

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Carl Simmons

40 Questions About Typology and Allegory

Mitchell L. Chase. 40 Questions about Typology and Allegory. 320p., $23.99, Kregel Academic\.

A biblical type is a person, place, or thing in salvation history that corresponds to a later person, place, or thing in the scriptural text. An allegory is a passage that says one thing in order to say something else. Both are common literary devices in the Bible that are vital for understanding truths about Jesus Christ found nowhere else.

In 40 Questions About Typology and Allegory, Mitchell Chase provides a thorough introduction to both devices, showing where they appear throughout Scripture and the historical roles they have played in biblical interpretation. In a convenient question-and-answer format, Chase answers key questions such as:

  • Why should interpreters care about typology and allegory?
  • How do we identify types?
  • What are the theological assumptions of typology?
  • Do all types lead to Christ?
  • What is allegorical interpretation?
  • How was allegory practiced in the early church?
  • How should we practice allegorical interpretation?

Situating typology and allegory within salvation history, Chase shows how these devices reveal the interconnectedness of Scripture and commonly overlooked aspects of Christ’s person and work. Scholars, Bible teachers, and preachers will find this an essential resource for interpreting Scripture more comprehensively.

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Invitation to Christian Ethics

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Carl Simmons

Invitation to Christian Ethics

Ken Magnuson. Invitation to Christian Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues. 544p., $44.99, Kregel Academic.

Invitation to Christian Ethics is an indispensable guide for helping pastors, counselors, and everyday Christians navigate today’s difficult moral questions. Readers will benefit from Ken Magnuson’s survey of ethics from a biblical perspective as well as contemporary theories of moral reasoning. This survey is followed by twelve chapters devoted to some of the thorniest issues Christians encounter today, such as:

  • Sexuality, including homosexuality, sexual identity, and gender
  • Marriage and divorce
  • Infertility and assisted reproductive technologies
  • Abortion
  • Physician-assisted suicide
  • Race relations
  • Creation care
  • Capital punishment
  • Just war, pacifism, and the use of lethal force

Magnuson provides biblical insight into each topic and presents key moral considerations. He also answers specific, practical questions that arise and concludes with a summary of his recommended approach to each issue. Readers will learn how to grapple with difficult moral questions and will receive guidance for some of life’s most challenging ethical conundrums.

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