Beholding Jesus

What you think about when you think about Jesus Christ is the most important thing about you. You are holding a unique book: Compelling, Challenging...Dangerous! Here is truth that can shape lives, families, and generations. Welcome to thirty letters written from a father to his children. These are not ordinary letters. They are about Jesus Christ, written from the heart of a father through the mind of a theologian. Their aim is to instruct the author's children in vital, life-changing, world-defying truth-sharp truth in a dull age. Truth about Jesus Christ: Who He is; What He has done; What He will do. Be prepared to have your life changed. Get ready to have your priorities revamped and your goals reset. Get ready to know Jesus Christ. John Gillespie pastored churches for thirty years in the UK and USA, and now travels with Global Training Network "off the beaten paths" to train and encourage pastors in the Majority (Third) World. John holds a PhD from Trinity College of the Bible, Newburgh, Indiana. He and his wife Tessa have been married thirty-one years, have seven children and an ever growing bushel of grand-children. Learn more at: www.johnandtessa.organd www.globaltrainingnetwork.org.

Who is Jesus Christ? You've never met Him in person, and you don't know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ - the divine Person revealed in the Bible - has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, "Yes, this is truth." It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet. The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross. Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, He will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." Ask God for the grace to do His will, and you will see the truth of His Son. John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else.

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be. —Revelation 22:12 KJV Are you prepared for the return of Jesus Christ? People have talked about it, read, wrote, sung, joked, and made movies about it. In March 2006, author Sarah A. Jones heard a voice in her dream say to her, “Let your testimony be: ‘Jesus Christ is Coming!’ The people must be told so that they can be prepared upon His arrival.” Therefore she has written this book about His return; what we can do according to God’s word to be prepared for this inevitable event; and what will happen to those who are not prepared. A MUST READ! I pray that this book will bless you, enlighten, and inspire you to seek God, and draw closer to Him in hope that you will be prepared for Jesus’ arrival. Allow God to speak to your heart as you read with expectation to hear and receive from Him. You will be amazed, and your life will never be the same. We guarantee it! Time is running out. Believe it or not; prepared or not; Jesus Christ is coming! For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth. —Psalm 96:13 NJKV

In this book, Colleen Conway looks at the construction of masculinity in New Testament depictions of Jesus. She argues that the New Testament writers necessarily engaged the predominant gender ideology of the Roman Empire, whether consciously or unconsciously. Although the notion of what constituted ideal masculinity in Greek and Roman cultures certainly pre-dated the Roman Empire, the emergence of the Principate concentrated this gender ideology on the figure of the emperor. Indeed, critical to the success of the empire was the portrayal of the emperor as the ideal man and the Roman citizen as one who aspired to be the same. Any person who was held up alongside the emperor as another source of authority would be assessed in terms of the cultural values represented in this Roman image of the "manly man." Conway examines a variety of ancient ideas of masculinity, as found in philosophical discourses, medical treaties, imperial documents, and ancient inscriptions. Manliness, in these accounts, was achieved through self-control over passions such as lust, anger, and greed. It was also gained through manly displays of courage, the endurance of pain, and death on behalf of others. With these texts as a starting point, Conway shows how the New Testament writings approach Jesus' gender identity. From Paul's early letters to the Gospels and Acts, to the book of Revelation, Christian writings in the Bible confront the potentially emasculating scandal of the cross and affirm Jesus as ideally masculine. Conway's study touches on such themes as the relationship between divinity and masculinity; the role of the body in relation to gender identity; and belief in Jesus as a means of achieving a more ideal form of masculinity. This impeccably researched and highly readable book reveals the importance of ancient gender ideology for the interpretation of Christian texts.

Yes...the everyday Christian can understand the book of Revelation! This clear, helpful study encourages readers to delve into this important scripture and, by studying it inductively, let the text speak for itself.

Behold the Christ: Proclaiming the Gospel of Matthew, by Leroy A. Huizenga, reveals the significance of St. Matthew’s Jesus: He is Emmanuel, God with us always, who saves his people from their sins by dying for them. In showing how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, gave us a way to live, and taught us how to follow the narrow way to the kingdom of heaven, St. Matthew modeled the fourfold way of reading Scripture according to letter and spirit. Above all, St. Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus Christ founding the Catholic Church as a robust, rigorous religion with rich rituals, chiefly the sacrificial Eucharist as sustenance on the narrow way to heaven. Jesus demands much of his Church, but the same Jesus who commands his Church also promises and delivers much—above all, himself. Keyed to the lectionary and featuring a section on the relevance of St. Matthew’s Gospel for our contemporary age, Behold the Christ will make the Gospel and indeed the Faith real to today’s readers.

The words, behold your God, could be painted across the landscape of John's gospel, especially the first five chapters. Writing to a universal audience, John shows Jesus as God while focusing on his unique relationship with the Father. Take some time to clean away the debris of traditional opinion and personal feelings and examine the clear picture John gives. Jesus of Nazareth was, in fact, God in human flesh. As you study the scriptures, let the breathtaking events of Jesus' life move your heart to behold Christ the Son of God. - Back cover.