Blazing Faith

Bear! Ken whispered the word as he stopped hiking. Ken and I were on the Foothills Trail and a mother bear with three cubs was thirty feet in front of us. We stood motionless, frozen in fear. What should we do? Of course we prepared for every scenario and had read hiking manuals about what to do, but here we were facing a real mother bear. She noticed us and then barked a few times as she bounced up and down ever so slightly. Yes, bears can make a barking noise. We stood quietly and hoped prayerfully and expectantly that she would not charge. Finally, she slowly walked into the mountain laurel. We had encountered a mother bear and come away unharmed. Those few minutes seemed like forever and the fear had drained us. It took several minutes for us to move forward, but we did. This marked our memories and we tell it from time to time for humor and to remember the hike. As we told this story and more men joined our hikes other amazing events happened. Over the course of eighteen years there was the shattering water bottle, the miraculous and mesmerizing night with fireflies, the fall over rocks, the slide down a huge boulder, the persistent and annoying skunk, the embarrassing underwear and the turkey surprise to name a few. We enjoyed the stories so much that I wrote them down and realized each had a truth embedded. The events are contained in six chapters that convey formative categories of the Christian life. They are Christian Beginnings, Community, Growth, Responsibility, Living, and Christian Celebration. The bear encounter illustrates a biblical truth about dealing with fear. Our first day atop Springer Mountain my water bottle shattered into pieces. I was sprayed with water. This story serves as an analogy to the waters of baptism and the beginning of our faith journey. The other twenty eight stories convey various essential teachings. One illustrates faith as a gift, another the power of leadership. There is the story of temptation, the story of healing, one o

Trusted & Treasured by Millions of Readers over 30 Years, the Life Application Study Bible Is Today's #1-Selling Study Bible. Now it has been thoroughly updated and expanded, offering even more relevant insights for understanding and applying God's Word to everyday life in today's world. With a fresh, two-color interior design and meaningfully updated study notes and features, this Bible will help you understand God's Word better than ever. It answers the real-life questions you may have and provides you with practical yet powerful ways to apply the Bible to your life every day. The Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition includes the full text of the Holy Bible in the New King James Version (NKJV). This is a large-print edition, providing clear, readable text. Key Features: More than 10,000 notes and features More than 100 Life Application profiles of key Bible people Refreshed design with a second color for visual clarity Introductions and overviews for each book of the Bible More than 500 maps & charts placed for quick reference Dictionary/concordance 16 pages of full-color maps A Christian Worker's Resource Words of Jesus in red

Trusted & Treasured by Millions of Readers over 30 Years, the Life Application Study Bible Is Today’s #1–Selling Study Bible. Now it has been thoroughly updated and expanded, offering even more relevant insights for understanding and applying God’s Word to everyday life in today’s world. With a fresh, two-color interior design and meaningfully updated study notes and features, this Bible will help you understand God’s Word better than ever. It answers the real-life questions you may have and provides you with practical yet powerful ways to apply the Bible to your life every day. The Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition includes the full text of the Holy Bible in the New King James Version (NKJV). This is a large-print edition, providing clear, readable text. Key Features: More than 10,000 notes and features More than 100 Life Application profiles of key Bible people Refreshed design with a second color for visual clarity Introductions and overviews for each book of the Bible More than 500 maps & charts placed for quick reference Dictionary/concordance 16 pages of full-color maps A Christian Worker’s Resource Words of Jesus in red

Grounded Truth for Life’s Perplexing Questions The NIV Understand the Faith Study Bible, with content from Christianity Today International, provides a deep grounding in Scripture and gives you solid understanding for discussing your faith with others. You will value the way this Bible keeps the joyful, astounding nature of the gospel always in view when addressing doctrine and the pressing questions about what Christians believe. Its content will help you understand what you believe and why, while inspiring you to live for God. Features: Complete text of the accurate, readable, and clear New International Version 104 Everyday Faith devotions use stories and anecdotes to illuminate God’s glorious nature 25 Culture Connections articles highlight customs, holidays, proverbs, stories and sayings from around the world to illustrate classic Christian doctrines 40 Living Parables commentaries demonstrate how contributions of past Christians remain important today 75 Doctrine 101 articles explore the doctrines that have become the bedrock of Christian belief and why in today’s world they are vital to know and believe 12 Up for Debate tables present multiple viewpoints on topics about which believers disagree 8 charts and graphs provide summaries of various theological concepts and arguments Foreword by Christianity Today managing editor Mark Galli