Jesus Is One Of Us

An anthology of stories, poems, essays, biblical passages, hymns, and songs celebrates the life of Jesus Christ, in a collection that features contributions from Shakespeare, Gandhi, Dickens, Desmond Tutu, and others.

The relationship between God and Jesus is the means and the model for God’s renewal of humanity. Jesus is the “firstborn” of God’s future human society, but he will not be the last. God’s purpose is to have a family made up of the completed and glorified humans we were always meant to become. What an exciting future God is planning for us! Human potential in the hands of God exceeds our wildest imagination. Although Jesus’s roles and titles are often seen as separating him from the rest of us humans, they actually embed him deeply in our humanity. Jesus was, is, and always will be one of us. Becoming completed humans like Jesus is a road we are called to travel, as we learn to increasingly depend upon God’s promise to provide the gifts of forgiveness and empowerment. Let’s take the journey together with our brother who is “the Son of God” and “the Son of Man (Humanity).”

Jesus ascended to heaven. End of story. But then how do we explain the many Christians, in nearly every century since, who claimed to have seen, heard, met, and touched Jesus in the flesh? In Seeing Jesus, Robert Hudson explores the larger-than-life characters throughout Christian history who have encountered the actual face or form of the resurrected Christ--from the apostles Thomas and Paul in the first century to Charles Finney in the nineteenth and Sundar Singh in the twentieth. Hudson combines history, biography, spiritual reflection, skepticism, and humor to unpack awe-inspiring and sometimes seemingly absurd stories, from a surprise sighting of Jesus in a cup of coffee, to Christ appearing to Julian of Norwich during a life-threatening illness to assure her that "all manner of thing shall be well." Along the way, he uncovers deeper meaning for us today. Through Hudson's quirky and lyrical prose we get to know people of unflinching faith, like Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Silouan the Athonite, and Sojourner Truth--those who claim radical encounters with Jesus. The result is a fascinating journey through Christian history that is at once thoroughly analytical and deeply devotional.

A blend of the Gospels in the New King James Version, showing how Matthew, Mark, Luke and John fit together with verse-by-verse explanations.

Abandon dead, dry, religious rule-keeping and embrace the promise of being truly known and deeply loved. Jefferson Bethke burst into the cultural conversation with a passionate, provocative poem titled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." The 4-minute video became an overnight sensation, with 7 million YouTube views in its first 48 hours (and 23+ million in a year). Bethke's message clearly struck a chord with believers and nonbelievers alike, triggering an avalanche of responses running the gamut from encouraged to enraged. In his New York Times bestseller Jesus > Religion, Bethke unpacks similar contrasts that he drew in the poem--highlighting the difference between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair, and hope. With refreshing candor, he delves into the motivation behind his message, beginning with the unvarnished tale of his own plunge from the pinnacle of a works-based, fake-smile existence that sapped his strength and led him down a path of destructive behavior. Along the way, Bethke gives you the tools you need to: Humbly and prayerfully open your mind Understand Jesus for all that he is View the church from a brand-new perspective Bethke is quick to acknowledge that he's not a pastor or theologian, but simply an ordinary, twenty-something who cried out for a life greater than the one for which he had settled. On this journey, Bethke discovered the real Jesus, who beckoned him with love beyond the props of false religion. Praise for Jesus > Religion: "Jeff's book will make you stop and listen to a voice in your heart that may have been drowned out by the noise of religion. Listen to that voice, then follow it--right to the feet of Jesus." --Bob Goff, author of New York Times bestsellers Love Does and Everybody, Always "The book you hold in your hands is Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz meets C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity meets Augustine's Confessions. This book is going to awaken an entire generation to Jesus and His grace." --Derwin L. Gray, lead pastor of Transformation Church, author of Limitless Life: Breaking Free from the Labels That Hold You Back

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.