Encouragement. It's more than a compliment or a pat on the back. According to Drs. Larry Crabb and Dan Allender, it is the most basic form of counseling -- a skill that can be mastered by laypeople as well as counselors. What must we know in order to fulfill the biblical exhortation to 'encourage one another'? Encouragement: The Key to Caring tells you. Part one deals with understanding encouragement, and part two explores the process of encouragement, including such practical how-tos as - developing a careful selection of encouraging words - cultivating active listening skills - using biblical fellowship to move beyond superficial smiles and shallow greetings - recognizing subtle opportunities for encouragement -- Without the encouragement of a caring community, biblical truth taught in church tends to just thicken people's defense layers. But authenticity, freedom, and greater love for God and others are the fruit of encouragement, and evidence of the tremendous power God invests in individuals and churches who practice it.

Dr. Ted Roberts found Christ in the skies over Vietnam, where he flew life-and-death missions as a Marine fighter pilot. Unbeknownst to his wife, however, he also brought home from the war an addiction to pornography. Since his recovery, Dr. Roberts has spoken to thousands of men about similar problems, and he has reached an inescapable conclusion: Hell is using sexual bondage to tear the Church apart! Our world, our homes, our churches have become raging battlefields over this issue, and the Internet a stealth bomber from hell with pornography as its payload. More and more men-even Christian leaders-are fighting for their spiritual lives. Now churches can counterattack the enemy's assault with this effective battle plan and strategy for dealing with sexual addiction. It's a matter of spiritual life or death.

A method of interpretation--a hermeneutic--is indispensable for understanding Scripture, constructing theology, and living the Christian life, but most contemporary hermeneutical systems fail to acknowledge the principles and practices of the biblical writers themselves.

Christians today cannot employ a truly biblical view of the Bible unless they understand why the prophets and apostles interpreted Scripture the way they did. To this end, Abner Chou proposes a "hermeneutic of obedience," in which believers learn to interpret Scripture the way the biblical authors did―including understanding the New Testament's use of the Old Testament. Chou first unfolds the "prophetic hermeneutic" of the Old Testament authors and demonstrates the continuity of this approach with the "apostolic hermeneutic" of the New Testament authors.

In this book, Abner Chou undertakes the bold and dynamic challenge of understanding and embracing the interpretive perspective of the biblical authors. Join him in the venture. See with new eyes. Understand the Bible. Have it change your life. (Jim Hamilton, Professor of Biblical Theology The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2018-02-01)

This book is a remarkable work on every level. Dr. Chou has a grasp of the sanctified science of hermeneutics, where he has learned from the biblical writers themselves― the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament. By comprehensive knowledge of the details that yield the true interpretation of biblical texts from Genesis to Revelation; by clear grasp of the progressive nature of divine revelation; by masterful insight into the flow of redemptive history and biblical theology, Chou provides a new clarity on the unity and continuity of prophetic and apostolic hermeneutics, thus showing lucidly that the New Testament writers used the Old Testament contextually 'per its original authorial intent.'

This work, however, is not only the hermeneutical method stated. It is hermeneutics applied. To show the power of accurate hermeneutics, Chou applies them to the most difficult texts in which the New Testament writers use the Old Testament.

This book will prove to be a rare treasure not only to theologians, but to expositors who face the hard challenges that seem to betray a unified hermeneutic. Dr. Chou, dismissing simplistic solutions as inadequate because they lead to misinterpretation, presents strong arguments for the more complex approach of intertextuality that yields the true interpretation of the diligent student of Scripture. This is a book that should be in the hands of every Christian who takes God’s Word seriously. (John MacArthur, Pastor Grace Community Church 2018-02-01)

A perpetual conversation among biblical scholars concerns Scripture's use of Scripture, both the New Testament's use of the Old Testament and the Old Testament's use of the Old Testament. Though essays and books reveal differing, even competing, explanations of Scripture's use of Scripture, something of a rapprochement among diverse schools of thought seems to be emerging. Abner Chou’s contribution to this conversation reflects this as he engages leading evangelical scholars and finds wide swaths of agreement with them as both they and he take the Scriptures seriously. Whether Chou’s explanations of how the Bible's writers use earlier Scriptures convinces readers to embrace his understanding of difficult texts, his most central thesis ought to convince readers. For Chou, taking Scripture seriously includes being able to trace and reproduce how the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles and prophets used the Scriptures that existed prior to their own times. Our proper use of Scripture stands in continuity with how Scripture’s writers used Scripture. (Ardel B. Caneday, Professor of New Testament and Greek University of Northwestern 2018-02-01)

You can stop trying to get everything right.

Is the pressure getting to you? Do you try to make everything work, only to find that your best efforts are largely ineffective?

Christians have unknowingly embraced two errors: that following the rules guarantees a good life, and that God is important because He dispenses blessings. When God’s blessings seem to taper off and when life doesn’t work out, people take it upon themselves to make things work. And that creates pressure that we are all too familiar with.

In The Pressure’s Off, best-selling author and counselor Larry Crabb introduces you to the New Way of living. God does not guarantee ease or convenience—or even a good outcome as the result of your obedience. But he does promise himself, no matter what the circumstances of your life.

When you seek God and nothing else, the pressure truly is off you.

The most affordable complete edition of Vine's famous Old and New Testament dictionaries available, this super value edition of a classic study resource helps those with limited or no background in Hebrew or Greek to study the meaning of biblical words in the original languages. A great resource for students, pastors, and anyone who enjoys biblical word studies. Serves as a dictionary, commentary, and concordance.

You'll gain even more appreciation for your Bible when you see how God directed its development, from the original authors through today's translations. How Did We Get the Bible? provides an easy-to-read historical overview, covering the Holy Spirit's inspiration of the writers, the preservation of the documents, the compilation of the canon, and the efforts to bring the Bible to people in their own language. This fascinating story, populated by intriguing characters, will encourage you with God’s faithfulness - to His own Word, and to those of us who read it.

Is the Bible just a book of ancient Israelite and Christian history and practices to be read? Or are we engaging in a more interactive practice when we study God's word? Jeannine K. Brown believes that communication is at the heart of what we do when we open the Bible, that we are actively engaging God in a conversation that can be life-changing. By learning about how Scripture communicates, modern readers can extract much more meaning out of the text than they could if simply reading the Bible as though it was a list of rules or a collection of stories. In Scripture as Communication, Brown offers professors, students, church leaders, and laity a basic guide to the theory and practice of biblical interpretation, helping them understand our engagement with Scriptures as primarily a communicative act.

Bestselling author Larry Crabb cuts to the heart of the biblical view of marriage: the "one-flesh" relationship. He argues convincingly that the deepest needs of human personality—security and significance—ultimately cannot be satisfied by a marriage partner. We need to turn to the Lord, rather than our spouse, to satisfy our needs. This frees both partners for "soul oneness," a commitment to minister to our spouse's needs rather than manipulating them to meet our own needs. With "soul oneness" comes renewed "body oneness," where couples enjoy sexual pleasure as an expression and outgrowth of a personal relationship.

The Marriage Builder also identifies three building blocks essential to constructing marriage: the grace of God, true marriage commitment, and acceptance of one's mate. Discussion questions are included to aid couples who want to dig into it and apply the principles to their own lives and marriages. The Marriage Builder is for anyone who longs to transform marriage from trial to triumph.

This is the English portion of the Greek-English Synopsis- Quattuor Evangeliorum. Revised Standard Version. UBS, New York. Revised Printing 1985. It is an authoritative and best-selling resource among Biblical scholars, seminarians, and translators worldwide. The book has a blue cloth binding with gilt lettering on the front cover and spine.

Discusses the creation of the universe, the origins of life, entropy, intelligence, the nature of evil, evolution, and conflicts between science and the teachings of the Bible.