In
response to requests for additional resources and information I have opened
the Hollywood Jesus store.
-David Bruce
POP CULTURE FROM A SPIRITUAL
POINT OF VIEW
SPIRITUAL
BOOKS
How
it works.
Click the title you want. This will take you to Amazon.com. Click "add
to shopping cart." Return to Hollywood Jesus with your browser "Back"
button. Make your next selection. This will take you back to Amazon.com.
Click "add to shopping cart" etc. When you are ready to purchase
click "Proceed to Checkout" from the Amazon.com shopping cart
page and follow directions. Easy.
Many people assume that
a book about a holy God should sound elevated, stately, and ceremonial.
If this is how you're always viewed the Bible, you're about to make a
surprising discovery.
Written in the same kind of language you'd use to talk with friends, write
a letter, or discuss politics, The Message preserves the authentic, earthy
flavor and the expressive character of the Bible's best-loved books.
Using the same everyday, letter-writing language he used for The Message
New Testament, Eugene Peterson brings new life to the seemingly distant
and dusty prophets of the Old Testament. The voices that wept, challenged,
and judged so long ago come charging into contemporary life with new,
personal meaning.
The TouchPoint
Bible provides immediate, easy access to biblical passages for hundreds
of real-life issues. The extensive Helpfinder Index addresses needs you may be feeling--such
as hope, joy, anger, and reconciliation-- Application Notes help you apply Scripture to real life. Book Introductions provide an overview of each book.
Spiritual
Renewal Bible
New Living Translation
The Spiritual Renewal Bible is filled with inspiring insights and practical
notes that will restore readers' spiritual passion! It's a powerful new
resource designed to bring joy and meaning into the spiritual walk of
both the new believer and the longtime follower. New Living Translation
text Over 2,500 Spiritual Renewal notes offer practical insights and important
information on the theme of renewal in the Bible's key passages. Seven-Keys
devotionals lead readers through a seven-step process of renewal that
will transform their personal relationship with God. 56 readings help
readers practice classic spiritual disciplines such as silence, prayer,
and Bible study. Character profiles, book introductions, indexes, and
full-color maps.
Using the
dramatic scenario of an investigative journalist pursuing his story and
leads, Strobel uses his experience as a reporter for the Chicago Times
to interview experts about the evidence for Christ from the fields of
science, philosophy, and history.
A Seasoned
Journalist Chases Down the Biggest Story in History The Project: Determine
if there?s credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son
of God. The Reporter: Lee Strobel, educated
at Yale Law School, award-winning former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune?with
a background of atheism. The Experts: A dozen scholars, with doctorates
from Cambridge, Princeton, Brandeis, and other top-flight institutions,
who are recognized authorities on Jesus. The Story: Retracing his
own spiritual journey, Strobel cross-examines the experts with tough,
point-blank questions: How reliable is the New Testament?
Does evidence exist for Jesus outside the Bible? Is there any reason to
believe the resurrection was an actual historical event? . . .
This remarkable book reads like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it?s
not fiction. It?s a riveting quest for the truth about history?s most
compelling figure. What will your verdict be in The Case for Christ
Award-winning
reporter and author Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) once again uses
his investigative skills to address the primary objections to Christianity.
As a former atheist, Strobel understands the rational
resistance to faith. He even names the eight most convincing arguments
against Christian faith: 1) If there's a loving God, why
does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil? 2)
If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person
believe that they're true? 3) If God is morally pure, how can he
sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says
he did? 4) If God cares about the people he created, how could
he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because
they didn't believe the right things about him? 5) If Jesus is
the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have
never heard of him? 6) If God really created the universe, why
does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided
process of evolution accounts for life? 7) If God is the ultimate
overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality
throughout the ages? 8) If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is
it still possible to be a Christian? These are mighty tough questions,
and Strobel fields them well.
Dallas Willard,
an acclaimed theologian and professor of philosophy at the University
of Southern California, fulfills the longing of many Christians who want
to live as true disciples of Christ rather than distant dabblers. Likewise,
he scoffs at consumer Christians who are simply banking on admittance
to heaven as their payoff for attending church. Or worse still, those
who use Christianity to advance their political agendas rather than their
spiritual ones. But this is not a scolding book. Rather, Willard devotes
his efforts to discussing specific and inspiring ways to develop a discipleship
to Jesus--not as an act of sacrifice or even one of spiritual luxury--instead,
as everyday people committed to the teachings of Christ. "The
really good news for Christians is that Jesus is now taking students in
the master class of life," writes Willard. "So the message of and
about him is specifically a gospel for our life now, not just for dying.
It is about living now as his apprentices in kingdom living, not just
as consumers of his merits."
In this updated
classic, originally published as In Search of Guidance, the author provides
rich spiritual insight into how we can hear God's voice
clearly and develop an intimate partnership with him in the work of his
kingdom. "Hearing God is but one dimension of a richly interactive
relationship," Willard writes, "and obtaining guidance is but one facet
of hearing God." He places divine guidance in the context of Christian
discipleship, in which we live our entire lives in the will of God. In
other words, hearing God becomes far more an issue of being the kind of
person he calls us to be, not merely doing what he wants us to do. Dallas
Willard invites his readers to move beyond communication with God to companionship
with God, to enter into the richness of the Way of Jesus. Those familiar
with Willard's other writings will welcome this book being made available
again, and a new generation of readers will discover his profound vision
for a life lived in conversation with God. "The best book on divine guidance
I have ever read. I recommend it highly." Richard Foster, author of Celebration
of Discipline
"Reason for
the Hope Within" is a collection of sixteen philosophical essays authored
by some of today's most competent theistic thinkers. Written for a general
audience, the book conveys some of the more modern developments in Christian
philosophy. Two rather interesting discussions include Robin Collins'
presentation of the "Argument from Fine-Tuning"; as well as Caleb Miller's
essay on "Faith and Reason." Other topics covered are: the "Argument from
Evil," "Religion and Science," and "Divine Providence and Human Freedom."
Edited by
Michael J. Murray, "Reason for the Hope Within" provides an intelligent
and concise (though not exhaustive) survey of Christian philosophical
and doctrinal issues.
John R.W.
Stott's concise, straightforward, clear presentation of the Christian
gospel has become a modern classic and has been instrumental in bringing
many to faith in Christ. Stott's Basic Christianity is a very practical,
easy-to-read introduction to the Christian life. Who
is God? Who is Christ? What is sin? What does being a Christian mean?
These are all very basic, fundamental questions that are answered
in a no-nonsense, straightforward way. Stott's explanation of the Ten
Commandments and their application is by itself worth the price of the
book. Basic Christianity is a small book, but loaded with helpful information
Even well-versed
Biblical scholars might be perplexed if asked about Jabez, a little-known
man listed in 1 Chronicles, chapter 4. Yet his simple petition is the
cornerstone of The Prayer of Jabez and has become a call to live a more
"blessed life" for countless readers. The prayer is a simple one: "And
Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me
indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and
that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.' So God granted
him what he requested." Bruce Wilkinson writes in a persuasive, conversational
style that will woo even the most cynical reader. He has used the Jabez
prayer for more than 30 years, and testifies enthusiastically to the changes
it has wrought in his own life. Wilkinson challenges
readers to recite the Jabez prayer every morning and keep a record of
the changes that occur. The power, he emphasizes, is not in the
prayer itself, but "rather, the power is in what you believe will happen
as a result of the prayer, and the action you take." Wilkinson makes a
convincing case.
Richard Rohr
is a modern prophet calling us to change our ways. Rohr paints a critical
picture of the prevailing thought, culture and attitudes of the present-day
West?which he calls ?The Postmodern Opportunity??including
our cultural biases, our embrace of victimhood, our often fearful attitudes
toward one another and toward the Church and religion in general. Rohr
offers hope in introducing the Franciscan path of transformation, the
?new way of being that would change the face of history.? Rohr describes
how following Saint Francis? way to forgiveness and love, and ?owning
the darkness,? can bring us out of the postmodern pit in which we find
ourselves.
PHILIP
YANCEY'S BEST
What's
So Amazing About Grace?
by Philip Yancey
This grace is the true message of Jesus. All faiths have virtues and creeds
and justice and truth, but Jesus speaks merely of receiving the love that
God has for us. Accepting it, not earning it or making ourselves worthy
of it. And frankly, accepting something we have not earned or are not worthy
of is not an easy thing for most of us.
An old adage says, "God
created man in His own image and man has been returning the favor ever
since." Philip Yancey realized that despite a lifetime attending
Sunday school topped off by a Bible college education, he really had no
idea who Jesus was. In fact, he found himself further and further removed
from the person of Jesus, distracted instead by flannel-graph figures
and intellectual inspection. He determined to use his journalistic talents
to approach Jesus, in the context of time, within the framework of history.
THE
WORKS OF C. S. LEWIS
The
C.S. Lewis Signature Classics
A Grief Observed
Miracles
the Problem of Pain
the Great Divorce
the Screwtape Letters
Mere Christianity
by C. S. Lewis
ALL
OF THE BOOKS BELOW AND TO THE LEFT CAN BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY OR ALL
TOGETHER WITH THE ABOVE CLASSIC SET.
In 1943 Great
Britain, when hope and the moral fabric of society were threatened by
the relentless inhumanity of global war, an Oxford don was invited to
give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity.
Over half a century after the original lectures, the topic retains it
urgency. Expanded into book form, Mere Christianity never flinches as
it sets out a rational basis for Christianity and builds an edifice of
compassionate morality atop this foundation. As Mr. Lewis clearly demonstrates,
Christianity is not a religion of flitting angels and blind faith, but
of free will, an innate sense of justice and the grace of God.
C.S. Lewis
joined the human race when his wife, Joy Gresham, died of cancer. Lewis,
the Oxford don whose Christian apologetics make it seem like he's got
an answer for everything, experienced crushing doubt for the first time
after his wife's tragic death. A Grief Observed contains his epigrammatic
reflections on that period: "Your bid--for God or no God, for a good God
or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity--will not be serious
if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious
it was until the stakes are raised horribly high," Lewis writes. "Nothing
will shake a man--or at any rate a man like me--out of his merely verbal
thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before
he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under
torture does he discover it himself." This is the book that inspired the
film Shadowlands.
Who
among us has never wondered if there might not really be a tempter sitting
on our shoulders or dogging our steps? C.S. Lewis dispels all doubts.
In The Screwtape Letters, one of his bestselling works, we are made privy
to the instructional correspondence between a senior demon, Screwtape,
and his wannabe diabolical nephew Wormwood. As mentor, Screwtape coaches
Wormwood in the finer points, tempting his "patient" away from God. Each
letter is a masterpiece of reverse theology, giving the reader an inside
look at the thinking and means of temptation. Tempters, according to Lewis,
have two motives: the first is fear of punishment, the second a hunger
to consume or dominate other beings. On the other hand, the goal of the
Creator is to woo us unto himself or to transform us through his love
from "tools into servants and servants into sons."
C. S. Lewis
takes us on a profound journey through both heaven and hell in this engaging
allegorical tale. Using his extraordinary descriptive powers, Lewis introduces
us to supernatural beings who will change the way we think about good
and evil. In The Great Divorce C. S. Lewis again employs his formidable
talent for fable and allegory. The writer, in a dream, finds himself in
a bus which travels between Hell and Heaven. This is the starting point
for an extraordinary meditation upon good and evil which takes issue with
William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In Lewis's own words,
"If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven:
if we accept Heaven then we shall not be able to retain even the smallest
and most intimate souvenirs of Hell."
The Problem
of Pain answers the universal question, "Why would an all-loving, all-knowing
God allow people to experience pain and suffering?" Master Christian apologist
C.S. Lewis asserts that pain is a problem because our finite, human minds
selfishly believe that pain-free lives would prove that God loves us.
In truth, by asking for this, we want God to love us less, not more than
he does. "Love, in its own nature, demands the perfecting of the beloved;
that the mere 'kindness' which tolerates anything except suffering in
its object is, in that respect at the opposite pole from Love."
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