40 books to change your life - glo bookshop

FORTY Books to change your life

“Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labelled, ‘This could change your life’.“

― Helen Exley

2015 is the 40th anniversary of GLO Europe's first full year of operation. The ministry was begun by Colin Tilsley in the early 70s and after 40 years of proving God's goodness and faithfulness we are still going strong and fully committed to equipping, inspiring and sending a new generation of witnesses.

As part of the celebration of God’s grace through these 40 years, the GLO Bookshop and Tilsley College are encouraging Christians to read “40 Books to Change your Life…”.

The books cover various areas of Christian life: from a systematic theology to books on personal evangelism; from 500 year old classics to books written in the last couple of years. Each of them is recommended as a book which will strengthen and encourage, build-up and challenge you in your faith.

Not all of them will be to everyone’s taste or interest, but each one of them is worth the time taken to read it.

Over the next few weeks and months, slightly longer introductions to each book will appear on the GLO Bookshop and Tilsley College Facebook pages.

All of the books are available for a special “Forty Books…” price from the GLO Bookshop and from their website.

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”

― Groucho Marx


1. ON THE IMITATION OF CHRIST - Thomas à Kempis 9781620297674 - Barbour Publishing 2013 PB edition- abridged & updated

Normally £5.99 – ‘40 Books’ special offer price only £5.00

http://www.globookshop.com/shopexd.asp?id=16714&bc=no

For more than five hundred years, The Imitation of Christ has been one of the world's most widely read books of Christian devotions. Many editions have appeared in various languages since the first printed version appeared in 1472, shortly after the introduction of Johannes Gutenberg's moveable type.

This edition is an abridged, lightly updated version of Thomas a Kempis's classic. Read slowly, in brief portions at a time, it can encourage a new commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. MERE CHRISTIANITY - C. S. Lewis 9780007461219 - Collins 60th Anniversary PB edition

Normally £7.99 - ‘40 Books’ special offer price only £6.00


Having sold over half a million copies in the UK alone, his overview of Christianity has been imitated many time, but never bettered. The book is compiled of the legendary radio talks which he gave during the war years. Mere Christianity brings the talks together, talks in which he set out simply to 'explain and defend the belief that has

been common to nearly all Christians at all times.' Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations, C.S. Lewis provides an unequalled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.

3. THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS - C. S. Lewis 9780007461240 - Collins 60th Anniversary PB edition


http://www.globookshop.com/shopexd.asp?id=12843

On its first appearance, 'The Screwtape Letters' was immediately recognised as a milestone in the history of popular theology and has now sold over half a million copies, it is an iconic classic on spiritual warfare and the power of the devil. This profound and striking narrative takes the form of a series of letters from

Screwtape, a devil high in the Infernal Civil Service, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior colleague engaged in his first mission on earth trying to secure the damnation of a young man who has just become a Christian. Although the young man initially looks to be a willing victim, he changes his ways and is 'lost' to the young devil.

Dedicated to Lewis's friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien, 'The Screwtape Letters' is a timeless classic on spiritual warfare and the invisible realities which are part of our religious experience.






4. SURPRISED BY JOY - C. S. Lewis

9780007461271 - Collins 60th Anniversary PB edition



This autobiography of C.S.Lewis's early life, focusing on the spiritual crisis which was to determine the shape of his entire life.

'In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God! Perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England…..' Thus C.S. Lewis describes

memorably the crisis of his conversion in his famous autobiography. Lewis was for many years an atheist, and in 'Surprised by Joy' he vividly describes the spiritual quest which eventually convinced him of the truth and reality of the Christian faith.

5. THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE - Watchman Nee 9781842912379 - David C Cook PB edition– also includes ‘Sit Walk’ Stand’



What is the normal Christian life? We do well at the outset to ponder this question. The object of these studies is to show that it is something very different from the life of the average Christian. Indeed a consideration of the written Word of God - of the Sermon on the Mount for example - should lead us to ask whether such a life has ever in fact been lived upon the earth, save only by the Son of God Himself. But in that last

saving clause lies immediately the answer to our question.

This modern spiritual classic shows that there is only one way to live a life that is pleasing to God and it is the work of Jesus on the cross that holds the key. It is when we learn to see ourselves on the cross with him, that we can experience true joy, freedom and spiritual release.

This edition also includes Watchman Nee's shorter work on discipleship, 'Sit, Walk, Stand'.

6. LETTERS AND PAPERS FROM PRISON - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

9780334028369 - SCM Classics Abridged 2013 PB edition



One of the great classics of prison literature, ‘Letters and Papers from Prison’ effectively

serves as the last will and testament of the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis after incarceration in Tegel Prison. Acute and subtle, warm and perceptive, yet also profoundly moving, the documents collectively tell a very human story of loss, of courage, and of hope. Now reissued with a new preface, by one of his

leading interpreters. Bonhoeffer's story seems as vitally relevant, as politically prophetic, and as theologically significant, as it did yesterday.





7. A PLACE OF HEALING – Joni Eareckson Tada

9781434702067 - David C Cook 2010 PB edition



In this eloquent account of her current struggle with physical pain, Joni Eareckson Tada offers her perspective on divine healing, God’s purposes, and what it means to live with joy. Over four decades ago, a diving accident left Joni a quadriplegic. Today, she faces a new battle: unrelenting pain. The ongoing urgency of this season in her life has caused Joni to return to foundational questions about suffering and Gods will.

‘A Place of Healing’ is not an ivory-tower treatise on suffering. Its an intimate look into the life of a mature woman of God. Whether readers are enduring physical pain, financial loss, or relational grief, Joni invites them to process their suffering with her. Together, they will navigate the distance between Gods magnificent yes and heartbreaking no and find new hope for thriving in-between.

8. NEARING HOME – Billy Graham

9780849964824 - Thomas Nelson 2013 PB edition



'Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life,' says Billy Graham, known by many as God’s Ambassador. 'I would have never guessed what God had in store for me, and I know that as I am nearing home, He will not forsake me the last mile of the way.'

In ‘Nearing Home’ this man of faith - now in his nineties - explores the challenges of aging while gleaning foundational truths from Scripture. Billy Graham invites us to journey with him as he considers the golden years while anticipating the hope of being reunited with his wife, Ruth, in his heavenly home that eclipses this world. 'When granted many years of life, growing old in age is natural, but growing old with grace is a choice,' says the author. 'Growing older with grace is possible for all who will set their hearts and minds on the Giver of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Join Billy Graham as he shares the challenges of fading strength but still standing strong in his commitment to finishing life well.

9. THE GOD WHO IS THERE - Francis A. Schaeffer

9780830819478 - IVP USA PB edition



In 2006, Christianity Today voted this title to be one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals! For over thirty years The God Who Is There has been the landmark book that changed the way the church sees the world. In Francis Schaeffer's remarkable analysis, we learn where the clashing ideas about God, science, history

and art came from and where they are going.







Now this completely re-typeset edition includes a new introduction by James W. Sire that places Schaeffer's seminal work in the context of the intellectual turbulence of the early twenty-first century. More than ever, The God Who Is There demonstrates how historic Christianity can fearlessly confront the competing philosophies of the world. The God who has always been there continues to provide the anchor of truth and the power of love to meet the world's deepest problems.

10. THE REASON FOR GOD – Timothy Keller 9780340979334 - Hodder & Stoughton 2009 PB edition



An intelligent, intellectually rigorous examination of why the Christian faith still makes sense in an age of scepticism. This book has been written for believers and non-believers, sceptics and churchgoers, and charts a brilliantly considered and impassioned path to Christianity - a 'Mere Christianity' for the twenty-first century.

At a time when scientists and critics such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are questioning the validity of religion, this book uses literature, philosophy and reason to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief. Timothy Keller, pastor of an inner-city New York church, looks at some of the most widespread accusations levelled at Christianity, including Christianity's claim of exclusivity; how a good God could allow suffering; why the Church is responsible for injustice; and if science has disproved religious belief.

11. SURPRISED BY HOPE – Tom Wright 9780281064779 - SPCK Publishing PB edition



What do Christians hope for? To leave this wicked world and go to heaven? For the kingdom of God to grow gradually on earth? What do we mean by the resurrection of the body, and how does that fit with the popular image of sitting on clouds playing harps?

And how does all this affect the way we live in the here and now?

Tom Wright, one of our leading theologians, addresses these questions in this provocative and wide-ranging new book. He outlines the present confusion about future hope in both church and world. Then, having explained why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus himself, he explores the biblical hope for new heavens and new earth, and shows how the second coming of Jesus, and the eventual resurrection, belong within that larger picture, together with the intermediate hope for heaven. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise.

Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation - and if this has already begun in Jesus resurrection - the church cannot stop at saving souls, but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for Gods kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life not only after death but before it.






12. FREE OF CHARGE - Miroslav Volf 9780310265740 - Zondervan 2005 PB edition



We are at our human best when we give and forgive. But we live in a world in which it makes little sense to do either one. In our increasingly graceless culture, where can we find the motivation to give? And how do we learn to forgive when forgiving seems

counterintuitive or even futile?

A deeply personal yet profoundly thoughtful book, ‘Free of Charge’ explores these questions and the further questions to which they give rise in light of Gods generosity and Christ’s sacrifice for us. Miroslav Volf draws from popular culture as well as from a wealth of literary and theological sources, weaving his rich reflections around the sturdy frame of Paul’s vision of God’s grace and Martin Luther’s interpretation of that vision. Blending the best of theology and spirituality, he encourages us to echo in our own lives Gods generous giving and forgiving.

13. THE HIDING PLACE – Corrie Ten Boom 9780340863534 - Hodder & Stoughton 2004 PB edition



As the Nazi madness swept across Europe, a quiet watchmaker’s family in Holland risked everything for the sake of others, and for the love of Christ. Despite the danger and threat of discovery, they courageously offered shelter to persecuted Jews. Then a trap brought about the family’s arrest. Could God’s love shine through, even in Ravensbruck?

This highly personal story by Corrie ten Boom is an inspiration to millions and has continued to be a best seller since its original publication in 1972, and has been made into a popular feature film.

14. THE CROSS & SWITCHBLADE - David Wilkerson 9780310248293 - Zondervan 2002 PB edition



The tortured face of a young killer, one of seven boys on trial for a brutal murder, started country preacher David Wilkerson on his lonely crusade to the most dangerous streets in the world. Violent gangs ruled by warlords, drug pushers and pimps held the streets of New York ghettoes in an iron grip. It was into this world that David Wilkerson stepped, armed only with the simple message of God’s love and the

promise of the Holy Spirits power.

Then the miracles began to happen! 'The Cross and the Switchblade' is one of the most inspiring and challenging true stories of all time. It has sold millions of copies throughout the world and has been made into a feature film.








15. RUNNING THE RACE – Eric Liddell – John W. Keddie 9780852347805 - EP Books 2012 PB edition



There are many biographies of sportsmen today. They seem to appear every week as sports practitioners achieve celebrity status at an increasingly young age and are grist to the mill of a media-driven lust for the sensational. There are also many Christian biographies. There are very few which bring together the sporting and the Christian.

Eric Liddell’s story has often been told, not least in the 1981 film 'Chariots of Fire'. It is well worth telling the story again, in depth and detail and with contemporary illustrations that bring to life this amazing man who combined a lively faith with great sporting achievements. Reading this book will grip your soul and encourage you to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. This second edition includes a foreword by Sebastian Coe.

16. BASIC CHRISTIANITY - John Stott 9781844749089 - IVP 2013 PB edition



'Jesus certainly existed. His existence as an historical figure is vouched for by pagan as well as Christian writers,' says John Stott.

Who was Jesus? Why was he crucified? Did he really rise from the dead? We need answers to these key questions in order to understand the basics of Christianity. The

author offers a clear and full explanation, showing what it means to be a Christian today. This classic book has been consistently popular as a clear, forthright and also compassionate presentation of the Christian faith.

17. THE LIVING CHURCH – John Stott 9781783591794 - IVP 2013 PB edition



What exactly is a living church? Author John Stott explains, 'We need more radically conservative churches: 'conservative' in the sense that they conserve what Scripture plainly requires, but radical in relation to that combination of tradition and convention that we call 'culture'. Scripture is unchangeable, but culture is not.'

The Living Church brings together a number of characteristics of what the author calls 'authentic' or 'living' church. The marks, being clearly biblical, are timeless and need to be preserved. We are encouraged to become learning churches, caring churches, worshipping churches and evangelising churches. John Stott unpacks the Bible's wisdom rigorously with a teacher's skill and applies it faithfully with a pastor's heart. Becoming a living church is not an impossible goal.







18. CALLING CHRISTIAN LEADERS – John Stott 9781783590193 - IVP 2013 PB edition



John Stott found on his many travels that contemporary models of Christian leadership were often shaped more by culture than by Christ. In stark contrast, he urges that our view be determined by our view of the church, not the other way round.

Focusing on 1 Corinthians 1 - 4, he demonstrates the centrality of the theme of 'power through weakness'. He explains the role of the Holy Spirit in God's revelation, and examines four of Paul's most striking models of ministry, each of which is an aspect of humility. Over against seductive styles of leadership being advocated by the wisdom of the world, he urges Christian leaders to be characterised above all else by 'the meekness and gentleness of Christ'.

19. THE CROSS OF CHRIST – John Stott 9781844741557 - IVP 2006 Hardback edition



The universal symbol of the Christian faith is neither a crib nor a manger, but a gruesome cross. Yet many people are unclear about its meaning, and cannot understand why Christ had to die. In this magisterial and best-selling book, John Stott explains the significance

of Christ’s cross and answers the objections commonly brought against biblical teaching on the atonement.

John Stotts modern classic is as sharp and pertinent as ever it was. It combines an excellent biblical exposition, and a characteristically thoughtful study of Christian belief, with a searching call to the church to live under the cross.

20. WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE? – Phillip Yancey 9780310245650 - Zondervan 2012 PB edition



In 1987, an IRA bomb buried Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter beneath five feet of rubble. Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, " I have

lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them." His words caught the media's ears -- and out of one man's grief, the world got a glimpse of grace.

Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else -- for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In ‘What's So Amazing About Grace?’ award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy?








Yancey sets grace in the midst of life's stark images, tests its mettle against horrific ‘ungrace. In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace's life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He asks, How can Christians contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear? And he challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know, ‘What's So Amazing About Grace?’

21. SIX HOURS ONE FRIDAY – Max Lucado 9780849947445 - Thomas Nelson 2013 PB edition



Does life feel futile? Doesn't have to. Do some of your failures seem fatal? They aren't. And your death. Does the grave appear to be the final stop? According to Christ, your death is just the start of the something great. There is a truth greater than all the losses and sorrows of life. And it can be discovered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In 'Six Hours One Friday', Max Lucado delves into the meaning of Jesus' last hours on the cross. Through his death, your life has purpose and meaning. You are forgiven and loved by a Saviour who died for you. And an empty tomb proclaims that death does not have the final word.

'Peace where there should be pain. Confidence in the midst of crisis. Hope defying despair. Does death have the last word? I can see Jesus wink as he gives the answer, Not on your life.'

22. FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE – Jim Cymbala 9780310251538 - Zondervan 2003 PB edition



The Times Are Urgent, God Is on the Move, Now Is the Moment to ask God to ignite his fire in your soul! Pastor Jim Cymbala believes that Jesus wants to renew his people, to call us back from spiritual dead ends, apathy, and lukewarm religion.

Cymbala knows the difference firsthand. Twenty-five years ago, his own church, the Brooklyn Tabernacle, was a struggling congregation of twenty. Then they began to pray . . . God began to move . . . street-hardened lives by the hundreds were changed by the love of Christ . . . and today they are eight thousand strong.

The story of what happened to this broken-down church in one of America’s meanest neighborhoods points the way to new spiritual vitality in the church and in your own life. ‘Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire’ shows what the Holy Spirit can do when believers get serious about prayer and the Gospel. As this compelling book reveals, God moves in life-changing ways when we set aside our own agendas, take him at his word, and listen for his voice.






23. OUT OF THE SALTSHAKER & INTO THE WORLD – Rebecca Manley Pippert 9781844744282 - Intervarsity Press 2010 PB edition



Evangelism isn't something you do, it's a world-changing way of life. Rebecca Manley Pippert shows how we as Christians, who are called to be the salt of the earth, can get out of the saltshaker and into life itself.

People crowd the pages of Becky's book, with language and lifestyles to match. She confronts them with a Jesus as contemporary as themselves, a Christ they can see, who cares. Reading her book we laugh at her mistakes, identify with her failures, and find ourselves eager to emulate her spiritual progress.

24. KNOW AND TELL THE GOSPEL – John Chapman 9781876326029 - Good Book Company 2008 PB edition



`Tell me ' said the girl. `What I have to do to become a Christian?' I didn't have the faintest idea where to begin...

For most Christians, clearly explaining the Christian gospel to someone is more of a dream than a reality. We feel inadequate and reluctant, but at the same time eager to

see our friends come to Christ. Know and tell the Gospel deals with all the questions that so quickly come to mind on this subject. Just what is the gospel anyway? Is it my job to explain it to people? Why is evangelism so often hard? And how can we train ourselves and others to be involved?

In his characteristically friendly and engaging way, John Chapman provides warm encouragement, insightful biblical teaching, and a wealth of practical information on evangelism for all Christians. This new edition has been extensively revised and rewritten, and contains up-to-date information and evaluation on current resources for evangelism. A must read for every Christian who is concerned to take the gospel to our world.

25. THE KING JESUS GOSPEL – Scot McKnight 9780310492986 - Zondervan 2011 HB edition



Contemporary evangelicals have built a 'salvation culture' but not a 'gospel culture.' Evangelicals have reduced the gospel to the message of personal salvation. This book makes a plea for us to recover the old gospel as that which is still new and still fresh.

The book stands on four arguments: that the gospel is defined by the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15 as the completion of the Story of Israel in the saving Story of Jesus; that the gospel is found in the Four Gospels; that the gospel was preached by Jesus; and that the sermons in the Book of Acts are the best example of ‘gospeling’ in the New Testament. The King Jesus Gospel ends with practical suggestions about evangelism and about building a gospel culture.








26. EVANGELISM & THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD – J. I. Packer 9781844744985 - IVP Books 2010 PB edition



If God is in control of everything, can Christians sit back and not bother to evangelise? Or does active evangelism imply that God is not really sovereign at all?

In this classic study, J. I. Packer shows how false both these attitudes are. In a careful review of the biblical evidence, he demonstrates how a right understanding of God's sovereignty is not so much a barrier to evangelism as an incentive and powerful support for it.

27. TOTAL CHURCH – Tim Chester & Steve Timmis 9781844741915 - InterVarsity Press 2007 PB edition



How does your church measure up? 'Total Church' pleads for two key principles for church and mission. First, the gospel as content: being word-centred (for the gospel is truth) and being mission-centred (for the gospel is truth to be proclaimed). Secondly, the community as context: sharing our lives as Christians and offering a place of belonging to unbelievers.

Authors Tim Chester and Steve Timmis apply these principles to church planting, evangelism, apologetics, social involvement, leadership, discipleship, pastoral care, world mission and notions of success. They critique current trends within the church, arguing that emerging church movements are strong on community but weak on truth, while conservative evangelicalism is strong on truth but weak on community. Their call is a call for the best of both.

This is a timely and provocative book which deserves to be read and applied in many contexts.

28. JESUS DRIVEN MINISTRY – Ajith Fernando 9780851119953 - IVP 2003 PB edition



Ajith Fernando identifies the foundational elements that allow Christian workers to be both effective and joyful - relating with people, retreating from busyness, being affirmed and empowered by God, discipling and gaining strength from God's Word.








29. HOW TO READ THE BIBLE FOR ALL ITS WORTH - Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart 9780310517825 - Zondervan 4th PB edition



Understanding the Bible isn't for the few, the gifted, the scholarly. The Bible is accessible. It's meant to be read and comprehended by everyone from armchair readers to Bible College students. A few essential insights into the Bible can clear up a

lot of misconceptions and help you grasp the meaning of Scripture and its application to your twenty-first-century life.

Covering everything from translational concerns to different genres of biblical writing, ‘How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth’ is used all around the world. In clear, simple language, it helps you accurately understand the different parts of the Bible - their meaning for ancient audiences and their implications for you today- so you can uncover the inexhaustible worth that is in God's Word.

More than three quarters of a million people have turned to ‘How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth’ to inform their reading of the Bible. This fourth edition features revisions that keep pace with current scholarship, resources, and culture.

30. THE BOOKS AND THE PARCHMENTS - F. F. Bruce 9780851115252 - InterVarsity Press 2000 PB edition



Are the New Testament documents reliable? Can we have confidence in their record of the life and teaching of Jesus and his followers? Such questions are fundamental for anyone approaching the New Testament. F F Bruce, formerly Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, was well qualified to answer them. This classic treatment has been revised by the author many times and

reprinted regularly for more than half a century.

31. THE LOST WORLD OF SCRIPTURE - John H. Walton & D. Brent Sandy 9780830840328 - IVP USA 2014 PB edition



Walton and Sandy summarise what we know of orality and oral tradition as well as the composition and transmission of texts in the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world, and how this shapes our understanding of the Old and New

Testaments. The authors then translate these insights into a helpful model for understanding the reliability of Scripture.





32. ON THE RELIABILITY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT - K. A. Kitchen 9780802803962 - Eerdmans 2006 annotated PB edition



For more than two hundred years controversy has raged over the reliability of the Old Testament. Questions about the factuality of its colorful stories of heroes, villains, and kings, for example, have led many critics to see the entire Hebrew Bible as little more

than pious fiction. In this fascinating book, noted ancient historian K. A. Kitchen takes strong issue with today's "revisionist" critics and offers a firm foundation for the historicity of the biblical texts. In a detailed, comprehensive, and entertaining manner, Kitchen draws on an unprecedented range of historical data from the ancient Near East - the Bible's own world - and uses it to soundly reassess both the biblical record and the critics who condemn it.

Working back from the latest periods (for which hard evidence is readily available) to the remotest times, Kitchen systematically shows up the many failures of favored arguments against the Bible and marshals pertinent permanent evidence from antiquity's inscriptions and artifacts to demonstrate the basic honesty of the Old Testament writers. Enhanced with numerous tables, figures, and maps, "On the Reliability of the Old Testament" is a must-read for anyone interested in the question of biblical truth.

33. JESUS AND THE EYEWITNESSES - Richard Bauckham 9780802863904 - Eerdmans 2008 PB edition



This momentous book argues that the four Gospels are closely based on the eyewitness testimony of those who personally knew Jesus. Noted New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham challenges the prevailing assumption that the accounts of Jesus circulated as 'anonymous community traditions,' asserting instead that they

were transmitted in the names of the original eyewitnesses. To drive home this controversial point, Bauckham draws on internal literary evidence, the use of personal names in first-century Jewish Palestine, and recent developments in the understanding of oral tradition.

‘ Jesus And The Eyewitnesses’ also taps into the rich resources of modern study of memory, especially in cognitive psychology, refuting the conclusions of the form critics and calling New Testament scholarship to make a clean break with this long-dominant tradition. Finally, Bauckham challenges readers to end the classic division between the 'historical Jesus' and the 'Christ of faith,' proposing instead the 'Jesus of testimony' as presented by the Gospels. Sure to ignite heated debate on the precise character of the testimony about Jesus, ‘Jesus And The Eyewitnesses’ is a groundbreaking work that will be valued by scholars, students, and all who seek to understand the origins of the Gospels.





34. JESUS AND THE GOD OF ISRAEL - Richard Bauckham 9781842275382 - Paternoster 2008 PB edition



Important essays on the NT's theology of Jesus by one of the leading NT scholars working today. The basic thesis of this important book on the New Testament Christology, sketched in the first essay 'God Crucified', is that the worship of Jesus as God was seen by the early Christians as compatible with their Jewish monotheism.

Jesus was thought to participate in the divine identity of the one God of Israel. The other chapters provide more detailed support for, and an expansion of, this basic thesis. Readers will find not only the full text of Bauckham's classic book 'God Crucified', but also groundbreaking essays, some of which have never been published previously.

35. THE CHALLENGE OF JESUS - N. T. Wright 9780281073863 - SPCK 2015 PB revised edition– to be published in March 2015



Written by a world-renowned theologian and communicator, hailed by Newsweek as 'the world's leading New Testament scholar.' This new edition will have a fascinating new introduction, reflecting on, among other things, Jesus' self-understanding and what he really meant by the 'kingdom of God' This book makes accessible to lay readers the arguments laid out in Jesus and the Victory of God (SPCK, 1996). But

Wright does more than just rehash these arguments: he adds a discussion of the resurrection, and addresses the prickly problem of relevance. In the first six chapters, he tackles many of the questions of the historical Jesus debate. He then addresses how all these historical-cum-theological issues are significant for Christians living in a postmodern world.

36. PAUL AND JESUS: THE TRUE STORY - David Wenham 9780281054800 - SPCK Publishing PB edition



Many people today have a negative view of Paul. Paul is accused of not being a faithful follower of Jesus because of his failure to refer much to Christ's early life and teaching in his letters. He is seen as a freelance who did his own thing with the Christian faith,

changing Jesus' good ideas and introducing bad ones, especially about women and sex.

He is also often thought to be arrogant and obscure. But was Paul a narrow-minded maverick who meddled with the gospel? In this book, David Wenham seeks to address these doubts about the 'apostle to the Gentiles' and to tell something of the true story of Paul and Jesus.







37. PAUL: APOSTLE OF THE HEART SET FREE - F. F. Bruce 9780802847782 - Eerdmans 2000 PB edition



Hailed by Theology Today as "F.F. Bruce's magnum opus," this splendid biography uses history, archaeology, and the biblical text to focus primarily on the apostle's life. Bruce also examines the main themes in Pauline thought, set in their historical

background and illustrated from his letters. An excellent starting point for your Pauline studies!

38. EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY – Michael F. Bird 9780310494416 - Zondervan 2013 Hardback edition



Evangelical Theology is a systematic theology written from the perspective of a biblical scholar. Michael F. Bird contends that the centre, unity, and boundary of the evangelical faith is the evangel (= gospel), as opposed to things like justification by faith or inerrancy. The evangel is the unifying thread in evangelical

theology and the theological hermeneutic through which the various loci of theology need to be understood.

Using the gospel as a theological ‘leitmotif’ - an approach to Christian doctrine that begins with the gospel and sees each loci through the lens of the gospel - this text presents an authentically evangelical theology, as opposed to an ordinary systematic theology written by an evangelical theologian.

According to the author, theology is the drama of ‘gospelising’ - performing and living out the gospel in the theatre of Christian life. The text features tables, sidebars, and questions for discussion. The end of every part includes a 'What to Take Home' section that gives students a run-down on what they need to know. And since reading theology can often be dry and cerebral, the author applies his unique sense of humour in occasional 'Comic Belief' sections so that students may enjoy their learning experience through some theological humour added for good measure.

39. THE GAGGING OF GOD – D.A. CARSON 9780851112626 - Apollos 1996 PB edition



In this important book, D. A. Carson gives a far-ranging analysis of pluralism in its various forms, e.g. inter-faith pluralism. He mounts a firm defence of historic Christianity over a broad front, engaging with modern trends in a forthright, sensitive and intelligent way.

Finally he confronts the pluralism which has seeped into the evangelical community.







To these tasks he brings the formidable exegetical gifts already displayed in a clutch of widely acclaimed titles, the front-line experience of one frequently involved in student evangelism, and a deep concern for the true communication of the gospel in the modern world that is reminiscent of Francis Schaeffer. Carson delivers both a thoughtful critique of pluralism, based on wide reading and interaction, and a positive programme for the contemporary church showing how it can confront the challenge of post-modernism.

40. THE RESURRECTION OF THE SON OF GOD – N. T. Wright 9780281055500 - SPCK Publishing PB edition



N.T. Wright takes us on a fascinating journey through ancient beliefs about life after death, from the shadowy figures who inhabit Homer’s Hades, through Plato’s hope for a blessed immortality, to the first century, where the Greek and Roman world (apart from the Jews) consistently denied any possibility of resurrection.

We then examine ancient Jewish beliefs on the same subject, from the Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls and beyond. This sets the scene for a full-scale examination of early Christian beliefs about resurrection in general and that of Jesus in particular, beginning with Paul and working through to the start of the third century.

Wright looks at all the evidence, and asks: Why did the Christians agree with Jewish resurrection belief while introducing into it across the board significant modifications? To answer this question we come to the strange and evocative Easter stories in the gospels and asks whether they can have been late inventions. Wright seeks the best historical conclusions about the empty tomb and the belief that Jesus really did rise bodily from the dead, recognising that it was this belief that caused early Christians to call Jesus Son of God. In doing so, they posed a political challenge as well as a theological one. These challenges retain their power in the twenty-first century.




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‘Land of Many Revivals - Scotland’s Extraordinary Legacy of Christian Revivals Over Four Centuries (1527–1857)’ - Tom Lennie 9781781915202 Christian Focus Publications 2015

Normally £14.99 – ‘40th Anniversary special offer price’ only £12.00

Scotland has arguably the most varied, colourful and longstanding history of evangelical revivals in the world. Focusing on the period between 1527-1857 Tom Lennie provides an illuminating account of many an exciting time. Scotland's true revival legacy is wide and varied and Lennie draws on a variety of sources to bring together this comprehensive resource. Land of Many Revivals examines how revival happened in different ways across Scotland and looks at the legacy left in these communities. This lovely hardback book features dustjacket, maps and 16 pages of colour glossy photographs – ideal as a gift!

A native of Orkney, Tom Lennie has long held a passion for spiritual revivals worldwide, and owns one of the largest private libraries of revival literature in the UK. He currently resides in Edinburgh, where he is working on the next volume of his trilogy on Scottish revival movements. Tom’s previous book, ‘Glory in the Glen’ was launched at The GLO Centre, Motherwell.


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‘The World’s Favourite Worship Songs’ – 50 track triple CD pack

Integrity Music

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This wide-ranging worship collection ever made features over 50 of the finest modern worship songs sung the world over. With songs that cross the nations and span the generations, 'The World's Favourite Worship Songs' showcases what the worlds churches are singing today.

This triple CD features over 50 of today’s most popular worship songs including: 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord O My Soul), Here I Am To Worship, In Christ Alone, Blessed Be Your Name, How Great Is Our God, Oceans (Where Feet May Fail), Shout To The Lord and many more. Full track listing available on our website.



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