Jonathan Leeman addresses the commonly asked (and often unanswered) question of, “Why should I join a church?” in a time when many are shunning the practice of organized religion. By offering a brief, straightforward explanation of what church membership is and why it’s important, Leeman gives the local church its proper due and builds a case for committing to the local body. Church Membership is a useful tool for churches to distribute en masse to new and potential members of their congregation.

This volume is part of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series. Look for upcoming, quick-read formats of the following marks of a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, the gospel, conversion, evangelism, church discipline, discipleship and growth, and church leadership.

What happens when a nineteen-year-old boy leaves home and heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians? For Bruce Olson, it meant capture, disease, terror, loneliness, and torture. But what he discovered by trial and error has revolutionized then world of missions.

Bruchko, which has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide, has been called “more fantastic and harrowing than anything Hollywood could concoct.” Living with the Motilone Indians since 1961, Olson has won the friendship of four presidents of Colombia and has made appearances before the United Nations because of his efforts. Bruchko includes the story of his 1988 kidnapping by communist guerrillas and the nine months of captivity that followed. This revised version of Olson’s story will amaze you and remind you that simple faith in Christ can make anything possible. “[Bruchko is] an all-time missionary classic. Bruce Olson is a modern missionary hero who has modeled for us in our time the reaching of the unreached tribes.” --Loren Cunningham Co-founder, Youth With A Mission

Through Gates of Splendor is a 1957 best selling book written by Elisabeth Elliot. The book tells the story of Operation Auca, an attempt by five American missionaries - Jim Elliot (the author's husband), Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian - to reach the Huaorani tribe of eastern Ecuador. All five of the men were killed by the tribe. The book is Elliot's first book, and arguably her most well known work.[citation needed] The title of the book is derived from the fourth stanza of the hymn "We Rest on Thee". This hymn was famously sung by the missionaries before the men left for Waodaoni territory in September 1955. The lines read:[1] We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender. Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise; When passing through the gates of pearly splendor, Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days. Elliot wrote the book while still a missionary in Ecuador. She wrote the book at the request and cooperation from the families of the five men. She was given copies of letters and other writings which were extensively quoted from in the book. The original edition of the book was published in 1957, one year before the first peaceful contact with the Huaorani was made. In subsequent publications of the book, epilogues have been added to tell about what has happened to the Huaorani tribe since Operation Auca, and what has happened to the missionaries' families

The Insanity of God is the personal and lifelong journey of an ordinary couple from rural Kentucky who thought they were going on just your ordinary missionary pilgrimage, but discovered it would be anything but. After spending over six hard years doing relief work in Somalia, and experiencing life where it looked like God had turned away completely and He was clueless about the tragedies of life, the couple had a crisis of faith and left Africa asking God, "Does the gospel work anywhere when it is really a hard place?  It sure didn't work in Somalia.

Nik recalls that, “God had always been so real to me, to Ruth, and to our boys. But was He enough, for the utter weariness of soul I experienced at that time, in that place, under those circumstances?” It is a question that many have asked and one that, if answered, can lead us to a whole new world of faith.

How does faith survive, let alone flourish in a place like the Middle East? How can Good truly overcome such evil? How do you maintain hope when all is darkness around you? How can we say “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world” when it may not be visibly true in that place at that time? How does anyone live an abundant, victorious Christian life in our world’s toughest places? Can Christianity even work outside of Western, dressed-up, ordered nations? If so, how?

The Insanity of God tells a story—a remarkable and unique story to be sure, yet at heart a very human story—of the Ripkens’ own spiritual and emotional odyssey. The gripping, narrative account of a personal pilgrimage into some of the toughest places on earth, combined with sobering and insightful stories of the remarkable people of faith Nik and Ruth encountered on their journeys, will serve as a powerful course of revelation, growth, and challenge for anyone who wants to know whether God truly is enough.

Sixty-six books written by forty people over nearly 2,000 years, in two languages and several different genres. A worldwide bestseller published in countless sizes and bindings, translations and languages. Sworn by in court, fought over by religious people, quoted in arguments. The Bible is clearly no ordinary book. How can you begin to read and understand it as a whole? In this excellent overview, Vaughan Roberts gives you the big picture--showing how the different parts of the Bible fit together under the theme of the kingdom of God. He provides both the encouragement and the tools to help you read the Bible with confidence and understanding. And he points you to the Bible's supreme subject, Jesus Christ, and the salvation God offers through him.

In this ground-breaking work, Old Testament scholar John Sailhamer shines new light on the opening chapters of the Bible, revealing how centuries-old misunderstandings have continued to shape popular biblical interpretation--as well as greatly contributing to unnecessary conflicts between the Bible and science.

Point to answers found in the first two chapters of Genesis, Sailhamer presents a credible, scripturally supported, and much-needed explanation that opens the door to reconciliation of biblical and scientific world views.

No matter what your position or background, you will be challenged to test your understanding of the Bible's critical opening sentences and reexamine your beliefs about the creation of the world through Genesis Unbound.

Goldsworthy Trilogy, The: Gospel & Kingdom, Wisdom & Revelation

This book represents excellent value, combining three Goldsworthy classics (all now Out-of-Print separately) in one volume: Gospel and Kingdom, Gospel and Wisdom, and The Gospel in Revelation. Combined, these books provide an excellent model for understanding the Christian interpretation of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments. Gospel and Kingdom is concerned with finding the gospel principles inherent in the Pentateuch and historical books of the Old Testament; Gospel and Wisdom applies the same objective with regard to the Wisdom literature of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. The Gospel in Revelation demystifies the notoriously difficult Apocalypse by reference to the gospel theme uniting the startling visions. From Paternoster.

Combining three incredibly important books for the teaching of the Church, "The Goldsworthy Trilogy" offers a complete and comprehensive guide to understanding the gospel throughout the whole of Scripture. Hugely popular, this collection is being released in this special format and will be an essential guide to be used again and again for those who seek to understand the Bible in the light of who Jesus is. Straightforward in his approach, Goldsworthy looks at how the Bible can only be understood through the eyes of the gospel. This being the base of his interpretation, he studies the Old Testament and its application for today, Israel's wisdom literature and its role in the Christian life and the purpose and contemporary relevance of the book of Revelation. This trilogy follows the Bible chronologically to give the reader a complete overview of evangelical biblical interpretation forming an essential onestop reference that will last a lifetime.

Graeme Goldsworthy
Graeme Goldsworthy (Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary, Virginia) having retired remains a visiting lecturer in Old Testament, biblical theology, and hermeneutics at Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia. He is the author of a number of books on Biblical Theology; Gospel and Kingdom; Gospel and Wisdom; Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics; According to Plan; Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, and The Gospel in Revelation.