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After wresting Israel from Pharaoh's enslavement, God fights for the soul of his doubting and resistant people. They ask, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Even after Israel's covenant commitment to be God's "priestly kingdom and holy nation," Israel breaks away again and worships a golden calf, a symbol of what is clear to the senses.

In the end, God's grace wrests Israel away once more, this time from captivity to its own doubts, fears, and self-centeredness. In the last chapters, Exodus portrays a people focused in faith on the imageless presence of God in its midst. Nevertheless, God still wrestles for his people even today.

This book presents essays on themes useful for teaching preaching, and Bible study; bibliographies; charts; a map, and an index.

Copyright 2000.

By exploring the circumstances behind this decline, Brensinger provides practical applications for such contemporary issues as religious unfaithfulness, the nature of community, the roles and responsibilities of leaders, and war and violence.

Each narrative features intense interaction among the characters and, in the case of Jonah, with God. As we enter the world of these struggles and events, Roop hopes we will experience in the narratives something of their sorrow and laughter, hope and faithful loyalty, and grasp of God's mercy and grace.

Copyright 2006 Herald Press

Lederach sees in Daniel a persistent call to endurance and loyalty to God, even while believers suffer for their faith, pray for deliverance, and speak truth to kings.

For both prophets, the Lord's judgement is to lead to repentance and restoration. Guenther explores theological and practical implications of their message to the church in its cultural settings.

Gardner probes each section for its meaning in the wider biblical context and in the life of the church. Thus readers are prepared to engage in their own interaction with the text. Ends with essays, an extensive bibliography, and a list of select resources.

Mark's Gospel speaks plainly, yet sometimes in riddles, of God as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, and the Son of God. Mark presents God's reign, its present hiddenness and future glory, and its surprising way of coming. Mark is also about Jesus and his followers crossing barriers to pass God's grace on to those formerly excluded.

Mark's resurrection message is open-ended. Readers supply their own ending, not just in words, but by following the resurrected Lord.

The key word in Acts is witness for Jesus Christ, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. God's Spirit anoints the church at Pentecost, leads believers in handling conflicts between converts new and old, and empowers Christians to overcome false beliefs and magic. In Acts, Luke tells this dramatic story with subtle humor.

Faw, a member of the Church of the Brethren, served as a missionary in Nigeria and as a New Testament professor at Bethany Theollogical Seminary, Oak Brook, Illinois.

Copyright 2004.

The thread that ties the two parts together is Paul's conviction on pastoral ministry under the banner of Christ. Paul insists that ministry is to be borne in affliction like that of Christ crucified. The only boast allowed is in the Lord, not in one's own achievements or elevated experiences.

Yoder Neufled takes readers from one rich vista to the next, eager to aid a life-changing encounter with Ephesians. He probes interpretive options, ponders Christian teaching with fresh insight, and calls everyone to "walk" as children of light, with a song in heart and throat.

The book has essays, bibliographies, charts, a map, and an index. Copyright 2001.

Elias illuminates the text, provides historical and cultural background, and Theological, sociological, and ethical meanings and in general, makes "the rough places plain."

J. Daryl Charles, Upland, Indiana, teaches religion, philosophy, and ethics at Taylor University. He admits that 2 Peter and Jude are hard for us to understand. Yet he shows how these letters are relevant since the church still faces ethical compromises and pastoral dilemmas. Their apocalyptic imagery stresses that the concerns of Christian faithfulness and faith are absolutely crucial. The church needs such moral exhortation.

Includes clear biblical commentary, relationships between various portions of scripture, and applications drawn from the Anabaptist tradition and the larger Christian community.

Copyright 2003.

Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, and other persons interested in careful Bible study will find the explanatory essays for each section of Scripture helpful.

Two focused articles at the end of each chapter, The Text in biblical Context and The Text in the Life of the Church, are unique features of the series.

Especially in the latter, believers church perspectives come through clearly. These include believers baptism, commitment to the Rule of Christ (Matthew 18:15-20) as central to church membership, belief in the power of love in all relationships, and a willingness to follow the way of the cross of Christ.

The series is based on the conviction that God still speaks to all who will listen, and that the Holy Spirit makes the Word a living and authoritative guide for all who want to know and do God's will.