Scot McKnight

Whether you desire a fresh look at what it means to be a disciple or are new to the idea of Christian discipleship, this workbook is a gospel-centered guide to what Jesus means when he asks us to follow him. Why is there so often a divide between being a Christian in name and being a true follower of Jesus? They should be the same thing. But learning how to follow Jesus--to live into the name Christ-ian by working to become like him--takes a lifetime of devotion and a renewed focus on the gospels. Author and professor Scot McKnight teaches what it means to follow King Jesus by helping individuals and study groups:Understand the biblical meaning of the gospelLearn (or re-learn) how to properly read the BibleLive as disciples of Jesus in all areas of lifeShow the world God's character through the community of the churchBased on four of McKnight's bestsellers (The King Jesus Gospel, The Blue Parakeet – 2nd edition, One. Life, and A Fellowship of Differents), this workbook is designed for personal study and disciple-making groups of two or more. These 24 lessons on discipleship essentials will help you develop a proper framework for being a disciple in your relationship to God, yourself, fellow believers, and the world.

For many years now, the church in North America has heard figure after figure concerning the steady flow of young people leaving the church. In the midst of these troubling figures, there remains a glimmer of hope for these youth as they transition into young adults. Ever Ancient, Ever New tells the story of a generation of younger Christians from different backgrounds and traditions who are finding a home and a deep connection in the church by embracing a liturgical expression of the faith. Author and teacher Winfield Bevins introduces you to a growing movement among younger Christians who are returning to historic, creedal, and liturgical reflections of Christianity. He unpacks why and how liturgy has beckoned them deeper into their experience of Jesus, and what types of churches and communities foster this "convergence" of old and new. Filled with stories illustrating the excitement and joy many young adults have found in these ancient expressions of Christianity, this book introduces you to practices and principles that may help the church as it seeks to engage our postmodern world.

The issue of baptism has troubled Protestants for centuries. Should infants be baptized before their faith is conscious, or does God command the baptism of babies whose parents have been baptized? Popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight makes a biblical case for infant baptism, exploring its history, meaning, and practice and showing that infant baptism is the most historic Christian way of forming children into the faith. He explains that the church's practice of infant baptism developed straight from the Bible and argues that it must begin with the family and then extend to the church. Baptism is not just an individual profession of faith: it takes a family and a church community to nurture a child into faith over time. McKnight explains infant baptism for readers coming from a tradition that baptizes adults only, and he counters criticisms that fail to consider the role of families in the formation of faith. The book includes a foreword by Todd Hunter and an afterword by Gerald McDermott.

The issue of baptism has troubled Protestants for centuries. Should infants be baptized before their faith is conscious, or does God command the baptism of babies whose parents have been baptized? Popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight makes a biblical case for infant baptism, exploring its history, meaning, and practice and showing that infant baptism is the most historic Christian way of forming children into the faith. He explains that the church's practice of infant baptism developed straight from the Bible and argues that it must begin with the family and then extend to the church. Baptism is not just an individual profession of faith: it takes a family and a church community to nurture a child into faith over time. McKnight explains infant baptism for readers coming from a tradition that baptizes adults only, and he counters criticisms that fail to consider the role of families in the formation of faith. The book includes a foreword by Todd Hunter and an afterword by Gerald McDermott.

How are we to live out the Bible today? In this updated edition of The Blue Parakeet, you'll see how Scripture transcends culture and time, and you'll learn how to read God's Word in a fresh way. The gospel is designed to be relevant in every culture, in every age, in every language. It's fully capable of this, and we are called to discern how God is speaking to us today. But applying its words and directions on how to live our lives is not always easy. Professor and author of The King Jesus Bible Scot McKnight challenges us to rethink how to read the Bible, not just to puzzle it together into some systematic belief or historical tradition but to see it as an ongoing Story that we're summoned to enter and to carry forward in our day. Throughout the Bible, God speaks in each generation, in that generation's ways and beckons us to be a part of his amazing story. The Blue Parakeet is a profound meditation on how God is speaking to our generation through His Word.

Would You Recognize an Angel if You Saw One? The majority of earth's inhabitants believe in Angels. Yet so few of us can claim to have seen one. Why? Perhaps it's because in order to encounter one, we first have to learn what to look for and how to look We live in a world where the natural and supernatural overlap. Angels are constantly on mission from God and constantly at work in this world. From the Garden of Eden to the Book of Revelation, Scripture is filled with hundreds of references to these wondrous creatures. In this creative work, Scot McKnight explores what the Bible says - and doesn't say - about these majestic beings. And that's deeply important because angels are still on mission today. They express God's love, confirm His presence, and even lead humans in redemptive worship. Don't just believe in angels. Learn how to recognize these messengers of God that are all around us and know how God might be using them to affect our lives. Now available in a convenient paperback edition, The Hum of Angels illuminates what the Bible says about these heavenly beings; and it helps you to understand the deepest truths about one of God's most magnificent and yet misunderstood creations. Most People Believe in Angels. It's What we Believe About them that Matters. Believing in angels is one thing. But how can we know what angels are really like - especially when our preconceived notions have been mostly shape by sensationalized misinterpretations of these wondrous beings? To help sort things out, Scot McKnight untangles fact from fiction on topics such as: * Do loved ones become angels when they die? * Can we hear from angels? * Is there a hierarchy of angels? * Do we have a specific guardian angel? * Should we be scared of angels? * Are cherubs and seraphs different creatures than angels? * Do angels have wings? * Are angels worship leaders?

Would you recognize an angel if you saw one? The majority of earth's inhabitants believe in Angels. Yet so few of us can claim to have seen one. Why? Perhaps it's because in order to encounter one, we first have to learn what to look for, and how to look! We live in a world where the natural and supernatural overlap. Angels are constantly on mission from God, and constantly at work in this world. From the Garden of Eden to the Book of Revelation, Scripture is filled with hundreds of references to these wondrous creatures. In this creative work, Scot McKnight explores what the Bible says - and doesn't say - about these majestic beings. And that's deeply important, because angels are still on mission today. They express God's love, confirm His presence, and even lead humans in redemptive worship. Don't just believe in angels. Learn how to recognise these messengers of God that are all around us and know how God might be using them to affect our lives.

World-renowned New Testament scholar offers a straightforward examination of what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. Who exactly is the Holy Spirit? What does he do in our lives? How can we know him more deeply, and is it possible to tap into his power? Should we pray to the Holy Spirit? Is it possible to be aware of his promptings and speaking into our lives? Dr. Scot McKnight answers these questions and more in this comprehensive examination of what the Bible says about this divinely important, but often confusing member of the Trinity. This is the third work in a three-part series examining some of the supernatural components of the Christian faith. Scot's The Heaven Promise examines the afterlife. The Hum of Angels elucidates the Bible's teaching on God's supernatural messengers and protectors. Now, The Holy Spirit examines the most mysterious member of the Trinity. Scot blogs at Patheos, a large multi-perspective blog format. It serves many influential voices from many faith and non-faith traditions. Scot's blog draws primarily a Christian readership; one that is looking for intellectual engagement and thoughtful analysis of Scripture, Theology, and Culture.

The Letter to the Colossians offers a compelling vision of the Christian life; its claims transcend religion and bring politics, culture, spirituality, power, ethnicity, and more into play. Delving deeply into the message of Colossians, this exegetical and theological commentary by Scot McKnight will be welcomed by preachers, teachers, and students everywhere.

Whether people realize it or not, the ideas in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 have had a huge impact on the role of Christian women in the church through the centuries. These fifteen verses have shaped worship practices, church structures, church leadership, marriages, and even relationships between men and women in general. They have contributed to practices that have consistently placed women in a subordinate role to men, and have been used to justify the idea that a woman should not occupy a leadership or teaching position without being under the authority or "covering" of a man. It is strange, therefore, that academics and pastors alike continue to note how confusing and difficult it continues to be to make sense of these very verses. In this little book, Lucy Peppiatt not only highlights the problems associated with using this text to justify the subordination of women, but offers a clear and plausible re-reading of the text that paints the apostle Paul as a radical, visionary, church planter who championed women in all forms of leadership. "Lucy Peppiatt is an outstanding academic, writer and leader. In the excellent Unveiling Paul's Women, she offers sensible and insightful argument undergirded by rigorous scholarship. At last, in her thesis, the text finds a natural and logical flow. A flow that's consistent with what appears obvious from Paul's teaching and practice elsewhere in the New Testament." --Roger Ellis, Global Coordinator of the 24-7 Boiler Room Network and Academy Director "Unveiling Paul's Women is like Paracetamol Plus or Panadol ActiFast or Anadin Extra for some well-known theological headaches She has treated us to a quick-acting, bite-sized, power-packed, tablet-shaped wonder medicine for the weary, wary or just curious. Prepare to end up inspired by honest and erudite wrestling with scripture, and in the future, make it a rule to get anything she writes and then share her books with friends." --Chris Tilling, Graduate Tutor and Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies, St. Mellitus College "I'm persuaded that Lucy Peppiatt is pushing us to significant improvement in interpretation] when it comes to 1 Corinthians 11." --Scot McKnight, Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary, Lisle, IL Lucy Peppiatt is the Principal of Westminster Theological Centre and the author of Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul's Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians (2015).

Whether people realize it or not, the ideas in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 have had a huge impact on the role of Christian women in the church through the centuries. These fifteen verses have shaped worship practices, church structures, church leadership, marriages, and even relationships between men and women in general. They have contributed to practices that have consistently placed women in a subordinate role to men, and have been used to justify the idea that a woman should not occupy a leadership or teaching position without being under the authority or ""covering"" of a man. It is strange, therefore, that academics and pastors alike continue to note how confusing and difficult it continues to be to make sense of these very verses. In this little book, Lucy Peppiatt not only highlights the problems associated with using this text to justify the subordination of women, but offers a clear and plausible re-reading of the text that paints the apostle Paul as a radical, visionary, church planter who championed women in all forms of leadership. ""Lucy Peppiatt is an outstanding academic, writer and leader. In the excellent Unveiling Paul's Women, she offers sensible and insightful argument undergirded by rigorous scholarship. At last, in her thesis, the text finds a natural and logical flow. A flow that's consistent with what appears obvious from Paul's teaching and practice elsewhere in the New Testament."" --Roger Ellis, Global Coordinator of the 24-7 Boiler Room Network and Academy Director ""Unveiling Paul's Women is like Paracetamol Plus or Panadol ActiFast or Anadin Extra for some well-known theological headaches She has treated us to a quick-acting, bite-sized, power-packed, tablet-shaped wonder medicine for the weary, wary or just curious. Prepare to end up inspired by honest and erudite wrestling with scripture, and in the future, make it a rule to get anything she writes and then share her books with friends."" --Chris Tilling, Graduate Tutor and Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies, St. Mellitus College ""I'm persuaded that Lucy Peppiatt is pushing us to significant improvement in interpretation] when it comes to 1 Corinthians 11."" --Scot McKnight, Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary, Lisle, IL Lucy Peppiatt is the Principal of Westminster Theological Centre and the author of Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul's Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians (2015).

Throughout Scripture and church history, women have been central to the mission of God. But all too often women have lacked opportunities to minister fully. Many churches lack visible examples of women in ministry and leadership. Pastor Tara Beth Leach issues a stirring call for a new generation of women in ministry: to teach, to preach, to shepherd, and to lead. God not only permits women to minister—he emboldens, empowers, and unleashes women to lead out of the fullness of who they are. The church cannot reach its full potential without women using their God-given gifts. Leach provides practical expertise for how women can find their place at the table, escape impostor syndrome, face opposition, mentor others, and much more. When women teach, preach, lead, evangelize, pastor, and disciple, and when men partner to embolden the women in their lives, the church's imagination expands to better reflect God's story and hope for the world.

The Academy of Parish Clergy's 2018 Top Five Reference Books for Parish Ministry Paul's letter to Philemon carries a strong message of breaking down social barriers and establishing new realities of conduct and fellowship. It is also a disturbing text that has been used to justify slavery. Though brief, Philemon requires close scrutiny. In this commentary Scot McKnight offers careful textual analysis of Philemon and brings the practice of modern slavery into conversation with the ancient text. Too often, McKnight says, studies of this short letter gloss over the issue of slavery--an issue that must be recognized and dealt with if Christians are to read Philemon faithfully. Pastors and scholars will find in this volume the insight they need to preach and teach this controversial book in meaningful new ways.

Shunned. Condemned. Controlled. Describing church, believers and nonbelievers deploy stinging terms to define an imperial, culturally privileged, and powerful American force. Church has become synonymous with shame, exclusion, and hostility. This is not the church of Jesus. American Christians are victims of a deliberate and shortsighted scheme designed to identify and defeat religious, cultural, and sexual Others. From the language of ""makers and takers,"" to ""if you're not for us, you're against us,"" to the continual suggestion that we are soldiers in a constant series of wars--the war on women, the war on the family, the war on Christians, the war on Christmas, the war on terror, and much more--Christians are near the heart of enmity. The New Testament, however, seeks to create an alternative community--a community devoid of fear, wherein God's love and acceptance are mediated to all people through the grace of Jesus. In Unarmed Empire, Sean Palmer reclaims the New Testament's vision of the church as an alternative community of welcome, harmony, and peace. Unarmed Empire is for everyone who's been misled about church. It's for everyone who feels blacklisted by believers, everyone who has been hurt. It's for everyone longing for a purer experience of church. ""Sean Palmer has made a beautiful discovery. He discovered a pearl of great price buried in the back yard of Christianity. He wants to share that treasure with you through his new book, Unarmed Empire. If you share in this discovery, you'll discover why he is so passionate about it. You'll want to share it too."" --Brian D. McLaren, author of The Great Spiritual Migration ""Sean Palmer is a skilled storyteller, a deep thinker, an insightful writer, and a faithful follower of Jesus. In Unarmed Empire, Palmer sagely assesses the church--both as it was intended to be, and as it is. While acknowledging the church's faults, flaws, and failures, Palmer nevertheless casts a hopeful vision of the church as it can be, reminding us that no matter how lost we are, we can always find our way Home."" --Sarah Thebarge, author of The Invisible Girls and WELL: Healing Our Beautiful, Broken World from a Hospital in West Africa ""Brilliantly weaving together story, memoir, cultural criticism, biblical exegesis, and theological commentary, Sean Palmer has written the best book about the church I have ever read. By turns pastoral and prophetic, Unarmed Empire is a manifesto for the church, an urgent plea to become God's 'beloved community.'"" --Richard Beck, author, blogger, professor of psychology, Abilene Christian University ""This book is frustrating. It's frustrating because it chafes against our fallen nature's quest for power. It's frustrating because it confounds conventional wisdom's preservation of status quo. Mostly, it's frustrating because it's so biblical and Christ-centered that there's no way for a follower of Jesus to dismiss it. Caveat Lector: Let the Reader Beware This will not be easy to absorb, but it is necessary if we ever hope to become the beloved community imagined in Scripture."" --John Alan Turner, Church Consultant, Author of Crazy Stories; Sane God ""We modern evangelicals have long been proponents of 'defending the faith, ' but rarely have we stopped to ask 'Defending it from what or (maybe more appropriately) whom' and when the faith has been adequately defended, 'Who was defeated in the process' Sean invites us into a better story, an unapologetically biblical story that has been there all along. It's not about acquiescing to culture, it's about the way of Christ, which is laying down our lives for those around us."" --Shane Blackshear, Writer and host of the podcasts Seminary Dropout and OnRamp Sean Palmer is a thoughtful, provocative writer, speaker, and podcaster who has been named by Christian Standard magazine as one of its ""40 Under 40"" leaders. Sean is the Teaching Pastor at Ecclesia Houston, a

Introverts have gifts for the church and the world. But many churches tend to be extroverted places where introverts are marginalized. Some Christians end up feeling like it's not as faithful to be an introvert. Adam McHugh shows how introverts can live and minister in ways consistent with their personalities. He explains how introverts and extroverts process information and approach relationships differently and how introverts can practice Christian spirituality in ways that fit who they are. With practical illustrations from church and parachurch contexts, McHugh offers ways for introverts to serve, lead, worship, and even evangelize effectively. Introverts in the Church is essential reading for any introvert who has ever felt out of place, as well as for church leaders who want to make their churches more welcoming to introverts. This expanded edition has been revised throughout and includes new research on the neuroscience of introversion and material for parenting and encouraging introverted youth. Discover God's call and empowerment to thrive as an introvert, for the sake of the church and kingdom.

Jesus Creed 2017 Book of the YearOne of the Best Books of 2017, Englewood Review of BooksWe are saved by faith when we trust that Jesus died for our sins. This is the gospel, or so we are taught. But what is faith? And does this accurately summarize the gospel? Because faith is frequently misunderstood and the climax of the gospel misidentified, the gospel's full power remains untapped. While offering a fresh proposal for what faith means within a biblical theology of salvation, Matthew Bates presses the church toward a new precision: we are saved solely by allegiance to Jesus the king. Instead of faith alone, Christians must speak about salvation by allegiance alone. The book includes discussion questions for students, pastors, and church groups and a foreword by Scot McKnight.

Genomic science indicates that humans descend not from an individual pair but from a large population. What does this mean for the basic claim of many Christians: that humans descend from Adam and Eve? Leading evangelical geneticist Dennis Venema and popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight combine their expertise to offer informed guidance and answers to questions pertaining to evolution, genomic science, and the historical Adam. Some of the questions they explore include:- Is there credible evidence for evolution?- Do we descend from a population or are we the offspring of Adam and Eve? - Does taking the Bible seriously mean rejecting recent genomic science?- How do Genesis's creation stories reflect their ancient Near Eastern context, and how did Judaism understand the Adam and Eve of Genesis?- Doesn't Paul's use of Adam in the New Testament prove that Adam was a historical individual? The authors address up-to-date genomics data with expert commentary from both genetic and theological perspectives, showing that genome research and Scripture are not irreconcilable. Foreword by Tremper Longman III and afterword by Daniel Harrell.