Scot McKnight

Would you like to meet the real Mary of Nazareth? The real Mary was an unmarried, pregnant teenage girl in first-century Palestine. She was a woman of courage, humility, spirit and resolve, and her response to the angel Gabriel shifted the tectonic plates of history. Popular biblical scholar Scot McKnight explores the contours of Mary's life from the moment she learned of God's plan for the Messiah to the culmination of Christ's ministry on earth. Dismantling the myths and challenging our prejudices, the author introduces us to a woman who is a model for faith and who points us to her son.

Heaven. Eternity. The Afterlife. When you mention any of these concepts, people of all ages and from all walks of life are certain to have opinions. How can we know for sure what heaven will be like? According to New Testament scholar and popular author Scot McKnight, all we need to do is turn to Scripture to answer our questions. McKnight helps you examine God's Word in order to discover what awaits you on the other side of the grave and find answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding heaven, including: 1. What about Near Death Experiences? 2. What about Rewards in Heaven? 3. Who Will Be in Heaven? 4. Is God Fair? 5. Will There Be Families in Heaven? 6. What about Children Who Die? 7. What about Cremation? 8. What about Purgatory? 9. Will There Be Pets in Heaven? 10. Why Believe in Heaven? Heaven isn't the construction of a fairy tale or some mystical narrative. It's very real; it's very good; and it's very much the fulfillment of God's promise to you.

In this compelling book about diversity and community, McKnight shares his personal experiences and his study of the Apostle Paul to answer this significant question: What is the church supposed to be? Local churches matter far more than we often know because they determine what Christian life looks like for you. The church McKnight grew up in was a fellowship of sames and likes. Mostly white, same beliefs about everything, same tastes in music and worship and sermons and lifestyle. But the church God designed, says McKnight, is meant to be a fellowship of di­fference and di­fferents. A mixture of people from all across the map and spectrum: men and women, rich and poor, black and white, and everything in between. A Fellowship of Differents explores the church as God’s world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the table to share life with one another as a new kind of family, showing the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be.

Authored by one of the world's leading New Testament scholars, this commentary on the Acts of the Apostles was originally published in 1996. James Dunn first takes the reader through questions of authorship, audience, date, purpose, and literary structure. He then considers the kind of history writing that we find in the narrative of Acts, delineates the book's theological teaching, and offers bibliographic comments on sources and selected studies, including work published between 1996 and 2016. This commentary as a whole provides the information and perspective necessary for reading to best effect what Dunn believes is the most exciting book in the New Testament.

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.

We have been created to live and work in community. But all too often we see ourselves primarily as individuals and run the risk of working at cross-purposes with the organizations we serve. Living faithfully in a neighborhood involves two interwoven threads: learning and action. In this book C. Christopher Smith, coauthor of Slow Church, looks at the local church as an organization in which both learning and action lie at the heart of its identity. He explores the practice of reading and, in his words, "how we can read together in ways that drive us deeper into action." Smith continues, "Church can no longer simply be an experience to be passively consumed; rather, we are called into the participatory life of a community. Reading is a vital practice for helping our churches navigate this shift." Discover how books can help your churches and neighborhoods bring flourishing to the world.

The "new perspective" on Paul, an approach that seeks to reinterpret the apostle Paul and his letters against the backdrop of first-century Judaism, has been criticized by some as not having value for ordinary Christians living ordinary lives. In this volume, world-renowned scholars explore the implications of the new perspective on Paul for the Christian life and church. James D. G. Dunn, N. T. Wright, Bruce Longenecker, Scot McKnight, and other leading New Testament scholars offer a response to this question: How does the apostle Paul understand the Christian life? The book makes a fresh contribution to the new perspective on Paul conversation and offers important new insights into the orientation of the Christian life.

An Award-Winning Challenge to Popular Ideas of the KingdomAccording to Scot McKnight, "kingdom" is the biblical term most misused by Christians today. It has taken on meanings that are completely at odds with what the Bible says and has become a buzzword for both social justice and redemption. In Kingdom Conspiracy, McKnight offers a sizzling biblical corrective and a fiercely radical vision for the role of the local church in the kingdom of God. Now in paper. Praise for Kingdom Conspiracy2015 Outreach Resources of the Year Award WinnerOne of Leadership Journal's Best Books for Church Leaders in 2014"This is a must-read for church leaders today."--Publishers Weekly"A timely resource for the missional church to reexamine some basic assumptions that impact church practice in the everyday."--Outreach

Discipleship occurs when someone answers the call to learn from Jesus how to live his or her life—as though Jesus were living it. The end result is that the disciple becomes the kind of person who naturally does what Jesus did. How the church understands salvation and the gospel is the key to recovering a biblical theology of discipleship. Our doctrines of grace and salvation, in some cases, actually prevent us from creating an expectation that we are to be disciples of Jesus. A person can profess to be a Christian and yet still live under the impression that they don’t need to actually follow Jesus. Being a follower is seen as an optional add-on, not a requirement. It is a choice, not a demand. Being a Christian today has no connection with the biblical idea that we are formed into the image of Christ. In this ground-breaking new book, pastor and author Bill Hull shows why our existing models of evangelism and discipleship fail to actually produce followers of Jesus. He looks at the importance of recovering a robust view of the gospel and taking seriously the connection between conversion—answering the call to follow Jesus—and discipleship—living like the one we claim to follow.

Christianity seems to be in decline in the West. But many churches in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other parts of the Majority World are growing rapidly. Western Christianity can no longer claim to be the center of the global church. Before long, two-thirds of Christians will live in Asia, Africa and Latin America. What does this mean for global Christian mission? What does it mean for worship, theology, faith and evangelism in the West? In GlobalChurch, Graham Hill engages with more than one hundred high-profile Majority World Christian leaders to find out what they can teach the West about mission, leadership, hospitality, creation care, education, worship and more. He challenges the Western church to move away from a Eurocentric and Americentric view of church and mission, and he calls the church to construct global missional conversations. The future of the global church—including the churches of the West—exists in these global exchanges. This resource engages with the work and thought of Majority World theologians and missiologists including Simon ChanRuth Padilla DeBorstSamuel EscobarAjith FernandoMakoto FujimuraGustavo GutiérrezEmmanuel KatongoleNelson MandelaVishal MangalwadiC. René PadillaLamin SannehSadhu Sundar SinghVinoth RamachandraAmos Yong GlobalChurch is an indispensible guide for the church as it navigates the unique global experiences of the twenty-first century.

In this compelling book about diversity and community, McKnight shares his personal experiences and his study of the Apostle Paul to answer this significant question: What is the church supposed to be? Local churches matter far more than we often know because they determine what Christian life looks like for you. The church McKnight grew up in was a fellowship of sames and likes. Mostly white, same beliefs about everything, same tastes in music and worship and sermons and lifestyle. But the church God designed, says McKnight, is meant to be a fellowship of di­fference and di­fferents. A mixture of people from all across the map and spectrum: men and women, rich and poor, black and white, and everything in between. A Fellowship of Differents explores the church as God’s world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the table to share life with one another as a new kind of family, showing the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be.

Among followers of Jesus, great is often the enemy of good. The drive to be great—to be a success by the standards of the world—often crowds out the qualities of goodness, virtue, and faithfulness that should define the central focus of Christian leadership. In the culture of today’s church, successful leadership is often judged by what works, while persistent faithfulness takes a back seat. If a ministry doesn’t produce results, it is dropped. If people don’t respond, we move on. This pursuit of “greatness” exerts a crushing pressure on the local church and creates a consuming anxiety in its leaders. In their pursuit of this warped vision of greatness, church leaders end up embracing a leadership narrative that runs counter to the sacrificial call of the gospel story. When church leaders focus on faithfulness to God and the gospel, however, it’s always a kingdom-win—regardless of the visible results of their ministry. John the Baptist modeled this kind of leadership. As John’s disciples crossed the Jordan River to follow after Jesus, John freely released them to a greater calling than following him. Speaking of Jesus, John said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Joyfully satisfied to have been faithful to his calling, John knew that the size and scope of his ministry would be determined by the will of the Father, not his own will. Following the example of John the Baptist and with a careful look at the teaching of Scripture, Tim Suttle dares church leaders to risk failure by chasing the vision God has given them—no matter how small it might seem—instead of pursuing the broad path of pragmatism that leads to fame and numerical success.

The bestselling 40-day devotional based on The Jesus Creed now with a study guide for church, book, house church, and study groups"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And...love your neighbor as yourself." Scot McKnight has come to call this vital teaching of our Lord the Jesus Creed. He recites it throughout the day every day and challenges you to do the same. You may find that, if you do, you will learn to love God more creatively and passionately, and find new ways to love those around you. Includes a study guide for small groups by Rev'd. Dr. Kevin Maney. The Rev. Dr. Kevin Maney spent 30 years as a teacher and professor in K-16 education, receiving a PhD in curriculum and instruction before earning a Diploma in Anglican Studies from Trinity School for Ministry and being ordained a priest in the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes, part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in 2008. He is rector of St. Augustine's Anglican Church near Columbus, OH.

Emphasizing the historical distance between the New Testament and our contemporary culture, The Sermon on the Mount by Scot McKnight, part of the new The Story of God BibleCommentary series, offers helpful contextual insights for those seeking to discern how to live out the Bible in today’s world. Perfect for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and lay people alike, this highly anticipated series provides a clear and compelling exposition of the text in the context of the Bible’s overarching story. The authors move away from “application” language, which has been criticized as being too simplistic, encouraging instead a wider perspective and discussion of how the biblical story can be lived today. Offering a new type of application commentary for today’s context, the Story of God Bible Commentary series explains and illuminates Scripture as God’s Story, with each New Testament text examined as embedded in its canonical and historical setting, in order to foster discernment in living the story faithfully and creatively with and for the Church in the 21st Century.

Scot McKnight here explains the Letter of James both in its own context and as it may be seen in light of ancient Judaism, the Graeco-Roman world, and emerging earliest Christianity. From beginning to end, the book is shaped for pastors, teachers, and scholars. McKnight is less interested in shedding new light on James than on providing a commentary for those who want to explain the letter and its significance to congregations and classes. This commentary is accessible to a broad readership, at once full of insight and of good sense and wit that makes for good reading. The Letter of James is an especially helpful source for consultation as to what James is about.

“Fasting is the body talking what the spirit yearns, what the soul longs for, and what the mind knows to be true.”— Scot McKnightChristianity has traditionally been at odds with the human body. At times in the history of the church, Christians have viewed the body and physical desires as the enemy. Now, Scot McKnight, best-selling author of The Jesus Creed , reconnects the spiritual and the physical in the ancient discipline of fasting. Inside You'll Find:In-depth biblical precedents for the practice of fasting;How to fast effectively—and safely;Different methods of fasting as practiced in the Bible;Straight talk on pitfalls, such as cheating and motivation. Join McKnight as he explores the idea of “whole-body spirituality,” in which fasting plays a central role. This ancient practice, he says, doesn’t make sense to most of us until we have grasped the importance of the body for our spirituality, until we can view it as a spiritual response to a sacred moment. Fasting—simple, primitive, and ancient—still demonstrates a whole person’s earnest need and hunger for the presence of God, just as it has in the lives of God’s people throughout history. The Ancient PracticesThere is a hunger in every human heart for connection, primitive and raw, to God. To satisfy it, many are beginning to explore traditional spiritual disciplines used for centuries . . . everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to sincere observance of the Sabbath. Compelling and readable, the Ancient Practices series is for every spiritual sojourner, for every Christian seeker who wants more.