Jesus’ parable of the “Good Samaritan” is both widely known and frequently cited. In today’s idiom we sometimes say of another who performs a good deed, “My goodness, you certainly were a good Samaritan to that person.” Many of our states have “Good Samaritan” laws to encourage people to respond in emergency situations without the fear of legal liability.

But while this parable may indeed be widely known and frequently referenced, how well is it really understood? Doug Greenwold digs into the context of the parable in five chapters that explores how Jesus radically challenges our paradigm of 1) who is my neighbor; and 2) what does it mean to be neighborly?

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This book contextually restores twelve of Luke’s most “familiar” passages, e.g., return to Nazareth, Simon, the leper, the paralytic, the calling of Levi, the demoniac, Jairus, the bleeding woman, etc., in an engaging narrative story-telling format. In doing so, paradigm challenging insights (with pastoral applications) reveal themselves from passages we thought we knew and understood. Each chapter challenges the reader with open-ended, probing, rabbinic-type questions to draw out appropriate heart, mind and soul issues for transformational reflection and journaling.

Encounters With Jesus: The Rest of Their Stories restores Jesus’ compelling encounters with people back into their Middle Eastern context. One reviewer deemed the book “rich … thought-provoking … sometimes startling … always refreshing … a whole new way of looking at Jesus.”

Available in eBook only …watch your email after purchase to receive your download link. Upon occasion, that email may land in your spam file and go unnoticed, so please be aware.

Sneak a peek: Chapter 5

eBook (PDF) $10.00

Want to zero in on a specific article or book chapter that speaks to the passages or themes that specifically interest you?  Check out the options below and choose the articles or chapters that speak directly to those interests.  Where appropriate, we’ve keyed the articles and chapter options to Scripture passages.

Personal Favorites ($1.49 each article)

• Genesis 37 “Joseph’s Birthright Coat”
• Samuel I & II “David: On the Run for a Reason”
• Various “Barabbas and Me”
• Various “Follow Me”
• Various “John the Baptist and Repentance”
• John 2:1-11 “A Crisis of Wine and Joy in Cana”
• John 2:12-17 “Reforming Worship in the Temple”
• John 4:43-54 “That Desperate Royal Official”
• Matt. 27:46 & Psalm 22:1 “Forsaken or Abandoned?”
• Luke 6:6-11 “A Surprising Sabbath Showdown”
• Luke 16:1-8 “The Perplexing Parable of the Shrewd Steward”
• Luke 18 “Zaccheus: Standing Under to Understand”
• Luke 19:11-27 “The Parable of the Ten Minas”

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Two Lost Sons and Their Father’s Heart, Luke 15 series ($1.49 each)

• Getting Ready
• Jesus Sets the Teaching Stage
• Shocking Start
• Getting Ready to Leave Home
• The Pursuit of Pleasure
• Desperation and Debasement
• Remembering and Repenting
• A Paradigm-Changing Welcome Home
• An Extravagant Restoration
• A Joyous Community Celebration
• Mercy is Missing
• Lost in Resentment
• The Elder Brother Syndrome
• The Truth Teller’s Tendencies

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The Rest of the Story: A Look at Familiar Passages ($1.95 each)

• Introduction Available in the “Complimentary” Section
• Luke 2:1-20 “The Glorious and “Shameful” Birth of Jesus”
• Matthew 27, John 19 and Psalms 22-24 “The Last Words of Jesus: What Did He Really Say and Mean?”
• Matthew 5-7“Pulverizing Paradigms and the Kingdom of God”
• John 15:1-6 “Lift Up and Then Prune”
• Luke 5:1-11 “Simon Encounters Jesus”
• Matthew 28:16-20 “Being a First-Century Disciple”
• Exodus 32 and Joshua 4 “The Golden Calf: Been There, Done That”
• Numbers 20 “Stealing God’s Glory by Striking the Rock”
• John 11 “The Raising of Lazarus and God’s Timing”
• Exodus 3 “Living in the Land of Milk and Honey”

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Making Disciples Jesus’ Way: Wisdom We Have Missed ($1.95 each)

• Introduction Available in the “Complimentary” Section
• Two Very Different Worlds
• Luke 6:40 “Rabbis and Disciples”
• Luke 4:18-20 “The Rescuer Has Come”
• John 15:16 “Why Those Twelve?”
• Acts 1:1 “Do and Teach”
• John 1:14 “Grace Before Truth”
• Value Before Price
• Paradigms: Barriers to Spiritual Growth
• John 15 “A Biblical Framework for Making Disciples”

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Encounters with Jesus: The Rest of Their Stories ($1.95 each)

• Introduction Available in the “Complimentary” Section
• Luke 1:5-22 “An Incredible Announcement”
• Luke 1 “God’s Gracious Glimpses”
• Luke 4:14-28 “Mutiny on the Sabbath”
• Luke 5:1-11 “Simon Encounters Jesus”
• Luke 5:12-14 “He Touched Me!”
• Luke 5:17-26 “He Healed Me – Twice!”
• Luke 5:27-29 “He Chose Me!”
• Luke 8:22-25 “The Perfect Storm”
• Luke 8:26-39 “The Perfect Rescue”
• Luke 8:40-56 “Two Desperate People Find Jesus”
• Luke 11:1-4 “Our Daily Bread”
• Luke 11:5-8 “Pray Confidently or Persistently?”

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Is “Discipleship” Dead? ($1.49 each article)

• Introduction
• Symptoms in Need of a Diagnosis
• Watch Your Language?
• Fellowship of ALL Believers
• Being a First-Century Disciple
• A Framework for Making Disciples – Part I
• A Framework for Making Disciples – Part II
• Taking Responsibility for Your Discipling
• Discipling One Another
• Discipling Wisdom

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Two Different Worlds ($1.49 each article)

• Two Very Different Worlds: Western Evangelicalism and the Gospels – Part I
• Two Very Different Worlds: Western Evangelicalism and the Gospels – Part II
• It’s About Making Disciples!
• Mercy is Missing
• Rescue and Restoration of the Covenants

As the father of a son with special needs, I’ve long been drawn to Jesus’ encounter with a paralytic in Luke 5. When previously pondering this encounter, I always did so from Jesus’ perspective. Until recently I never viewed this remarkable event from the perspective of the paralytic’s four friends. Approaching this encounter from that viewpoint gave rise to this new eight chapter book.

• Chapter 1 – The Paralytic’s Remarkable Friends
• Chapter 2 – Best Laid Ministry Plans!
• Chapter 3 – Faith, Discernment, God’s Will and the Body
• Chapter 4 – A Faith that Wrecks a Roof
• Chapter 5 – Forgiven? We Didn’t Come for That!
• Chapter 6 – Jesus, You Can’t Do That!
• Chapter 7 – Exceeding Expectations with Jesus
• Chapter 8 – Woe to You Capernaum!
• Appendix – The Case for Context
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eBook (PDF) $6.95

Available in eBook and audiobook only …watch your email after purchase to receive your download link. Upon occasion, that email may land in your spam file and go unnoticed, so please be aware.

 

This book presents a new kind of Bible study based on a very old premise – that context enriches content when you study the Scriptures, i.e., that we need to adopt the mindset and ethos of the times of the text if we are going to fully grasp the purpose and meaning of a passage.

Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God resets the familiar Luke 1 story of Zechariah and Elizabeth back into its original contextual setting. This enables the reader to experience the fuller story as if we were neighbors of Zechariah and Elizabeth. In so doing, it allows 21st Century westernized hearts and minds to connect with the 1st Century Middle Eastern mindset that Luke assumes we would have understood. As Paul Harvey would say, now we have “the rest of the story” making this small book eminently useful for small groups and Bible studies (including ZOOM sessions!) and personal devotions.

The book is conveniently organized into twelve chapters, each with appropriate “Reflections” and Scripture to ponder, including:

• A Priest is Born
• Great Expectations
• Waiting
• Being Misunderstood
• Unfulfilled Longings
• Dashed Dreams
• An Incredible Announcement
• Restoration
• God’s Gracious Glimpse
• A New Priest is Born
• Some Closing Thoughts
• Looking Ahead

Available in eBook only …watch your email after purchase to receive your download link. Upon occasion, that email may land in your spam file and go unnoticed, so please be aware.

eBook (PDF) $6.95

This engaging book is innovative – written from the perspective of a 12-year old boy learning first-century Judean shepherding from his father.

Rich in contextual content – opens up Psalm 23 in fresh and new ways and provides new insights for today’s “sheep” and shepherds. Full of “aha moments,” for example, why all green grass is not good to eat; why sheep spook when water ripples; what is a “cast down” sheep, and under what circumstances would a shepherd intentionally break a sheep’s leg.

An easy, quick read for busy people – yet with enough penetrating spiritual insights for a lifetime of pondering.

eBook (PDF) $6.95

Available in eBook and Audiobook only …watch your email after purchase to receive your download link. Upon occasion, that email may land in your spam file and go unnoticed, so please be aware.

Making Disciples Jesus’ Way: Wisdom We Have Missed is a book for disciples and discipling practitioners. Its purpose is to challenge and provoke our contemporary Western discipleship and spiritual formation paradigms by providing the contextual backdrop of what it meant to “make disciples” in the Gospels. Then it asks: What are we doing, why are we doing it that way, and what fruit are we getting (or not getting)? The thesis of the book is that, when we reconnect with the “make disciples” contextual presuppositions in the Gospels, we can more clearly see the “missing ingredients” in discipleship today.

Sneak preview: Chapter 5 – “Do and Teach”

eBook (PDF) $10.00

Available in eBook only …watch your email after purchase to receive your download link. Upon occasion, that email may land in your spam file and go unnoticed, so please be aware.