Bruce Riley Ashford - The Gospel of Our King: Bible, Worldview, and the Mission of Every Christian

What do you get when a top-notch biblical scholar and a public theologian join forces to write on the gospel and the churchs mission? A book that not only is sensitive to the finer elements of the biblical story line but also guides you through its theological implications for our present cultural moment. The Gospel of Our King is highly accessible and academically informed as well as biblically grounded and culturally insightful. Highly recommended.

Joshua Chatraw , director, New City Fellows; theologian-in-residence, Holy Trinity Church, Raleigh, North Carolina

This book is a glorious reminder of the fact that, as believersno matter where, when, or under what conditions we livewe serve the King of all. Bruce Ashford and Heath Thomas remind us that God is King over creation, culture, politics, education, and our individual lives. Their robust theology seasoned with wise understanding makes me want to bow down before this King again and again and serve him better in all ways, in all my days.

Karen Swallow Prior , author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books and Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah MorePoet, Reformer, Abolitionist

Some expositions of the biblical narrative as the foundation for our Christian worldview lack contemporary application. And some cultural analyses of the idolatries of Western culture lack solid biblical foundations. This book lacks neither. Ashford and Thomas have combined their respective areas of expertise most effectively, giving us a book that is biblically rich, theologically thorough, spiritually insightful, holistically missional, and practically relevant. Western Christians today need to become much more rooted in the whole Bible story as active participants in its great drama. And we need to open our eyes to recognize and renounce the false gods and idols that masquerade within our cultureeven in Christianized costumes. This book helps us do both.

Christopher J. H. Wright , Langham Partnership; author of The Mission of God

In The Gospel of Our King , Ashford and Thomas introduce the Christian worldview while also attending to Christian action. In the first half of the book they take a story approach to review the grand narrative of Scripture in order to define and describe the Christian worldview. The second half of the book explicates the real-life difference that the good news of the gospel and a Christian worldview make in the day-to-day life of a believer. Fitting for those unfamiliar with the jargon of biblical and theological studies, this book will enjoy a wide readership. If you are looking for an effective survey of the whole biblical narrative that connects directly to the gospel message and spills forth naturally into Christian living in the twenty-first century, this book is for you.

Douglas S. Huffman , Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

The Gospel of Our King is a sheer delight. This is what happens when you bring together close attention to the Bible as a whole, worldview, and mission, just as they should be, with the overarching focus on the glory of God. Ashford and Thomas wear their considerable academic abilities in Bible, theology, and mission lightly in this creative, accessible, and eminently practical work. This is a book that we urgently need today, and my hope is that it will receive the wide reception it deserves. Take and read... and buy extra copies for friends!

Craig G. Bartholomew , director, Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, Cambridge

This is a wonderful book. Ashford and Thomas take us to the heart of the Christian faith: the biblical story centered in Jesus and the kingdom as the true story of the whole world, the mission of Gods people to embody that good news in all of life, and a missionary encounter with the idolatrous story of our Western culture. Their writing is engaging and the idols they challenge are timely, making this a book full of insight for faithful Christian living today. May this book find a wide readership for the sake of Gods kingdom.

Michael W. Goheen , Missional Training Center, Surge Network of ChurchesPhoenix, and Covenant Theological Seminary