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 Bible Commentary 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...

Parakeets make delightful pets. We cage them or clip their wings to keep them where we want them. Scot McKnight contends that many, conservatives and liberals alike, attempt the same thing with the Bible. We all try to tame it. McKnight's The Blue Parakeet calls Christians to stop taming the Bible and to let it speak anew to our heart.McKnight challenges us to rethink how to read the Bible, not just to puzzle it together into some systematic belief but to see it as a Story that we're summoned to enter and to carry forward in our day.