Kalas offers a challenging and hopeful reflection on a conundrum that every human being deals with at some time in life, usually when facing a horrible tragedy, the death of a loved one, or the simple grinding pain of everyday existence: Why does God allow such suffering to exist? Is our pain God's will?

Pastors, students, and general readers will all benefit from the reflections of this seasoned pastor and theologian as he explores the concept of the will of God in a shattered and stubborn world.

Popular author J. Ellsworth Kalas has a few things he'd like to share. In I Bought a House on Gratitude Street, Kalas imparts insights gathered over the years through different means - -Some . . . have come to me by my seeking, some have been shared with me by people of wider experience, and some have been thrust upon me by my mistakes.-

With his familiar style, Kalas shares life-lessons on matters of friendship, prayer, sin, and success all through the lens of Scripture.

A discussion guide is included for small-group use.

How can something be created from nothing? How does Genesis relate to the New Testament and Christian faith?

In this eight-week study, homiletics professor and pastor J. Ellsworth Kalas approaches Genesis as a very personal and almost intimate book. Instead of viewing it as an academic study or as a puzzle to be solved, the author reads Genesis in a very personal, up-close way. Easy-to-follow, step-by-step suggestions for leading a group are provided, as well as questions to facilitate class discussion.

Immersion, inspired by a fresh translation--the Common English...

In his popular series of books -From the Back Side, - J. Ellsworth Kalas looks at Christian topics through a new lens, takes unique starting points on those subjects, and uses creative re-telling from different points of view.

In Faith from the Back Side, Kalas explores something that is central in a Christian life but often difficult to understand.

-We exercise faith every day, in hundreds of secular moments, then struggle to find it in its purest form when we need God's help the most. The back side, indeed Sometimes it's the only side of faith we can...

Take the best preacher you've ever heard, add in the teacher who first opened your eyes to the excitement and meaning of your favorite subject in school, combine these with that member of the family to whom you could always turn for the best advice, stir them all together, and you'll get a flavor of the writing of Ellsworth Kalas. And now the very best thoughts and reflections of this wise teacher and guide are available together in one volume.

Across his career Ellsworth Kalas has worn many hats: pastor, professor, seminary president. Through all of them, however, he has...

In A Faith of Her Own: Women of the Old Testament, popular author J. Ellsworth Kalas focuses on women who were crucial--some in obvious and some in less obvious ways--to the story of the Old Testament. Kalas takes a look at several different women of the Old Testament. He examines the Scriptures to see what we can learn about them and from them, including their defining characteristics, how they fit into as well as shaped the Old Testament story, and how their stories of strength, courage, perseverance, and faith have shaped our lives as believers today.

Chapters include:
-...

In this follow-up to his book The Thirteen Apostles, popular author J. Ellsworth Kalas focuses on several women of great faith who were crucial, in ways both obvious and understated, to the story of the New Testament. Kalas looks into the life and times of eleven different women. With his signature style, Kalas examines the Scriptures to see what we can learn about these women and what we can learn from them, and how each woman fit into as well as shaped the New Testament story.

Chapters include:

• -Elizabeth: A Friend in Need-
• -Anna: She...

Preaching's 2014 Top Books on Preaching Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:25-26 Preaching is difficult enough under the best of circumstances. But what are we to do when it seems that all of us hearers and preachers alike are constantly distracted? Veteran preacher and homiletics professor J. Ellsworth Kalas offers wise insights for effective preaching in an age of distraction. He examines how people have been distracted in every era and explores how God can meet...

For over 2,000 years, the church has looked to the apostle Paul and his letters in order to understand and follow the Christian life. Paul had his own compelling way of sharing Jesus' message with others, through the use of the metaphor--a brief, imaginative word picture that shows the same truth as a longer story.

From casting himself in the role of a slave, to presenting the Christian as a soldier or an actor, or even showing how we are vessels in the King's house, Paul's gallery of enriching, life-changing story pictures paints for us an indelible picture of the Christian...

If you are like many parish pastors, you find the Christmas season to be the most frustrating season of the church year -- so much to do, so much to celebrate, so much to say -- and so little time to prepare it all
That is why J. Ellsworth Kalas has prepared these twelve thoughtful sermons -- to help you present the meaningful and coherent messages you want your congregation to hear during this busiest of seasons.
Within are sermons for every Cycle C gospel text during the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons from the Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries, including:...