KeyWords for the Kingdom

AMG Publishers

This column highlights the ministries of Disciple’s parent organization, Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel (AMG) International, a non-denominational missions agency.          

A lot of people are involved with AMG International and never realize it. In fact, some of us at the home office joke that our motto should be, “We’re all over the map”—a play on the fact that we serve in over 40 countries around the world and that we have such a diverse array of ministries that it’s very difficult to illustrate to people exactly who AMG is and what we do.

As you know (we hope!), by subscribing to Disciple Magazine, you are participating in the ministries of AMG, but you or your church may also support a missionary with ties to us, or you may sponsor a child or a national worker through AMG’s childcare ministry. One of the ways more people connect with AMG than any other is through our book publishing arm, AMG Publishers.

As a reader of Pulpit Helps, and now Disciple, you’re probably quite familiar with the writings of Spiros Zodhiates. Even after his homegoing last year, we continue to publish his Exegetically Speaking column in each issue. Through his 60+ years of work with AMG, his passion was always the Gospel of Christ, and this was expressed in deed through the work of AMG around the world and in word through his faithful exposition of Scripture in dozens of exegetical studies and the pages of Pulpit Helps and Disciple.

To facilitate this, AMG started AMG Publishers in 1980, and it was, at first, devoted largely to distributing Zodhiates’ commentaries and theological books. Over the years, however, it has expanded to produce a wide variety of books across genres, and has reached many thousands in the U.S. and around the world with scriptural teaching and other encouraging materials.

Perhaps the best-known (and most widely distributed) book from AMG Publishers is the Hebrew-Greek KeyWord Study Bible edited by Zodhiates (and, in later editions, Warren Baker). Whereas the study Bible is not a new concept, the KeyWord Study Bible, first published in 1984, combines elements of a typical study Bible (commentary, study notes, cross-references, etc.) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries—important terms in each verse of the English text are linked to the Hebrew or Greek word in the original text from which they are translated. The KeyWord, available in KJV, NASB, and NIV, has continued to give believers a deeper understanding of Scripture through many re-issues (most recently in 2008) and today has more than one million copies in print.

In addition to the KWSB, AMG Publishers produces many other reference books, Bible studies and commentaries, such as the Following God series and the 21^st Century Biblical Commentary series. In recent years, AMG Publishers has also begun issuing titles under two imprints, Living Ink Books and God and Country Press.

Living Ink is a blanket imprint for AMG’s inspirational titles and Christian fiction. Some of these books, particularly the Raising Dragons series by Bryan Davis and the Amazing Tales of Max & Liz series by Jenny L. Cote, have found wide followings among Christian youth looking for alternatives to popular fiction written from a biblical worldview and integrating truth into stories that stir the imagination.

God and Country is dedicated to titles related to America’s Christian heritage and encouraging a return to Judeo-Christian values and biblical public service. The best-received works from this line include the Battlefields and Blessings series, daily devotionals comprised of stories from soldiers in the field reflecting on the brevity of life, the virtues of courage and love, and the mercy of God in the face of conflict. Thus far, volumes representing the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been published, with more in the works.

The reasons that AMG publishes books are the same reasons behind every other aspect of our work—to advance the ministries of the Gospel for the glory of God. Whether providing a pastor in Uganda with his very first concordance and study Bible, helping a skeptical teen encounter Christ through engaging fiction, or leading a small group to deeper understanding of the Word, AMG books are powerful and durable ministry tools.

As Christians we are a “people of the Book” because God has revealed Himself to us through language. At AMG, we believe that God always powerfully uses His Word, and we strive to faithfully proclaim that Word to all men through all means at our disposal.

For more information, visit www.amgpublishers.com or look for AMG Publishers titles at your local Christian bookstore.