Download or read book Open Secrets written by Richard Lischer and published by Harmony. This book was released on 2002-07-16 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Open Secrets is Richard Lischer's story of his early career as a Lutheran minister. Fresh out of divinity school and full of enthusiasm, Lischer found himself assigned to a small conservative church in an economically depressed town in southern Illinois. This was far from what this overly enthusiastic and optimistic young man expected. The town was bleak, poor, and clearly not a step on his path to a brilliant career. It's an awkward marriage at best, a young man with a Ph.D. in theology, full of ideas and ambitions, determined to improve his parish and bring them into the twenty-first century, and a community that is "as tightly sealed as a jar of home-canned pickles." In their own way, they welcome him and his family, even though they think he's "got bigger fish to fry." Thus begins Richard Lischer's first year as a pastor: bringing communion to the sick (but forgetting to bring the wafers); marrying two unlikely couples--a pregnant teenager and her boyfriend, and two people who can't stop fighting. Often he doesn't understand his congregation, and sometimes they don't understand him; for instance, why does his wife hire a baby-sitter and instead of leaving, put on her bathing suit, grab a stack of novels, and hide from the kids? Or why can't Pastor Lischer see how important it is for a woman with little money to buy an elaborate coffin to bury her husband in? There are also the moments of grace, when pastor and parishioner unite for a common goal: when he asks for prayers for his infant son, and can feel everyone in the congregation ministering to him; when old hurts are put aside to help a desperate young woman finish college and raise her baby; or when he helps save a woman from dying of a drug overdose. In Open Secrets Lischer tells not only his own story but also the story of New Cana and all of its inhabitants--lovable, deeply flawed, imperfect people that stick together. With his sharp eye and keen wit, Lischer perfectly captures the comedy of small town life with all of its feuds, rumors, scandals, and friendships. In the end he learns to appreciate not only the life New Cana has to offer, but also the people who have accepted him, at last, as part of themselves.

Download or read book The Language of God written by Francis Collins and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-09-04 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists, working at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. How does he reconcile the seemingly unreconcilable? In THE LANGUAGE OF GOD he explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes the reader on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry and biology -- indeed, reason itself -- are not incompatible with belief. His book is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

Download or read book Assured written by Greg Gilbert and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite our professions of belief, our baptisms, and our membership in the church, many of us secretly wonder, Am I truly saved? We worry that our love for Jesus isn't fervent enough (or isn't as fervent as someone else's). We worry that our faith isn't strong enough. We struggle through the continuing presence of sin in our lives. All this steals the joy of our salvation and can lead us into a life characterized by legalism, perfectionism, and works righteousness--the very life Jesus freed us from at the cross! But Greg Gilbert has a message for the anxious believer--be assured. Assured that your salvation experience was real. Assured that your sins--past, present, and future--are forgiven. Assured that everyone stumbles. Assured that Jesus is not your judge but your advocate. With deep compassion, Gilbert comforts readers, encouraging them to release their guilt, shame, and anxiety to rejoice in and follow hard after the One who set them free.

Download or read book Finding Your Religion written by Scotty McLennan and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2000-12-26 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Indispensable Guidebook for Those Seeking a New Spiritual Path, or Wishing to Reconnect to the Religion of Their Youth

Download or read book Choosing My Religion written by Stephen J. Dubner and published by Harper Perennial. This book was released on 2006-11-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Choosing My Religion is a luminous memoir, crafted with the eye of a journalist and the art of a novelist by New York Times Magazine writer and editor Stephen J. Dubner. By turns comic and heartbreaking, it tells the story of a family torn apart by religion, sustained by faith, and reunited by truth.

Download or read book Nueden written by and published by Xulon Press. This book was released on with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book What I Know For Sure written by Oprah Winfrey and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inspirational wisdom Oprah Winfrey shares in her monthly O., The Oprah Magazine column updated, curated, and collected for the first time in a beautiful keepsake book. As a creative force, student of the human heart and soul, and champion of living the life you want, Oprah Winfrey stands alone. Over the years, she has made history with a legendary talk show - the highest-rated program of its kind, launched her own television network, become the nation's only African-American billionaire, and been awarded both an honorary degree by Harvard University and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. From all her experiences, she has gleaned life lessons—which, for fourteen years, she's shared in O, The Oprah Magazine's widely popular "What I Know For Sure" column, a monthly source of inspiration and revelation. Now, for the first time, these thoughtful gems have been revised, updated, and collected in What I Know For Sure, a beautiful cloth bound book with a ribbon marker, packed with insight and revelation from Oprah Winfrey. Organized by theme—joy, resilience, connection, gratitude, possibility, awe, clarity, and power—these essays offer a rare, powerful and intimate glimpse into the heart and mind of one of the world's most extraordinary women—while providing readers a guide to becoming their best selves. Candid, moving, exhilarating, uplifting, and frequently humorous, the words Oprah shares in What I Know For Sure shimmer with the sort of truth that readers will turn to again and again.

Download or read book The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith written by William A. Dembski and published by Harvest House Publishers. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science and Faith Can—and Do—Support Each Other Science and Christianity are often presented as opposites, when in fact the order of the universe and the complexity of life powerfully testify to intelligent design. With this comprehensive resource that includes the latest research, you’ll witness how the findings of scientists provide compelling reasons to acknowledge the mind and presence of a creator. Featuring more than 45 entries by top-caliber experts, you’ll better understand… how scientific concepts like intelligent design are supported by evidence the scientific findings that support the history and accounts found in the Bible the biases that lead to scientific information being presented as a challenge—rather than a complement—to Christianity Whether you’re looking for answers to your own questions or seeking to explain the case for intelligent design to others, The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith is an invaluable apologetic tool that will help you explore and analyze the relevant facts, research, and theories in light of biblical truth.

Download or read book Exposition of the Christian Faith written by Saint Ambrose and published by Aeterna Press. This book was released on with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author praises Gratian’s zeal for instruction in the Faith, and speaks lowly of his own merits. Taught of God Himself, the Emperor stands in no need of human instruction; yet this his devoutness prepares the way to victory. The task appointed to the author is difficult: in the accomplishment whereof he will be guided not so much by reason and argument as by authority, especially that of the Nicene Council.

Download or read book New Identity written by Bill Hybels and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2005-07 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God wants you to walk confidently in your new identity in Christ, serving Him with joy and energy in your various roles. This study gives you a close-up view of these different roles and equips you with the sound biblical insights you need to fulfill them. (6 sessions)

Download or read book On Death written by Timothy Keller and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author and pastor Timothy Keller, a book about facing the death of loved ones, as well as our own inevitable death Significant events such as birth, marriage, and death are milestones in our lives in which we experience our greatest happiness and our deepest grief. And so it is profoundly important to understand how to approach and experience these occasions with grace, endurance, and joy. In a culture that does its best to deny death, Timothy Keller--theologian and bestselling author--teaches us about facing death with the resources of faith from the Bible. With wisdom and compassion, Keller finds in the Bible an alternative to both despair or denial. A short, powerful book, On Death gives us the tools to understand the meaning of death within God's vision of life.

Download or read book The Year of Living Happy written by Alli Worthington and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take a daily step toward joy and contentment and ditch stress, overwhelming thoughts, and boredom with encouraging and biblical messages from Alli Worthington. You do your best to live life well—you work hard to be present in the moment, take care of the people in your life, knock it out of the park at work and home. And yet, somehow, you still have days (perhaps more than you'd like to admit) where you're simultaneously stressed and bored, and you wonder if you even know how to be happy. Is happiness a worthy goal? Does happiness matter to God, or does He only care about holier things? Alli Worthington gets it. As a wife, mother of five boys, author, speaker, and entrepreneur, she knows a thing or two about being busy, stressed, and happy in the midst of a crazy world! Over the years, she's seen how happiness gets a bad rap in Christian circles, and now she is standing up to shout the good news from the roof (or the internet, as the case may be): You are allowed to be happy! Yes, you! You can be happy right now! Join Alli for The Year of Living Happy: Finding Contentment and Connection in a Crazy World, and find the roots of your happiest life yet. Each of the 100 short and inspirational entries includes a thoughtful message from Alli, based on God’s Word practical ways to make your life happier day by day a journaling section This gorgeous book is an empowering gift for yourself or any woman you love. It can be used as a daily devotional or as a guided journal. Be part of this exciting message: Happiness and holiness can coexist for a beautiful life. Don’t miss the great big adventure God has for you. Let this be The Year of Living Happy!

Download or read book A Review of his Book the Old Faith and the New Faith written by Hermann Ulrici and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2023-03-15 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

Download or read book New Seeds of Contemplation written by Thomas Merton and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of thirty-nine short essays in which Thomas Merton examines what true contemplation is and how it can impact one's spirituality.

Download or read book Outwitting the Devil written by Napoleon Hill and published by Sharon Lechter. This book was released on 2011 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally written in 1938 but never published due to its controversial nature, an insightful guide reveals the seven principles of good that will allow anyone to triumph over the obstacles that must be faced in reaching personal goals.

Download or read book Value Driven Maintenance written by Mark Haarman and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book How Jesus Became God written by Bart D. Ehrman and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-03-25 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church. The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. How Jesus Became God tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first. A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? In a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus’s followers had visions of him after his death—alive again—did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today. Written for secular historians of religion and believers alike, How Jesus Became God will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.