Download or read book Sacred Love written by Claudia Cantrell and published by New Hope Publishers. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Outwardly, Claudia Cantrell was a successful, independent career woman. Inwardly, she longed for more—security, a sense of belonging, and love. She wanted a happily ever after. Sacred Love is the heartfelt love story of a broken woman who found extraordinary victory over loneliness, insecurity, rejection, and bad decisions. Overwhelmed by her circumstances, Claudia came to a crisis of belief—she must totally surrender the pain of her past to God or forever live defeated. In choosing surrender, she ultimately began to live life abundantly—through Jesus Christ. A candid and hopeful memoir, Sacred Love will compel you to begin walking on your own path toward acceptance and restoration. God wants to lead you into your happily ever after—one where He, the Prince of Peace, is your true love.

Download or read book LoveLoudd written by Yanique Love SImone and published by . This book was released on 2016-07-06 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LoveLoudd is a relatable compilation of poetry written by both Yanique Love and Simoné Loudd.Between each page and within every line lies a new love story. As your fingers caress each page, your eyes gaze over each word and your heart grasps hold to each experience, we hope that you have finally found the words that you never imagined would suit your love-life experiences.

Download or read book After This written by Dr. Cliff Self and published by iUniverse. This book was released on with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Cliff Self and his wife, Darlene, did not choose their journey; they were thrust into it. After their son, Scott, came out to them as a gay man, Dr. Self and Darlene were propelled along a confusing path that caused them to question their understanding of God and the scripture and eventually to reach deep inside to find the grit and grace to experience miraculous changes. When Scott revealed his true self, the family’s world changed. The Selfs had to come to a new understanding of their relationships with one another and to their faith, framed by the conviction that the Bible is the word of God and the authority on how to live. Darlene struggled with shattered dreams, Dr. Self strove to understand the Christian teachings on homosexuality through scripture, and Scott battled with guilt, shame, and addiction until discovering the meaning of self-love and his path to wholeness as a gay man. In this candid and revealing account, all three family members offer inspiration for handling unexpected changes without fear, resolving conflicts between scripture and real life issues, and ultimately living with peace, joy, and purpose. After This is the moving narrative of one family’s journey through the healing process of change after their son came out as a gay man.

Download or read book Exclude Not Thyself How to Thrive as a Covenant Keeping Gay Latter day Saint written by Skyler Sorensen and published by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media. This book was released on 2023-07-10 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Skyler Sorensen is a man who is attracted to men. He is married to a wonderful woman who knew all about his sexual preferences before she married him. Together they are each committed to and have faith in their covenants, the Savior, and His Church. Exclude Not Thyself will remove any doubt you might have as to whether a gay Latter-day Saint can remain a faithful member of the Lord's Church. It walks you through the valuable lessons learned by the author on how to use life's trials to your advantage and remove the self-inflicted barriers to receiving "all that the Father hath." Author Skyler Sorensen is living proof that mixed-orientation marriages can work, and happiness can be achieved by those who live the pure gospel found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is his story . . .

Download or read book American Zion A New History of Mormonism written by Benjamin E. Park and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2024-01-16 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first major history of Mormonism in a decade, drawing on newly available sources to reveal a profoundly divided faith that has nevertheless shaped the nation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in the so-called “burned-over district” of upstate New York, which was producing seers and prophets daily. Most of the new creeds flamed out; Smith’s would endure, becoming the most significant homegrown religion in American history. How Mormonism succeeded is the story told by historian Benjamin E. Park in American Zion. Drawing on sources that have become available only in the last two decades, Park presents a fresh, sweeping account of the Latter-day Saints: from the flight to Utah Territory in 1847 to the public renunciation of polygamy in 1890; from the Mormon leadership’s forging of an alliance with the Republican Party in the wake of the New Deal to the “Mormon moment” of 2012, which saw the premiere of The Book of Mormon musical and the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney; and beyond. In the twentieth century, Park shows, Mormons began to move ever closer to the center of American life, shaping culture, politics, and law along the way. But Park’s epic isn’t rooted in triumphalism. It turns out that the image of complete obedience to a single, earthly prophet—an image spread by Mormons and non-Mormons alike—is misleading. In fact, Mormonism has always been defined by internal conflict. Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma, inaugurated a legacy of feminist agitation over gender roles. Black believers petitioned for belonging even after a racial policy was instituted in the 1850s that barred them from priesthood ordination and temple ordinances (a restriction that remained in place until 1978). Indigenous and Hispanic saints—the latter represent a large portion of new converts today—have likewise labored to exist within a community that long called them “Lamanites,” a term that reflected White-centered theologies. Today, battles over sexuality and gender have riven the Church anew, as gay and trans saints have launched their own fight for acceptance. A definitive, character-driven work of history, American Zion is essential to any understanding of the Mormon past, present, and future. But its lessons extend beyond the faith: as Park puts it, the Mormon story is the American story.

Download or read book Teachers Have 9 Lives written by Hannah Hope and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2021-10-22 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teachers Have 9 Lives: Now or Never. Hannah Hope paints a captivating picture, a Sensitive Heart picture that moves beyond teaching to explore everyday life, demystify the world of education, challenge demeaning stereotypes, and question the smokescreen status quo. 9 Lives reveals impactful snapshots of the spiritual guidance that, artfully glued together onto a revelational backing, make a riveting and powerful collage. With honesty, humor, compelling style, and fluid creativity, Teachers Have 9 Lives is a bright light in the dark setting of America’s underfunded and often ignored public schools. This inspired work features a conversational style. One could say it’s the way people actually talk…sometimes speaking at the same time. Enjoy!

Download or read book Kingdom First written by Jeff Christopherson and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2015-06-15 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. There are few dreams more spiritually intoxicating than the dream of being used by God to start a new community of Christ that skillfully brings the restorative gospel to a lost and broken city. Something which feels like a spiritual landslide that starts with lostness and ends in an avalanche of new congregations multiplying and transforming community after community into which they unmistakably seep. Authors Jeff Christopherson and Mac Lake call readers to imagine a movement that vividly remembers the insubstantial days of a mustard seed with a sense of awe and wonder when looking at the indescribable harvest that stands all around. Though the kingdom of God can't be forced by superficial methods, the good news is that when you move past the threshold of your competency and comfort, you find yourself in the very spot where God can use you like no other. What wouldn’t you sacrifice to be a part of something that only could be described as a God-honoring gospel movement?

Download or read book The Next Mormons written by Jana Riess and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American Millennials--the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s--have been leaving organized religion in unprecedented numbers. For a long time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was an exception: nearly three-quarters of people who grew up Mormon stayed that way into adulthood. In The Next Mormons, Jana Riess demonstrates that things are starting to change. Drawing on a large-scale national study of four generations of current and former Mormons as well as dozens of in-depth personal interviews, Riess explores the religious beliefs and behaviors of young adult Mormons, finding that while their levels of belief remain strong, their institutional loyalties are less certain than their parents' and grandparents'. For a growing number of Millennials, the tensions between the Church's conservative ideals and their generation's commitment to individualism and pluralism prove too high, causing them to leave the faith-often experiencing deep personal anguish in the process. Those who remain within the fold are attempting to carefully balance the Church's strong emphasis on the traditional family with their generation's more inclusive definition that celebrates same-sex couples and women's equality. Mormon families are changing too. More Mormons are remaining single, parents are having fewer children, and more women are working outside the home than a generation ago. The Next Mormons offers a portrait of a generation navigating between traditional religion and a rapidly changing culture.

Download or read book Live Loud Love Loud written by J. Iron Word and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-14 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of poetry and prose from the heart, mind and soul of J. Iron Word. Topics that include, love, loss, self esteem and life lessons.

Download or read book 365 Gays of the Year Plus 1 for a Leap Year written by Lewis Laney and published by White Lion Publishing. This book was released on 2023-04-18 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fun and fascinating compendium of LGBTQ+ icons, one for every day of the year, and a celebration of queer history – or as RuPaul would say; Herstory! Discover your queer hero and learn something new every day with 365 Gays of the Year, an accessible and fun introduction to LGBTQ+ history through the people that made it. Carefully curated and thoughtfully researched, author Lewis Laney assigns a person or group of note to each day of the year to form the ultimate LGBTQ+ hall of fame. Legendary queer icons such as Marsha P Johnson and Freddie Mercury sit alongside lesser known but equally important names such as activist Renée Cafiero, blood donor Barbara Vick, and Sappho the lesbian poet (who was doing her thing in 570BC). All have contributed amazing achievements to the LGBTQ+ story. Each month also features one ally - inspiring heterosexual people who have all contributed something significant to the lives of the LGBTQ+ community. People like Elizabeth Taylor who “brought AIDS out of the closet and into the ballroom ­– where there was money to be raised”. Each entry comprises a short biography plus a brief explanation about why that celebratory date represents an important milestone. Lewis brings international figures to life (famous and lesser-known) with his witty and uplifting prose which are peppered with little-known facts and accompanied by bright illustrative portraits from the hugely talented Charlotte MacMillan-Scott. This witty, unique celebration of queer history promises to inspire and empower readers with its wealth of bright stars.

Download or read book The Men of Genesis written by Alda Stephens and published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2021-08-04 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With so much going on in today's world, there is no greater time than now for preteens and young adults to learn, perhaps for the first time or maybe just to be reminded of, the stories that graced the pages of the book of Genesis. The Men of Genesis brings the young reader into the lives of the men whose faith in the Lord sustained them through various, some unimaginable, hardships. These were men who believed in God, desired to obey His commands, sacrificed much but did so for His glory, not for the satisfaction of or acceptance by their fellow humans. Much can be learned from them. The Men of Genesis was written for young readers to get acquainted with God's handiwork in the first six days of earth's creation. They will read about God's blessings bestowed on a man named Noah who believed in and obeyed God. And it was that-his faith-that saved him and his family. Following Noah are the stories of Abraham and God's covenant with him, Abraham's son Isaac and his wife Rebecca and their struggles with favoritism, the differences that went on between brothers Jacob and Esau, and the beautiful story of Joseph who successfully overcame the betrayal of his brothers nearly two thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ who would also victoriously overcome the betrayal of His own people. As the reader turns the pages, he or she will be reminded of God's immense love for His people-His desire to have a relationship with those who truly seek Him, yesterday and today. The Men of Genesis is a book that details the strength and perseverance of our ancestors and provides the first glimpse of a truly loving God.

Download or read book Real Queer America written by Samantha Allen and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST A transgender reporter's "powerful, profoundly moving" narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states (New York Times Book Review), offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America. Ten years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit-and-tie-wearing Mormon missionary. Now she's a GLAAD Award-winning journalist happily married to another woman. A lot in her life has changed, but what hasn't changed is her deep love of Red State America, and of queer people who stay in so-called "flyover country" rather than moving to the liberal coasts. In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: "Something gay every day." Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more. Capturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, Real Queer America is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much-needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times.

Download or read book Ragged written by Gretchen Ronnevik and published by New Reformation Publications. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When we mistake spiritual disciplines for to-dos, time slots on our schedule, or Instagram-able moments, we miss the benefits of Christ's continual and constant work for us. In Ragged, Gretchen Ronnevik aims to reclaim spiritual disciplines as good gifts given by our good Father instead of heavy burdens of performance carried by the Christian. Only when we recognize our failures to maintain God's commands do we also realize the benefit of our dependence on his promises. Gretchen uses this distinction on law and gospel, presented throughout Scripture, to guide readers through spiritual disciplines including prayer, meditation, Scripture reading, and discipleship among others. Despite our best efforts, the good news is that spiritual disciplines have less to do with what we bring before God and more about who Christ is for us, not only as the author but also as the perfector of our faith.

Download or read book The Shadow of Her written by Aspen Bassett and published by World Castle Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2021-02-15 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Penny Grace successfully traveled through time, outsmarted a paradox, and survived countless historical tragedies. Now, she must face her biggest challenge yet: stopping The Shadow once and for all. After terrorizing the dark world for eons, The Shadow now wants control over Earth. Unless Penny surrenders her past heroics, all life on Earth will die of thirst while the dark world drowns. But giving up would mean turning her back on everything Penny’s fought to protect, and she’s more determined than ever to save both worlds from The Shadow’s tyranny. ​ Penny and her nemesis Kyle team up to unravel The Shadow’s rage toward humans in hope that understanding the past can help them protect the future. As Penny and Kyle work together, Kyle opens up about his past and Penny starts to see the mysterious man less like an enemy and more like a brother. But does that mean Kyle has changed? Is he trustworthy? Or is his new vulnerability a tactic to manipulate Penny even more? ​ When Penny realizes the only way to stop The Shadow is to trap them both in a paradox, she needs the help of those she left behind to pull it off. But returning home to Cheyenne means facing the consequences of her choices. If Penny wants to save multiple worlds, she needs to convince the family that forgot her and the ex-boyfriend she still loves to help her make the ultimate sacrifice.

Download or read book Across the Street and Around the World written by Diana Davis and published by New Hope Publishers. This book was released on 2016-07-04 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Think doing missions takes a major time commitment or too much organizational effort? Think again! If your small group or church has talked about getting involved in missions but doesn’t know quite where to start—or, if you are a missions leader who has run out of ideas—then Across the Street and Around the World is for you! Across the Street and Around the World is a practical and approachable guide to missions. Inside the pages of this book are hundreds of ideas to engage you, your family, your small group, or your church in intentional missional ministry. Intended to serve as a springboard, the ideas are carefully organized by the amount of time needed—one hour, one day, one week, or longer—helping you determine which opportunity fits you and your group best. Now there is no reason not to gather your group, pick an idea, and start doing missions. Ready . . . set . . . GO!

Download or read book Single Dating Engaged Married written by Ben Stuart and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God has given us a specific, compelling reason for each of the four seasons of relationships: singleness, dating, engagement, and marriage. This book unlocks each season’s God-given purpose and shows you how to thrive within it. In a society where everyone is supposedly more connected, why do people feel so lonely? Even as marriage rates decline, recent studies find the overwhelming majority of single adults still hope to get married. But how can we navigate life and love in this disconnected culture? Has social media eroded the institutions that brought us together—and the deeper emotional intimacy they provided? Pastor and bestselling author Ben Stuart will help you navigate through the four stages of a relational life and show you how to look at the truths and intentions God has established for each. As you embark on this journey, you will discover how to: Use singleness to make an impact for the kingdom of God Pursue dating with clarity and purity Use the season of engagement wisely to prepare for marriage Maximize your life as a married couple for shared ministry Continually seek God and His will throughout each stage Discover how to embrace God's design, invest your life in what matters most, and find meaning in whatever season of life you're in.

Download or read book Jesus Wars written by John Philip Jenkins and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-02-20 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Fifth-Century Political Battles That Forever Changed the Church In this fascinating account of the surprisingly violent fifth-century church, PhilipJenkins describes how political maneuvers by a handful of powerful charactersshaped Christian doctrine. Were it not for these battles, today’s church could beteaching something very different about the nature of Jesus, and the papacy as weknow it would never have come into existence. Jesus Wars reveals the profoundimplications of what amounts to an accident of history: that one faction ofRoman emperors and militia-wielding bishops defeated another.