Download or read book A Light Shining in the Darkness written by Karen A. Cooper and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2014-11-20 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "You're stupid and no one will ever love you." These were the words Karen Cooper grew up with. While classmates took college prep courses, Karen carefully chose a skill that would allow her to escape her abusive father and her hometown in upstate New York. But despite surviving a childhood of fear, pain, and shame, Karen's low self-esteem brought a multitude of problems, mirroring the terrors of her past, and at 19 she found herself pregnant and on her own. Rejected by the father, Karen entered a home for unwed mothers and then placed the infant up for adoption; two years later she was pregnant again by the same man and looking for an illegal abortion. Failing and feeling worthless, she married the child's father, but the baby died of SIDS at nine weeks. This double trauma led to years of upheaval and secrets...until she finally married the man God had chosen for her. Through hard work and counseling, Karen fought her demons and overcame her past. She enjoyed professional success, found the peace of God's unconditional love, and even earned a college degree. A Light Shining in the Darkness is a painfully honest yet eloquent account of a life that seemed predestined for failure. But with God's love in her life, Karen was able to find beauty in ashes and light where there was only darkness before. Her memoir will inspire others who are struggling to hold on to hope and find the healing and restoration God has in store for us all.

Download or read book Wolfie the Bunny written by Ame Dyckman and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2015-02-17 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Families of all kinds will delight in this sweet tale of new babies, sibling rivalry, bravery, unconditional love...and veggies! The Bunny family has adopted a wolf son, and daughter Dot is the only one who realizes Wolfie can--and might--eat them all up! Dot tries to get through to her parents, but they are too smitten to listen. A new brother takes getting used to, and when (in a twist of fate) it's Wolfie who's threatened, can Dot save the day?

Download or read book Out of Darkness Shining Light written by Petina Gappah and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A powerful, moving, and revelatory novel set in nineteenth-century Africa--the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried the body of explorer and missionary David Livingstone from Zambia to Zanzibar so that his remains could be returned home to England. Dawn, 1 May 1873, on the outskirts of Chitambo's village, near Lake Bangweulu in modern-day Zambia. The Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone has died. He had been heading south in the African interior on an increasingly maniacal mission to penetrate the greatest secret of Victorian exploration. He wanted to find the source of the world's longest river, the Nile. Instead, on an isolated and swampy floodplain, Dr. Livingstone found his death. How Livingstone is to be buried will be decided by his African companions, a group of sixty-nine men, women, and children. They decide that come what may, Livingstone, his papers and maps, must all be carried to England. They bury his heart and other organs under a tree and dry his flesh like jerky in the sun. Over nine months, battling severe illness and hunger, hostile chiefs and unknown terrain, all while taking a tortuous route of more than 1,000 miles to the coast to avoid marauding slave traders, they march with Livingstone's body and the evidence of his explorations. Their journey has been called "the most extraordinary story in African exploration." In this novel, their story is retold anew in the distinct, indelible voices of Livingstone's sharp-tongued female cook, Halima; a repressed, formerly enslaved African missionary named Jacob Wainwright; and the collective voice of the retainers. The result is a profound and tragic journey--an epic like no other--that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization while celebrating resilience, loyalty, and love. In Out of Darkness, Shining Light, Petina Gappah has created an ambitious and artful masterpiece.

Download or read book Light Shines in the Darkness written by Lucille F. Sider and published by Read the Spirit. This book was released on 2019-01-29 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clinical psychologist and clergywoman Lucille F. Sider adds her voice to the chorus of women in the #WhyIDidntReport and #MeToo movements. This is Lucille’s story of resilience and hope as a survivor of sexual abuse. She explains the challenges of finding her way out of a fear-based spirituality into one that is full of grace, hope and forgiveness. The unique richness of her book is that she wrote it to spark healing discussion. As she describes her experiences in these pages, she also steps back and offers helpful analysis as both a psychologist and a clergywoman. At the end of the book, she includes a complete study guide with questions for reflection for individuals, small groups and classes. “The book is arranged to be a valuable tool in the hands of persons in the helping professions, such as clergy, social workers, psychologists,” writes the Rev. Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent Emerita and Ambassador of The Wesleyan Church. “This writing is so powerful, yet gentle, that people will be able to add their own words to combat the pain. Lucille’s credentials enhance the power of the story. Truly a book for these days!” Lucille was just 6 years old when she was abused both physically and sexually by a hired man on the family’s farm. Lucille’s inner conflict about these experiences, propelled her into a childhood of guilt and shame. While Lucille was an outstanding student, singer and athlete, she lived with an underlying fear, loneliness and mild depression. A second sexual abuse by her brother-in-law, when she was just 15 years old, added to Lucille’s fears. When she tried to tell her parents about this, their response was only to pray for her—so, she kept these painful events secret for years. Many years later, her brother in law was arrested for molesting a 15-year-old girl. Lucille and others, including his own daughter, testified against him and he was incarcerated. Raised in a conservative household and faith, Lucille went to college and seminary to search for a theology that was full of grace and forgiveness. She found this especially at Yale Divinity School, though she always lived with a mild depression. Her struggle to understand both her faith and psyche led her to earn a PhD from Northwestern University in psychology and religion. She became a clinical psychologist and pastoral counselor and later the Executive Director of The Samaritan Pastoral Counseling Center in Evanston, Illinois. At age 50, when her husband suddenly divorced her, Lucille was cast into darkness and despair which resulted in major depression. Lucille became dysfunctional and had to step down as Executive Director of her counseling center. Years of therapy led her to new ways of offering and sharing her gifts, which included writing stories and ministering to seniors, especially those suffering from dementia. In Light Shines in the Darkness, Lucille F. Sider shares her unique story of sexual abuse and severe mental illness, including depression and PTSD. She describes her legal battle in fighting for justice and her ongoing persistence in finding ways to remain stable. She calls these her mental health and spiritual practices and they include: counseling, medication, meditation, healthy diet, exercise, daily prayer and church attendance. In sharing her story, Lucille now is helping others along their journeys from sexual abuse to stability—to find their own hope and their own light that shines through the darkness. “Timely, compelling and courageous, this autobiography lays bare the trauma of both child and adolescent abuse,” writes Carol Schreck, Professor Emerita of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Palmer Theological Seminary. “This book deserves to be read by any adult who, living in a culture where 80 percent of females have experienced some form of sexual abuse by the age of 18, are no longer content to keep their proverbial head in the sand.”

Download or read book Mary Had a Little Lamp written by Jack Lechner and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2008-04-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mary takes her "bendy," gooseneck lamp wherever she goes, much to the dismay of her parents and classmates, but after leaving it at home during summer camp, Mary finds that she has outgrown her need for her odd companion.

Download or read book Adriaan Koerbagh A Light Shining in Dark Places to Illuminate the Main Questions of Theology and Religion written by Adriaan Koerbagh and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-11-11 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first English edition of a major critique of organized religion. A rational plea for tolerance and free thought, Adriaan Koerbagh's A Light Shining in Dark Places (1668) demolishes the authority of the Christian revelation and the churches.

Download or read book Holman New Testament Commentary Acts written by Kenneth O. Gangel and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 1998 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One in a series of twelve New Testament verse-by-verse commentary books edited by Max Anders. Includes discussion starters, teaching plan, and more. Great for lay teachers and pastors alike.

Download or read book The Spirit Led Leader written by Timothy C. Geoffrion and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-11-14 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our postmodern, experience-oriented culture, people are longing for greater authenticity, integrity, and depth in their pastors and leaders. Board directors, church members, and staff alike are all eagerly seeking leaders who effectively integrate their spirituality and leadership. Pastors and executives, however, often struggle with knowing how to integrate their spiritual values and practices into their leadership and management roles. Designed for pastors, executives, administrators, managers, coordinators, and all who see themselves as leaders and who want to fulfill their God-given purpose, The Spirit-Led Leader addresses the critical fusion of spiritual life and leadership for those who not only want to see results, but who also desire to care just as deeply about who they are and how they lead as they do about what they produce and accomplish. Geoffrion creates a new vision for spiritual leadership as partly an art, partly a result of careful planning, and always a working of the grace of God

Download or read book God s Team written by Jack Redmond and published by . This book was released on 2021-05 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: IT'S TIME TO IMPACT PEOPLE FOR CHRIST EACH AND EVERY DAY! I often say, "It's going to take everyone to reach everyone!" Over the centuries, many in the church transitioned from being the church to simply going to church. But God is mobilizing the church once again to impact all people. Reading God's Team-Unleashing the Full Power of the Church will encourage every Christ follower to: See themselves as part of God's powerful team Embrace the responsibility of impacting lives and society Mobilize people to impact others outside the church walls seven days a week Reading God's Team-Unleashing the Full Power of the Church will encourage Pastors to: Evaluate their current church culture Build a greater soul winning and serving church Build a church that increasingly impacts their local community It is going to take everyone to reach everyone! Imagine the impact when every Christ follower purposely engages in spreading the gospel through both word and action seven days a week. Jack Redmond is a thought leader helping to shape the nuances today's church requires to engage culture. If you want to move beyond engaging information to executing transformation, God's Team is a must read. -David D. Ireland, Ph.D., Lead Pastor, Author of One in Christ and Raising a Child Who Prays, www.DavidIreland.org

Download or read book Depression written by Edward T. Welch and published by New Growth Press. This book was released on 2011-10-03 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looking away from despair towards hope can feel risky. What if God doesn't come through for you? What if you don't feel instantly better? Instead of offering simple platitudes or unrealistic cure-all formulas, Edward T. Welch addresses the complex nature of depression with compassion and insight, applying the rich treasures of the gospel, and ...

Download or read book Meditations for Advent written by Jacques Bénigne Bossuet and published by Sophia Institute Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carefully selected to lift your soul to God in those hectic days that stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas, these forty daily meditations will keep you mindful of the real meaning of Christmas while affording you an admirable distillation of the doctrines and piety of our Holy Catholic Church.

Download or read book The Practice Co Volume Three written by Liz Milani and published by New Luminary Media. This book was released on 2020-11-16 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2012 I began writing (and designing) short devotional pieces. We posted them on Instagram thinking that our friends and family would politely like them. But to our absolute shock, complete strangers liked them, too. A few years on, and here we are. I never dreamed that Pocket Fuel would turn into this practice and lead me to you. I'm forever grateful for it, no matter how rudimentary and humble our beginnings were.Not too long into our Instagram experiment, we found ourselves asking deeper questions around our faith. Everything we thought we knew; thought we had a handle on; thought was secure and for always; was challenged, questioned, and stripped bare. We experienced tragedy at home, and at work. We quit our jobs as Pastors, and started from scratch (faith and vocation) in our mid thirties. But through what felt like the death of all we thought we knew and would be, we found beauty and community. Our faith has a vibrancy that it was once devoid of. And our questions and doubts? I no-longer feel guilty for having them. They are an active part of my faith.

Download or read book Overcoming the Darkness written by Eric Weaver and published by . This book was released on 2022-10-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sgt. Eric Weaver (Ret.) lives with mental illness and struggled with the issue of suicide on numerous occasions, including multiple hospitalizations, while serving as a police sergeant, pastor, and training consultant. Now he is a nationally recognized expert, speaker, instructor, and advocate on law enforcement mental health issues, including officer wellness and Crisis Intervention Team training. In Overcoming the Darkness, he gives a raw accounting of his own experiences coupled with knowledge and pragmatic advice gained from 20 years of instructing literally thousands in law enforcement about mental illness, cumulative stress, trauma, substance use, PTSD, and suicide. As he explains: "I wrote this book for my fellow colleagues in all walks of law enforcement, from patrol to corrections, as well as for their loved ones. These are the people who keep our world safe and often pay a high price for fulfilling their duty. We often think of that price in terms of physical loss, but what has been very clear to me over the years is that the price is equally steep, if not even more so, both mentally and emotionally."

Download or read book Save Yourself Some Pain written by Ray Comfort and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Dark Light of Love written by John S. Dunne and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Dark Light of Love, John S. Dunne continues his quest of faith seeking understanding by examining darkness as a metaphor for unknowing and the unknown.

Download or read book Light Shining into Darkness written by Engage Today and published by Word Alive Press. This book was released on 2021-10-31 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories in this book illustrate the dynamic indigenous partners of Engage Today who have established missions to reach their own people with the Gospel. These leaders are committed to church planting and evangelism among the unreached, and are examples of humbly serving with Biblical childlike faith. The vision of Engage Today is to build mutually beneficial relationships between Canadian churches and faithful indigenous missions so the missions are mobilized to bring the Gospel to the remaining unreached peoples and the Canadian Church finds a renewed passion and vision for mission. Over two billion people have not yet heard the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Engage Today was established in order that Christ be proclaimed to the remaining unreached. Engage Today currently links Canadians with twenty indigenous mission leaders who oversee over 850 local staff in five countries—India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Indonesia. Their ministries are steadily bearing fruit through disciple-making, and these missions have planted thousands of churches.

Download or read book Adriaan Koerbagh A Light Shining in Dark Places to Illuminate the Main Questions of Theology and Religion written by Michiel R. Wielema and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-11-11 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since it was first written, Adriaan Koerbagh's anti-Christian work, A Light Shining in Dark Places, has been nearly inaccessible. Had it been known during the Enlightenment, it would have been a great inspiration to radical thinkers. However, it was suppressed and the author died in jail. The full text is now available in English. Koerbagh demolishes such Christian notions as the Creator, the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, heaven and hell, angels, devils and miracles. Instead, he presents a monistic world view in which Nature and God are identical. Theology is a part of natural science. God can only be worshipped by acting rationally. Koerbagh's rational religion is intended to contribute to a free, peaceful and liberal society.