Even within the church, homosexuality, divorce, and shallow, sentimental views of love are subverting God’s design for husbands and wives. To help Christian couples counter these trends and recover marriage as God intended it, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin has compiled a rich anthology of love letters from saints of the past. Each letter gives us a glimpse of what marriage should be: joyful companionship, deep passion, and unfailing commitment through the ups and downs of life. At its best, Christian marriage is a foretaste of eternal bliss—and it’s far more satisfying than any of the substitutes this world has to offer.

    This book is for them.With American evangelicals having more political influence today than ever before, this book is especially important. The opening chapters establish the foundational biblical principles that are relevant to our lives as Christian citizens no matter the topic. Author Steve Monsma next highlights crucial global issues in which believers are called to live out their faith. Forgoing ready-made answers, Monsma encourages a reflective, thoroughly biblical response via a lively writing style. His book will equip all believers to make godly, humanitarian choices rather than purely political ones.A DVD featuring a 10 minute introduction to each chapter of this book is available from Crossway at www.crossway.org or from the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at www.calvin.edu/henry. It is ideal for use in classes and discussion groups.

    Stephanie Paulsell is a wise and compassionate guide, and she has given us the most compelling treatment of this topic I've ever read. May her insights be received, and embodied, by many." — Parker Palmer, author, Let Your Life Speak and The Courage to Teach "Honoring the Body is an elegantly written book. It is filled with wisdom, insight from the Christian tradition, and incisive analysis of a crucial yet vexing practice of Christian life. It also is eminently practical, a call to transformed thinking and living. I heartily commend it." — L. Gregory Jones, author, Embodying Forgiveness, and dean of Duke Divinity School "As I read through Paulsell's book, I found myself laughing one moment and crying the next, and what's even more amazing, throughout it all, I found myself thinking, thinking deeply and in new ways about not only great 'theological truths' but about little things like how I bathe, why I run, and who set the dinner table. A remarkable and rare book." — Serene Jones, author, Feminist Theory and Christian Theology: Cartographies of Grace, and associate professor of theology at Yale Divinity School "A profound, passionate, and exquisitely 'simple' Christian meditation on the messy and beautiful facts of embodied human life." — Kathryn E. Tanner, author, Theories of Culture, The Politics of God, and God and Creation in Christian Theology, and professor of theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School

    like devotional time. Guys are feeling like the term "devotional" is code for "boring". Plus, husbands and wives have different views on what intimacy is all about.For those who are wondering if they're living more with their "roommate" than their "soulmate," then this devotional can help them meet on common ground and discover each other in new ways. Men won't even need an alarm clock to wake them when "devotional time" is finished!Filled with insights from a real couple on real issues, Songs in the Key of Solomon will get spouses laughing, thinking, sharing, touching, and praying possibly all during the same reading. Each offering in this devotional is designed to spark connections around issues that matter, so couples deepen their emotional, spiritual, and physical unity and ignite new levels of intimacy. (One devotional even involves a bathtub and some candles!)Here is an invitation to discover the music in marriage maybe for the first time... or maybe once again.Features and Benefits Written by a popular comedienne, author, and featured speaker at Women of Faith events. Helps couples deepen their emotional, spiritual, and physical intimacy. A devotional men will want to read.

    A ''sacred cow'' is an untouchable subject that we are not supposed to discuss. To do so impinges upon another's ''Christian liberty.'' Certainly, there are few sacred cows quite as sacred as the right of modern Christians to dress however they please. But in this groundbreaking work, Jeff Pollard challenges us to embrace God's standard and to understand the historical roots of the rise of nudity and immodesty in modern culture. His perspective is thoughtful and balanced. Most importantly, he accomplishes what few authors on this subject have achieved: a treatise that avoids both license and legalism. A courageous booklet.

    Barbara Crafton writes with exquisite nakedness about the futile search for meaning in the meaninglessness of despair. Her own salvation is a beacon to those who believe God means them to suffer in order to understand." --Gail Sheehy, author, Passages; Understanding Men's Passages"Writing well about depression is not nearly as challenging as surviving the beast, but it is still a hard thing to do. Having written about my own depression, I can say with some authority that Barbara Crafton, a fellow sufferer, writes wonderfully well on this difficult topic.... This book offers truth about the devastating darkness of this disease and about the hope that makes it possible to find one's way back to the light. Barbara Crafton offers up her truth with humor and gritty stories as well as candor and care.... May the many who suffer?and those who care for them, read this book, shed the shame, and find the new life that awaits them on the other side." --Parker J. Palmer, author, A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, and The Courage to Teach"Having known the tension of faith and depression in her own life, Barbara Crafton offers us wisdom that comes from years of reflection, of faithful practice, of knowing 'dark is not dark to you, O Lord.' (Psalms 139:11) She has no truck with pablum Christianity; she knows that faith that does not meet our darkest days is no faith at all?. Crafton offers sound insight and speaks the truth in love, offering hope and acceptance to those of us who struggle with depression." --Mary C. Earle, author, Broken Body, Healing Spirit: Lectio Divina and Living with Illness and Beginning Again: Benedictine Wisdom for Living with Illness

    Miller delivers!" - Jeffrey Long, MD Reports of near-death experiences (NDEs) are flooding the media with books, articles and interviews. People describe hovering over their bodies, details of their surgeries, talking with deceased relatives, and reviewing their lives in vivid detail, often while their brains should be incapable of producing rational thought or memories. While the accounts are no doubt interesting, do they provide any solid evidence for the afterlife and the existence of God? Miller argues, in nontechnical and engaging prose, that it does indeed. He began his study doubting that NDEs provided such evidence, but found himself convinced by the weight of the evidence. In this multiple award-winning book, the reader will explore: The common naturalistic explanations for NDEs. Evidence that NDEs point to God and heaven. The results of 35 years of research into NDEs by doctors and other professionals, fully documented for those who want to study further. A comparison of NDEs with Christian teachings. Recommendations of key books, researchers, and publications for further study. "Can we survive death? Is there a God or a heaven? Miller provides the discerning reader with ample reason to think that the answer to these all-important questions is 'yes'." - Dr. Peter Schaefer, Senior Research Psychologist, Department of Defense

    We need it. Because emotions rise and fall with a single glance, touch, kiss, or word. And we are inundated with songs, movies, and advice that contradicts God's design for love and intimacy. Matt Chandler helps navigate these issues for both singles and marrieds by revealing the process Solomon himself followed: Attraction, Courtship, Marriage ... even Arguing. The Mingling of Souls will forever change how you view and approach love.

    In 1979, Pope John Paul II departed from this traditional dichotomy and offered an integrated vision of the human body and soul. In a series of talks that came to be known as the theology of the body, he explained the divine meaning of human sexuality and why the body provides answers to fundamental questions about our lives. In CALLED TO LOVE, Carl Anderson, chairman of the world's largest catholic service organization, and Fr. Jose Granados discuss the philosophical and religious significance of the theology of the body in language at once poetic and profound. As they explain, the body speaks of God, it reveals His goodness, and it also speaks of man and women and their vocation to love. CALLED TO LOVE brings to life the tremendous gift John Paul II bestowed on humanity and gives readers a new understanding of the Christian way of love and how to embrace it fully in their lives.

    Being Catholic Now: Prominent Americans Talk About Change In The Church And The Quest, by Kennedy, Kerry

    Together they express a philosophy, or a moral code, by which Confucius, one of the most humane thinkers of all time, believed everyone should live. Upholding the ideals of wisdom, self-knowledge, courage and love of one’s fellow man, he argued that the pursuit of virtue should be every individual’s supreme goal. And, while following the Way, or the truth, might not result in immediate or material gain, Confucius showed that it could nevertheless bring its own powerful and lasting spiritual rewards.This edition contains a detailed introduction exploring the concepts of the original work, a bibliography and glossary and appendices on Confucius himself, The Analects and the disciples who compiled them. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

    A vast array of scholars contributed to the large, developing complex of ideas and trends that now serves as the foundation of contemporary discussions on interpretation. In A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism, Mark Gignilliat brings representative figures—such as Baruch Spinoza, W.M.L. de Wette, Julius Wellhausen, Hermann Gunkel, and others—and their theories together to serve as windows into the critical trends of Old Testament interpretation in the modern period. This concise overview is ideal for classroom use. It lays a foundation and provides a working knowledge of the major critical interpreters of the Old Testament, their approaches to the Bible, and the philosophical background of their positions. Each chapter concludes with a section For Further Reading, directing students to additional resources on specific theologians and theories.

    Students are provided with an exceptionally clear and coherent understanding of child development, emphasizing the interrelatedness of all domains physical, cognitive, emotional, and social throughout the text narrative and in special features. Focusing on education and social policy as critical pieces of the dynamic system in which the child develops, Berk pays meticulous attention to the most recent scholarship in the field. Berk helps students connect their learning to their personal and professional areas of interest and their future pursuits as parents, educators, heath care providers, counselors, social workers, and researchers."

    In McLennan's bold call to reclaim ownership of Christianity, he advocates a sense of religion based not on doctrinal readings of scripture but on the humanity behind Christ's teachings. He addresses such topics as intelligent design, abortion, same sex marriage, war. torture and much, much more. As he says in the Preface, "We liberal Christians know in our hearts that there is much more to life than seems to meet the rational eye of atheists; yet we find it hard to support supernatural claims about religion that fly in the face of scientific evidence."

    A typical Christian kid, that is, until she developed a searingly deep crush on another little girl playing afterhours in church, and more importantly, until Jesus—a tiny, imaginary Jesus, one that stays “safely tucked behind the baseboard or the petals of a peony”—became her invisible friend and constant companion.Heartbreakingly honest and hilarious, My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus shows just how easy it can be to fall headlong into fundamentalism, venturing into the very heart of enemy territory and the church’s false promises of altar calls and sexual cures. In the spirit of Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies, this debut memoir is plainspoken, speaking with candor and insight. Barth particularly addresses the disconnect between the radical and very human Jesus of history and the church’s supernatural savior. She asks the question to all in the closet—both closet Christians and closet homosexuals: Which is more difficult, admitting to being Christian or admitting to being gay?An answer is found in her own hard-won journey, a hopeful answer that is an “attempt to leave a record of the early signs of the turning and softening of a collective heart.” Giving voice to many who have searched for sanctuary in a church that has largely rejected them, this story pauses at the threshold of one of a growing number of churches which, in opening the door to her and other homosexuals, welcome Jesus back inside as well.