Join Dr. Bryan Litfin as he guides you through Scripture and other ancient literature to sift fact from fiction, real-life from legend. Skillfully researched and clearly written, After Acts is as accurate as it is engaging. Gain a window into the religious milieu of the ancient and medieval church. Unearth artifacts and burial sites. Learn what really happened to your favorite characters and what you should truly remember them for.Did Paul ever make it to Spain' Was he beheaded in Rome'Is it true that Peter was crucified upside down'Was the Virgin Mary really bodily assumed into heaven'The book of Acts ends at chapter 28. But its characters lived on.

    Infused with a love of learning, compelling in its arguments for a unifying written culture, it argues brilliantly against the politicization of literature and presents a guide to the great works of the western literary tradition and essential writers of the ages. The Western Canon was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

    Strib takes a good look at who the Buddha was, meditation, karma, and more. With good humor and without sentimentalism (plus a sprinkling of hilarious cartoons), he explains these down-to-earth insights in everyday language. Showing how Buddhism boldly approaches life’s problems head on, unflinching and alert—like a soldier in a forward listening post in the dark of night—Strib emphasizes the Buddhist call to moral action for the good of oneself and others.

    How you think about this rhythm of moods makes all the difference. Our lives are filled with emotional tunnels: the loss of a loved one or end of a relationship, aging and illness, career disappointments or just an ongoing sense of dissatisfaction with life. Society tends to view these “dark nights” in clinical terms as obstacles to be overcome as quickly as possible. But Moore shows how honoring these periods of fragility as periods of incubation and positive opportunities to delve the soul’s deepest needs can provide healing and a new understanding of life’s meaning. Dark Nights of the Soul presents these metaphoric dark nights not as the enemy, but as times of transition, occasions to restore yourself, and transforming rites of passage, revealing an uplifting and inspiring new outlook on such topics as: • The healing power of melancholy • The sexual dark night and the mysteries of matrimony • Finding solace during illness and in aging • Anxiety, anger, and temporary Insanities • Linking creativity, spirituality, and emotional struggles • Finding meaning and beauty in the darkness

    Noted author Sharon Jaynes shares with women how their internal scars—marks from past hurts and mistakes—also represent a story of restoration.With empathy, personal insight, and a best friend's gentle spirit, Sharon helps readers:recognize Jesus through their scarsreceive grace and forgivenessremove the mask and be realrestore the broken heartrelease the power of healed woundsEncouraging chapters, inspirational stories, godly wisdom, and a Bible study guide lead readers to give their wounds to the One who sees their beauty and who turns hurts into hope.

    PLUS BONUS CONTENT...Sensory in a Nutshell! Just a little bit more, but not too much to overwhelm you. This practical, daily application handbook is helping parents, teachers, and caregivers all over the world to understand sensory signals and cues from a child rather than jumping to the conclusion of behavior driven. This user friendly "go to" handbook is geared for daily use and as a quick sensory reference guide designed to work hand in hand with ASensoryLife.com, where you can find printable handouts, sensory how-to videos, sensory tools and equipment ideas and links, as well as a sensory ideas on a budget. Enjoy the simple, organized format to give you the essential and useful information to respond to the child's sensory needs right on the spot! The handbook provides simple every day sensory strategies and techniques to help ALL children; including SPD, autism spectrum disorders, ADD/ADHD, APD, and developmental disabilities. This handbook provides guidance and understanding as to why children do what they do in regards to unique sensory processing differences and needs. When you respect a child's sensory differences, it will change how you respond. Keep it Real. Keep it Simple. Keep it Sensory!

    “The purpose of this book,” says Housden, “is to inspire you to lighten up and fall in love with the world and all that is in it.” Reading it is a pleasure indeed.“When you die,God and the angels will hold you accountablefor all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself.”Roger Housden, author of the bestselling Ten Poems series, presents a joyously affirmative, warmly personal, and spiritually illuminating meditation on the virtues of opening ourselves up to pleasures like being foolish, not being perfect, and doing nothing useful, the pleasure of not knowing, and even (would you believe it?) the pleasure of being ordinary.

    

    A moving and inspiring personal account of one man's extraordinary memories of the pre-birth existence--the life in Heaven before physical birth.

    Schwartz, Ph.D., there is compelling scientific evidence that we no longer have to accept God on faith alone. Through a multidisciplinary approach, Harvard University-educated Dr. Schwartz blends psychology, quantum physics, and mathematics to examine the science of spirit. Faith and science are not mutually exclusive, and a better understanding of their relationship can lead us to recognize how God operates in everything.Trained in the scientific method as an "open-minded skeptic," Dr. Schwartz was taught how to raise questions, turn them into hypotheses, and design experiments to test them. He was not trained to consider the nature of God. And yet, his scientific research led him directly to the discovery of God's existence in intelligent evolution and everyday life.Scientifically rigorous and spiritually reassuring, this eye-opening book is a wake-up call for anyone who wonders about life's true meaning and who longs to believe in the existence of a universal intelligence.

    He describes seven culture-shaping areas of influence over each society—media, government, education, economy, family, religion, and celebration (arts and entertainment)—that are the keys to taking a nation for the kingdom of God. The purpose of this book is to draw the church’s attention to these areas; help each individual determine his or her specific assignment in this mission; and then to offer insight into the nature of the battles involved in this “spiritual tsunami,” as the author calls it.Many Christians do not grasp that God’s favor for us to succeed is already upon us and is part of His end-time strategy to establish Jesus as Ruler of the Nations before His return. Readers will come to understand that this favor is divinely strategic and corresponds to the place of each person’s ministry assignment. Many have a spiritual poverty vision and poor eschatology, two factors that have robbed us of our blessing and caused us to fail to reclaim cultural influences for Christ.The book is laid out to address these two misunderstandings, with the first several chapters specifically aimed at correcting lack of vision and misguided understanding of the end times. Each chapter that follows provides intensive, detailed study of each “mountain” of influence, how it will be taken and by whom, and what resistance will be encountered by individuals assigned to claim this mountain.

    Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner is a many-hued bouquet of wisdom and strength for women at every stage of living. From a woman who found her life never perfect yet always full of wonder comes a rare treasure of a book.

    In a schema not unlike the id, ego, and superego, Pathworkn incluidas.

    How do I prepare my mind for meditation?There is nothing special. I just keep it where it always is.They ask, 'Then are you an arahant?'Do I know?I am like a tree in a forest, full of leaves, blossoms and fruit.Birds come to eat and nest, and animals seek rest in its shade.Yet the tree does not know itself.It follows its own nature.It is as it is.""All the teachings" Ajahn Chah taught, "are merely similes and comparisons, means to help the mind see the truth. If we establish the Buddha within our mind, then we see everything, we contemplate everything, as no different from ourselves.Many of the similes that Ajahn Chah himself used to teach came out of his vast experience of living in the forest. His practice was simply to watch, all the while being totally open and aware of everything that was happening both inside and outside himself. He would say that his practice was nothing special. He was, in his own words, like a tree in a forest, "A tree is as it is," he's say. And Ajahn Chah was as he was. But out of such "nothing specialness" came a profound understanding of himself and the world.Ajahn Chah used to say, "The Dhamma is revealing itself in every moment, but only when the mind is quiet can we understand what it is saying, for the Dhamma teaches without words." Ajahn Chah had this uncanny ability to take that wordless Dhamma and convey its truth to his listeners in the form of a simile that was fresh, easy to follow, sometimes humorous, sometimes poetic, but always striking a place in the heart where it would jar or inspire the most: "We are like maggots; life is like a falling leaf; our mind is like rain water."The teachings of Ajahn Chah teem with similes and comparisons like these. We thought it would be a good idea to collect them all in the form of a book as a source of inspiration for those who may want some respite from the "heat" of the world and seek some rest in the cool and abundant shade of "a tree in the forest".

    Rathbun told Times reporters the story of his years in Scientology and what led to his leaving. That resulted in interviews with scores of other people in the Scientology world, including former staffers, disaffected parishioners and current church members.Thus began the Times' ongoing series, "Inside Scientology," which launched with an installment called "The Truth Rundown," published in June of 2009. That initial work — the focus of this book — shed unprecedented light on the internal workings of a secretive church that generates interest around the world.