Her father's first church was built from a "church kit" and most of the parishioners worked at the local carnival. As a child, religion soaked all her activities. In Easter Everywhere, Steinke tracks her complex and changing ideas about God and how these ideas were impacted by her mother's nervous breakdown and her father's struggle with his parish before Steinke turned her back on religion, filling the void with club hopping and romantic obsessions. The second half of the memoir details how Steinke, after marriage, becoming a mother and then getting divorced, was able to finally accept her essential ignorance and begin, with the help of a remarkable Episcopal nun, Sister Leslie, the slow process toward a living faith. Easter Everywhere is a rare literary accomplishment, a beautifully crafted, riveting personal story with a huge emotional impact.

    If you're ready to make some serious changes around here, You Are a Badass will help you: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big exciting risks, figure out how to make some damn money already, learn to love yourself and others, set big goals and reach them - it will basically show you how to create a life you totally love, and how to create it now.By the end of You Are a Badass, you'll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can't change, how to change what you don't love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

    God never intended for us to act like "little girls," says Jan Silvious. His goal is for each of us to live as "big girls"-mature Christian women-who are capable of enjoying the richness of life He has planned.In Big Girls Don't Whine, Jan helps women:Move beyond the past and on to healthy relationships, Choose to be proactive rather than let life just "happen,"Discover their full potential,And become everything He made them to be.So how can we tell if we're living life as an immature 'little girl" or a confident "big girl?"A little girl…Is insecureBecomes the victim of circumstancesSays "I can't"ManipulatesA big girl…Is secureRests in God's sovereigntySays, "I can"CommunicatesIn Big Girls Don't Whine, Jan Silvious calls us to be real women in a real world, free to experience a life of full of potential and vision. This book is the how-to manual for making it happen.

    

    What followed was a rigorous, pathbreaking, and enthralling exchange, which has been viewed millions of times since it was first posted on YouTube. This is intellectual inquiry at its best: exhilarating, funny, and unpredictable, sincere and probing, reminding us just how varied and colorful the threads of modern atheism are. Here is the transcript of that conversation, in print for the first time, augmented by material from the living participants: Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett. These new essays, introduced by Stephen Fry, mark the evolution of their thinking and highlight particularly resonant aspects of this epic exchange. Each man contends with the most fundamental questions of human existence while challenging the others to articulate their own stance on God and religion, cultural criticism, spirituality, debate with people of faith, and the components of a truly ethical life.

    All aspects of the spiritual realm are discussed, including the existence of angels and demons, the whereabouts of loved ones who have passed, the gift of grace, heaven, hell, and even the presence and activity of God in our lives. Completely consistent with traditional Christian teaching, Angels All Around Us will help readers embrace a certitude that makes it easier to act according to their moral beliefs, give them a greater sense of the richness of life, and show them that no amount of suffering-physical, mental, or emotional-will ever be able to destroy the profound sense of inner peace that they can experience on a daily basis.

    These simple exercises will help you sharpen your psychic senses and open yourself to receive communication from your spirit guides. Gordon then shows you how you can use this special energy to help others.

    However, he also knows from personal experience that there is always a price to pay if we don't regularly take time simply to pause to cease activity, to treasure quiet time, and to discern the deep meaning of life s little moments.In The Power of Pause, Hershey counters the cultural decree that says slowing down is not an option if we want to lead a fulfilling life by constantly doing something and, at least metaphorically speaking, going somewhere. Through fifty-two short chapters each filled with an inspiring quote, a powerful story/meditation, and a specific call to action we come to realize the profound value of slowing down our days and balancing our lives. Most important, we are challenged by Hershey s meditations to rethink how it is that we can best move forward in our lives; the process of pausing is what allows us to make intentional decisions rather than reactionary ones, and to refocus our lives and goals on the things that truly count.From overworked employees to overwhelmed parents, from ministry leaders to spiritual seekers, The Power of Pause encourages all of us to slow down, reconnect with what is important, and take back the life we were always intended to have.

    This unique and handy resource is perfect for youth, adults, students, families, and all those interested in learning about much of what encompasses life in the church.Sections include: - How to Stay Alert in Church - How to be a Greeter (or Usher, or Acolyte, etc.) - How to tell the difference between a "Vocation" and a "Vacation" - How to Survive a Service in an Un-Air-Conditioned Church - A brief history of the Anglican Communion - How to Interpret "Controversial" Bible Passages and Remain Episcopalian -...and dozens more!

    Gregory Koukl demonstrates how to get in the driver's seat, keeping any conversation moving with thoughtful, artful diplomacy. You'll learn how to maneuver comfortably and graciously through the minefields, stop challengers in their tracks, turn the tables and—most importantly—get people thinking about Jesus. Soon, your conversations will look more like diplomacy than D-Day. Drawing on extensive experience defending Christianity in the public square, Koukl shows you how to:- Initiate conversations effortlessly- Present the truth clearly, cleverly, and persuasively- Graciously and effectively expose faulty thinking- Skillfully manage the details of dialogue- Maintain an engaging, disarming style even under attackTactics provides the game plan for communicating the compelling truth about Christianity with confidence and grace.

    A collection of inspirational writings includes reflections on love, prayer, giving, service, poverty, forgiveness, and Jesus.

    These two astounding essays are among the most profound studies of the effects of mind-expanding drugs written in this century. Contains the complete texts of The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell , both of which became essential for the counterculture during the 1960s and influenced a generation's perception of life.

    This booklet contains the prophetic and epochal lectures delivered by Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions, Chicago, in 1893

    There are many books in English which present Sufi doctrine, but few which can be used as practical travel guides along the Path. Originally written in Classical Arabic, the aptly-named Book of Assistance is today in widespread use among Sufi teachers in Arabia, Indonesia and East Africa. The author, Imam al-Haddad (d. 1720), lived at Tarim in the Hadramaut valley between the Yemen and Oman, and is widely held to have been the "spiritual renewer" of the twelfth Islamic century. He spent most of his life in Kenya and Saudi Arabia where he taught Islamic jurisprudence and classical Sufism according to the order (tariqa) of the BaAlawi sayids.

    . . . Father Martin reminds us that happiness is the good God’s own goal for us.” —Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New YorkFrom The Colbert Report’s “official chaplain” James Martin, SJ, author of the New York Times bestselling The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, comes a revolutionary look at how joy, humor, and laughter can change our lives and save our spirits. A Jesuit priest with a busy media ministry, Martin understands the intersections between spirituality and daily life.  In Between Heaven and Mirth, he uses scriptural passages, the lives of the saints, the spiritual teachings of other traditions, and his own personal reflections to show us why joy is the inevitable result of faith, because a healthy spirituality and a healthy sense of humor go hand-in-hand with God's great plan for humankind.