When Regina Brett turned 50, she wrote a column on the 50 lessons life had taught her. She reflected on all she had learned through becoming a single parent, looking for love in all the wrong places, working on her relationship with God, battling cancer and making peace with a difficult childhood. It became one of the most popular columns ever published in the newspaper, and since then the 50 lessons have been emailed to hundreds of thousands of people. Brett now takes the 50 lessons and expounds on them in essays that are deeply personal. From "Don't take yourself too seriously-Nobody else does" to "Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift," these lessons will strike a chord with anyone who has ever gone through tough times--and haven't we all?

    Filled with more than 100 modern liturgies, this book guides you into an intentional conversation with God for your children and the world they live in. From everyday struggles like helping your child find friends or thrive in school to larger issues like praying for a brighter world rooted in peace and truth, these pleas and petitions act as a gentle guide, reminding us that while our words may fail, God never does.At the core of To Light Their Way is the deepest of prayers: that our children will experience the love of God so deeply that their lives will be an outpouring of love that lights up the world.

    What they weren't expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed--a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy's trip to heaven and back.Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery--and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how "really, really big" God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton's uniquely simple words, "Heaven is for Real" offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, "Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.""Heaven is for Real" will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering you the chance to see, and believe, like a child.

    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.

    The fervent debate, civil strife, and bloody riots as Christianity was coming into being, however, is a side of ancient history rarely described. Richard E. Rubenstein takes the reader to the streets of fourth-century Rome, when a fateful debate over the divinity of Jesus Christ is being fought. Ruled by a Christian emperor, followers of Jesus no longer fear for the survival of their monotheistic faith. But soon they break into two camps regarding the direction of their worship: Is Jesus the son of God and therefore not the same as God? Or is Jesus precisely God on Earth and therefore equal to Him? With thorough historical, religious, and social research, Rubenstein vividly recreates one of the most critical moments in the history of religion.

    This book explores how Christianity began by tracing its earliest texts, including the Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in Egypt in 1945.When her infant son was diagnosed with fatal pulmonary hypertension, Pagels' spiritual and intellectual quest took on a new urgency, leading her to explore historical and archaeological sources and to investigate what Jesus and his teachings meant to his followers before the invention of Christianity. The discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, along with more than 50 other early Christian texts, some unknown since antiquity, offers clues. She compares such sources as Thomas' gospel (which claims to give Jesus' secret teaching and finds its closest affinities with kabbalah) with the canon to show how Christian leaders chose to include some gospels and exclude others from the collection many call the New Testament. To stabilize the emerging church in times of persecution, church fathers constructed the canon, creed and hierarchy - and, in the process, suppressed many of its spiritual resources.Drawing on new scholarship - her own and that of an international group of scholars - that has come to light since the 1979 publication of The Gnostic Gospels, she shows that what matters about Christianity involves much more than any one set of beliefs. Traditions embodied in Judaism and Christianity can powerfully affect us in heart, mind and spirit, inspire visions of a new society based on practising justice and love, even heal and transform us.Provocative and moving, Beyond Belief, the most personal of her books to date, shows how the impulse to seek god overflows the narrow banks of a single tradition. She writes, "What I have come to love in the wealth and diversity of our religious traditions - and the communities that sustain them - is that they offer the testimony of innumerable people to spiritual discovery, encouraging us, in Jesus' words, to 'seek, and you shall find.'"CONTENTSFrom the feast of Agape to the Nicene CreedGospels in conflict: John and Thomas God's word or human words?The canon of truth and the triumph of JohnConstantine and the Catholic Church AcknowledgementsNotesIndex

    With his unique, uplifting writing style, Swindoll helps those navigating life's most difficult obstacles to pursue the path that leads to power, blessing, and peace.

    Ruth Beechick writes an enlightening and entertaining history of Adam and his offspring.

    Former missionary and beloved author Elisabeth Elliot offers her understanding of discipline and its value for modern people.Now repackaged for the next generation of Christians, Discipline: The Glad Surrender shows readers how to-discipline the mind, body, possessions, time, and feelings-overcome anxiety-change poor habits and attitudes-trust God in times of trial and hardship-let Christ have control in all areas of lifeElliot masterfully and gently takes readers through Scripture, personal stories, and lovely observations of the world around her in order to help them discover the understanding that our fulfillment as human beings depends on our answer to God's call to obedience.

    The story is surprising, controversial, and exciting as only a long-lost history can be when it is at last recovered. In "The Jesus Dynasty," biblical scholar James Tabor brings us closer than ever to the historical Jesus. Jesus, as we know, was the son of Mary, a young woman who became pregnant before her marriage to a man named Joseph. The gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom probably had a different father than his. He joined a messianic movement begun by his relative John the Baptizer, whom he regarded as his teacher and a great prophet. John and Jesus together filled the roles of the Two Messiahs who were expected at the time: John, as a priestly descendant of Aaron, and Jesus, as a royal descendant of David. Together they preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. Theirs was an apocalyptic movement that expected God to establish his kingdom on earth, as described by the Prophets. The Two Messiahs lived in a time of turmoil as the historical land of Israel was dominated by the powerful Roman Empire. Fierce Jewish rebellions against Rome occurred during Jesus' lifetime.John and Jesus preached adherence to the Torah, or the Jewish Law. But their mission was changed dramatically when John was arrested and then killed. After a period of uncertainty, Jesus began preaching anew in Galilee and challenged the Roman authorities and their Jewish collaborators in Jerusalem. He appointed a Council of Twelve to rule over the twelvetribes of Israel, and among the Twelve he included his four brothers. After Jesus was crucified by the Romans, his brother James -- the "Beloved Disciple" -- took over leadership of the Jesus dynasty.James, like John and Jesus before him, saw himself as a faithful Jew. None of them believed that their movement was a new religion. It was Paul who transformed Jesus and his message through his ministry to the Gentiles. Breaking with James and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, Paul preached a message based on his own revelations, which would become Christianity. Jesus became a figure whose humanity was obscured; John became merely a forerunner of Jesus; and James and the others were all but forgotten.James Tabor has studied the earliest surviving documents of Christianity for more than thirty years and has participated in important archaeological excavations in Israel. Drawing on this background, Tabor reconstructs for us the movement that sought the spiritual, social, and political redemption of the Jews, a movement led by one family. "The Jesus Dynasty" offers an alternative version of Christian origins, one that takes us closer than ever to Jesus and his family and followers.This is a book that will change our understanding of one of the most crucial moments in history.

    It is boring, stagnant, and usually lacking in beauty. What if all you were able to see every day was this lifeless ground? If all we could see was the earth below our feet, we would miss the beauty of the world God created. We would be less than God designed us to be.This book is about seventeen women who chose to raise their eyes heavenward toward God by living lives of hope, boldness, generosity, and great faith. These are women of the bible whose faith will radically challenge you, encourage you, and move you to understand your faith in a new and beautiful way.This scriptural devotion for young women will inspire you to raise your head and look into the eyes of Jesus, the God who loves you. This is more than a book - it is a challenge to make a choice. We can spend our lives downcast, or we can lift our eyes up to choose beauty - to choose Jesus - and to choose the sky.

    A host of hurdles, from busyness and bitterness to complacency and control, can prevent us from moving where He directs. In this challenging yet warmhearted book, Vivian Mabuni provides an authentic look at what it means to willingly risk saying yes to whatever God asks--and highlights a practical path to the deeper joy of a yielded life.

    His immense talentand fortitude propelled him to a place as one of Europe’s most renownedphilosophers, theologians, and musicians in the early twentieth century. YetSchweitzer shocked his contemporaries by forsaking worldly success andembarking on an epic journey into the wildsof French Equatorial Africa, vowing to serve as a lifelong physician to “theleast of these” in a mysterious land rife with famine, sickness, and superstition. Enduring hardship, conflict, andpersonal struggles, he and his beloved wife, Hélène, became French prisoners of war during WWI, and Hélène later battled persistent illnesses. Ken Gire’s page-turning,novelesque narrative sheds new light on Schweitzer’s faith-in-action ethic andhis commitment to honor God by celebrating the sacredness of all life.The legacy of this 1952 NobelPrize honoree endures in the thriving African hospital community that began ina humble chicken coop, in the millions who have drawn inspiration from hisexample, and in the challenge that emanates from his life story into our day.Albert Schweitzer seemed destined for greatness—and he achieved it bymaking his life his greatest sermon to a world in desperate need of hope andhealing.

    Friedman is a fascinating, intellectual, yet highly readable analysis and investigation into the authorship of the Old Testament. The author of Commentary on the Torah, Friedman delves deeply into the history of the Bible in a scholarly work that is as exciting and surprising as a good detective novel. Who Wrote the Bible? is enlightening, riveting, an important contribution to religious literature, and as the Los Angeles Times aptly observed in its rave review, “There is no other book like this one.”

    Each lesson should be concluded with the corresponding lecture from the DVD or CD series, which contains expert commentary presented by Jeff Cavins. The Bible Timeline Study Kit includes:Study Set: Questions and ResponsesAn in-depth, 176-page set of Study Questions (including maps, charts, tables and note-pages) with a corresponding 88-page set of Responses provides you with a guide for your reading and Scripture study.Bible Timeline ChartA 33" full-color chart provides a visual overview of the books of the Bible. It allows you to track the growth of God's family from Creation to the establishment of the Church and see Bible history in context of world events.Bible Timeline BookmarkA full-color bookmark provides the significance for the color assigned to each time period and serves as a reference tool to mark your place in your Bible.Memory Bead WristbandThe t