In this special seasonal edition, bestselling author Robert J. Morgan shares the incredible stories behind traditional holiday hymns of faith, including Christmas, Easter, and more. Is there a festive season of the year that is complete without one of your favorite hymns? Not only do hymns connect you to great memories, but they also reveal the faith of those who lived throughout history. As Robert Morgan explored the stories behind some of the best-loved hymns, he found fascinating accounts of tribulations, triumphs, struggles, and hope-ordinary people who connected with God in amazing ways, sharing their experiences through song. Included inside this special edition are: 150 devotional-style stories with the words and music to each hymn Includes hymns for holidays including Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and more Jagged edged paper, giving it a classic feel Includes a complete hymn index by title, first line, and songwriter Perfect for use as a daily devotional, teaching illustration, or for song leaders and music ministers Discover the inspiration behind your favorite hymns. Find new favorites as you relate to the people whose walk of faith led them to write these classic songs of praise. Share these stories with your family, friends, and church, and find more depth and meaning as you worship God through song.

Few Anglican theologians today are as conversant about the reality and meaning of the Incarnation in the lives of ordinary women and men as Herbert O'Driscoll. In his newest book, O'Driscoll helps us find the presence of Christ in those places we would rather avoid: the sorrows, the heartbreaks, and the challenges of everyday living. O'Driscoll argues that in the details of Jesus' life on earth lie the source of his very real presence in our lives today. Following the stories in the Gospels, we find Jesus in relationship with those around him. In his joys and sorrows, we can see reflected our own experiences, and take strength in the knowledge that Jesus has walked this way before us, and indeed, is walking with us now. "Jesus' choices, like ours, depend for their success on the vagaries of human nature in those whom he has chosen. There are no simple categories such as bad and good, weak and strong, wise and foolish in this circle around Jesus. In each of them, showing now an eager and dedicated face, all these things are woven together." -from God with Us

Down through the years, those who have been close to God have met with him daily. The Quiet Time Companion can help you begin and make the most of your own daily meetings with God. Offering a fresh approach to Bible study each week (with eleven different approachs in all), this book will help keep your quiet times stimulating and challenging. You'll learn a variety of Bible study skills that will last a lifetime With The Quiet Time Companion you'll gain a thorough overview of the whole Bible as you move through two years of structured and unstructured meetings with God. Each week you'll find five Bible studies designed to occupy about twenty minutes daily. These include whole book studies overviewing major themes detailed studies of short passages topical studies on important aspects of the Christian life character studies of fascinating people in the Bible word studies of key biblical concepts You'll also find suggestions for activities and projects to give you a change of pace each weekend. Divided into eight sessions of thirteen weeks each, The Quiet Time Companion can also be used easily by small groups and Sunday school classes. Here is a great opportunity to get started meeting with God every day.

To find more information about Rowman & Littlefield titles please visit us at www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

There were fifteen important prophets in Israel, whose lives covered nearly four centuries, beginning about 750 B.C.E. Known as the literary prophets because they wrote down their prophecies, they were chosen by God at a time of social and political crisis in the community. Their task was to warn, criticize the morals and ethics of their day, and counsel and comfort the Israelite people. This book presents an overview of the literary prophets and the nature of their prophecies. They include Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel, Obadiah, Nachum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, and Jonah. In addition to the so-called literary prophets, there were other people in the Bible referred to as prophets as well. Gideon, in the Book of Judges, was referred to as a prophet, Deborah is called a prophetess in the Book of Judges. Moses was twice called a prophet in the Bible and even Abraham is once referred to as a prophet in the Book of Genesis. Messengers of God: A Jewish Prophets Who's Who explores these prophets as well. Topics in this volume include: what is a prophet; varieties of prophets; commissioning of the prophet; preliterary prophets; false prophets; Moses; Deborah; prophetic signs and visions; values of the prophets; prophecy in the Talmud, philosophers and prophets, and prophets in the liturgy and rabbinic sources. Messengers of God: A Jewish Prophets Who's Who will enable the reader to have a better understanding of the nature of the prophets and their works.

Rosh Chodesh is the Jewish holiday marking each month's new moon. Celebrating the New Moon is an anthology conceived as a means to offer writings about Rosh Chodesh that are educational, inspirational, scholarly, programmatic, entertaining, and insightful; writings that teach tradition while inspiring innovation; writings from a variety of women and men, representing many writing styles, relationships to Judaism, and levels of observance. Rosh Chodesh observance has waned over the centuries despite the fact that the Torah provides several clues to the importance of this holiday and its observance. Rosh Chodesh was declared a festive day that included practices similar to those offered on other festivals. The joyous nature of Rosh Chodesh in biblical times was also marked by the blowing of the shofar. Today, the shofar is blown only on Rosh Chodesh Elul and onward through the month, to signal the process of preparation for the Holy Days. Modern Jews seem to have limited the festivities of Rosh Chodesh to the recitation of special prayers. It is no longer a holiday but simply a time to acknowledge the beginning of the new month. Perhaps the destruction of the Temple and the end of the sacrificial cult robbed Rosh Chodesh of its sacredness; perhaps it was the widespread adaptation of the solar/Christian calendar. Whatever the cause, only the late twentieth century has seen - indeed, is seeing - the resurgence of this minor holiday. Women in the search for ritual are connecting their search to the holiday of Rosh Chodesh - a day that has already enjoyed a special association with women in traditional lore, and one that is linked to women's unique cycle, the menses. This collection addresseseach nuance of Rosh Chodesh, from the historical to the contemporary; from the traditional to the feminist. Rosh Chodesh is understood in a variety of ways: as a symbol of renewal, as a women's covenant, as a marking of time, and as a reminder of cyclical development and focus. Rosh Chodesh is a forever-returning opportunity for spiritual development and healing, a time to look inward and skyward, an occasion to contemplate the reflection of oneself in the moon's crescent light. Today, hundreds of women gather to study, to feast, to pray, to talk, but mainly to celebrate and revitalize the holiday of Rosh Chodesh. Celebrating the New Moon is the next milestone in this process. It records not only the history and halachah of Rosh Chodesh but also its unfolding during the past two decades. Celebrating the New Moon offers a blueprint for ways to celebrate Rosh Chodesh and stands as a testament to a changing Jewish community that is more open and receptive than ever before to women's celebration and ritual.

In The Written and Oral Torah: A Comprehensive Introduction, Rabbi Nathan T. Lopes Cardozo offers those interested in Jewish tradition an explanation of and basic insight into Judaism's classical sources. Containing a diverse selection of material culled from the Talmud and from the writings of many of Judaism's most gifted sages, this extensive volume will be a valuable resource for novice students as well as for those with some background in Torah study.

"In the Rabbi's Garden" is a contemporary reflection on the midrashic responses to the story of Adam and Eve. It interprets the midrashim that touch on the basic aspects of the human condition: guilt, responsibility, God, death, and sexuality--all rooted in the primal experience of Eden.

The traditional Jew has always accepted the study of Torah as central to his or her way of life. But without the ability to effectively analyze and interpret the text, one misses the opportunity to gain a deep and authentic appreciation of the Torah's beauty and profundity. In Studying the Torah: A Guide to In-Depth Interpretation, Avigdor Bonchek equips the reader with the proper analytic methods to make reading the Bible both a serious pursuit and a pleasurable pastime. In order for the reader of the Torah text to delve into its veiled, but ultimately visible, layered messages, he or she must first learn the appropriate interpretive techniques. These skills are the same as those used by the classic Jewish Torah commentators (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, and others), all of whom were experts in what scholars today refer to as a "close reading" of the text. Among the "Keys to Interpretation" discussed in this book are the significance of word order, opening sentences, repetitions, word associations, psychological dimensions, and similarities and differences between texts. Each key is illustrated by several examples that offer fresh insight into otherwise familiar text, and the author offers his own original and comprehensive in-depth interpretation of two central biblical stories: the story of Joseph and the ten plagues.

In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah is a unique blend of traditional Judaism and radical feminism and is a groundbreaking commentary on the Bible, the central document of Jewish life. Using classical Jewish sources as well as supplementary material from history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, ancient religion, and feminist theory, Judith Antonelli has examined in detail every woman and every issue pertaining to women in the Torah, parshah by parshah. The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions; each portion, or parshah, is read in the synagogue on the Sabbath (combining a few to make a yearly cycle of readings). This book is modeled on that structure; hence there are fifty chapters, each of which corresponds to a parshah. One may, therefore, read this book from beginning to end or use it as a study guide for the parshah of the week. The reader will discover in these pages that the Torah is not the root of misogyny, sexism, or male supremacy. Rather, by looking at the Torah in the context in which it was given, the pagan world of the ancient Near East, it becomes clear that far from oppressing women, the Torah actually improved the status of women as it existed in the surrounding societies. Not only does this book refute the common feminist stereotype that Judaism is a "patriarchal religion" but it also refutes the sexism found in Judaism by exposing it as sociological rather than "divine law."

In Midrash for Beginners, Rabbi Edwin Goldberg presents English readers with an easily accessible entrance into the fascinating and insightful world of Midrash. Instead of trying to explain or define the Midrash and the midrashic process, Rabbi Goldberg gives beginning students the opportunity to explore and study Midrash themselves by focusing exclusively on the biblical character of Joseph. The story of Joseph is one of the best-known and most-loved tales in the Bible. From his rivalry with his brothers, and his father's apparent favoritism, to his being sold into slavery and rising up to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, Joseph's story contains lessons and symbolism that are as relevant to Jews today as they were to the rabbinic commentators of more than a thousand years ago

In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah is a unique blend of traditional Judaism and radical feminism and is a groundbreaking commentary on the Bible, the central document of Jewish life. Using classical Jewish sources as well as supplementary material from history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, ancient religion, and feminist theory, Judith Antonelli has examined in detail every woman and every issue pertaining to women in the Torah, parshah by parshah. The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions; each portion, or parshah, is read in the synagogue on the Sabbath (combining a few to make a yearly cycle of readings). This book is modeled on that structure; hence there are fifty chapters, each of which corresponds to a parshah. One may, therefore, read this book from beginning to end or use it as a study guide for the parshah of the week. The reader will discover in these pages that the Torah is not the root of misogyny, sexism, or male supremacy. Rather, by looking at the Torah in the context in which it was given, the pagan world of the ancient Near East, it becomes clear that far from oppressing women, the Torah actually improved the status of women as it existed in the surrounding societies. Not only does this book refute the common feminist stereotype that Judaism is a 'patriarchal religion' but it also refutes the sexism found in Judaism by exposing it as sociological rather than 'divine law.'

Gracious Uncertainty: Faith in the Second Half of Life reflects on issues concerning everyone but which intensify as we grow older: loving more fully, dealing with loss, finding consolation, and having the courage to gaze (even while shaking inwardly) at the nearing reality of death. Jane Sigloh is a guide both witty and wise. She blends personal stories, Scriptural insights, and lessons drawn from years in ministry into insightful reflections on the beauty and challenges of aging. Gracious Uncertainty is an intimate, at times humorous, and often spirit-provoking guide through the unknowns of the later years.

Each page of this new devotional by David Teems is charged with originality, beauty and the richness of our common language, as well as necessary and timely spiritual content. Each day illuminates one subject, Love. Each entry puts Christ at the center of that love, whether it's love for your husband or wife, for you neighbor, for the stranger, for God. It's all centered in Him and in 365 lovely treatments. The language is lyrical, speaking the way love speaks, sounding the way devotion is supposed to sound. Each day also closes with a benediction, such as, "May Christ be the template by which love shapes itself in you." It's about true Christianity, about worship, about devotion, about ourselves, and much much more. An incredibly generous book, you could say it's the little book with the big heart. And finally, as it says in the Prologue, offering us perhaps the clearest description of itself, "This is a book of love. It only thinks it's a devotional."

This devotional by theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer helps you see that it is possible to impact that world if we allow ourselves to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.
Experience the power of Bonhoeffera (TM)s words in a way that challenges us to live out our discipleship daily--combining personal spirituality with an active concern for those around us.
a [ 365 meditations

In this book, the authors present exhaustive literary and theological textual analyses of all Jesus' teachings, on prayer, parables, and model prayer. Jesus' teachings on prayer are compared with his own practice and examples recorded in the text. In the appendix, stylistic analysis is employed to compare Jesus' prayer with Greek cultic prayer. The authors conclude that prayer for Jesus was the authentic communication of a life acting out the commandments of God.

This is a translation of the Gathas, the Sacred Readings of Sufism. They contain a condensed expression of the wisdom of the mystic Inayak Khan, and guidance of the seven most important subjects in Sufism.

This book serves a basic need for students of the Greek New Testament as it provides ready reference to the forms most needed for translation and exegesis. ... no other similar text can compare.

"This is My Story" presents 146 of the most beloved gospel singers. Entries are arranged alphabetically by singer, and each consists of a full-page drawing of the person, biographical information including birth date, favorite Bible verse, hometown and musical accomplishments, and an inspirational story or testimony.

A great gift book for fans of gospel music, this is a quick reference for people who want to know more about their favorite singers. Most of the biographical information and stories were written by the singers themselves or their close friends and family.

Presents an overview of what the authors see as the roots of Western traditional thought: Homer, the tragedians, Plato, Aristotle, and the Bible. Each section of the book offers lucid intepretations of a major figure through discussion of seminal texts.

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered." --G.K. Chesterton As even a brief exposure to the New Testament will show, the Christian life is a life of adventure. Every aspect is full of energy and light. Yet too often we stop at one point of interest--evangelism, spiritual disciplines, social justice--and go no further. Interweaving stories from a summer vacation, Jerry Sittser shows how our lives can include all God has in mind for us. In a book that is fun and challenging, Sittser restores wholeness to the adventure of Christian living.

Reprinted from the 1965 Abingdon Press edition, this historical study traces the changes that have taken place in Wesleyan theology in America. Focuses on three representative theologians: Richard Watson, John Miley and Albert Knudson; and three central themes of revelation, sin, and grace. Of interest to ministers, theologians and seminary students.

Making a Difference in Preaching offers a collection of Haddon Robinson's shorter writings on preaching, penned over a forty-year period. Now available in paperback, the book provides readers with a helpful understanding of Robinson's preaching theory, method, and practice.
This collection, edited by Scott Gibson, illuminates the key differences between good preaching and poor preaching. Each chapter contains discussion/reflection questions and a list of books for further reading. The book is well-suited for pastors looking for refreshing insights into their preaching, as well as seminary students or lay speakers.