To Be a Jew deals with the question of the meaning and rationale that the writer Joseph Chayim Brenner attributes to Jewish existence. Many of Brenner's readers assumed that Brenner completely negated Jewish existence and sought to form a new way of life completely disconnected from the traditional Jewish existence. In contrast to this perception, Avi Sagi proves that not only did Brenner not reject the value of the Jewish existence, but the core of his creation was written out of a deep Jewish commitment. Brenner's greatest innovation is found in his new conception of Jewish existence. To be a Jew, according to Brenner, involves the willingness to discover solidarity with actual Jews, to participate in a society in which Jews can live a free life and to fashion their culture as they wish. Sagi presents the idea that Brenner's is not a Utopian, but a realistic, conception of Jewish existence. Thus this unique conception of Jewish existence is founded on an infrastructure of existential thought.

For most of its history, contemporary Paganism has been a religion of converts. Yet as it enters its fifth decade, it is incorporating growing numbers of second-generation Pagans for whom Paganism is a family tradition, not a religious worldview arrived at via a spiritual quest. In Pagan Family Values, S. Zohreh Kermani explores the ways in which North American Pagan families pass on their beliefs to their children, and how the effort to socialize children influences this new religious movement. The first ethnographic study of the everyday lives of contemporary Pagan families, this volume brings their experiences into conversation with contemporary issues in American religion. Through formal interviews with Pagan families, participant observation at various pagan events, and data collected via online surveys, Kermani traces the ways in which Pagan parents transmit their religious values to their children. Rather than seeking to pass along specific religious beliefs, Pagan parents tend to seek to instill values, such as religious tolerance and spiritual independence, that will remain with their children throughout their lives, regardless of these children's ultimate religious identifications. Pagan parents tend to construct an idealized, magical childhood for their children that mirrors their ideal childhoods. The socialization of children thus becomes a means by which adults construct and make meaningful their own identities as Pagans. Kermani's meticulous fieldwork and clear, engaging writing provide an illuminating look at parenting and religious expression in Pagan households and at how new religions pass on their beliefs to a new generation.

We need answers-answers that are sure and dependable, answers that bring goodness and contentment. Today, perhaps more than ever before, the human condition has been confused and in turmoil. We are longing for essential aspects to fulfill our needs, but often fall short of the true fulfillment. We are created with core longings that were designed to be ultimately fulfilled by God. However, we have been hurt by bad relationships, abuse and neglect, unfulfilled promises, and shortcomings of our own contrived pursuits. As we begin the Created For series, we will introduce these six core longings and begin with the focus on significance. My prayer is that you will find healing for your soul and restoration for your spirit.

"Dr. Robert Shaw has spent his life in the people-helping business. He has a unique ability to key in on the many dynamics of the human condition and the biblical answers that can help individuals become all that God truly intends them to be. In this work, he introduces and expounds upon human core longings: love, significance, security, understanding, purpose, and belonging. In a culture that has become narcissistic and driven by 'what's in it for me, ' Dr. Shaw reveals what it means to live a truly meaningful life based on identifying and honoring these God-given core longings. In your quest for the experience of the truth as revealed in Scripture and most importantly in Christ, this work will provide you with a clear pathway to genuine satisfaction from the inside out in a way that brings glory to the One who created you for eternal significance." -Mark J. Chironna, MA, Ph.D., Senior Pastor and Life Coach, Church on the Living Edge, Orlando, Florida

"Dr. Shaw writes with eloquent simplicity on a complex matter of God's creative design. He has gathered nuggets of truth and packaged them for both scholarly and practical consumption, as a source of being reminded of our God-given significance. As a consummate clinician and a devout minister of the gospel, he possesses a rare capacity to write with a full measure of the spiritual savvy to discern and articulate timeless truths with grace and contemporary relevance. Everyone will be well served to drink deeply from this well of wisdom." -Adrian F. Starks, Senior Pastor, World Victory International Christian Center, Greensboro, North Carolina

At the end of each devotional is a brief review, and at the end of the book is an opportunity to dig deeper into God's Word. The reader and the disciple will be able to reflect on a key concept and re-examine the Scripture text together. This is an ideal time to work with another person or in small group to follow up and develop meaningful discipleship relationships.

The Learning Journey compels the reader to see their own journey through life as a climb toward consciousness and survival. This gripping true story of one person 's successful struggle to survive tragic and chaotic challenges can lead others to an examination of childhood scripts, and a recognition of their own value system based on their life experience.

Combining psychological and spiritual wisdom, June Lamb, gives guidance and inspiration for those willing to step into the classroom called life as they explore what it means to be human. The acceptance of loss as part of that classroom, and the search for finding authority in religion, medicine, higher education, and law are widely explored in her absorbing story of a life full of universal themes that will be recognized by all. She tells her personal story in conjunction with case examples drawn directly from her years of practice as a family therapist.

Once again, Father Lawrence Ventline inspires us with his imaginative, creative writing. He finds such beautiful ways of describing the so-called ordinary...the "official dump." JoAnn Loria Spiritual Director and Pastoral Associate Sterling Heights, Michigan Green is frequently found in Scriptures, but seldom refers strictly to color. Green brings to mind the freshness and vigor of growing vegetation. It denotes a healthy and prosperous condition of things. One could hardly disagree with the author's challenge to live in the manner in which Christians of new birth and hope should conduct themselves in order to maintain the wellness of their families, community, country and world. Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Totty Transfiguration Parish Southfield, Michigan

This Treasury of Biblical Moments is a collection of selected Scripture verses from all sixty-six books of the Bible. A theme is chosen for each verse, and that theme is developed with clarification of the text and other supporting Scripture. Effort has been made to point to the God we worship, to His saving grace through Jesus Christ, and to see practical applications to the concerns of our daily lives as children of God.

It has been the author's desire to show that our Lord and Savior understands the paths we tread, the valleys and mountain peaks of our lives, and that He walks with us every step of our journey. Here you can spend a few moments in time that can have eternal value."

This book is written for those who suffer from severe and persistant mental illness. It is about the trials of a man with the illness and how he reached from poverty and despair to the heights of obtaining an MSW and LCSW. It is also written for Literary students with a specific style of writing. Students of Counseling, Social Work, Psychology, and Psychiatry will get a realistic view of what the illness is like and can do. It is an autobiographical, educational, and inspirational experience that needs told

The Day the Angels Cried tells the story of an event that made history in the United States of America on June 22, 1980 when a gunman entered the worship services of the First Baptist Church of Daingerfield, Texas. In a matter of minutes, five people lay dead and ten others wounded with hundreds of innocent people wondering if they might be next to face the horror of death at the hand of a madman. For Larry Linam, it was a day that changed his life forever. It was during this worship service that he lost his first born child, Mary Regina Linam, his seven year old daughter. He uses the book to convey the emotions of anger, fear, hatred, and revenge that consumed his life for more than two decades while maintaining a working lifestyle to care for his family. He was living a life torn by a faith in God and a fear that justice would not be served by the courts. The events that unfold in his book as he bears his heart and soul leads the reader on a journey of a downward spiral brought about by depression, anger, and devastation as he makes attempts to exact vengeance upon the murderer of his child and upon the family of the murderer as well. The journey will also lead the reader into the joy and recovery that is found when hope is restored through faith in God and friends that never gave up on Larry Linam. He shares how finding forgiveness and giving forgiveness dispelled the darkness in his life and allowed him to tell the story to thousands and the desire to share with more that God's purpose for believers in Jesus Christ is the most important thing for anyone facing life's challenges.

Back in 2000, Episcopal priest, William Dopp and his wife, Janet, were on their way to Kisoro, Uganda to be part of a special celebration at St. Andrew's Cathedral in that remote part of east Africa. They stopped over in London, where they had the opportunity to attend Sunday worship at St. John the Baptist Church in the Kensington section of London. The contrast between the two churches inspired this book.

The old gothic church in London was nearly empty on Sunday morning. One week later, the Dopps took part in worship in rural Kisoro where the 1200-seat cathedral was not large enough to hold the crowd. The church in London had on its literature, "Preserving Holy Worship." The church in Kisoro, Uganda proclaimed on a sign, "Jesus is our living hope." One church lives in the past; the other is in mission proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. These two churches are the symbols of what Dopp calls the old chapel church, the OCC, and the emerging missionary church, the EMC. Congregations of all denominations fall into these two categories. Through engaging ministry experiences backed up by current statistics, he illustrates how the emerging missionary church transforms the lives of people.

Is there anything too hard for God? Most Christian seem to think there is. We profess that we believe our Big God can do anything. We quote the scripture "If God before us, who can be against us?" But we don't believe the homosexual can be redeemed. We smell the residue of what they have been through, and our self righteousness assures us that he is still bathing in his vomit. We forget we are all ex-everything in the church, not something.....but everything.. Ex whores, ex-prostitutes, ex pediphilers, and some of us are still stepping in our mess. We sit back and judge those who are struggling to sit at the feet of Jesus and be redeemed. The pages of this book will reveal the miraculous wonder working power of a redeemed homosexual because a Savior chose to die for me... Pastor Roger Ford, the chief of sinners.