How is a free faith expressed, organised and governed? How are diverse spiritualities and theologies made compatible? What might a religion based in reason and democracy offer today's world? This book will help the reader to understand the contemporary liberal religion of Unitarian Universalism in a historical and global context. Andrea Greenwood and Mark W. Harris challenge the view that the Unitarianism of New England is indigenous and the point from which the religion spread. Relationships between Polish radicals and the English Dissenters existed, and the English radicals profoundly influenced the Unitarianism of the nascent United States. Greenwood and Harris also explore the US identity as Unitarian Universalist since a 1961 merger, and its current relationship to international congregations, particularly in the context of twentieth century expansion into Asia.

What are miracles, and why do we believe in them? Is it for comfort, to explain the inexplicable, or do we simply long for a connection with something larger than ourselves? And why do some people dismiss them out of hand, as if they can never happen? What Heaven is for Real did for neardeath experiences, Miracles does for the miraculous-provides undeniably compelling evidence that there's something real to be reckoned with, whatever one has thought of this topic before. It provides a wide range of real stories of the miraculous and will engage the reader in the serious discussion that this fascinating and rich subject deserves. Miracles is in some ways a more personal, anecdotal, and updated version of C. S. Lewis's 1947 book on the subject. Metaxas's Miracles is an exploration and an exhortation to view miracles as not only possible, but as far more widespread than most of us had ever imagined. Eric Metaxas says it is not a question of whether miracles happen-the evidence that they do is overwhelming in this book alone-but rather, what exactly are miracles, why do they happen, and how can we to understand them in our own lives?

In fast-food society we long for quick fixes and easy answers. But no worthwhile goal is easily reached, and a deep spiritual life is not created in a week or two. It takes perseverance over the long haul to finish well. "The Finishing Touch" encourages you to keep on keeping on to reach your goals and reap the harvest of a life worth living.

Charles Swindoll challenges today's I'm-getting-tired-so-let's-just-quit mentality. He says, "Dieting is a discipline, so we stay fat. Finishing school is a hassle, so we bail out. Cultivating a close relationship is painful, so we back off. Working through conflicts in a marriage is a tiring struggle, so we walk away. Sticking with an occupation is tough, so we change jobs. . . . what we don't hear about is finishing well. About sticking with something until it is done."

God wants to touch us and be our strength in the struggle. He wants us to finish what we started and complete the course. "The Finishing Touch "takes you through every day of a year, introducing you to God's touches of grace, joy, and love. As a sculptor applies himself to the marble, and keeps chipping and cutting away to reveal the masterpiece within, so the Master Artist wants to use our trials, hard times, and day-to-day struggles to chip away at our faults and to help us discover the potential treasures within us.

Daily devotionals for fifty-two weeks help you discover gut-level authenticity, hope in the midst of despair, courage in the face of fear, the light of faith in the shadows of doubt, and peace in the midst of stress. Learn how God's touch on your life enables you to run the race to the finish―to the honor and glory of the Master who has called you to be more than you think you can be.

Written with the rigor and precision of a New Testament specialist, Preaching the Parables provides a responsible introduction to understanding and proclaiming the parables that pastors, church leaders, and seminary students will appreciate. Craig Blomberg demonstrates how the structure of a parable is key to its interpretation and thus to its exposition. He shows how a parable, when properly contemporized, can be a powerful rhetorical device, and that recognizing the elements of the parable that were atypical to everyday life leads to important surprises that will be of significance to contemporary parishioners. Each of the fifteen exemplary sermons is accompanied by an analysis that points out key interpretive decisions.

Look and See comprises over twenty Buddhist teaching stories with commentaries by the Venerable Myokyo-ni.The stories are collected from various Buddhist sources but have in common the Buddhist way of facing the trials life brings. Stories from the Southern Scriptures, such as 'The Parable of the Poisoned Arrow' are included alongside Northern Training Stories such as 'The Taming of the Harp' and 'The Great Wave.' Each story is followed by the thoughts and observations of the Venerable Myokyo-ni.

Am 16. Januar 1599 erschien die heilige Mutter Gottes der Mutter Marianna von Jesus Torres im Konvent des Ordens des Unbefleckten Herzens in Quito, in Ecuador. Die heilige Mutter trug der Schwester auf eine Statue zu errichten, die so aussehen sollte, wie die Erscheinung, die sie sah: Maria mit dem Jesuskind auf dem linken Arm und einem Bischofsstab in der rechten Hand, hinzu den Schlusseln des Klosters in der rechten Hand. Unsere liebe Frau hielt den Bischofsstab in der Hand als Zeichen dafur, dass sie selbst das Kloster beschutzt und bat die Schwester darum, dass ihre Statue im Chorraum der Klosterkirche aufgestellt werden solle, wo sie bis zum heutigen Tage steht. Die Statue wurde am 2. Februar 1611 unter dem Namen Frau vom guten Erfolg der Reinigung oder Lichtmess" vom Bischof von Quito eingeweiht. Wahrend Unsere liebe Frau der Mutter Mariana erschien, prophezeite sie ihr, dass bis zu ihrem Tod am 16. Januar 1635 viele Einflusse des Teufels die Katholische Kirche heimsuchen wurde, welche sie in kleinsten Details beschrieb. Dazu offenbarte sie ihr, dass ihre Erscheinung und Visionen nur bis zum Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts bekannt sein wurde und wurde gebeten durch Gebet und Busse den armen Seelen, die in dieser Zeit durch enorme Haresien gehen sollten, beizustehen. Es war Gottes Wille diese Enthullung und die Geschichte der Mutter Mariana bis in unsere Zeit zu retten, in der Sittenlosigkeit herrscht und das wertvolle Licht des Glaubens beinahe erloschen ist, gemass den Worten unserer Lieben Frau. Unsere Mutter Gottes sagte auch voraus, dass die Treue zum Glauben, Gnade und Vergebung aller Sunden gewahren wird, fur diejenigen, die mit reuevollem Herzen zur heiligen Mutter beten. So sagte sie: Der trostende Name Mutter vom guten Erfolg..".wird den Glauben starken und ihn gegen allerlei Haresien und Irrwege, die im 20. Jahrhundert herumschleichen, schutzen.&quo

The devotional poems of Annamaya (15th century) are perhaps the most accessible and universal achievement of classical Telugu literature, one of the major literatures of pre-modern India. Annamaya effectively created and popularized a new genre, the short padam song, which spread throughout the Telugu and Tamil regions and would become an important vehicle for the composition of Carnatic music - the classical music of South India. In this book, Rao and Shulman offer translations of 150 of Annamaya's poems. All of them are addressed to the god associated with the famous temple city of Tirupati-Annamaya's home-a deity who is sometimes referred to as "god on the hill" or "lord of the seven hills." The poems are couched in a simple and accessible language invented by Annamaya for this purpose. Rao and Shulman's elegant and lyrical modern translations of these beautiful and moving verses are wonderfully readable as poetry in their own right, and will be of great interest to scholars of South Indian history and culture.

In The Weight of the Past, Michael Lambek explores the complex ways that history shapes, constrains, and enables daily life. Focusing on ritual performances of spirit mediumship in a multifaceted religious landscape, Lambek's analysis reveals the multiple ways that Sakalava "bear" history. In Mahajanga, Madagascar to bear history is at once a weighty obligation, a creative re-birthing, a scrupulous cultivation, and an exuberant performance of the past.This book describes the division of labor, creative production, and ethical practice entailed in imagining, embodying, and serving the past. It is at once a vivid ethnography of Sakalava life and a significant intervention in anthropological debates on culture and history, structure and practice, advocating a theoretical approach informed by Aristotelian categories of understanding.

YOU'RE MARRIED.
THINGS ARE OKAY . . .

or maybe not.

CHANGE the pattern

You've been married a few months or a few years. Your intimacy could be better. You know the problems are about the ways you relate. But how can you change? CHANGE the relationship

This daily devotional will help you give and receive love in a whole new way. Through these proven principles you will find fresh strength to join with Christ to meet each other's relational needs. You can, and you will, improve your marriage and grow spiritually as a couple. CHANGE for the better

Whether your marriage is shaky or solid, this book will give you relational health, hope, and healing day by day. Discover true spiritual and marital intimacy through these practical, biblical principles.

52 Weeks of DEVOTIONS on themes such as Trust, Kindness, Intimacy, Respect . . . and many, many more

Le 16 Janvier 1599, la Tres Sainte Mere de Dieu apparut a Mere Jesus Torres Marianna dans le couvent de l'Immaculee Conception a Quito, en Equateur, lui demandant de realiser une statue, la representant comme elle lui etait apparue, avec l'Enfant Jesus a son bras gauche, une crosse et les cles du cloitre dans sa main droite. Notre-Dame tient la crosse montrant ainsi qu'elle gouverne le couvent, et elle demanda egalement que sa statue soit placee sur le trone de l'abbesse, ou elle demeure encore actuellement. La statue a ete consacree par l'eveque de Quito le 2 Fevrier 1611, avec le titre de, "Marie du Bon Succes de la Purification ou Chandeleur." Au cours des differentes apparitions accordees a mere Marianna jusqu'a sa mort, le 16 Janvier en 1635, Notre-Dame du Bon Succes annonca les maux de notre temps dans les moindres details. Elle fit savoir que ses visions et sa vie ne seraient connues qu'a partir du XXe siecle, et demanda de prier et de faire penitence pour les ames de cette epoque dans laquelle la foi connaitrait une grande decadence. Tel etait la volonte de Dieu de reserver ces revelations ainsi que l'histoire de la vie de Mere Mariana pour notre temps, quand la decadence des m urs serait universelle et que la precieuse lumiere de la foi serait presque eteinte, accomplissant ainsi les propheties de Notre-Dame. La Mere de Dieu a egalement predit que cette devotion permettrait d'obtenir misericorde et pardon pour tous les pecheurs qui lui ont recours avec un c ur contrit, car elle est la Mere de Misericorde. De plus, elle annonca que "Le titre consolant de Bon Succes... sera le soutien et la sauvegarde de la foi parmi la corruption du XXe siecle."

Those familiar with Bruce Wilkinson's breakthrough teaching on I Chronicles 4:10 know -- offering the prayer of Jabez leads to the truly blessed life In The Prayer of Jabez Journal, the founder of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries takes you on a guided mentoring experience in a personal, spiritual journal to use with or without previous Prayer of Jabez publications.

Illustrated devotions to enrich your understanding of the Nativity narratives. includes readings and prayers to help individuals and groups walk the Stations of the Nativity.

Officially introduced in Buddhist schools and temples. A classic in its field. Beautifully illustrated.

An unabridged edition to include: I Am - Consciousness - Power of Assumption - Desire - The Truth That Sets You Free - Attention - Attitude - Renunciation - Preparing Your Place - Creation - Interference - Subjective Control - Acceptance - The Effortless Way - The Crown of the Mysteries - Personal Impotence - All Things Are Possible - Be Ye Doers - Essentials - Righteousness - Free Will - Persistence - Failure - Faith - Destiny - Reverence - with Case Histories at book's end -

Proselytes of a New Nation analyzes questions such as: Why did many Muslims convert to Greek Orthodoxy? What did conversion mean to the converts? What were their economic, social, and professional profiles? And how did conversion affect the converts' relationships with Muslim relatives in Greece and the Ottoman Empire? Because Sharia law and the Ottoman legal system could keep Muslim apostates-Muslims who had converted to other religions-from inheriting family property, Stefanos Katsikas examines the ways in which conversion complicated family relations and often led to legal disputes. This volume also discusses the method used by the Greek state to adjudicate legal disputes on property issues between neophytes (converts) and their Muslim relatives. Proselytes of a New Nation maintains that religious conversion in the era of nationalism was far more consequential for the convert, their family, and their social relations. Converts received not only community attention, but also national. Depending upon the religious affiliation and nationality of an individual, they regarded neophytes as either "traitors" or "heroes." Against this sociopolitical backdrop, conversion more drastically affected the social fabric of communities than in the pre-modern era, and more often led to violence and conflict.

The desert, with its great emptiness and silence, has long been a symbol of solitude. In our spiritual lives, we sometimes seek such isolation as a means of abandoning ourselves completely to God. At other times, solitude comes upon us uninvited and unwelcome, as we find ourselves totally alone and desolate. In facing the silence and the vast expanses of loneliness, we test our courage, deepen our faith, and hear the voice of God anew.

This book explores the tradition and relevance of desert spirituality in the life and worship of the church today and offers a collection of pertinent writings by these and many other ancient and contemporary authors: Thomas a Kempis, Mother Mark Clare, Henri Nouwen, Rene Voillaume, Charles de Foucauld, Thomas Merton, R. S. Thomas.

The readings are ideal Lenten devotionals (but wonderful any other time of year as well) as you answer your own call of the desert. "