Leon Weinberger draws on a wealth of material, much of it previously available only in Hebrew, to trace the history of Jewish hymnography from its origins in the eastern Mediterranean to its subsequent development in western Europe (Spain, Italy, Franco-Germany, and England) and Balkan Byzantium, on the Grecian periphery, under the Ottomans, and among the Karaites. Focusing on each region in turn, he provides a general background to the role of the synagogue poets in the society of the time; characterizes the principal poets and describes their contribution; examines the principal genres and forms; and considers their distinctive language, style, and themes. The copious excerpts from the liturgy are presented in transliterated Hebrew and in English translation, and their salient characteristics are fully discussed to bring out the historical development of ideas and regional themes as well as literary forms. Professor Weinberger's study is a particularly valuable source-book for students of synagogue liturgy, Jewish worship, and medieval Hebrew poetry. It provides new perspectives for students of religious poetry and forms of worship more generally, while enabling the general reader to acquire a much-enriched appreciation of the synagogue services. 'A pivotal reference book . . . The volume's coverage is admirably broad and dense; its approach and presentation are apt and felicitous. Nothing comparable has been available in English . . . we owe Weinberger a big debt of gratitude.' Ephraim Nissan, Shofar 'It is a blessing to have in English such a felicitous treatment of the fruits of modern Israeli scholarship on piyyut or Jewish hymnography incorporated into the author's own prodigious research . . . The work is the best introduction in English to the whole subject . . . It is bound to encourage scholars of English-speaking universities to mount courses in this heretofore neglected area of Hebrew poetry. The lack of a good textbook can no longer serve as an excuse.' Reuven Kimelman

This unique manual has spiritual exercises, guided meditations, and lesson plans that bring the experience of worship off the page and into the heart of the worshiper. The exercises are intended for youth and adult audiences, and a variety of settings including Jewish schools of all kinds, synagogues and havurot, camps and informal educational programming and retreats. There are introductions on how and why to use the manual.

Daily Word for Women builds upon the rich tradition of the Daily Word series, with prayers, messages, and meditations to bring light to every woman's heart and soul, every day of the year...

With original essays by:

* Betty White, pioneering television actress with five Emmys
* Phyllis Diller, world-renowned comedienne
* Jayne Meadows, actress of stage, screen, and television
* Joan Lauren, nationally acclaimed portrait photographer
* Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund
* Cheryl Landon, author and daughter of the late actor Michael Landon

Anyone involved in a leadership role encounters the need for prayers that can be used as written or can be adapted. This collection is intended to widen horizons, spark imagination, expand language and enrich personal encounter through prayer. A subject index is included.

Empleando cuarenta dias de historias de la vida real acerca de milagrosas e inspiradoras respuestas a la oracion, Mark Batterson usa los principios contenidos en su best seller El hacedor de circulos para ensenarles a los lectores una nueva manera de orar. Despues de que sus lectores pronto crecieran de miles a diez miles, historias milagrosas e inspiradoras de respuestas a oraciones empezaron a salir a la luz, y asi como se compartian esas historias, otros se inspiraban en su fe para orar aun con mas valentia. Estas historias inspiradas, retaran tanto a hombres como a mujeres a orar y seguir orando como nunca antes al cabo de cuarenta dias. Una vez que hayan pasado los cuarenta dias, habran establecido un fuerte habito de oracion, y habran dado comienzo a toda una vida dedicada a ver obrar a Dios y creer en ese Dios que es capaz de hacer todas las cosas. En Dibuja el circulo_Devocional, los lectores descubriran el poder que tienen la oracion audaz, y una fe mas audaz aun en las promesas de Dios."

Steve Harper exhorts us not to have just a devotional time, but to have a devotional life. The seven weekly sessions in this workbook illustrate how John Wesley's devotional life can be applied to our own. The devotionals cover scripture, prayer, and fasting, among other topics.

To Pray and to Love is for all persons who want to pray but do not know how, who pray but feel uncertain about it, and who pray happily but want to grow more deeply. For those who have longing for prayer and yet have never prayed, the author offers some specific suggestions about attitudes, beliefs, and dispositions that get in the way of our prayer without us even noticing. Bondi also shares some of what the founders of early monasticism had to say about prayer and Christian love that she has found especially helpful over the years.

The Challenge of the Disciplined Life explores the three great ethical themes crucial to people of faith living faithfully. Drawing upon practical examples, Richard J. Foster guides the reader in day-to-day ethical decision making while helping each of us determine "the proper place in Christian life of money, sex, and power."

How does a Christian ever get started on the road to alcoholism?
"Where was God when I begged him not to let me take that next drink?"
How can a Christian cope with the guilt of actions committed "while under the influence"?
"How can I resume my role as an active church member and face a congregation who knows what I was like when I was drinking?"
In the search for answers to these troubling questions, the recovering alcoholic receives a great deal of spiritual input but has often had a difficult time finding specifically Christian literature to supplement the recovery program.
In response to that very real and urgent need, Rev. Carl Nelson has prepared this devotional resource for the recovering alcoholic Christian. Based on the Twelve Step program used by Alcoholics Anonymous, each daily and nightly devotion includes a Prayer, Meditation, Life Example (based on composites of recovering alcoholics whom the author has known), and a Scripture Study, making these devotions ideal for incorporation into any recovering alcoholic's daily recovery program -- and particularly useful to those who hunger for the presence of Christ in their daily struggles.
Carl Nelson is pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Painesville, Ohio. He is a graduate of Concordia College, Portland, Oregon, and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.

Despite the anxious and ubiquitous materialism of the modern world, the practice of prayer and meditation remains a source of both relief and inspiration for millions. This unique compilation of over 1,100 prayers combines the traditional with the modern, stretching from the Bible, the saints and mystics of the past, and the Book of Common Prayer, to a Ghanaian fisherman's prayer, and prayers from many influential non-Christian religions.
Selected for their literary merit as well as spiritual quality, these prayers speak to the modern reader. Arranged under headings such as "Prayers from the Scripture," "Prayers of Christians, Personal and Occasional," and "Prayers of Other Traditions of Faith," the anthology includes a subject index to guide the reader to prayers for particular occasions, as well as an index of authors and sources. It serves as the ideal source for browsing or for more structured prayer, as well as for private meditation or public worship.

El milagro de la vida es una serie de meditaciones semanales que le muestra a la futura madre en palabras y grabados, como se esta desarrollando su bebe. Al mismo tiempo le da la oportunidad de orar por el y de mantener un diario de sus pensamientos y sentimientos durantel el embarazo.

The ultimate purpose of Christ's death on the Cross was that His believers might be sanctified. Paper.

Since the period in which the Jewish liturgy was standardized, there has hardly been a time when it was not somehow in a state of flux. Eric L. Friedland explores the countless ways that the Siddur, Mahzor, and Haggadah have been adjusted, amplified, or transformed so as to faithfully mirror modern Jews' understanding of themselves, their place in society, and their sancta. In the tradition of liturgologists such as Elbogen, Idelsohn, and Petuchowski, Friedland focuses on latter-day adaptations of the prayerbook, giving proper recognition to the recent concern for intellectual integrity, cultural congruity, group and individual self-redefinition, and honest speech in Jewish prayer.
The prayerbooks themselves are witnesses to innovation in the Jewish liturgy. From David Einhorn's "Olath Tamid" (Baltimore 1855), to Isaac Mayer Wise's "Minhag Amerika" (Cincinnati 1857) and Marcus Jastrow's 1873 revision of Benjamin Szold's "Abodath Israel" (Baltimore 1864), Friedland analyzes evidence of creativity in British and American Reform Jewish liturgy. Various rites for the Days of Awe provide a particularly accurate glimpse of how Jewish communities here and abroad experience the sacred, consider eternal mysteries, and communicate with God.
Friedland also sets the Reform "Gates of Prayer" in historical and denominational perspective by considering it alongside the Reconstructionist "Kol Haneshamah," and the Israeli Progressive "HaAvodah shebaLev." The state and direction of liturgical change emerges from a survey of commonalities and divergences in nineteenth- and twentieth-century prayerbooks in terms of Sephardic and mystical influences, attitudes toward the messianic hope, and collective sentiments of forgiveness or vengeance toward Israel's enemies. Liturgical approaches to the commemoration of the Ninth of Av suggest that even an ancient fast day can recover relevance, credibility, and authenticity for Liberal Jews in the postmodern era.

This ground-breaking book contains contributions from 12 different religious traditions: Hinduism, African Traditional Religion, Judaism, Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Shintoism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Unitarianism and Baha'i. Interfaith worship and prayer can be complex, but this book demonstrates that in a world of many cultures and religions, there is an urgent need for religions to come together with trust and communication, especially when there is a crisis. Full of insights and examples of practice, the book demonstrates how religions can be a powerful means of unity and compassion. The book opposes the 'clash of civilisations' model as a way of interpreting the world and promotes peace, hope, and the possibility of cooperation. Religious believers can be sincere and committed to their own faith, while recognising the need to stand firmly together with members of other religious traditions.

An attractive reissue of the late Bishop George Appleton's celebrated selection of over 1,100 prayers from many centuries and many traditions, including Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Iranian, Shinto, Classical Greek and Latin, native American, and Baha'i. The wide-ranging contents ofThe Oxford Book of Prayer reflect the cooperation of the many advisers who have ensured that the choice of prayers is ecumenical in the widest sense of the word. The prayers are arranged under headings such as 'Prayers from the Scriptures', 'Prayers of Christians, personal and occasional', 'Prayers of the Church', and 'Prayers from other traditions of faith', but there is also a subject index to guide the user to prayers for particular occasions, and an index of authors and sources. The book may thus be used for browsing or for more structured prayer, for private meditation or for public worship.

Tucked into Abraham s biography is the story of Hagar, a young Egyptian slave with whom Abraham had a son named Ishmael. Hagar stood out because she was wounded---not physically, but in ways that were as emotionally and spiritually painful as any injury to a body would be. Some wounds were provoked by her own bad behavior, but others were inflicted by those who considered themselves God s people. Anne Graham Lotz too has been wounded by God s people. Some wounds have been deeper than others, some have come out of nowhere, and still others have been provoked by her own behavior, but all of the wounds have been deeply painful. They seemed to hurt even more when the wounders wrapped their behavior in a semblance of religion or piety. As Hagar s story unfolds, you will discover that wounded people often become wounders themselves. While Anne identifies with the wounded, the unpleasant reality is that she also identifies with the wounders, because she has been one, too. She knows from experience that wounding is a cycle that needs to be broken. And by God s grace, it can be. Many have had similar experiences. And perhaps you are among those who have been so deeply hurt that you have confused God s imperfect people with God. Maybe you have even run away from God as a result. Or perhaps you have been a wounder to the extent that you are living in a self-imposed exile, believing you are unworthy to be restored to a warm, loving relationship with God or with God s people. Whatever your hurts may be, Wounded by God s People helps you to begin a healing journey---one that enables you to reclaim the joy of God s presence and all the blessings God has for you. God loves the wounded. And the wounders."

C. H. Spurgeon invested nearly twenty years in writing his rich commentary on the Psalms entitled The Treasury of David. As a result of his work, over the last century thousands have studied the Psalms, gaining rich insight and spiritual blessing from the Bible's songbook. Popular author and pastor Roger Campbell has updated and edited selections from Spurgeon's work to make these timeless writings available to thousands more. Now repackaged with a new cover, this inspiring devotional brings the best of Spurgeon's powerful insight into a daily reading format that will spark renewed confidence in one's walk with God. Both inspirational and instructional, this unique book is sure to create an increased hunger and understanding of the Psalms.