Joyful Living provides sixteen weeks of daily readings that focus on the theme of abandoning ourselves and "letting go, and letting God" as the heart and center of Christian living. Written in clear, simple language without theological jargon, these devotions can be read daily, or since there is a theme for each week, may be read in weekly sections. Joyful Living offers readers a joy-sustaining experience that points the way to more abundant, meaningful living. You'll want to share its insights with everyone -- it's a wonderful gift for graduations, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, or even just friendship in the faith.

The Bavarian village of Oberammergau has staged the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ nearly every decade since 1634. Each production of the Passion Play attracts hundreds of thousands, many drawn by the spiritual benefits it promises. Yet Hitler called it a convincing portrayal of the menace of Jewry, and in 1970 a group of international luminaries boycotted the play for its anti-Semitism. As the production for the year 2000 drew near, James Shapiro was there to document the newest wave of obstacles that faced the determined Bavarian villagers. Erudite and judicious, Oberammergau is a fascinating and important look at the unpredictable and sometimes tragic relationship between art and society, belief and tolerance, religion and politics.

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.

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

If you have any interest in the meaning of life, the human spirit, or life after death, this is a book you must read...

A delightful little nightstand companion to make prayer a natural part of every day.

Greet the day with a celebration of sunrise--and close it with deep appreciation for life's daily gifts and lessons. Here in one charming volume -- compiled by the author of the popular gift book Graces -- you'll find an uplifting collection of readings, prayers, and poems arranged in specific sections to make the joys of prayer a simple, natural part of each day. Special prayers bring motivation to Morning, and lullabies and musing help us focus on the peace of Nightfall. Other readings offer Inspiration or Comfort, or guide us gently through private Reflections. Bedside Prayers is a lovely little gift book for anyone who would like to make the enjoyment of daily prayer as constant as the rising and setting of the sun.

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

When and under what circumstances did the Gospel texts begin to serve anti-Jewish ends? Can it be said, accurately and fairly, that the evangelists were anti-Jewish? Are there tendencies in the Gospels that were originally intended by the evangelists to injure the Jewish people or their religion, or to work against the interests of the Jewish people and/or their religion? These and other issues were addressed in a three-year research project that culminated in a fall 1996 convocation, at which five major research papers were presented with two respondents to each paper. The papers and responses are now made available for the first time in this volume. Major presentations include: Anti-Judaism and the Gospel of Matthew -Amy-Jill Levine Anti-Judaism and the Gospel of Luke -Daryl D. Schmidt Anti-Judaism and the Gospel of John -David Regensberger Something Greater than the Temple -Robert Louis Wilken Anti-Judaism in the Critical Study of the Gospels -Joseph B. Tyson Reflections on Anti-Judaism in the New Testament and in Christianity -E.P. Sanders ""This book succeeds in giving a comprehensive view of the problem it addresses, and the papers are clear, forthright presentations that will help the reader see what the issues were when the Gospels were written and what they still are."" -E.P. Sanders, Duke University William R. Farmer is Professor of New Testament at the University of Dallas and co-editor of Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins (Trinity 1998).

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The trend towards a more secular culture in Western society means that there can be greater flexibility in a wedding ceremony, but couples are often faced with the challenge of preparing a meaningful celebration outside the traditional religious framework. This hands-on, practical guide demonstrates how to approach and prepare a secular wedding ceremony that honours a couple's relationship with honest vows and rituals true to their shared values. In addition, it provides guidance on structuring a ceremony for couples that come from very different cultural or spiritual backgrounds. Includes the tools necessary for the creation of a ceremony, such as a Ritual Identity Questionnaire, checklists, and many other resources.