The full text of the classic King James Version with robust study notes and dozens of study resources in a convenient size to help you grow deeper in your faith. This edition is published in large KJV Comfort Print type, which was designed exclusively for Thomas Nelson to be the most readable at any size. Available for the first time in large Comfort Print, the beloved Foundation Study Bible is now more readable and helpful than ever! A rich resource for everyone longing to understand more of God's Word, whether you're a beginner or an experienced disciple, The Foundation Study Bible includes extensive study helps: verse-by-verse study and theological notes, full-color maps, a concordance, and cross-references. Featuring an easy-to-use layout that is concise and trustworthy, with straightforward and broad study notes that help you study God's truth, the KJV Foundation Study Bible is a great choice for any Bible student or church leader. Intended for both beginning and experienced students of Scripture who want a Bible that contains the key features of a study Bible in a convenient and portable size, even in large print, the KJV Foundation Study Bible is a solid foundation to build one's faith upon. Features include: The Presentation page is a special place to personalize this special gift by recording a memory or note Bible book introductions provide a concise overview of the background and historical context of the book about to be read Over 32,000 End-of-page cross references allow you to find related passages quickly and easily Concise study notes with over 293,000 words provide helpful comments on passages of Scripture Over 300 theological notes and index draw attention to important doctrinal themes Ribbon markers make it easy to navigate and keep track of where you were reading Extensive study aids: Prayers of the Bible of nearly 100 prayers in the Bible, who prayed them, and what they prayed about. Prophecies of The Messiah Fulfilled in Christ provides 43 Old Testament prophecies and where they have been fulfilled in the New Testament. Harmony of the Gospels details the life and ministry of Jesus in chronological order showing where each event and teaching occur in the Gospels. Miracles of Christ shows where you can find 37 miracles in the Gospels. Concordance with over 1,000 terms provides an alphabetical listing of important passages by key words Full color maps show the layout of Israel and other biblical locations for better context Durable and flexible Smyth-sewn binding allows the Bible to lay flat wherever you are reading Easy-to-read large 11-point KJV Comfort Print

In "Transforming Culture," Lingenfelter sets out a model for understanding the workings of a society and then applies this model to conflicts missionaries and nationals often face over economic and social issues. Utilizing a plethora of case studies and personal anecdotes, he identifies the root of the conflicts and contradictory assumptions that make it difficult for missionaries and nationals to work together, and guides readers to solutions for transforming culture.

This book examines the history of sexuality as a sacramental act. In spite of our culture's recent sexual liberalisations, sexual intimacy often remains unfulfilling. Georg Feuerstein instructs that the fulfilment we long for in our sex lives can only be attained once we have explored the spiritual depths of our erotic natures. Feuerstein delves into a wide variety of spiritual traditions--including Christianity, Judaism, goddess worship, Taoism, and Hinduism--in search of sacred truths regarding sexuality. He reveals that all of these great teachings share the hidden message that spirituality is, in essence, erotic and that sexuality is inherently spiritual. From the erotic cult of the Great Mother and the archaic ritual of heiros gamos (sacred marriage) to the institution of sacred prostitution and the erotic spirituality practiced in the mystery traditions, Feuerstein offers a wealth of historical practices and perspectives that serve as the bases for a positive sexual spirituality suited to our contemporary needs.

The future of America, in many ways, depends upon an understanding of the proper role of religion in our shared life as a republic. Discussions and debates on the topic have too often generated noise, platitudes, stereotypes, name-calling, and the distortion of vitally important issues, instead of constructive conversation among citizens--until now.

Of all the voices commenting about American religion today, none is more credible or better known than that of historian Martin E. Marty. A respected scholar, author, editor, and media commentator, he has-perhaps better than anyone else in the field-a deep grasp on the complex issues surrounding public religion.

Shamanism has been practised amongst communities all over the world for millennia, and continues to survive today in both modern and ancient forms. Shamanism: A Reader unites perspectives from disciplines including anthropology, psychology, musicology, botany to provide a unique overview of modern writing on shamanism. Juxtaposing the traditional practices of indigenous peoples with their new and often radically urban reinterpretations, experts including Michael Harner, Milhàly Hoppàl, Majorie M Balzer and Piers Vitebsky raise questions about constructions of shamanism, its efficacy, its use and misuse as a cultural symbol, and its real nature.
Locating its material in the encounter between traditional and contemporary, and within many forms of response to the image of the shaman, Shamanism: A Reader is an essential tribute to the vitality and breadth of shamanic tradition both among its original practitioners of Europe, tribes of America and Asia, and within seemingly familiar aspects of the modern west. Representing the best of classic and current scholarship, and highlighting the diversity of approaches to shamanism in an accessible and user-friendly way, this clearly introduced and organised collection sets a new standard for shamanic study in terms of the breadth and depth of its coverage.

In a time when churches are focusing on finding strategies and techniques to guarantee success, a movement toward the missional church is emerging. Missional churches are communities created by the Spirit with a unique nature and identity. Purpose and strategies of the church are derivative dimensions, the activities that flow naturally from the church that is focused on Spirit-led ministry.
"The Ministry of the Missional Church" leads pastors, ministry leaders, and laypersons through three simple arguments--the church is; the church does what it is; the church organizes what it does--in order to make sense of how missional churches work. And by focusing the work of the church as the work of the Triune God, this unique book will change the way readers think about the church and the world.

Can the Christian life be lived alone? When her husband left Christianity several years into their marriage, Stina Kielsmeier-Cook was left "spiritually single"-struggling to live the Christian life on her own, taking her kids to church by herself, and wrestling with her own questions and doubts. In this memoir, Kielsmeier-Cook tells the story of her mixed-faith marriage and how she found community in an unexpected place: an order of Catholic nuns in her neighborhood. As she spent time with them and learned about female Catholic saints, she began to see that she was not "spiritually single" after all-and that no one really is.

Unleash your leadership by identifying and overcoming the limitations you place on yourself in the workplace. Women are called by God to flourish in areas of leadership. And for the first time in modern history, women are making their way into strategic positions of influence and leadership within the ministry, public, corporate, charity and voluntary sectors. Certainly, there are still external disadvantages that women leaders face in the professional world, and there's still a lot of work to do. But there are internal hinderances, too, and those you can take charge of today. In 7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership, Kate Coleman considers what lies at the root of the many challenges facing today's leaders-women and men-and proposes ways of dealing with them. Effective leadership starts with you. Based on her 35 years of leadership experience, Kate explains how you can: Overcome limiting self-perceptions Establish boundaries Develop a tailor-made personal vision Cultivate a healthy work/life rhythm Stop being a people-pleaser Learn to confront not collude Be intentional with your inner circle Written for every leader from any sector or gender (men could learn a few things from this book too), this proven and practical guidebook will enable you to identify and overcome self-defeating patterns of behavior, in ways that will radically transform your leadership.

The Gentle and Lowly Journal is an ideal companion for anyone desiring to reflect on the biblical truths found in Gentle and Lowly and record their thoughts and prayers as they go.

An essential feature of successful counselling is the ability to listen and respond well to the information being given in an interview. In this book, the author shows how this ability may take away the need for leading and advising, creating a counselling encounter that is constructive and helpful. Leaders, whether clerical or lay, teachers or managers, doctors or social workers, frequently see their role as one of communication, but in the excitement of communicating, forget that theirs are not the only important voices. The primary purpose of this book is to emphasize the necessity of learning to listen as well as to speak, and to respond to what is said and what is omitted.

"Brides of Christ" invites the modern reader to follow the histories of colonial Mexican nuns inside the cloisters where they pursued a religious vocation or sought shelter from the world. Lavrin provides a complete overview of conventual life, including the early signs of vocation, the decision to enter a convent, profession, spiritual guidelines and devotional practices, governance, ceremonials, relations with male authorities and confessors, living arrangements, servants, sickness, and death rituals. Individual chapters deal with issues such as sexuality and the challenges to chastity in the cloisters and the little-known subject of the nuns' own writings as expressions of their spirituality. The foundation of convents for indigenous women receives special attention, because such religious communities existed nowhere else in the Spanish empire.

Learn to conduct a client-centered assessment of spiritualityand use the findings to enhance your interventions as well as your clients' psychospiritual coping abilities Even to clinicians practiced in helping clients to manage their stress, the impact of clients' spirituality upon their mental health can be difficult to discern and discuss. Moreover, ethical dilemmas can arise when clinicians feel compelled to intervene with a client's negative religious coping. Spirituality and Mental Health: Clinical Applications can help. This thought-provoking guide for mental health professionals and pastoral counselors provides you with a framework to assess and incorporate client-based spirituality into your practice. The author provides case examples and clinical models related to spirituality and mental health, as well as useful questionnaires for assessing clients. He provides a client-centered ethical framework for integrating spirituality into treatment, and then discusses how to apply it to clients' problems, especially those related to life crises, resentment over past offenses, guilt over past mistakes, and substance abuse. He also discusses how mindfulness meditation can enhance clients' coping ability. Finally, he includes a useful Leader's Guide for the psychoeducational spirituality group, which is designed to educate patients and church groups. Spirituality and Mental Health: Clinical Applications shows how professionals in the above disciplines can address the impact of spirituality on clients by: gaining an understanding of the construct of spirituality assessing spirituality and its interface with clients' presenting problems, particularly when spirituality is central to their values. intervening sensitively in ways that use clients' spiritual perspectives and practices to enhance their coping mechanisms. using the included Leader's Guide to the 5-session psychoeducational spirituality group As the baby boom generation ages, faith becomes a more integral part of that generation's consciousness. Whether you are a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a social worker, or a pastoral counselor, Spirituality and Mental Health: Clinical Applications is a resource that you'll return to again and again as you work to improve the lives of your clients.

Russel Williams is one of the most remarkable enlightened spiritual teachers of our time. After an early life of extreme hardship-leaving school at the age of 11, and becoming an orphan shortly afterwards-he underwent a spiritual awakening at the age of 29. Since the late 1950s, he has been a spiritual teacher, and is still actively teaching now, at the age of 94. Previously, Russel has avoided publicity and never published any writings or transcripts of his talks, preferring to work quietly with small groups. This is the first time any details of his teachings or of his life have appeared in print. This book is partly a record of his teachings, and partly also the story of his extraordinary life. Working with well-known spiritual author Steve Taylor-who has attended Russel's meetings regularly since the 1990s-Russel has created a profound text which will surely become known as a classic of spiritual literature.

* An acolyte resource for the 21st-century Episcopal Church * Fully illustrated (black-and-white) with reproducible handouts Despite the changing landscape of the Episcopal Church, one ministry that continues but gets little attention is that of acolytes. Whether second graders or adults, the mentoring and training of acolytes is a formational experience. I Serve at God's Altar offers a simplified theology of how God is met in worship and how it affects the lives of those most engaged in it, a visual exploration of the Episcopal liturgy and its history through extensive illustrations, how acolytes fit into the work of the church in worship, and how worship affects the acolyte's discernment for ministry and Rule of Life. Illustrations include a visual exploration of church artifacts (crosses, candles, Eucharistic vessels, etc.), holds, and processes to set a standard of expectation and expertise in service according to Episcopal practice and tradition. There is a section of reproducible handouts for organizing an acolyte ministry at every size church, including scheduling, communications, installation liturgies, recruitment plans, and training outlines.

In The Peacemaker, Ken Sande presents practical biblical guidance for conflict resolution that takes you beyond resolving conflicts to true, life-changing reconciliation with family, coworkers, and fellow believers. "'Blessed are the peacemakers, ' said Jesus. With crystal clarity this manual lays before us the wisdom that leads humble souls into that blessing."-J. I. Packer, author of Knowing God "Of people alive and writing today, I know of no more reliable guide for peacemaking in church and family than Ken Sande."-John Piper, pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church "The Peacemaker is a practical and faithful primer for how obedience to God's Word can change deadlock into restoration in families, churches, workplaces, neighborhoods, and even prisons."-Charles W. Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship "Ken Sande challenges us to act redemptively in a culture of enmity and shows us how to do this in our relationships with one another. A modern classic!"-Timothy George, executive editor, Christianity Today "The Peacemaker is a rich source of practical, biblical guidance for resolving every type of conflict."-Tony Evans, pastor, Oakcliff Bible Church. "It is the sort of book that will remind every Christian reader that God, before all, is in the business of reconciliation, and that the servant is not greater than the master."-D. James Kennedy, pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church "The best guidebook I've ever seen on how Christians should resolve conflicts. Every pastor ought to read this book and share it with the leaders of the church. It ought to be a textbook in every Bible school and seminary."-Warren Wiersbe, author of Real Peace Attorney Ken Sande is president of Peacemaker(R) Ministries(www.HisPeace.org). He regularly conciliates business, family, employment, and church disputes and serves as a consultant to pastors and attorneys as they work to resolve conflicts outside the courtroom. Ken conducts seminars throughout the United States on biblical conflict resolution.

This is a substantially expanded and completely revised verision of Bradshaw's classic account, first published in 1993. Traditional liturgical scholarship has generally been marked by an attempt to fit together the various pieces of evidence for the practice of early Christian worship in such a way as to suggest that a single, coherent line of evolution can be traced from the apostolic age to the fourth century. Bradshaw examines this methodology in the light of recent developments in Jewish liturgical scholarship, of current trends in New Testament studies, and of the nature of the source-documents themselves, and especially the ancient church orders. In its place he offers a guide to Christian liturgical origins which adopts a much more cautious approach, recognizing the limitations of what can truly be known, and takes seriously the clues pointing to the esssentially variegated character of ancient Christian worship.

From 1642 to 1654 Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was the hakham (Torah scholar) and spiritual leader of the oldest Jewish community in the New World. As a Hebrew grammarian, a poet, and a mystic, as well as an excellent and very popular preacher, Aboab da Fonseca (born 1605) was not only one of the most interesting Jewish personalities of the seventeenth century, but his writings are an invaluable historical resource with regard to many aspects of Jewish life in Dutch Colonial Brazil, the local attitudes towards Jews, and corroboration of events outlined in contemporary literary sources. His forebears were so-called New Christians, having undergone compulsory conversion to Catholicism in Portugal. In order to be able to live freely as professing Jews, the family moved in about 1612 to Amsterdam. There, Hakham Isaac Uziel of Fez became his Talmud teacher; among his colleagues was Menasseh Ben Israel. In 1638 he was confirmed as one of the four hakhamim of the new congregation Talmud Torah of Amsterdam. In 1641/42 he accepted the nomination for hakham of the growing Jewish community in Recife, Brazil, where he was in charge of all rabbinical functions and gave lectures in Talmud and Hebrew. In the interim he wrote the Hebrew grammar Melekhet ha-Dikduk, published here in translation for the first time. Aboab da Fonseca enjoyed a few prosperous years until the Portuguese rebellion caused the economic ruin of the Jews of Dutch Brazil. His salary much reduced, he nevertheless remained to lead and help his people until the occupation of Recife by Brazilian-Portuguese troops on January 26, 1654. Upon returning to Amsterdam, his inclination toward mysticism made him one of the leading believers in the false messiah Shabbetai Zvi. But his writing and scholarship remained undiminished: In 1646 he wrote Zekher asiti leniflaot El, in which he described events in Dutch Brazil after the outbreak of the war; he also published a Hebrew translation of the Spanish cabbalistic works of Abraham Cohen Herrera, Casa de Dios y Puerta del Cielo, under the title Shaar ha-Shamayim (The Gate of Heaven). This first scholarly monograph on Isaac Aboab da Fonseca and his intellectual and spiritual contributions, includes discussion of his commentary on the Pentateuch entitled Parafrasis Comentada sobre el Pentateuco, as well as a consideration of Aboab's involvement in the ban of Spinoza.