Originally published in 1992, Margery Kempe looks at one of the most appealing mystics and pilgrims of 15th-century England. The book looks at Margery Kempe, and her book The Book of Margery Kempe, thought to be the first vernacular autobiography in medieval Britain. Original essays in the book examines Kempe's spirituality, cultural context, and the autobiography itself, The Book of Margery Kempe. The essays in the book represent detail literary analysis on Kempe and the critical history of her words.

A brush with fame blossomed into something far more spiritual, much longer lasting and infinitely more beautiful

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle will never forget the first time she laid eyes on Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Hunched, frail, shorter than one of Donna's own children, the aging servant of the poorest of the poor cut an unassuming figure awaiting the start of Mass with Her Missionary of Charity sisters. They would speak briefly after the liturgy and then spend the next ten years intermittently sharing hopes, dreams, and prayers through the mail and in face-to-face conversations.

With Mother Teresa and Me, Donna-Marie invites you to step inside her deeply personal experiences with one of the greatest souls of modern times. Take her up on the offer and don't be surprised if you, too, find your heart blessed and your soul inspired by the diminutive nun who left an enormous impression on Donna-Marie and on the whole world.

Joseph Soloveitchik (1903-1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, philosopher, and theologian. In this new work, William Kolbrener takes on Soloveitchik's controversial legacy and shows how he was torn between the traditionalist demands of his European ancestors and the trajectory of his own radical and often pluralist philosophy. A portrait of this self-professed "lonely man of faith" reveals him to be a reluctant modern who responds to the catastrophic trauma of personal and historical loss by underwriting an idiosyncratic, highly conservative conception of law that is distinct from his Talmudic predecessors, and also paves the way for a return to tradition that hinges on the ethical embrace of multiplicity. As Kolbrener melds these contradictions, he presents Soloveitchik as a good deal more complicated and conflicted than others have suggested. The Last Rabbi affords new perspective on the thought of this major Jewish philosopher and his ideas on the nature of religious authority, knowledge, and pluralism.

As a WWE wrestler with millions of fans, Shawn Michaels had adulation and all the attention he could ask for, but he found himself longing for something more. When he became a committed Christian at the height of his career, Shawn learned what it's like to be a man of faith in a secular arena. Wrestling for My Life documents Shawn's journey to finding a new way of life--one that's marked by faith, family, and forgiveness. As you watch Shawn's testimony unfold, you'll learn about: The power of self-discipline The importance of finding a supportive mentor who challenges you to be the best version of yourself The freedom that's found in true forgiveness Praise for Wrestling for My Life: "Shawn's greatest challenge came from deep within himself, and it's been awe-inspiring to watch this man pull himself from the depths of his own personal hell by immersing himself in his faith in God. I couldn't be more amazed at the man, husband, father, and friend he has become." -The Undertaker "I am certain that you will enjoy getting to know Shawn Michaels from the pages within as much as I have in his everyday life. If you read one book this year, make it this one" -Pastor Matthew Hagee "Shawn's story is an important reminder of life's priorities and how we choose to use our given gifts. While I work with Shawn outside of the wrestling world, I can still strongly attest to his perseverance, passion, and humility. These pages offer an inside look into how he found strength for better change." -Jeff Wayne, Executive Vice President Programming of Outdoor Channel

"New York Times" eBook bestseller One fateful starless night, 17-year-old Ira Wagler got up at 2 AM, left a scribbled note under his pillow, packed all of his earthly belongings into in a little black duffel bag, and walked away from his home in the Amish settlement of Bloomfield, Iowa. Now, in this heartwarming memoir, Ira paints a vivid portrait of Amish life--from his childhood days on the family farm, his Rumspringa rite of passage at age 16, to his ultimate decision to leave the Amish Church for good at age 26. "Growing Up Amish" is the true story of one man's quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Readers will laugh, cry, and be inspired by this charming yet poignant coming of age story set amidst the backdrop of one of the most enigmatic cultures in America today--the Old Order Amish.

'Tell her she's no longer my daughter!' Amanda and her dad had never been close -- but now he was forsaking her completely. Separated from her mum at the age of six and forced to live with a cruel stepmother, Amanda learnt at a young age to rely on herself and depend on no one. Although living under the same roof, her father was distant and uninvolved; his was a house but not a home. Eventually, sent back to live with her mum on a tough council estate, she became increasingly estranged from her dad until finally, in her eighteenth year, he disowned her. Driven by questions about the meaning and value of her life, and coming to terms with her brother's schizophrenia, Amanda began asking searching questions about identity that led her on a life-changing journey. She could never have imagined how this would culminate in an unexpected and powerful encounter with God as Father -- and dad -- an encounter that would mark the beginning of a healing process and see her finding her true home.

Making something beautiful in a broken world can be harrowing work, and it can't be done alone. Over the last twenty years, Andrew Peterson has performed thousands of concerts, published four novels, released ten albums, taught college and seminary classes on writing, founded a nonprofit ministry for Christians in the arts, and executive-produced a film-all in a belief that God calls us to proclaim the gospel and the coming kingdom using whatever gifts are at our disposal. He's stumbled along the way, made mistake after mistake, and yet has continually encountered the grace of God through an encouraging family, a Christ-centered community of artists in the church, and the power of truth, beauty, and goodness in Scripture and the arts. While there are many books about writing, none deal first-hand with the intersection of songwriting, storytelling, and vocation, along with nuts-and-bolts exploration of the great mystery of creativity. In Adorning the Dark, Andrew describes six principles for the writing life: serving the workserving the audienceselectivitydiscernmentdisciplineand community Through stories from his own journey, Andrew shows how these principles are not merely helpful for writers and artists, but for anyone interested in imitating way the Creator interacts with his creation. This book is both a memoir of Andrew's journey and a handbook for artists, written in the hope that his story will provide encouragement to others stumbling along in pursuit of a calling to adorn the dark with the light of Christ.

Running for My Life is not a story about Africa or track-and-field athletics. It is about outrunning the devil and achieving the impossible; it is about faith, diligence, and the desire to give back. It is the American dream come true and a stark reminder that saving one can help save thousands more. In this heart-wrenching story, you'll learn about Lopez Lomong's harrowing kidnapping at the age of six, becoming one of the Lost Boys of Sudan; his survival in a prison refugee camp and his miraculous escape; how he arrived in the U.S. through the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program; and Lomong's journey from high-school track star to U.S. Olympic team captain. Lopez Lomong chronicles his inspiring ascent from a barefoot lost boy of the Sudanese Civil War to a Nike-sponsored athlete on the U.S. Olympic Team. Though most of us fall somewhere between the catastrophic lows and dizzying highs of Lomong's incredible life, every reader will find in his story the human spark to pursue dreams that might seem unthinkable, even from circumstances that might appear hopeless. "Lopez Lomong's story is one of true inspiration. His life is a story of courage, hard work, never giving up, and having hope where there is hopelessness all around. Lopez is a true role model." MICHAEL JOHNSON, Olympic Gold Medalist "This true story of a Sudanese child refugee who became an Olympic star is powerful proof that God gives hope to the hopeless and shines a light in the darkest places. Don't be surprised if after reading this incredible tale, you find yourself mysteriously drawn to run alongside him." RICHARD STEARNS, president, World Vision US and author of The Hole in Our Gospel

Trek through the untamed American West, soar through the skies over the majestic Midwest and set sail with L. Ron Hubbard through his early adventures and explorations at the beginning of his epic journey. Anecdotes, articles and photographs illuminate it all.

Early in Paula's life, she didn't know God, but there was always a pull to something greater. Once she prayed for salvation at the age of eighteen, Paula finally understood the meaning of grace and purpose, and realized God had been taking care of her the whole time.

Paula shares her journey of faith in Something Greater, what she calls "a love letter to God from a messed up Mississippi girl." She details feeling led to a higher calling as a child, how she came to serve others as a female pastor, and what led to being asked to become spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump.

Something Greater encourages readers to know and understand the "something greater" that is in all of them, and will teach them how to cling to Jesus Christ in times of need and abundance.

Thomas Cranmer, the architect of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, was the archbishop of Canterbury who guided England through the early Reformation-and Henry VIII through the minefields of divorce. This is the first major biography of him for more than three decades, and the first for a century to exploit rich new manuscript sources in Britain and elsewhere. Diarmaid MacCulloch, one of the foremost scholars of the English Reformation, traces Cranmer from his east-Midland roots through his twenty-year career as a conventionally conservative Cambridge don. He shows how Cranmer was recruited to the coterie around Henry VIII that was trying to annul the royal marriage to Catherine, and how new connections led him to embrace the evangelical faith of the European Reformation and, ultimately, to become archbishop of Canterbury. By then a major English statesman, living the life of a medieval prince-bishop, Cranmer guided the church through the king's vacillations and finalized two successive versions of the English prayer book. MacCulloch skillfully reconstructs the crises Cranmer negotiated, from his compromising association with three of Henry's divorces, the plot by religious conservatives to oust him, and his role in the attempt to establish Lady Jane Grey as queen to the vengeance of the Catholic Mary Tudor. In jail after Mary's accession, Cranmer nearly repudiated his achievements, but he found the courage to turn the day of his death into a dramatic demonstration of his Protestant faith. From this vivid account Cranmer emerges a more sharply focused figure than before, more conservative early in his career than admirers have allowed, more evangelical than Anglicanism would later find comfortable. A hesitant hero with a tangled life story, his imperishable legacy is his contribution in the prayer book to the shape and structure of English speech and through this to the molding of an international language and the theology it expressed.

The first biography of its kind about Desmond Tutu (with a foreword by the Dalai Lama and an afterword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu himself), this book introduces readers to Tutu’s spiritual life, his prayer life and his spiritual practices and examines how it shaped his commitment to restorative justice and reconciliation. It also shows how a living legend’s life can guide us during these times.

Desmond Tutu was a pivotal leader of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and remains a beloved and important emblem of peace and justice around the world. Even those who do not know the major events of Tutu’s life—receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, serving as the first black archbishop of Cape Town and primate of Southern Africa from 1986−1996, and chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1995−1998—recognize him as a charismatic political and religious leader who helped lay the foundations for a country ravaged by dehumanizing policies and practices by those who called themselves “Christian”. This book shows how the inner landscape of Tutu’s spirituality, the mystical grounding that spurred his outward accomplishments, often goes unseen.

Rather than recount his entire life story, this book explores Tutu’s spiritual life and contemplative practices—particularly Tutu’s understanding of Ubuntu theology, which emphasizes finding one’s identity and wholeness in community—and traces the powerful role they played in subverting the theological and spiritual underpinnings of colonialism and apartheid. Michael Battle’s personal relationship with Tutu grants readers an inside view of how Tutu’s spiritual agency cast a vision that both upheld the demands of justice and created a space of grace to synthesize the stark differences of a diverse society and help South Africans build a new community, new “samehorigheid”, and “Ubuntu”.

Son of a missionary, born in the Congo, Billy endured a strict upbringing before escaping to the Army at 16. Despite the brutality and bullying he survived and did well, being fast-tracked for a commission. He met and married Bev, herself a corporal. Billy soon quit the Army to become a bodyguard to the stars, working with Naomi Campbell, Take That, Bee Gees, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Mel Gibson and others. Billy had always been a drinker but now the celebrity lifestyle introduced him to drugs - dealing, and running with gangsters. He lost his job. Bev and the children suffered as a consequence, and Bev ultimately divorced him. Billy contemplated suicide when a friend reintroduced him to the God he had hated for 30 years. Bev too discovered Christianity: the two would be reconciled, remarry, and have two more children. Now a Baptist pastor, prison chaplain and evangelist, Billy sees in others the miracle that has taken place in himself.

Faith and Revolution in the Life of Eduardo Mondlane. This work is a significant contribution to the narrative of Christianity in southern Africa within the framework of the struggle for liberation from colonial rule. By focusing on the story of a Protestant political and ecumenical leader, Eduardo Mondlane, of note within a dominantly Roman Catholic country, Faris explores the role of the churches and missions, especially the Swiss Mission, in the struggle for African Independence.

""I fear we shall never see another Tozer. Men like him are not college-bred but Spirit-taught." "Leonard Ravenhill, 20th century British evangelist. Pastor A. W. Tozer, author of the Christian classics "The Pursuit of God "and "The Knowledge of the Holy," was a complex, intensely private, deeply spiritual man, and a gifted preacher whose impact for the kingdom of God is immeasurable. In this thoughtful biography, bestselling author Lyle Dorsett traces Tozer's life from his humble beginnings as a Pennsylvania farm boy to his heyday as a Chicago pastor- when hundreds of college students would travel to his South Side church to hear him preach and thousands more heard his Sunday broadcasts on WMBI- to his final pastorate in Toronto. From his conversion as a teen to his death in 1963, Tozer remained true to one passion: to know the Father and make Him known, no matter what the cost. The price he paid was loneliness, censure from other, more secular-minded ministers of the times, and even a degree of estrangement from his family. Read the life story of a flawed but gifted saint, whose works are still impacting the world today.

In August 2005, Brother Roger, the charismatic founder and leader of the Taize community was attacked and killed whilst praying with more than 2,000 young people. His death came almost 65 years after he crossed the border from his native Switzerland into war-ravaged France and settled in the tiny village of Taize. At a time when Europe was torn asunder, Brother Roger pondered why such conflict should exist between people, and particularly between Christians. He found himself called to establish a community in which reconciliation and peace would be made concrete day by day. The Taize community has become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world travel there each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation. 2015 is an anniversary year to celebrate.

A rich, provocative, and lyrical study of one of Germany's most important, world-famous, and imaginative writers "A concise, fast-paced biography of the German poet, critic, and essayist. . . . A discerning portrait of the writer and his times."-Kirkus Reviews "Prochnik provides a jaunty narrative of Heine's schooldays in Bonn and Goettingen, journalistic career in Berlin, and twenty-five-year exile in Paris, detailing his literary feuds, scraps with censors, and unwavering belief in political liberty."-New Yorker Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was a virtuoso German poet, satirist, and visionary humanist whose dynamic life story and strikingly original writing are ripe for rediscovery. In this vividly imagined exploration of Heine's life and work, George Prochnik contextualizes Heine's biography within the different revolutionary political, literary, and philosophical movements of his age. He also explores the insights Heine offers contemporary readers into issues of social justice, exile, and the role of art in nurturing a more equitable society. Heine wrote that in his youth he resembled "a large newspaper of which the upper half contained the present, each day with its news and debates, while in the lower half, in a succession of dreams, the poetic past was recorded fantastically like a series of feuilletons." This book explores the many dualities of Heine's nature, bringing to life a fully dimensional character while also casting into sharp relief the reasons his writing and personal story matter urgently today.

God's diplomat, the pope of the ecumenical movement, but also an acerbic theologian and a difficult person: this is how journalists characterised Willem Adolf Visser 't Hooft (1900-1985). He was one of the best-known Dutch theologians outside the Netherlands and he left his mark on the world church. Even at an early age, he made profound efforts in support of international ecumenical youth and student organisations (Dutch Student Christian Movement, YMCA and World Student Christian Federation). He led the World Council of Churches during its formative stages (from 1938), and after its formal establishment in 1948 became its first general secretary, serving until 1966. To Visser 't Hooft, the unity of the church was both an article of faith and a pragmatic organisation of church influence in a disunited world.

In Joyce Meyer's bestselling book, Battlefield of the Mind, she attests that indeed "there is a war which rages in our minds." Hindsight takes readers on a journey through Rhonda Madge's tumultuous life to reveal how she fell prey to anxious thoughts that molded her mind through a belief in the whispered lies. A horrific event at the age of seventeen left Rhonda continually searching for something or someone to fill the dark chasm of her heart. Tears seemed to puddle around her wherever she went. However, she learned to carefully hide herself in a masquerade put on for the outside world, allowing her to project that all was well with her soul even as the slow decay continued from within. Those who find themselves pretending will be drawn to the answers her story presents. But it was God who worked to lift the veil from Rhonda's eyes, allowing her to see that, though she thought He was far from her, He remained at arm's length. Thus a seeker's interest will be peeked as they read about Rhonda's exploration of who and what God truly is--a loving, personal God. Those who struggle with life's hardships will be encouraged and inspired to practice Rhonda's perseverance. In a world where sorrow is often heaped upon sorrow, this very real story bares truth that will leave readers filled with hope.

'A remarkable tale of survival, in which Jewish life in pre-war Poland and the atrocities of the Holocaust appear through an almost dreamlike lens of childhood memory' Jeremy Dronfield, bestselling author of The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz 'Mala's Cat is fresh, unsentimental and utterly unpredictable... This memoir, rescued from obscurity by the efforts of Mala Kacenberg's five children, should be read and cherished as a new, vital document of a history that must never be allowed to vanish' Julie Orringer for the New York Times 'It's an account of astounding courage and resourcefulness . . . The real miracle here is the vitality of Kacenberg's faith and determination' Mail on Sunday __________ Alone in a forest with only a cat for company - this is the deeply moving true story of one little girl's remarkable survival in the shadow of the Holocaust Growing up in the Polish village of Tarnogrod, on the fringes of a deep pine forest, Mala has the happiest childhood anyone could hope for. But, when the Nazis invade, her beloved village becomes a ghetto and family and friends are reduced to starvation. Taking matters into her own hands, she bravely removes her yellow star, and sneaks out to the surrounding villages for food. On her way back she receives a smuggled letter from her sister warning her to stay away: her loved ones have been rounded up for deportation. With only her cat, Malach, and the strength of the stories taught by her family, she must flee into the forest. Malach becomes her family, her only respite from loneliness, a guide and reminder to stay hopeful even in the darkness. With her guardian angel by her side, Mala must find a way to navigate the dangerous forests, outwit German soldiers and hostile villagers, to survive, against all the odds. __________ 'It's an account of astounding courage and resourcefulness . . . The real miracle here is the vitality of Kacenberg's faith and determination' Mail on Sunday