This is the story of the birth and growth of Seattle's innovative Mars Hill Church, one of America's fastest growing churches located in one of America's toughest mission fields. It's also the story of the growth of a pastor, the mistakes he's made along the way, and God's grace and work in spite of those mistakes. Mark Driscoll's emerging, missional church took a rocky road from its start in a hot, upstairs youth room with gold shag carpet to its current weekly attendance of thousands. With engaging humor, humility, and candor, Driscoll shares the failures, frustrations, and just plain messiness of trying to build a church that is faithful to the gospel of Christ in a highly post-Christian culture. In the telling, he's not afraid to skewer some sacred cows of traditional, contemporary, and emerging churches. Each chapter discusses not only the hard lessons learned but also the principles and practices that worked and that can inform your church's ministry, no matter its present size. The book includes discussion questions and appendix resources. "After reading a book like this, you can never go back to being an inwardly focused church without a mission. Even if you disagree with Mark about some of the things he says, you cannot help but be convicted to the inner core about what it means to have a heart for those who don't know Jesus."-Dan Kimball, author,The Emerging Church "... will make you laugh, cry, and get mad ... school you, shape you, and mold you into the right kind of priorities to lead the church in today's messy world."-Robert Webber, Northern Seminary

Ita Wegman spent the last three years of her life in Tessin, in the Casa Andrea Cristoforo. In this secluded province, largely protected from the destructive events of those years and imbued with certain forces, she developed a great work for the future, gathering, leading, and nurturing people both therapeutically and spiritually, preparing for the war's end with the full intensity of her being. Her last three years were a period of devotion to Rudolf Steiner and his work, as well as to esoteric Christianity-to the forces of the Archangel Michael and to Christ for the present and future. She continued to take a great interest in the difficulties of her time and never ceased to participate in events-taking in refugee children and the homeless, keeping up extensive correspondences with others, struggling with aid organizations and various agencies, caring daily for the afflicted and for patients and colleagues. On March 4, 1943, Ita Wegman passed into the spiritual worlds, well prepared and with all of the spiritual intentions of a Christian initiate. This book contributes to documenting the final phase of Ita Wegman's life, focusing on the forces of the future that emerged in her. It draws on her notebooks from her time in Ascona, as well as from her extensive correspondence and memories of those who lived and worked at Casa Andrea Cristoforo. She remained upstanding, free, and positive with an esoteric Christian orientation and felt that she was obligated only to her conscience and to the spiritual world for which Rudolf Steiner stood and that she served. This book was originally published in German as Die letzten drei Jahre. Ita Wegman in Ascona 1940-1943 (Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 2004).

Like millions of us, Anjali Kumar, a lawyer for Google, was not religious. But when her daughter was born, Anjali felt compelled to find God-or at least some form of enlightenment-that she could someday impart to her daughter.

Knowing that she couldn't simply Google an answer to What is the meaning of life?, Anjali set out on a spiritual pilgrimage, and nothing was off limits. She headed to Peru to learn from shamans, practiced transcendental meditation, convened with angels, and even worked with a medium to speak with the dead-all while searching for answers to life's most universal questions: Why are we here? What happens when we die? Is there a God?

This is the definitive tribute to the life and legacy of Ruth and Billy Graham. Endorsed by the family and with a foreword by daughter Gigi Graham, it contains many photos and personal stories that have not been published before. The book release will coincide with Billy's 95th birthday. Billy Graham has preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history - nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. Hundreds of millions more have been reached through television, video, film, and webcasts. But behind this exceptional man, there was an equally exceptional woman. This new biography of Billy and Ruth Graham, endorsed by Billy himself and with a foreword by his daughter Gigi, focuses on the 10 core values that were foundational to the Graham ministry, and illuminates the quiet and impactful ministry of Ruth. The book contains many photos and personal stories that have not been published before. Billy Graham has received numerous awards and recognitions including Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for his international contribution to civic and religious life, as well as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award for contributions to the cause of freedom; the Congressional Gold Medal and the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion. Billy is regularly listed by Gallup as one of the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World' and has appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Life, and numerous other magazines and has been the subject of many newspaper and magazine feature articles and books. Billy Graham has three daughters, two sons, 19 grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren. He lives in the mountains of western North Carolina.

If you liked Call the Midwife, you will love Kicking the Habit! What makes a fun-loving teenager turn her back on a life of parties, boys and fun, to become a nun in a French convent? And what later leads her to abandon the religious life, to return to the big wide world and later marry? At the age of 18, Eleanor Stewart goes to France to enter a convent. After four years of struggling with the religious life, she becomes a nun, and then trains as a midwife in a large inner-city hospital in Liverpool. While Beatlemania grips the nation, she attempts to coordinate the reclusive demands of the religious life with the drama, excitement and occasional tragedy of the hospital world. Written with honesty and affection, this is a wonderful and intimate portrait of convent and hospital life.

This book offers a study of the cosmogonic works by Fr. Angelo Zottoli S.J., a Jesuit missionary who has received relatively little attention by modern scholars, but who deserves a special recognition for his theological and philosophical ideas. More generally, the book aims to shed light on the importance of cosmogony in the cross-cultural and interdisciplinary environment of Xujiahui, the area in modern Shanghai where Zottoli flourished. It shows how through Zottoli's teaching and sermons he was able to reimagine his own cosmogonic ideas, his personality, and his relationship with local Chinese converts. Among Zottoli's most famous students was Ma Xiangbo ( 1840-1939) and Zottoli played a crucial role in Ma's intellectual formation. A wider familiarity with Zottoli's works is not only interesting in and of itself, but also paves the way to future studies on the complex and multifaceted relationship between European missionaries and Chinese students in Shanghai during the nineteenth century.

A true-life adventure sure to shock as well as inspire.

AK47s, masked thugs, and brutal urgency erupt from Roy Hallums' account of his abduction in Iraq, shredding through those frequently sterile cable news reports revealing that another "American contractor is being held hostage . . ."

Hallums was the everyman behind that report―a 56-year-old retired Naval commander working as a food supply contractor in Baghdad's high-end Mansour District.

His abduction was transacted in a matter of minutes, amidst a hail of gunfire and a handful of casualties. For the first few months of his captivity, Hallums endured beatings and psychological torture while being shuffled from one ramshackle safe house to another.

From the four-foot-tall crawlspace where he carried out the bulk of his nearly year-long abduction, Hallums established a surprising degree of normalcy―a system of routines and timekeeping, along with an attention to the particulars that defined his horrific ordeal. His experience is recreated here, rich with harrowing specifics and surprising observations.

One explores the personal journey of Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance. It explores the challenges of unity as outworked both in his day-to-day marriage and home life, and national and international relations. Unity is what drives him - but not just for unity's sake. In bringing people together, we are following the John 17 mandate to show the immense love of God, who sent his Son for us. We connect to a shared mission, whether it's nurturing a church culture which is increasingly confident in the gospel, getting involved in community action or lobbying the government for a better society. The Church is the key to long-lasting change in the world - by working in unity we can transform our communities with the good news of Jesus.

JosE MartI's Liberative Political Theology argues that MartI's religious views, which at first glance might appear outdated and irrelevant, are actually critical to understanding his social vision. During a time where the predominate philosophical view was materialistic (Darwin, Marx) MartI sought to reconcile social and political trends with the metaphysical, believing that ignoring the spiritual would create a soulless approach toward achieving a liberative society. As such, MartI used religious concepts and ideas as a tool that could bring forth a more just social order. In short, this book argues MartI could be considered a precursor to what would come to be called, Liberation Theology.Miguel De La Torre has authored the most comprehensive text written thus far concerning MartI's religious views and how they impacted his political thought. The few similar texts that exist are written in Spanish; and among those, mainly romanticize MartI's spirituality in an attempt of portraying him as a 'Christian believer.' Only a handful provide an academic investigation of MartI's theological thought based solely on his writings, and those concentrate on just one aspect of MartI's religious influences. JosE MartI's Liberative Political Theology allows for mutual influence between MartI's political and religious views rather than assuming one had precedence over the other.

Paul Moore s vocation as an Episcopal priest took him with his wife, Jenny, and their family of nine children from robber-baron wealth to work among the urban poor, leadership in the civil rights and peace movements, and two decades as the bishop of New York. The Bishop s Daughter is his daughter s story of that complex, visionary man: a chronicle of her turbulent relationship with a father who struggled privately with his sexuality while she openly explored hers and a searching account of the consequences of sexual secrets."

Anthropologists surmise that the Yanomamo are perhaps the last culture to come in contact with the modern world. Author Mike Dawson's hair-raising and humorous growing up adventures, from his birth in the jungle through the death of his wife, Renee, provide insights into this primitive culture. Dawson was the cultural advisor to the award-winning, full-length feature film, Yai Wanonabalewa: The Enemy God (www.theenemygod.com), the true story of a Yanomamo leader recounting his life as a shaman and the supernatural struggle for the survival of his people. ..".a bit of Huck Finn, with an Amazon twist." Simon Romero Andean Bureau Chief, The New York Times Imagine a white boy, in "the hood" of this jungle tribe, living, playing, and growing up Yanomamo. Christopher Bessette, Writer/Director of the feature film Yai Wanonabalewa: The Enemy God ...a story of life with Stone-Age people, guaranteed to expand the mind of even the most experienced. Mark Andrew Ritchie, Author, Spirit of the Rainforest

This collection of inspiring, astonishing, and humorous anecdotes offers glimpses into the life and miracles of Padre Pio. Countless conversions were inspired through his gifts of bilocation, psychic ability, curative power, and multilingualism. Written by Pascal Cataneo, a fellow priest and contemporary of Padre Pio, readers are given a unique window into the humility, directness, and humor of this Capuchin friar.

Reverend David Railton MC served as a chaplain on the Western Front during World War I. Attached to three divisions between 1916 and 1918, Railton supported the soldiers in their worst moments, he buried the fallen, comforted the wounded, wrote to the families of the missing and killed, and helped the survivors to remember and mark the loss of their comrades so that they were able to carry on. He was with his men at many battles, including High Wood, the Aisne and Passchendaele; he received the Military Cross for rescuing an officer and two men under heavy fire on the Somme. It was Railton's idea to bring home the body of an unidentified fallen comrade from the battlefields to be buried in Westminster Abbey, and on Armistice Day 1920, his flag covered the coffin as the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest with full honours. Although suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he returned to work as a parish priest in Margate, where he took particular interest in supporting ex-servicemen who had returned home to the aftermath of a terrible war and crippling unemployment. While the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior has been told before, this is the first book to explore David Railton's life and war, and of 'the padre's flag' he used as an altar cloth and shroud throughout the war. The flag was consecrated a year after the burial of the Unknown Warrior and hangs in Westminster Abbey to this day. This book explains how the idea came out of Railton's traumatic experiences on the Western front, and how he made his idea become reality, drawing on his letters and unpublished papers.

Gripping True Story of War and Romance, Hope and Miracles When the odds are impossible, love goes to work. In this thrilling true-life story, readers follow the path of friendship that grows into a romance that spans continents and survives devastating hardship. Craig Keener, a respected white scholar, was cautious after a broken relationship. Medine, a well-educated African woman, met Craig through a campus ministry and the two became friends. Long after they parted for their respective worlds, Craig realized his love for her and began the arduous--and often supernatural--journey to be reunited. Medine faced terror and disease as a refugee in the war-torn Congo; Craig did not know most days if she was alive or dead. Their tender story of love beating the odds inspires readers to believe that God's own great love for each of us will always overcome.

Letters written by a clergyman during the late seventeenth century illuminate the religious turmoil of the period. This book provides an edition of the letters of George Davenport, an Anglican clergyman in the north of England whose adult career covered the period of the Interregnum and the Restoration. Many of the letters are to his former Cambridge tutor, William Sancroft, beginning from 1651 after Sancroft had been expelled from Cambridge, and continuing after the Restoration when Davenport replaced Sancroft as chaplain to John Cosin, bishop of Durham, later becoming Rector of Houghton-le Spring, Durham. They were written to keep Sancroft supplied with information about Durham, where he was a prebendary with license to be non-resident, needing to collect revenues from his living and then torebuild his prebendal house. The earlier letters reveal something about the life of an illegally (since episcopally) ordained young Anglican who, unlike many, did not go into exile but stayed largely in London supported by friends. Davenport eventually became a most conscientious resident parish priest and the letters throw considerable light on the Restoration settlement in the Durham diocese, from the `beautifying' of Houghton church to the catechisingof the people and the collection of tithes from a sometimes tardy flock. Davenport also helped Cosin to Catalogue his famous library and himself gave many manuscripts to it, of which a list is included here as an appendix. The letters are presented here with full introduction and elucidatory notes.

'Impressive in its clarity this biography [is] the most detailed and accurate to date. Written in an engaging prose, [it] ends with an insightful prediction of the legacy of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, and a cleareyed assessment of the challenges that the fifteenth will face' The New York Times The Dalai Lama's message of peace and compassion resonates with people of all faiths and none. Yet, for all his worldwide fame, he remains personally elusive. Now, Alexander Norman, acclaimed Oxford-trained scholar of the history of Tibet, delivers the definitive biography-unique, multi-layered, and at times even shocking. The Dalai Lama illuminates an astonishing odyssey from isolated Tibetan village to worldwide standing as spiritual and political leader of one of the world's most profound and complex cultural traditions. Norman reveals that, while the Dalai Lama has never been comfortable with his political position, he has been a canny player-at one time CIA-backed-who has manoeuvred amidst pervasive violence, including placing himself at the centre of a dangerous Buddhist schism. Yet even more surprising than the political, Norman convinces, is the Dalai Lama's astonishing spiritual practice, rooted in magic, vision, and prophecy-details of which are illuminated in this book for the first time. A revelatory life story of one of today's most radical, charismatic, and beloved world leaders.

Many times through the years I have been inspired to write about my life's journey with all its experiences. I had always wanted to title a book 'Searching For Love." It took me 40 years to realize what my heavenly Father wanted of me. During my life with Phillip Keller I grew spiritually. His guidance helped me to understand God's love, and to realize how transforming it truly is. My hope is that all those who read this book, will discover the greatest love of all.God's Love His mercy, miracles, and forgiveness, are everlasting. Ursula was born and raised in northern Germany, educated and trained as a librarian. However, ballet became her passion, enjoying a short career at the local opera house. World War II brought change; her adventurous spirit brought her to Canada in 1951. After years of struggle in Manitoba, she utilized her training and obtained a position with the Public Library in Victoria, British Columbia. In Hawaii, Ursula married the Christian author W. Phillip Keller, they celebrated 27 years of life together during which time they completed 23 books, a few Christian Best Sellers. Traveling the world together, Phillip used his gifts of preaching and teaching God's word, enabling them to participate at numerous church services and booksellers conventions. The Kellers called British Columbia, Canada home during the warmer seasons. Winters were enjoyed in California, until Phillip's sudden departure to his heavenly home. Ursula, now resides in British Columbia, Canada

Greg Livingstone has spent a lifetime planting churches in Muslim communities and can testify to the life-changing power of the gospel in even the most unpromising circumstances. This is his autobiography. Unwanted at birth and born out of wedlock no-one would have considered that Greg Livingstone would become a pioneer in missions to unreached Muslim peoples. You've Got Libya charts his journey and his adventures. This first-hand narrative is full of compelling humor and self-depreciating honesty as Livingstone travels all over the world proclaiming the Gospel. The result is a page turning tour de force that urges the reader to pursue God unreservedly and to join with Him in the adventure of pursuing the lost. Greg's burden for the millions of Muslims who had no gospel witness amongst them led to the launching of Frontiers, a mission agency focusing exclusively on church planting amongst Muslim communities. Today, Frontiers is a movement of more than 1,000 field workers in nearly 50 countries.