Exploring the enduring influence of John Stott's views on the Christian life, this book will encourage a new generation of evangelical Christians to benefit from Stott's life and teaching.

"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.

From the Foreword by Jean Vanier: `The story of John's life has touched my heart and soul, and brought me closer to God. It has revealed to me a God wonderfully full of surprises, better, more intelligent, more creative than we could imagine. An extraordinary God who cannot be confined in rational concepts or in an "ordinary" religious life.' ~ John Bradburne (1921-1979) lived an extraordinary life. He was a reluctant hero of the Second World War, a pilgrim and a hermit, a poet and a musician, a joker and a mystic, and a theologian. After many years travelling and searching, he found the place that God wanted him to be - living alongside men and women suffering with leprosy in Mtemwa, Zimbabwe, which he helped transform into a community of peace, joy and love. During the civil war of 1979, John was kidnapped and murdered. Since his martyrdom, word of his life has spread around the world, and miracles have occurred in association with his name. John Bradburne: The Vagabond of God is the most comprehensive biography of this remarkable man, based on three years of research through the archives of the John Bradburne Memorial Society (www.johnbradburne.com), interviews with people who knew John, and travels in his footsteps. The book was published first in France, where it won the Grand Prix Catholique de Litterature.

The life of the Sixth Dalai Lama does not end with his supposed death at Kokonor in November 1706, on the way to Beijing, and an audience with the Manchu Emperor Kangxi. This book, the so-called Hidden Life, presents a very different Tsangyang Gyamtso, neither a louche poet nor a drinker, but a sober Buddhist practitioner, who chose to escape at Kokonor and to adopt the guise of a wandering monk, only appearing some years later, after many fantastical and mystical adventures, in what is today Inner Mongolia, where he oversaw monasteries and lived as a Buddhist teacher. The Hidden Life was written by a Mongolian monk in 1756, ten years following the death of the lama, his spiritual teacher, whom he identifies as Tsangyang Gyamtso, and in whose identity as the Sixth Dalai Lama he clearly has complete faith. However, as one might imagine, there is nowadays no agreement among the wider Tibetan, Mongolian and Tibetological scholarly community as to whether this man was a charlatan or deluded, or whether he was indeed the Sixth Dalai Lama. The text is divided into four parts. The first part gives an account of the background and birth of the Sixth Dalai Lama, while the opening section of the second part (which is in direct speech, dictated by the lama) continues on, through the political intrigue in Lhasa at the end of the seventeenth century, to the lama's escape at Kokonor. The remainder of the second part consists of a visionary narrative, in which the lama travels through Tibet and Nepal, and in which he encounters divine figures, yetis, zombies and a man with no head, all of which is presented as fact. The third and longest part is an account of the final thirty years of the lama's life, and his activity in Mongolia as an influential Buddhist teacher, including a lengthy and moving description of his death. The final part includes a list of his students and, most interestingly perhaps, a theological and philosophical justification for the coexistence of the Sixth and Seventh Dalai Lamas.

12 CDs. The Life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, has been a topic for many books and studies. Gulen's approach to the life of Rasulullah, "the pride of humanity". This is not cronical biography. It differs from other books on the Prophet in the sense that Gulen assumes a psychological and sociological analysis on the various aspects of the Prophet's life portraying him as a compassionate father, a profound spiritual leader, a wise statemen, a courageous commander, a loving husband, a most reliable and trustworthy person. Approximate running time: 840 minutes.

Anna's House tells the story of a young Norwegian girl whose family emigrated to America in the middle of the 19th century, and who later became a charismatic sect leader from Chicago who brought her flock to Jerusalem in 1881. Though of Norwegian origin, her story becomes truly an American saga in Jerusalem, which parallels the radical changes in the Middle East, the results of which we are living through today.

Shortly after the Civil War ended, David Power Conyngham, an Irish Catholic journalist and war veteran, began compiling the stories of Catholic chaplains and nuns who served during the war. His manuscript, Soldiers of the Cross, is the fullest record written during the nineteenth century of the Catholic Church's involvement in the war, as it documents the service of fourteen chaplains and six female religious communities, representing both North and South. Many of Coyngham's chapters contain new insights into the clergy during the war that are unavailable elsewhere, either during his time or ours, making the work invaluable to Catholic and Civil War historians. The introduction contains over a dozen letters written between 1868 and 1870 from high-ranking Confederate and Union officials, such as Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Union Surgeon General William Hammond, and Union General George B. McClellan, who praise the church's services during the war. Chapters on Fathers William Corby and Peter P. Cooney, as well as the Sisters of the Holy Cross, cover subjects relatively well known to Catholic scholars, yet other chapters are based on personal letters and other important primary sources that have not been published prior to this book. Unpublished due to Conyngham's untimely death, Soldiers of the Cross remained hidden away in an archive for more than a century. Now annotated and edited so as to be readable and useful to scholars and modern readers, this long-awaited publication of Soldiers of the Cross is a fitting presentation of Conyngham's last great work.

What can be accomplished in an ordinary man who trusts in an extraordinary God? George Mller discovered the endless possibilities!These excerpts from his diary allow Mller to tell his own story. Join him on his journey from a life of sin and rebellion to his glorious conversion. Share his struggles and triumphs as he establishes orphan homes to care for thousands of English children, depending on God's response to his prayer of faith to supply all things. You will learn how to: * pray in faith and receive answers* seek God for direction* find the ultimate purpose for your life* rest in God's loving careGeorge Mller's unwavering, childlike dependence upon his heavenly Father will inspire you to confidently trust the God of the impossible in every area of your life.

Now back in print, this short biography of St. Therese of Lisieux by Dorothy Day expresses the surprising yet profound connection between Day - the founder of the Catholic Worker movement who was praised by Pope Francis for her passion for justice and dedication to her faith - and the beloved saint best known for her Little Way. Whether you are called to the active life like Day or a more hidden existence like Therese, you will discover that these paths have much in common and can lead you to a love that has the power to transform you in ways that are unexpected and consequential. Written originally for nonbelievers or those unaware of Therese, the book reflects how Day came to appreciate Therese's Little Way, not as an abstract concept, but as a spirituality that she had already been living. Day's life, like Therese's, was filled with all the humble, self-effacing jobs that were a part of this work. She found in Therese a kindred spirit, one who saw these simple hidden tasks as the way to heaven.

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a new exploration of Karl Marx's life through his intellectual contributions to modern thought "A perceptive and fair-minded corrective to superficial treatments of the man."-Jonathan Rose, Wall Street Journal Karl Marx (1818-1883)-philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journalist, and editor-was one of the most influential and revolutionary thinkers of modern history, but he is rarely thought of as a Jewish thinker, and his Jewish background is either overlooked or misrepresented. Here, distinguished scholar Shlomo Avineri argues that Marx's Jewish origins did leave a significant impression on his work. Marx was born in Trier, then part of Prussia, and his family had enjoyed equal rights and emancipation under earlier French control of the area. But then its annexation to Prussia deprived the Jewish population of its equal rights. These developments led to the reluctant conversion of Marx's father, and similar tribulations radicalized many young intellectuals of that time who came from a Jewish background. Avineri puts Marx's Jewish background in its proper and balanced perspective, and traces Marx's intellectual development in light of the historical, intellectual, and political contexts in which he lived. About Jewish Lives: Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent." - New York times "Exemplary." - Wall St. Journal "Distinguished." - New Yorker "Superb." - The Guardian

The spiritual diaries of Pope St John Paul II - published for the first time ever in English. The most intimate insight into the longest-serving pontiff of our time. Over a decade after his death, the popularity and devotion towards John Paul II, the pope who helped bring down communism in his native Poland, the great statesman, and the most travelled pope in history, remains as strong as ever. Since his early years as a priest in the 1960s, up until 2003, two years before his death, the pope kept a spiritual diary, recording his reflections on God, life, spirituality, the problems facing the church - and his own struggles. Never intended for publication, these diaries were entrusted before his death to his personal secretary, who saw fit to have them published as they represent an unprecedented and important testament to the spirituality of this Christian leader, adored to this day by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

The story of John Wesley's affair with Grace Murray and how Charles Wesley prevented their marriage by persuading Grace to marry John Bennet, who was one of the key Methodist lay preachers, has long fascinated historians, but most have tended to view John as the victim and been hugely critical of the behaviour and actions of the others involved. Grace has been described as 'impetuous, imperious, and probably a little unstable' and as an 'uneducated, vain, fickle, selfish and presuming' flirt, even though this does not tie in with either John Wesley's or John Bennet's view of her. Bennet has been dismissed as 'a cheat' and 'a treacherous, unfriendly man', even though Charles Wesley, George Whitefield and other contemporaries consistently praised his character. Charles has been accused of over-reacting to gossip and acting out of personal reasons. It has been alleged, for example, that he wanted John to remain single so he could retain the income his own wife required, and that both he and his wife were too snobbish to want to have Grace as their sister-in-law. All these accusations have tended to obscure rather than clarify what really happened because they either ignore or do not pay enough attention to the fact that John Wesley was just as much to blame for what happened.Today, after decades of relative historical neglect, Grace Murray is beginning to receive more recognition as 'a strong-willed, capable and dedicated woman worthy of a distinguished place in the annals of early Methodism'. What emerges from this study is a remarkable woman - a pioneer female class leader and preacher, who, throughout her life, had to come to terms not only with the doubts and fears that can beset Christians at times, but also with the prejudices of her day. Dr Johnson represented those well when he quipped: 'A woman preaching is like a dog walking on its hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.' What comes across most strongly in Grace's writings is her acute awareness of her own failings and her abiding faith in the redemptive love of God. When she knew she was approaching death she wrote to her son:'God did wonders for me all my life. I have been astonished and overwhelmed with a sense of his love to me the chief of sinners, the most unfaithful and unprofitable of all his servants.'Her character makes it all the more understandable why John Wesley was hit so hard by her loss and why he struggled to understand why God had not permitted him to marry her:The main outcome of Grace's marriage to John Bennet has usually been portrayed as being John Wesley's disastrous marriage on the rebound to Molly Vazeille, but of far more significance was the divide her loss created between John and Charles. That had huge and important repercussions on the way in which Methodism was subsequently to develop.After the initial trauma was over both John Wesley and Grace Murray came to believe that it was God who had prevented their marriage. In a more secular age, it seems preferable to explain what happened by looking at the actions of people involved and using the evidence available. This book tries to do exactly that and what emerges is a tragedy of errors for which all the protagonists can be held equally responsible. John Wesley, Grace Murray, John Bennet, and Charles Wesley all did what they did for the best, if at times misguided, motives. Whether the hand of God can also be seen in what happened is left to the reader's judgement.

From the 1950s until his death in 1994, Menachem Mendel Schneerson--revered by his followers worldwide simply as the Rebbe--built the Lubavitcher movement from a relatively small sect within Hasidic Judaism into the powerful force in Jewish life that it is today. Swept away by his expectation that the Messiah was coming, he came to believe that he could deny death and change history.

Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman paint an unforgettable portrait of Schneerson, showing how he reinvented himself from an aspiring French-trained electrical engineer into a charismatic leader who believed that he and his Lubavitcher Hasidic emissaries could transform the world. They reveal how his messianic convictions ripened and how he attempted to bring the ancient idea of a day of redemption onto the modern world's agenda. Heilman and Friedman also trace what happened after the Rebbe's death, by which time many of his followers had come to think of him as the Messiah himself.

"The Rebbe" tracks Schneerson's remarkable life from his birth in Russia, to his student days in Berlin and Paris, to his rise to global renown in New York, where he developed and preached his powerful spiritual message from the group's gothic mansion in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This compelling book demonstrates how Schneerson's embrace of traditionalism and American-style modernity made him uniquely suited to his messianic mission.