One of the greatest frustrations of the Christian life is having to wait for God to act. We wait, sometimes for years, for our prayers to be answered, for our deepest longings to be fulfilled. Some devoted Christians get stuck in dead-end jobs even though they feel certain they could serve God in greater ways if only He would open the opportunity. Why doesn't He? Some wait for a godly spouse, some couples wait for the gift of children, and some, who have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord, wait in disappointed bafflement as their work seems to yield no fruit. Why? As Christians, we yearn to serve the Lord, to step forward and obey Him like the great heroes of the Bible, but we are confused, waiting for clear orders, kept at a distance by the invisible barriers of God's silence, His inaction, or His unhurried pace. In When God Takes Too Long, Joseph Bentz examines the mysteries of God's timing and shows Christians how to thrive in the midst of one of life's greatest frustrations--waiting. He offers those who have been discouraged by a life of waiting a chance to alter not only their perspective on waiting, but also their actions in response to it, transforming this frustration into a positive force that will enrich and change their lives. When God Takes Too Long addresses: How not to wish (or wait) our lives away How to better understand the nature of time How to master the discipline of waiting How to cast off the boundaries of time to view our lives from an eternal perspective

As Christians, many of us experience times in our spiritual lives when it feels like God is silent. For reasons we don't understand, we're unable to sense His presence, feel His comfort, or hear His direction. And although we may be following Him as best we know, our spiritual lives feel dry and He seems more distant than ever. In Silent God, Joseph Bentz addresses the pain and bewilderment many feel when they can't hear God's voice. He examines the possible influences that can unknowingly invade our lives and block our ability to hear God. Television, radio, iPods, cell phones, internet, email, traffic, and crowded schedules contribute to our noisy world. Every moment is bombarded by noise, both external and mental, that clutters our thoughts and causes us to lose the ability or desire to settle down and really commune with and listen to God. Bentz explains how the accumulation of all this noise can contribute to God's silence in our lives and shares valuable and practical ways to control the noise so we can hear God once again. He also explores ways God may use silence as a means of working out His spiritual purposes in our lives. Bentz shows how sometimes our spiritual routines become spiritual comforts that, instead of pointing us to God, end up replacing Him. He offers insight and understanding for persevering through the silence and reassures us that doing so will result in essential spiritual growth and a deeper commitment to Christ. Silent God reveals a new understanding of the mystery and power of God and shows how to find Him through the silence and emerge with a greater sense of purpose and a deeper connection with Christ and His love.

What is the turning point that causes a curious journalist and atheist to walk into a church and be converted to Christ the first time she takes communion? At what point is a lifelong atheist and head of one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century persuaded to turn to Christ? What leads a woman, who had a Mafia contract on her life and who appeared on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, to become a Christian in prison and then start a national outreach ministry that has touched the lives of thousands of children? What is that moment at which God's disruptive Spirit invades the lives of even the unlikeliest of individuals, drawing them into relationship with Christ? Joseph Bentz calls this the tipping point . In God in Pursuit, Bentz identifies and celebrates the sparks that allow faith to catch fire in the lives of new believers who were once hostile or indifferent to God. Filled with insight, encouragement, and solid biblical wisdom, this earnest examination shows readers how those tipping points from doubt to faith operate throughout the Christian life as they confront spiritual crises and grapple with questions that will bring them deeper into relationship with God.

The Garifuna are a Central American, Afro-Indigenous people descended from shipwrecked West Africans and local Indigenous groups on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. For over two centuries, the Garifuna have experienced oppression, exile, and continued diaspora that has stretched their communities to Honduras, Belize, and beyond. However, little has been written about the experiences of the Garifuna in Nicaragua, a community of about 5,000 who live primarily on the Caribbean coast of the country. In Surviving the Americas, Serena Cosgrove, Jose Idiaquez, Leonard Joseph Bent, and Andrew Gorvetzian shed light on what it means to be Garifuna today, particularly in Nicaragua. Their research includes over nine months of fieldwork in Garifuna communities in the Pearl Lagoon on the southern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and in New York City. The resulting ethnography illustrates the unique social issues of the Nicaraguan Garifuna and how their culture, traditions, and reverence for their ancestors continues to persist.

Viral Fusion Mechanisms presents the first comprehensive review on this exciting topic. The book focuses on molecular mechanisms rather than phenomonology and examines a wide range of viruses, including influenza, HIV, Sendai, SFV, Vaccinia, VSV, and RSV. Recent theoretical work on dissecting protein-mediated membrane fusion is discussed, and the most promising new technologies for elucidating mechanisms are highlighted.
Viral Fusion Mechanisms is an essential reference for biophysicists, cell biologists, colloid chemists, immunologists, microbiologists, molecular biologists, and virologists.