Jonas and his master, Elam the Pharisee, cross paths with a poor couple on their way to Bethlehem. Elam cares only for his expensive clothes and a good night's sleep, but Jonas finds himself drawn to these two strangers and even offers a gift to the child the young woman bears that night. Years later, Jonas again meets this child turned man, who now perform miracles and speaks boldly of God's kingdom. Jonas wonders, Who is this one who was born in a stable?
The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown guides serious New Testament students through the historical, literary, and theological dimensions of the biblical text, allowing them to better understand and share God’s “word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). It offers a thorough introduction to all twenty-seven books of the New Testament and closely examines events such as Christ’s incarnation and virgin birth, his crucifixion and resurrection, and triumphant return. The second edition features updated bibliographies and footnotes, interpretation sections that cover different literary genres in the New Testament, an epilogue that canvasses the entire storyline of Scripture, and a variety of maps. All of these new features contribute to making this a life-long resource for students of Scripture.
The Crown and the Cross examines the heretofore-unstudied role of the French province of Burgundy in the 'traditional' era of the crusades, from 1095-c.1220. Covering the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Albigensian Crusades in detail, it focuses primarily on the Capetian dukes, a cadet branch of the French royal family, but uncovers substantial lay participation and some crusading traditions among Burgundian noble families as well. The book additionally uses the crusading institution to explore the development of the medieval French monarchy, and makes accessible a corpus of scholarship and documents that until now have mostly existed in French or Latin. It concludes that while piety and religion did play a central role in the experience of many everyday Burgundian crusaders, the greater political ramifications of the crusading project functioned in subtle and long-lasting ways, and had consequences for the entire institution, not just Burgundy or France. Of interest to scholars of the crusades, French history, and the formation of medieval Europe, The Crown and the Cross nuances, challenges, and expands our understanding of the intellectual genealogy of the crusades and their real-world consequences, fills a critical gap in the historiography, and poses a set of important conclusions and questions for continued study.
When Nick O'Flaherty arrives at the scene of a double homicide to find he has a witness to the crime, he thinks it's his lucky day. But when he realizes his witness is suffering from amnesia and can't even remember his own name, Nick wishes he'd gone with his gut and put in for vacation time. Then Nick's boyfriend and former Recon teammate, Kelly Abbott, joins him in Boston, and Nick finds his hands a little too full as the case and his personal life collide. The witness he's dubbed "JD" is being tailed by Julian Cross, a retired CIA hitman. To complicate matters further, JD forms an attachment to Nick that Nick struggles not to respond to as they search for the key to JD's identity. Trying to determine whether JD is friend or foe as they investigate the crime puts them on the trail of a much older mystery. When multiple attempts are made on their lives, Nick is forced to turn to old enemies and new allies to solve a centuries-old crime before he and Kelly get added to the history books.
How can we stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas amidst so much distraction during the holidays? Beloved preacher and evangelist Billy Graham invites you to celebrate Christmas and the birth and life of Christ through a new perspective—the cradle, cross, and crown. The biblical Christmas message is so often lost in the busyness and commercialism of the holiday season—holiday parties, family get-togethers, and the pressure to spend excessively on loved ones. How and where can we experience and share Christ at Christmas? Drawing from a lifetime of writings and sermons, world-renowned preacher and author Billy Graham helps us slow down and focus on Jesus by taking us back to the time when heaven descended to earth to the place where Christ was born. This classic Christmas message includes Excerpts from This Christmas Night Scriptural accounts of Christ’s birth Favorite Christmas carols Beautiful poetry by Billy Graham's wife, Ruth Bell Graham Use this message of hope to point you and your family toward Jesus this Christmas. And give it as a gift to your friends, loved ones, or complete strangers. Experience Christ this Christmas through The Cradle, Cross, and Crown.
Nineteenth-century New Orleans was a diverse city. The French-speaking Catholic Creoles, whether black, white, or racially mixed -- so different from the city's English-speaking residents -- inspired intense curiosity and speculation. But none of the city's inhabitants evoked as much wonder as did the Sisters of the Holy Family, whose mission was to evangelize slaves and free people of color and to care for the poor, sick, and elderly. These women, whose community still thrives, are portrayed in an account written between 1896 and 1898 by one of their sisters, Mary Bernard Deggs, who shortly before her death made it her mission to record the remarkable historical journey the women had taken to serve those of their race. Although Deggs did not officially join the Sisters of the Holy Family until 1873, she was a student at the sisters' early school on Bayou Road and thus would have known, as a child, Henriette Delille, the founder and first mother superior of the Sisters of the Holy Family, and the otherwomen who joined her. This account captures, in a most graphic way, the founding of theSisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842 and the difficult years that followed. It was not until 1852 that the foundresses were able totake their first official vows and exchange their blue percale gowns forblack ones (and it was 1873 before they were permitted to wear a formalreligious habit). Shortly before Delille's death in 1862, Union forcesseized the city, and Delille's successor, Juliette Gaudin, faced direeconomic circumstances. The war and postwar years economically devastatedNew Orleans and its population. Freed slaves poured into the city,unintentionally adding themselves to the already overwhelming mission ofthe sisters. Those were the poorest and most uncertain years the sisterswere to face. We know very little about Sister Mary Bernard Deggs herself, but her history of the early years of the Sisters of the Holy Family, written more than a century ago and reproduced here in edited form, makes it clear that today's community of women -- their dedication to the poor, to education, to the care of the elderly and orphaned -- comes from a long and complex tradition that grew in response to the social needs of "theirpeople."
