True Devotion is characteristic of the aspirant on the Path of Renunciation; pseudo-Devotion is found on the other Path; Worship on both. Loyalty and Fidelity are lesser grades of Devotion. Shelley on the devotion of the moth for the star. The Paths of action, renunciation, and their endless variants. Irreverence, profanity, and flippancy are incipient fear plus the desire to belittle, in order to remove the element that causes the fear, and thereby to gain for oneself the consciousness of increase, in contrast with the belittlement of the other.
Everyone worships. But Jesus tells us that God is seeking a particular kind of worshiper. In True Worshipers, a seasoned pastor and musician guides readers toward a more engaging, transformative, and biblically faithful understanding of the worship God is seeking. True worship is an activity rooted in the grace of the gospel that affects every area of our lives. And while worship is more than just singing, God’s people gathering in his presence to lift their voices in song is an activity that is biblically based, historically rooted, and potentially life-changing. Thoroughly based in Scripture and filled with practical guidance, this book connects Sunday worship to the rest of our lives—helping us live as true worshipers each and every day.
Everybody waits. We wait for a spouse, wait for a baby, wait on our children, wait for our parents. We wait for clarity and direction. We wait on a job, a promotion, a new direction. We wait for hope, for healing, and for miracles. We wait on God. And when we misunderstand what waiting is about, we can get confused about what God is up to. Waiting is one of God’s favorite tools. He can do certain things in our hearts, our lives, and our relationships while we wait—things we cannot experience once we’ve opened the gift we have been waiting for. So just you wait, because everyone takes their turn in the waiting room. It’s a long and painful fact of life, but shortcuts and microwaves aren’t the answer. God is at work behind the scenes in invisible ways you can’t see . . . yet. Just you wait and see how ready you’ll be if you spend your waiting well. Because when your opportunity comes, you don’t want to spend more time on the bench. When you wait well, you can say, “Look out, world: I am getting ready to shine. Just you wait.” In these pages, Tricia discusses the joy hidden in the discipline of waiting, and the practices of believing God is for you and working on your behalf, even when the work of His hand is hard to find.
For many people, remaining optimistic and feeling positive about themselves and their lives is a constant battle—especially when circumstances are difficult and life is hard. For others, negativity is something that only sneaks up from time to time, yet still wreaks havoc in their hearts. Regardless of the root causes, once pessimistic thoughts permeate our minds, our feelings and emotions begin to control us instead of us controlling them. Eventually it doesn’t seem possible to stay positive, happy, and full of joy, and negative thought patterns shake our faith, causing us to sink emotionally, mentally, and spiritually over time. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Despite what storms roll in, hearts anchored in God don’t sink. When we change the way we think, we can change the way we feel and live, even if our circumstances remain the same. Intentionally embracing the opportunity to experience a transformed heart and a renewed mind opens the door for a changed life, because a positive mind will always lead to a more positive life. In Unsinkable Faith, author and Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker Tracie Miles offers hope for women who struggle with negativity. Each chapter explores Tracie’s and other women’s personal stories, showing how they rose above their circumstances by transforming and renewing their minds. Unsinkable Faith is a breath of fresh air for anyone longing for a heart full of joy, an unbreakable smile, and a new, more optimistic perspective on life. This book will equip you to: Replace pessimism with positive thinking by becoming the captain of your thoughts; Learn how true joy and happiness are based on choice, not circumstances; Overcome unhealthy habits of negative thinking by intentionally implementing three easy mind-renewing steps; Stop feeling hopeless and pitiful, and start feeling hope-filled and powerful instead; and Discover that when you change the way you think, you change the way feel, and in turn you can change your life completely.
In this lively introduction, J. Nelson Kraybill shows how the book of Revelation was understood by its original readers and what it means for Christians today. Kraybill places Revelation in its first-century context, opening a window into the political, economic, and social realities of the early church. His fresh interpretation highlights Revelation's liturgical structure and directs readers' attentions to twenty-first-century issues of empire, worship, and allegiance, showing how John's apocalypse is relevant to the spiritual life of believers today. The book includes maps, timelines, photos, a glossary, discussion questions, and stories of modern Christians who live out John's vision of a New Jerusalem.
Sinnett’s “Esoteric Buddhism” was an excellent work with a very unfortunate title. Esoteric BuDhism (spelled with one D), or Inner Wisdom (Sophia, in Greek), is a pre-Vedic term millennia older than 643 BCE, the year Siddhartha Gautama, Prince of Kapilavastu, was born. It has nothing to do with the BuDDhist religion whatsoever. An agnostic student of Theosophy puzzled by “Esoteric Buddhism.” Puzzle solved by Madame Blavatsky BuDDhism, the religious system of ethics preached by Lord Gautama and named after his title of BuDDha, the “Enlightened,” and BuDha or Inner Wisdom are totally unrelated terms. Long kalpas had passed before the epithet of Buddha became so humanised, as to allow the term to be applied to mortals and, finally, to Siddhartha Gautama. BuDhism is Archaic Wisdom-Religion. It reconciles all religions, strips every one of its outward, human garments, and shows the root of each to be identical with that of every other great religion. It proves the necessity of an immutable Divine Principle in nature but rejects the gods of monotheistic religions, sorry caricatures created by man in his own image and likeness. Truth is its god and dogma. Orthodox, Exoteric BuDDhism, or the public teachings of Gautama Buddha, differ greatly from the Secret Doctrine, or Esoteric BuDhism, that he had reserved for the initiated Brahmans of his day and his Arhats. Sinnett defends his “Esoteric Buddhism.” Though “Esoteric Buddhism” preceded “Isis Unveiled” and “The Secret Doctrine,” its contents are not original. His letter to “Lucifer,” annotated by Madame Blavatsky in her capacity as Editor of Lucifer.” Theosophy is not BuDDhism, whether Exoteric or Esoteric. Bodhi and Sophia are one and the same, supersensuous wisdom from within. Bodha, Bodhi, Buddha, Buddhi are one and the same, Divine Wisdom.
Scope: theology, philosophy, ethics of various religions and ethical systems and relevant portions of anthropology, mythology, folklore, biology, psychology, economics and sociology.
