Brought up in the Old South of the 1950s and `60s with an idyllic childhood, and then married and blessed with two children, she believed she had the perfect life. Then, at the age of 30, she was diagnosed with a rare tumor the size of a tennis ball behind her nasal cavity. Told she might lose the greater portion of her face, including her sight, she surrendered her life to the Master's hands.
A Palestinian Christian theologian shows how the reality of empire shapes the context of the biblical story, and the ongoing experience of Middle East conflict.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Relationship Goals . . . Will you be remembered as a person who claimed to follow God but liked to play it safe? Or as a person who lived your life out on the limb and trusted God enough to live in crazy faith? Noah looked crazy when he started building the ark . . . until it started raining. It was crazy for Moses to lead a nation of people into the desert away from Egypt . . . until the Red Sea parted. It was crazy to believe that a fourteen-year-old virgin would give birth to the Son of God . . . until Mary held Jesus in her arms. There are many things that seem normal or average today that at one point in time seemed absolutely crazy. Smartphones, Wi-Fi, and even the electric light bulb were all groundbreaking, history-making inventions that started out as crazy ideas. Our see-it-to-believe-it generation tends to have a hard time exercising true faith—one that steps out, takes action, and sees mountain-moving results. Many of us would rather play it safe and stand on the sidelines, but it’s crazy faith that helps us see God move and reveals His promises. In Crazy Faith, Pastor Michael Todd shows us how to step out in faith and dive into the purposeful life of trusting God for the impossible. Even if you have to start with baby faith or maybe faith, you can become empowered to let go of your lazy faith, trust God through your hazy faith, and learn to live a lifestyle of crazy faith. With powerful stories of modern-day faith warriors who take their cues from biblical heroes, Michael Todd equips you to • believe for the impossible • choose hope over fear • be alert to the voice of God • cope with loss and doubt • develop a deeper level of trust in God • speak faith-filled declarations • inspire crazy faith in others God’s not looking for somebody to give Him all the reasons why His plans can’t happen. He’s looking for somebody to believe they will happen. In fact, He has so much He wants to do through you. The question is, Are you crazy enough to believe it?
It's been almost ten years since I left the Muslim faith. I stopped believing in Islam after I'd made a serious study of the seemingly bottomless well of the Islamic sacred texts, a long and difficult task that required not only that I work on the commandments of my former masters (the God Allah and His prophet Muhammad), but also that I work on myself. It led me to glimpse conclusions and consider concepts that until then I'd never heard or seen elsewhere.Here, in France, Islamic scholars talk about feelings, motivations, intentions and aims. In this way, they all draw the conclusions that the Koran is not a source of problems and that the Islam of the prophet Muhammad is a religion of peace, love and tolerance. But do you know of a single global (and systemic) survey of the sacred texts of Islam that gives a critical overview of the Koranic dogmas and analyzes their limits without falling into moralizing or the Manichean concepts of Good and Evil ? It's because I've never found one that I decided to set myself the challenge of making the work I'd always wanted available to the whole world. This book, in your hands, is a different way that I suggest, a new method to win the battle of the ideas against a totalitarism without borders nor uniforms, and that we simply call � religion � in our Western World.
Christians the world over are under pressure, facing difficulties and dangers of all kinds. Nehemiah was raised up to lead God’s people at a critical moment, and the story of his practical realism and courageous faith is vital for Christians today. Providing an overview of the Nehemiah story, this book explains the critical importance of choosing God’s priorities and truly hearing and responding to God’s word. It tackles essential themes for Christian living, including how we can know God’s protection under pressure, how we can build Christian community, and how we must live by God’s standards. Faith in the Face of Danger is structured with sections and subsections that provide a clear set of preaching units that will serve preachers in building a sermon series but this is also an ideal book for individual or group use with questions, discussion points, ideas for action and further study suggestions.
In 2012, Samuel Zuder (*1965) set out to one of the most fascinating places in the world. According to legend, the yogi Milarepa was the only one to have scaled it in the twelfth century, although thousands of pilgrims circumambulated it: Mount Kailash--also known as the "Jewel of Snow" due to its unusually symmetrical form--in the middle of the rocky desert of Tibet's Changthang plateau. Venerated by four religious orientations--Hinduism, Buddhism, Jaina, and Bön--the photographer harnessed the magnetism of this site, its promise of happiness and enlightenment, in his images. With his large-format, analogue camera, Zuder accompanied pilgrims over a period of several weeks on their approximately fifty-three-kilometer-long path around Mount Kailash--which they regard as the origin of the world--to capture its silent grandeur.
She Endured 9/11 . . . Would She Survive COVID-19? It was March 2020, and rumors of a mysterious virus filled the air. But busy New York City tour guide Christina Ray Stanton paid little attention. After all, she and her husband had survived 9/11; it would take more than a virus to slow them--or their city--down. But within days, Stanton saw her beloved Manhattan become a ghost town as fear of the novel coronavirus swept the nation. Seeking safety, she and her husband left the city to stay with family in Florida. They didn't realize that rather than escaping the storm, they were heading into the eye of the hurricane: Stanton was already infected with COVID-19 and would soon be fighting for her life from a hospital bed hundreds of miles from home. In this unforgettable first-person account, Stanton shares the physical, mental and emotional agony she endured as the virus ravaged her body. Given a 50/50 chance of survival, she didn't lose hope. She relied on her community and her faith to sustain her through the painful journey. Along the way, she learned new lessons in gratitude, emerging stronger, more resilient, and with a renewed sense of purpose. This stirring story of one woman's battle with COVID-19 will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by the coronavirus pandemic or who has endured hardship. Discover the power of faith, family and friends to help us survive our darkest days.
From New York Times bestselling author and pastor Timothy Keller, a book about facing the death of loved ones, as well as our own inevitable death Significant events such as birth, marriage, and death are milestones in our lives in which we experience our greatest happiness and our deepest grief. And so it is profoundly important to understand how to approach and experience these occasions with grace, endurance, and joy. In a culture that does its best to deny death, Timothy Keller--theologian and bestselling author--teaches us about facing death with the resources of faith from the Bible. With wisdom and compassion, Keller finds in the Bible an alternative to both despair or denial. A short, powerful book, On Death gives us the tools to understand the meaning of death within God's vision of life.
In controversial and uncompromising terms, Ralph Reed, director of the Christian Coalition--and the most eloquent and visible leader of the Christian Right--explains the organization's meteoric rise and forcefully articulates its agenda for transforming the nation. Addressing both religious and secular leaders, Reed explains the reasons for the movement's phenomenal success and charts its future, confidently predicting that it is here to stay.
Is there a God? - What might God be like? - What is the relationship between faith and certainty? - Can intelligent people believe in spiritual realities? - Why are there so many religions? - Is it possible to experience a relationship with God--and if so, how? If you've asked questions like these, you're in good company. From songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Jewel Kilcher to TV shows such as The X Files and Touched by an Angel, the media and the arts reflect postmodern men and women's search for a living faith and a spiritually oriented life. Real faith isn't blind believism. It is a process that engages your intellect as well as your emotions. If you think faith requires turning your back on truth and intellectual honesty, then Finding Faith is one book you really ought to read. With logic, passion, and even-handedness that the thinking person will appreciate, this book helps you face your obstacles to faith by focusing not on what to believe, but on how to believe. Whether you want to strengthen the faith you have, renew the faith you lost, or discover faith for the first time, Finding Faith can coach, inspire, encourage, and guide you, and help you discover more in life than you'd ever imagined or hoped for.
