Lucas I was obsessed from the beginning. And once I have an obsession. It's best you don't get in my way. Chanel I tried to stay away. He was the one who was whispered about on the streets. The viper that, once he had a taste, would hunt you down and collect you. And Lucas liked to collect things. One of those things was me. Sinful Hands is Book 1 in the Chanel & Lucas duet, and is part of the Chained Hearts Duet world.
Sailor My husband sold me. Not only did he sell me, but he told me he loved me while doing the deal. What lies he tells. Only fools believe him. Unfortunately, one of those fools was… .. me. Keir Not in the habit of buying women. I didn’t need to. I was a king of my realm, the devil you whispered about in your sleep. So when his debt fell due, he sold me his wife. And I was happy because I wanted to play with her like any fool would. And play with her, I did. Pity, in the end, I would have to kill her. *Mafia Romance*
Tibetan Buddhism teaches compassion toward all beings, a category that explicitly includes animals. Slaughtering animals is morally problematic at best and, at worst, completely incompatible with a religious lifestyle. Yet historically most Tibetans—both monastic and lay—have made meat a regular part of their diet. In this study of the place of vegetarianism within Tibetan religiosity, Geoffrey Barstow explores the tension between Buddhist ethics and Tibetan cultural norms to offer a novel perspective on the spiritual and social dimensions of meat eating. Food of Sinful Demons shows the centrality of vegetarianism to the cultural history of Tibet through specific ways in which nonreligious norms and ideals shaped religious beliefs and practices. Barstow offers a detailed analysis of the debates over meat eating and vegetarianism, from the first references to such a diet in the tenth century through the Chinese invasion in the 1950s. He discusses elements of Tibetan Buddhist thought—including monastic vows, the Buddhist call to compassion, and tantric antinomianism—that see meat eating as morally problematic. He then looks beyond religious attitudes to examine the cultural, economic, and environmental factors that oppose the Buddhist critique of meat, including Tibetan concepts of medicine and health, food scarcity, the display of wealth, and idealized male gender roles. Barstow argues that the issue of meat eating was influenced by a complex interplay of factors, with religious perspectives largely supporting vegetarianism while practical concerns and secular ideals pulled in the other direction. He concludes by addressing the surge in vegetarianism in contemporary Tibet in light of evolving notions of Tibetan identity and resistance against the central Chinese state. The first book to discuss this complex issue, Food of Sinful Demons is essential reading for scholars interested in Tibetan religion, history, and culture as well as global food history.
Betrayed, deceived, broken. They are the only words used to describe who I have become. Make no mistake, I let this happen. But do you want to know the thing about letting someone into your life? It can be undone. Lucas Rossi may think he has won this round. But I have news for him. I’m going to win every other one he sends my way. My heart may be in shackles, but my head has perfect clarity. SHACKLED HEARTS Is book 2 in Chanel and Lucas Duet. It is a part of the Chained Hearts world.
Chandelle Hutchins' love of material possessions is destroying her marriage. Crushed under a mountain of debt, her husband Marvin knows they can't afford the new house she craves and he's considering walking away. Fortunately, the Lord works in mysterious ways - and a series of unexpected events may bless everyone with a second chance...
Pastor Brian Zahnd began "to question the theology of a wrathful God who delights in punishing sinners, and has started to explore the real nature of Jesus and His Father. The book isn’t only an interesting look at the context of some modern theological ideas; it’s also offers some profound insight into God’s love and eternal plan." —Relevant Magazine (Named one of the Top 10 Books of 2017) God is wrath? Or God is Love? In his famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Puritan revivalist Jonathan Edwards shaped predominating American theology with a vision of God as angry, violent, and retributive. Three centuries later, Brian Zahnd was both mesmerized and terrified by Edwards’s wrathful God. Haunted by fear that crippled his relationship with God, Zahnd spent years praying for a divine experience of hell. What Zahnd experienced instead was the Father’s love—revealed perfectly through Jesus Christ—for all prodigal sons and daughters. In Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Zahnd asks important questions like: Is seeing God primarily as wrathful towards sinners true or biblical? Is fearing God a normal expected behavior? And where might the natural implications of this theological framework lead us? Thoughtfully wrestling with subjects like Old Testament genocide, the crucifixion of Jesus, eternal punishment in hell, and the final judgment in Revelation, Zanhd maintains that the summit of divine revelation for sinners is not God is wrath, but God is love.
