When Masako is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer, her dispersed family is brought back to their Kentucky hometown to care for her. Hiro, the older daughter and a New York City transplant, struggles to make peace with the demons she inherited; the younger daughter, Sophie, negotiates her faith in the face of her mother’s illness and her own broken dreams; their father, James, is a recovering alcoholic seeking forgiveness and redemption; and a friend, John, worries about the legacy he’ll be able to leave his only son. Forced together in a time of need, five estranged people come face to face with their own mortality.
When she was just a child, Heather’s life was altered by an accident that all but destroyed her internal organs. The doctors gave her no chance—but with God’s grace, she proved them wrong. When they said she would never walk, she defied them again. And though they insisted she could never have children, she did. When others said no—God said yes. More than a story of suffering and survival, Heather’s life is a testament to the power of faith. From the first decisive moments after the accident, Heather and her mother were able to give their fear and panic to God, and trust Him to act as a source of strength in their lives. With her husband DeWayne and her daughter Mackenzie—the two greatest miracles in her life—Heather has found great joy, and many reasons to give praise. This is her amazing and inspiring true story.
Gary Gray marries his first girlfriend, a fellow student from Central Florida Christian College who loves Disney World as much as he does. They are 19 years old, God-fearing, and eager to start a family, but a week before their wedding Gary goes into a rest-stop bathroom and lets something happen. God Says No is his testimony -- the story of a young black Christian struggling with desire and belief, with his love for his wife and his appetite for other men, told in a singular, emotional voice. Driven by desperation and religious visions, the path that Gary Gray takes -- from revival meetings to "out" life in Atlanta to a pray-away-the-gay ministry in Memphis, Tennessee -- gives a riveting picture of how a life like his can be lived, and how it can't.
Has God said? Has God actually spoken, declared himself and his purposes to us? Historically the Christian faith has affirmed God's redemptive, revelatory speaking as historical, contentful, redemptive, centrally in Jesus Christ and, under Christ and by the Spirit, in the text of Holy Scripture. But in the past three centuries developments in Western culture have created a crisis in relation to historical, divine authority. The modern reintroduction of destructive dualisms, cosmological and epistemological, via Descartes, Newton, Spinoza, and Kant have injured not only the physical sciences (e.g., positivism) but Christian theology as well. The resulting "eclipse of God" has permeated Western culture. In terms of the Christian understanding of revelation, it has meant the separation of God from historical action, the rejection of God's actual self-declaration, and especially in textual form, Holy Scripture. After critical analysis of these dualistic developments, this book presents the problematic effects in both Protestant (Schleiermacher, Bultmann, Tillich) and Roman Catholic (Rahner, Dulles) theology. The thought and influence of Karl Barth on the nature of Scripture is examined and distinguished from most "Barthian approaches." The effects of dualistic "Barthian" thought on contemporary evangelical views of Scripture (Pinnock, Fackre, Bloesch) are also critically analyzed and responses made (Helm, Wolterstorff, Packer). The final chapter is a christocentric, multileveled reformulation of the classical Scripture Principle, via Einstein, Torrance, and Calvin, that reaffirms the church's historical "identity thesis," that Holy Scripture is the written Word of God, a crucial aspect of God's larger redemptive-revelatory purpose in Christ.
Why is marriage so difficult? Why isnt our sex life as good as I expected? How can our marriage survive parenting? How can we have an enduring marriage? He Said, She Said, God Said gives the biblical answers to these and other commonly asked questions about marriage. Dan and Gina Trippie give the husbands and wifes perspectives on the joys and struggles that married couples face. They leave themselves vulnerable but are amusingly candid as they share their personal story of marital restoration. If you are married or hope to be one day, this is an excellent, gospel-centered resource that will give hope for every marriage.
This revised edition of the best selling And God Said What? introduces readers to the importance of understanding the various literary forms that appear in Scripture: myth, legend, debate, fiction, Gospel, parable, allegory, letter and apocalypse. Each genre is clearly defined, and the importance of understanding genre in order to find meaning is explored in relation to many well-known biblical passages: Samson, Lot's wife, Jonah, puzzling parables, 666, and many more. Written by an experienced teacher who has listened carefully to her students' questions, this book is an invaluable help to those who want to understand the revelation contained in the old and new covenants.
This is the personal testimony of a senior citizen looking back over her life. Jehovah Shammah was always present. Yes, God was present and active in her life even when she was not aware of it. His protection His mercy and His love are evident in the fact that she is alive today. The reader will see the Lord's protection over her life. According to Scripture, "The Lord is my Shepherd." He is Jehovah- Rohi. This testimony gives the reader a brief view of her early years and her family as you take this journey with her. Hopefully, you will recall times when God stepped into situations in your life. This testimony invites the reader to express their thoughts along the way. To get the most out of this experience respond by writing your personal thoughts.
The 2018 winner of the Yale Drama Series competition is a riveting exploration of family and death Set in Kentucky, this compelling drama centers around a Japanese-American family reunited as their matriarch undergoes cancer treatment. The father, James, is a recovering alcoholic seeking redemption, and the two daughters are struggling to overcome their differences--Sophie is an ardent born-again Christian, while Hiro lives a single's life in New York City. John, an old high school classmate of Hiro's who is now a single dad, worries about leaving a legacy for his son. Wry and bittersweet, God Said This vividly captures the complexities of a familial reconciliation in the throes of crisis and looks deeply at the meaning of family--Japanese, Southern, and otherwise. This is the first Yale Drama Series winner chosen by Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, who describes the play as conveying "a deeply felt sense of the universal--of the perfection of our parents' flawed love for each other and for us; for the ways in which the approach of death can order the meaning of a human life."
Inspired by his nine-book Conversations with God series, many people have asked Neale Donald Walsch to find a way to deliver the most essential pieces of God's message in a more succinct way. The result is a concise text detailing and expanding just what we need to know about life and how to live it. Bringing his many conversations over the years into sharper focus than ever before, Walsch encourages readers to cast aside religious and cultural trappings, and to build on, broaden, and enrich our Ancient Story. But to move forward on this ever-expanding and encompassing spiritual voyage means not only understanding what Walsch considers the most important insights of his Conversations with God, but also applying them in the most practical of ways. And so Walsch has included solid suggestions on how to apply each of the 25 Core Messages in daily life. Should humanity begin carrying these messages forward, starting today, we can change the world.
