It's obvious from the bookshelves and the big screen that heaven is on everyone's mind. All of us long to know what life after death will be like. Bestselling author John Burke is no exception. For decades, he has been studying accounts of people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs). While not every detail of individual NDEs correlate with Scripture, Burke shows how the common experiences shared by thousands of survivors clearly point to the God of the Bible and the exhilarating picture of heaven he promises. Imagine Heaven is an inspirational journey through the Bible's picture of heaven, colored in with the real-life stories of heaven's wonders. Burke compares gripping stories of NDEs to what Scripture says about our biggest questions of heaven: Will I be myself? Will I see friends and loved ones? What will it look like? What is God like? What will we do forever? What about children and pets? This book will propel readers into an experience that will forever change their view of the life to come and the way they live life today. It also tackles the tough questions of heavenly reward and hellish NDEs. Anyone interested in NDEs or longing to imagine heaven more clearly will enjoy this fascinating and hope-filled book.
This girl is hungry for the weight of a camera in her hands, but that desire feels wicked. Is it because her father is a war photographer and photography has always been his domain? Or is it because she's yet to become a woman who chases what she wants? And who's to say photography can't be her domain, too? At least she knows this: Salvation lies in pixels. Heaven is a photograph. This collection of narrative poems and photographs tells the story of an art student and her journey of doubt, longing, and questioning. Join her as she finds her power behind the lens. "With Heaven is a Photograph, Christine Sloan Stoddard presents you with a poetic meditation on the fear and desire of making images (and claiming one's power). Intellectually and spiritually rich, her words and images imprint on your mind and heart with beauty, honesty and recognition." -Art Jones, artist and filmmaker "Heaven is a Photograph is a living hagiography of a girl who cannot decide whether or not pursuing photography is a sin. Conflicted by gender expectations and the uncertainty of a career in the arts, the one thing that the protagonist knows is that photography is a deeply spiritual practice, enveloping her life. It is truly an autobiography of many women in the arts." -Gretchen Gales, executive editor of Quail Bell Magazine, as seen in Ms. Magazine, The Mighty, and Roar Feminist Magazine "Heaven is a Photograph is a unique exploration of poetry and photography you'll only experience through Christine Sloan Stoddard's magic. The power of her words will shake the core of your being. She doesn't just take pictures-she gives them." -Ghia Vitale, senior editor of Quail Bell Magazine, as seen in Everyday Feminism, xoJane, and BUST "Heaven is a Photograph puts the reader behind, in front of, and inside the camera through Christine Sloan Stoddard's evocative poetry and photography. Through the lens of her viewpoint character, the collection demonstrates the personal and universal appeal of photography in a vivid and impactful manner. Stoddard describes the art of photography as it relates to memory, creation, and legacy in a way that makes the act of clicking the shutter button both an artistic and a spiritual act." -Alex Carrigan, senior critic at Quail Bell Magazine "The narrator of Christine Stoddard's Heaven is a Photograph is hungry. For art. For success. For salvation. For the weight of a camera in her hands. She laments that photography is slow to love her back, which is perhaps what makes this collection so intoxicating. The unchecked, sometimes fearful and unabashedly female desire of a woman who cannot contain her passion-who would let it consume her-explodes in words and images." -Mari Pack, author of Description of a New World (dancing girl press)
Heaven is for real, and you are going to like it! Colton Burpo came back from his trip to heaven with a very important message: Jesus really, really loves children. In an effort to reach even more families with this eternally significant story, this runaway bestseller is now told from Colton-kid to kids! Children will receive the same comfort and assurance that so many adults have received from the trade book. Beautifully illustrated under Colton's direction, he shares his experiences in first person and comments on things that will be important to kids. A letter to parents is included to guide them as they talk to their children about heaven. Scripture along with a Q&A section with answers from the Bible are also included in the book.
"The ancient Egyptians were the first geographical planners to develop a system establishing an image of heaven on earth. This book completes ten years of research into how the Pyramid Field depicts The Constellation of Horus, the deity who bore the meaning of power and invincibility and who guarded the Pharaoh. Rather than randomly pick certain pyramids, Zitman is the first scholar able to make sense of the entire era of pyramid building. Is this depiction of Heaven on Earth an inheritance of the mythical Followers of Horus, who were said to rule Egyptian in Predynastic times? Zitman reveals how time and space were perceived by the Egyptians as sacred ingredients, and that they mixed into a divine master plan, which for the first time is unveiled in its entirety. The precision (of the Egyptians) was amazing by any standards, and there is no doubt that the Pyramids were astronomically designed." -- Patrick Moore.
#1 New York Times bestseller with more than 11 million copies sold! When 4-year-old Colton Burpo emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven, his family doesn’t know what to believe. Heaven is For Real details what Colton saw and his family’s journey towards accepting their young son had visited the afterlife. “Do you remember the hospital, Colton?” Sonja said. “Yes, mommy, I remember,” he said. “That’s where the angels sang to me.” Colton told his parents he left his body during an emergency surgery–and proved that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital during his operation. He talked of visiting heaven and described events that happened before he was born and how he spoke with family members he’d never met. Colton also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, even though he had not yet learned to read. With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton recounts his visit to heaven, describing: Meeting long-departed family members Jesus, the angels, how “really, really big” God is, and how much God loves us How Jesus called Todd, Colton’s father, to be a pastor The Battle of Armageddon Retold by his father, but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.” Heaven Is for Real will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a child. Praise for Heaven is for Real: “A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubt and thrill those who believe.” —Ron Hall, coauthor of Same Kind of Different as Me
An unknown masterpiece of visionary art—as daring as Blake or Goya, but utterly different—reproduced in full color, with a commentary by one of our most original art historians Somewhere in Europe—we don't know where—around 1700. An artist is staring at something on the floor next to her worktable. It's just a log from the woodpile, stood on end. The soft, damp bark; the gently raised growth rings; the dark radial cracks—nothing could be more ordinary. But as the artist looks, and looks, colors begin to appear—shapes—even figures. She turns to a sheet of paper and begins to paint. Today this anonymous artist's masterpiece is preserved in the University of Glasgow Library. It is a manuscript in a plain brown binding, whose entire contents, beyond a cryptic title page, are fifty-two small, round watercolor paintings based on the visions she saw in the ends of firewood logs. This book reproduces the entire sequence of paintings in full color, together with a meditative commentary by the art historian James Elkins. Sometimes, he writes, we can glimpse the artist's sources—Baroque religious art, genre painting, mythology, alchemical manuscripts, emblem books, optical effects. But always she distorts her images, mixes them together, leaves them incomplete—always she rejects familiar stories and clear-cut meanings. In this daring refusal to make sense, Elkins sees an uncannily modern attitude of doubt and skepticism; he draws a portrait of the artist as an irremediably lonely, amazingly independent soul, inhabiting a distinct historical moment between the faded Renaissance and the overconfident Enlightenment. What Heaven Looks Like is a rare event: an encounter between a truly perceptive historian of images, and a master conjurer of them.
For nearly two thousand years the Chinese Emporer, self-proclaimed ruler of `All under Heaven', demanded the obedience not only of his subjects within China but also of peoples throughout the known world. Maps played a crucial role in the administration of this vast system of states. Charts of foreign lands and images of the `barbarians' that populated them presented the world as the Chinese wanted it to be seen: with the Middle Kingdom as lord and other states as vassals paying tribute to it. In this richly illustrated history, Richard J. Smithshows how the Chinese depicted foreign lands and peoples in maps and encyclopedias through the centuries. He discusses the debates surrounding the production of maps, as well as their technical aspects and political, military and administrative uses. Reproductions of many of the most beautiful and noteworthy maps of the Chinese world accompany the text. More than simple refelections of the lands and peoples they depict, these maps and illustrations are documents that reveal the evolving values of the grand and powerful society that produced them
The must-have photography monograph of the year, this lavish oversized volume celebrates David Yarrow's unparalleled wildlife imagery. For more than two decades, legendary British photographer David Yarrow has been putting himself in harm's way to capture immersive and evocative photography of the world's most revered and endangered species. With his images heightening awareness of those species and also raising huge sums for charity and conservation, he is one of the most relevant photographers in the world today. Featuring Yarrow's 150 most iconic photographs, this book offers a truly unmatched view of some of the world's most compelling animals. The collection of stunning images, paired with Yarrow's first-person contextual narrative, offers insight into a man who will not accept second best in his relentless pursuit of excellence. David Yarrow Photography offers a balanced retrospective of his spectacular work in the wild and his staged storytelling work, which has earned him wide acclaim in the fine-art market. Yarrow rarely just takes pictures--he almost always makes them. This approach sets him apart from others in the field. Yarrow's work will awaken our collective conscience, and--true to form--he plans to donate all the royalties from this book to conservation
