This large-print edition of Thirty Steps to Heaven includes an industry standard 16pt font on bright white paper. This edition is ideal for the visually impaired, late-night readers, or anyone who prefers reading larger type. Many laypeople have attempted to read the great spiritual classic, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, but have been frustrated in attempting to apply the lessons of this monastic text to their everyday lives in the world. In Thirty Steps, Archimandrite Vassilios interprets the Ladder for the ordinary Christian without sacrificing any of its beauty and power. Now you too can accept the challenge offered by St. John Climacus to ascend closer to God with each passing day.
Many laypeople have attempted to read the great spiritual classic, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, but have been frustrated in attempting to apply the lessons of this monastic text to their everyday lives in the world. Archimandrite Vassilios interprets the Ladder for the ordinary Christian without sacrificing any of its beauty and power. Now you too can accept the challenge offered by St. John Climacus to ascend closer to God with each passing day.--
Edited by Vassilios Papavassiliou, the Ancient Faith Prayer Book brings together the most ancient and popular prayers of Orthodox Christians with some additions that address issues of modern life, all rendered in elegant contemporary English and presented in a compact format (4.5 X 7 inches) for ease of use. NOW AVAILABLE WITH A BURGUNDY COVER.
No matter how dedicated to Christ you are, familiarity can blunt your fervor and even make you less vigilant against sin. That's why you need this warm guide! It reveals what you must do in order to begin living your life with God truly at the center of everything you do. With these seventeen steps, you'll be able to prevent your love for God from being diminished by day-to-day pressures. The author, Fr. Leo J. Trese, helps you to integrate into your actions the truths you profess. He gives you solid ways to look squarely at the reality and love of God and to root out contrary attachments in your life, showing you how to improve your confessions, pray more fervently, and let the fact of God's love and the joys of Heaven inspire you to be holy. Refreshingly unlike many modern writers, Fr. Trese speaks bluntly of Hell and of the devastating magnitude of sin. But don't despair! He also discloses the remedies you can use to root out even the most entrenched sinful habits and attachments. Simple, profound, and insightful, this book is an effective and long-lasting antidote to the spiritual dry rot that infects the soul of even the most careful Catholics. Make your salvation a vivifying reality as Fr. Trese shows you: Why Heaven is worth living for, working for, and suffering for in this life God's anger: what the inspired writers of Scripture mean when they use this phrase - and how you can avoid this anger Do you truly belong to Christ? Four qualities you'll have if you do What you must do if your confessions have become casual and thoughtless "It's only a venial sin" why this is one of the saddest phrases you could ever speak God's judgment: how you can (and should) start getting ready now for this moment of divine truth Suffering from strong temptations? Three things you can do today to overcome them Plus: more to help you attain a truly soul-nourishing relationship with God!
One couple's inspiring memoir of healing a Rwandan village, raising a family near the old killing fields, and building a restaurant named Heaven. Newlyweds Josh and Alissa were at a party and received a challenge that shook them to the core: do you think you can really make a difference? Especially in a place like Rwanda, where the scars of genocide linger and poverty is rampant? While Josh worked hard bringing food and health care to the country's rural villages, Alissa was determined to put their foodie expertise to work. The couple opened Heaven, a gourmet restaurant overlooking Kigali, which became an instant success. Remarkably, they found that between helping youth marry their own local ingredients with gourmet recipes (and mix up "the best guacamole in Africa") and teaching them how to help themselves, they created much-needed jobs while showing that genocide's survivors really could work together. While first a memoir of love, adventure, and family, A Thousand Hills to Heaven also provides a remarkable view of how, through health, jobs, and economic growth, our foreign aid programs can be quickly remodeled and work to end poverty worldwide.
Before the entrance of sin, Adam enjoyed open communion with his Maker; but since man separated himself from God by transgression, the human race has been cut off from this high privilege. By the plan of redemption, however, a way has been opened whereby the inhabitants of the earth may still have connection with heaven. God has communicated with men by His Spirit, and divine light has been imparted to the world by revelations to His chosen servants. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21. During the first twenty-five hundred years of human history, there was no written revelation. Those who had been taught of God, communicated their knowledge to others, and it was handed down from father to son, through successive generations. The preparation of the written word began in the time of Moses. Inspired revelations were then embodied in an inspired book. This work continued during the long period of sixteen hundred years,—from Moses, the historian of creation and the law, to John, the recorder of the most sublime truths of the gospel. The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was written by human hands; and in the varied style of its different books it presents the characteristics of the several writers. The truths revealed are all “given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16); yet they are expressed in the words of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds and hearts of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures; and those to whom the truth was thus revealed, have themselves embodied the thought in human language. The ten commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were written by His own hand. They are of divine, and not of human composition. But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a union of the divine and the human. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man. Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:14. Written in different ages, by men who differed widely in rank and occupation, and in mental and spiritual endowments, the books of the Bible present a wide contrast in style, as well as a diversity in the nature of the subjects unfolded. Different forms of expression are employed by different writers; often the same truth is more strikingly presented by one than by another. And as several writers present a subject under varied aspects and relations, there may appear, to the superficial, careless, or prejudiced reader, to be discrepancy or contradiction, where the thoughtful, reverent student, with clearer insight, discerns the underlying harmony. As presented through different individuals, the truth is brought out in its varied aspects. One writer is more strongly impressed with one phase of the subject; he grasps those points that harmonize with his experience or with his power of perception and appreciation; another seizes upon a different phase; and each, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, presents what is most forcibly impressed upon his own mind—a different aspect of the truth in each, but a perfect harmony through all. And the truths thus revealed unite to form a perfect whole, adapted to meet the wants of men in all the circumstances and experiences of life. God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled them to do this work. He guided the mind in the selection of what to speak and what to write. The treasure was intrusted to earthen vessels, yet it is, none the less, from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed through the imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the testimony of God; and the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the glory of a divine power, full of grace and truth.
This story starts with the premise that we are not our bodies. We are our souls. Our consciousness live on when we leave the earth through death. It is only our body that decays and dies. We continue to develop our souls during each lifetime we visit the earth and then go back to being only consciousness. In choosing a new lifetime each soul knows there are natural earth stages we each must endure to develop new earth lessons. There are seven stages that we pass through to arrive back to this eternal sacredness of ourselves. In each of us lies a quest to find our own soul’s purpose, and to find our way home by becoming soul again through Silence, Hope, Suffering, Loss, Survival, Believe, Heaven. The story begins as a new Soul arrives on Earth to learn the lessons she has chosen for this lifetime. As a child she experiences her steps by her Silence; in her Hope; through her Suffering; in her Loss; and throughout her Survival of abandonment, abuse, loss and her withdrawal into her Soul. As a mother she experiences her steps of Silence, Hope, Suffering, Loss, and Survival as she comes to Believe her Soul, but she buries its profundity deep inside herself as she grieves the painful losses of her beloved ones. Throughout the story of Becoming Soul she Believes she not only heals her own grief but travels through time and heals generations of grieving in those she Believes walks her journey with her. She continues her own unique Seven Steps to Heaven by choosing to remain on Earth to guide others in their own journey through their Seven Steps to Heaven to Becoming Soul. ‘Beautifully written and the subject matter is unique. I feel like you have something wonderful here.’ James Van Praagh. Best-selling author, internationally acclaimed spiritual teacher, and founder of the James Van Praagh School of Mystical Arts ‘A beautiful deeply moving and timeless story of relationships and love. It captures the readers’ imagination and you can become lost in your own story while reading it. It is hard to put down, you just want to know what happens next.’ Suellen Campbell, spiritual healer and teacher. Best of Health Australia Pty Ltd.
THE INSPIRATIONAL CLASSIC FROM THE MASTER STORYTELLER WHOSE BOOKS HAVE TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF OVER 40 MILLION READERS 'Mitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary' Cecilia Ahern _________ To his mind, Eddie has lived an uninspiring life. Now an old man, his job is to fix rides at a seaside amusement park. On his eighty-third birthday, Eddie's time on earth comes to an end. When a cart falls from the fairground, he rushes to save a little girl's life and tragically dies in the attempt. When Eddie awakens, he learns that the afterlife is not a destination, but a place where your existence is explained to you by five people - some of whom you knew, others who were ostensibly strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, five individuals revisit their connections to Eddie on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his 'meaningless' life and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: 'Why was I here?' __________ WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN 'Breathtakingly beautiful. A story that will stay with you forever' 'A beautiful and flawlessly choreographed book . . . No other book may ever compare' 'One of my favourite books . . . Wonderful, inspirational, and heart-warming! To me, it is a MUST READ! 'The book is beyond words . . . Well written, engaging, poignant' 'This really is a wonderful book. You should read it'
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.
