LITMIR.BIZ

Success in today's business environment may seem difficult or elusive for those who desire to conduct themselves with integrity. To be genuinely successful, you need more than just talent; you need wisdom that can help conquer any situation or problem that comes your way. But wisdom that brings us real success is not worldly wisdom; we need godly wisdom to succeed in all aspects of our lives. Unlike success, godly wisdom is not elusive; it is readily accessible through prayer and God's written Word. In the Bible, a treasure trove of godly wisdom is found in the book of Proverbs. Solomon Was a Businessman examines the wisdom of those proverbs from a business perspective and presents devotionals that enlighten and encourage. Written by business professionals and based on real-life experiences, this book can be read over and over to reveal new treasures of godly wisdom as your life experiences and spiritual needs change.

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God's word begins with the tree of life and the tree of knowledge watered by a river nourishing Eden. As it ends with the image of a tree by a river appearing in heaven, the redeemed who have stood as «a tree planted by streams of water, bringing the fruits of the spirit, and birds and animals of every kind find shelter» are healed by its leaves. In the ecology of trees, we find the believer, rooted in living water, lifting to the heavens, sheltering others, and bearing fruit. From communities of pines and oaks of the North American continent, to the solitary baobab silhouetted on the African savannah, to the restoration of Israel's cedars in Asia, trees are being felled under a darkening warfare to silence God's words. Every year an estimated 100,000 Christians die for their faith. Hundreds more suffer loss of home and jobs. Churches burn and worshippers are slaughtered. Jesus is being argued in the courts and classrooms. His believers are imprisoned and beheaded. Our Trees of Life combines the tangible world of trees around us with an image of God's concern for us in a world increasingly hostile to his word.

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Most consumers of mental health services assume that psychology developed as a bias-free social science, with research data driving theory and practice. This view is greatly flawed, as virtually all of the key theorists advanced their views based primarily on observations, personal insights, and «beliefs.» These thinkers held a hostile view of faith, dismissing religious values as a sign of mental illness. While psychotherapy literally means «care of the soul,» mental health treatment largely excludes matters of the heart such as moral fiber and spirit. Lost has been the idea that virtues such as courage and hope play an intensely vital role in mental wellness. More troubling is the fact that most recipients of psychological services assume that mental health professionals, because of their training, possess sophisticated insights only they can dispense to relieve mental distress. Because the majority of mental health treatment has historically functioned from an illness model, both treatment providers and consumers have deemed faith beliefs and character strengths irrelevant to good mental health. Fortunately, the last twenty years of scientific research has reestablished the positive relationship between faith beliefs, character traits, and behavioral health that has been held sacrosanct throughout virtually all of human history. Through a distillation of these findings, Hidden Courage seeks to empower nonprofessionals with accessible, timeless principles that guide a good life.

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The shadow of eternity looms over the mind and heart of every reflective Christian. Amidst the constant demands, pressures, and uncertainties of the present world, how necessary it is that the one who knows Jesus Christ be focused on the eternal state and on preparation for that certain future? And yet, how difficult it is to compile all that Scripture says about heaven into a harmonious blend with the ethical and spiritual preparation necessary for the best enjoyment of that great hope.
In I to I, Louis Igou Hodges envisions a future context to draw together the various strands of biblical teaching regarding eternity. As he describes heaven from the perspective of a settled, glorified inhabitant, he places himself at the same point where every person will most certainly be one day. This glorified inhabitant describes the experiences of seeing prophecy fulfilled, enduring the Judgment Seat of Christ, and adjusting to life in the new heavens and the new earth.
A careful and reflective reading of this book ought to produce a paradigm shift in one's thinking, and should produce a transformation of the reader's values and goals. It ought to motivate the faithful reader to begin to lay up treasures in heaven, to use earthly resources to heavenly advantage, and to walk in such a way that he will hear His Master's, «Well done, good and faithful servant.»

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Abortion. Poverty. Pornography. More than thirty years ago evangelical conservatives, moderates, and liberals alike began tackling these and other major social problems head on through concerted political effort. The intervening decades witnessed the rise of groups such as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition, which supported numerous politicians and religiously driven policies. Why is it, then, that despite the seemingly great potential of these and other similar groups, the same pervading social problems still persist? How is it that evangelicals have been so ineffective at changing the political and social landscape of the United States in a positive way?
Based on a conference organized by Trinity Law School, God and Governing brings together theologians, politicians, law professors, and cultural critics in order to examine the root causes of evangelical political failure over the past thirty years. With a foreword by Charles Colson, contributors include David Wells, Paul Marshall, Os Guinness, Patrick Nolan, Vishal Mangalwadi, Dallas Willard, Donald McConnell, and Stephen Kennedy.

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SOren Kierkegaard's Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing is an astute analysis of inner dividedness. In this striking little book, Kierkegaard gently yet incisively specifies the precise forms it takes. Like many of SOren Kierkegaard's books, however, Purity of Heart contains a good deal of formidable prose.
The aim of The Divided Soul: A Kierkegaardian Exploration is to make Kierkegaard's scrutiny of our inner terrain in Purity of Heart accessible and inviting. With clear, direct prose, Clifford Williams lays bare Kierkegaard's discerning descriptions of the tension between a desire for goodness and resistance to goodness. Williams then reflects on themes arising from Kierkegaard's conception of faith.

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Professor Heussi? I Thought You are a Book is an entertaining account of six decades of graduate education with the subtitle A Memoir of Memorable Theological Educators, 1950-2010. In personal encounters as well as in books, academic icons appear on the horizon of memory: Viktor Frankl in Vienna, Karl Barth in Basel, Carl Jung in Zurich, Reinhold Niebuhr in New York, Paul Tillich at Harvard, and the doctor father Roland Bainton at Yale. They are mixed with has-beens, upstarts, and other special professorial characters. In this memoir of Lutheran scholar, Eric Gritsch, these accounts are also fed with collegial encounters during his thirty-three years of teaching and research in church history at the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, with international excursions for Luther research and ecumenical dialogue with Roman Catholics. Ambition, stamina, and humor are ingredients that spike this cocktail of theological education of a native of Austria in the 1950s and 60s. Connoisseurs of anecdotal learning will find some satisfaction in this personal history of graduate studies in Europe and in the United States.

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Many people think of prayer and worship in terms that are too narrow. Sometimes they also entertain presuppositions about prayer and worship that need to be expanded and critiqued and challenged to make them more mature and informed. This book seeks to address these issues. It is an invitation to engage with prayer and worship in ways that enlarge our capacity to think about, address, and encounter God through liturgy and theology, the arts and poetry, as well as basic critical thinking.

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In this day of increasing uncertainty and fear, faith in God is needed more than ever before. In addition to its incalculable other benefits, faith in God brings peace, comfort, and overflowing joy to those who put their trust in God. But not any kind of «faith» can procure these benefits, only biblical faith can. When understood in its biblical authenticity, and then put into action, faith always leads to triumph in that it enables us to experience what God ordained for us to obtain, perform, and become. In light of this, it is extremely important that we–the people of God–possess a comprehensive, biblically-based, practical tool to aid us in achieving this understanding. Real Faith in Action is that tool! It presents an unconventional, multi-dimensional view of faith, revealing many aspects usually not discussed in other works, through nine principles that are clearly laid out by the Holy Spirit in what is unquestionably the most comprehensive reporting of the working of faith in all of Scripture–the roll call of faith in Hebrews 11. The principles are thus illustrated through the real life experiences of fellow humans who dared to believe God for the impossible. Accordingly, the book goes beyond explaining faith to demonstrating faith. It is designed to captivate and draw the reader into the world of the faith heroes of the past, thus inspiring him or her to do likewise. Furthermore, in that real life experiences are discussed, any thought of being incapable of doing the same should be vanquished, knowing that others succeeded in their accomplishments by utilizing the same faith to which we also have access.

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The worship and organization of the Christian church must be defined by the Hellenistic world in which it took root and emerged victorious over Roman Imperial paganism. The struggle of the early church to maintain a testimony and doctrine that would be faithful to the «Rule of Faith»–which was established by the authority of certain Apostles who had the biggest impact in setting up the missional churches of the first century–and would conform to Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. Eusebia (piety) marks the Hellenistic understanding of all worship based on the relationships that are changed as a result of an encounter with a supreme being. This opens the door to explore all the aspects of Church History as a product of corporate worship. Five cities emerge in the apologetic and concilar church ages (150-850 CE) that have the greatest impact on the world of Christianity for all time. Those churches are called the Patristic churches because their bishops became the power holders of all the churches (for good or for bad). This book provides insight into the contribution of the five patriarchal cities (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, and Constantinople) to the worship, polity, doctrine, and traditions of the church. The account begins with the exegetical back-drop of the Hebrew and Greek words for worship and the impact of these in the milieu of a Jewish church and a gentile church. The study of the patriarchal leadership in the apostolic, apologetic, and concilar ages of the church marks a clear direction of the church to the beginnings of the medieval era. It clearly delineates the differences in the East and West and the struggles within the Empire to gain unity through preeminence of polity. A unique approach was taken to combine the historical events and activities of the leaders of each of the churches with motive and intent toward good or bad. It was written from a Protestant and Orthodox perspective, which adds insight to set up the spiritual and theological reasons for the Reformation that begun under Wycliffe, Huss, and later Luther.

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