LITMIR.BIZ

Then God Said teaches us to open our eyes and behold the gifts of creation that unfold before us in all their splendor. We abide in awe before the generative forces of the universe. We delight in the splendor of created things and thank God for this outpouring of gifts from the beginning of time. Each chapter of Then God Said invites us to contemplate the first revelation in creation–from water and sky to cattle and creeping things. We ponder, page by page, the power of the Father, the presence of the Son, and the productivity of the Holy Spirit. We behold anew the majesty of this planet and the merciful dispensation of the Divine under which we live day by day. We celebrate the beauty of the earth and the sheer majesty of each minute trace of the transcendent. Readers are encouraged to find the footprints of love that move the sun, the moon, and all the stars. Creation not only reminds us of God's glory; it offers us a sacramental understanding of all that we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell, thereby increasing our ecological sensitivity and our commitment to foster respectful stewardship over all that we survey.

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This Moment of Retreat is a companion guide to spiritual growth and healing. Over the course of seven chapters, readers are encouraged to retreat into the present moment to listen to the healing guidance that is being sung in the voices of Scripture, prayer and meditation, journaling, poetry, and song. Each chapter features a theme of healing and offers an opportunity for personal or group retreat through prose, poetry, prayer, or reflection activities that help the reader claim beauty in the midst of the darkness that so often accompanies–and fuels–the growth of the soul. Readers will find soul-touching inspiration in the lyrics and links to original songs by author Heather Lee included in each chapter. While listening and singing along with these songs, the teaching and healing work of their retreat moments will be deepened through music and voice. In a society that is so often governed by fear, worry, and shame, this book discovers and embraces the beauty of the imperfect self, the process of healing, and the way-finding to life by encouraging spiritual depth, presence, listening, and ongoing conversation with God.

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Public worship is the nursery of the Holy Spirit. As you enter the sanctuary, you notice them at once. Then, as you take your seat next to a family, they are right there beside you. Throughout the ensuing service, you see them–and hear them. The presence of children in public worship is not only striking, but also increasingly strange in modern American church life. In fact, the idea of your children sitting or standing next to you during prayer, singing, or the pastor's sermon can be downright scary. This book is based in the conviction that public worship is the nursery of the Holy Spirit and that bringing children in is both beneficial and a blessing. The Nursery of the Holy Spirit offers practical advice on how to make this ideal a reality in your children's lives.

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Papua New Guinea is experiencing changes that grow in significance and accelerate in pace. Although the majority of its population are still subsistence farmers, the postmodern world is fast making an impact. That means that, at the same time, they are strongly influenced by firmly ingrained tradition where animism is binding and a pervasive element as well as Western media with its consumerism and worldview. The most impacted are youth who are caught between the traditional and postmodern culture. In a country that is Christian by constitution, pastors are looked upon with high esteem. They need to find a way to bridge the gap, to make sense of the world youth are living in, and find a meaningful way forward. Although this book is aimed at pastors and youth workers in PNG, other sectors can benefit from the research–politicians, educators, health workers, clergy–especially if they are coming from a different culture, be that from PNG or another country.

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In this book, Ron DelBene introduces a concept of prayer that will help persons new to prayer as well as veterans of the life of prayer. The Breath Prayer is a short prayer of praise and petition that is meant to help us become aware of the presence of God. It is a way to have on our lips what is always in our heart, DelBene explains.
The author leads the leader to discover his or her own personal and individualized breath prayer, a prayer that may be prayed at any time of the day or night. He gives historical examples of the breath prayer used in ancient writings as well as modern-day examples of how persons have utilized and been helped by this way of praying
Other titles in the The Breath of Life Series are The Hunger of the Heart: A Call to Spiritual Growth and Alone with God: A Guide for Personal Retreats, both written by Ron DelBene with Mary and Herb Montgomery.

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Combining the faith-development theory of James Fowler with the psychodynamics of Viktor Frankl, and utilizing many of the insights of contemporary biblical scholarship, the author has here proposed a unique and provocative interpretation of the life of Jesus as described in the Epistle to the Hebrews as the «leader and perfector of faith.»
No doubt, many will find this approach to a «life of Christ» to be novel, even disturbingly «unorthodox». Yet it has been written in the conviction that the faith of most Christians, for the most part, has fallen into the heresy of «monophysitism», if not in theory, at least in practice amounting to a denial of Jesus as a human being and, as a result, a person of faith.
In addition, in his «Christological Postscript», the author has sketched out the beginnings of a new, more evolutionary approach to understanding how Jesus might be understood to be divine, even while remaining the fully human character depicted in this book.

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Essays at the End of the Age examines the rise and fall of nihilism in the context of the cycles of intellectual history and suggests ways to go beyond it.
The modern era began with Descartes and the attempt to use the cogito to obtain a clear understanding of transcendent being. Unfortunately, the cogito led to nothingness through its resistance to constructs of «being.» Then Kant attempted to synthesize nothingness with being in the transcendental aesthetic, with mixed results. Finally, Nietzsche used the power of nothingness itself (or nihilism) to negate any concept of being for the sake of the will to power.
But nihilism led to the same nothingness as the cogito did, since nihilism, too, was based on resistance. The limitations of the superman became evident through the art and culture that reflected his negative ideal of absolute resistance to «the good»–and yet nihilism also indicates the end of philosophy and its attempt to describe transcendent value and the good of happiness. The superman is dead, and philosophy appears to be dead as well.
The question now is whether it is possible to go beyond nihilism and find the identity, purpose, and meaning that the human spirit craves. Essays at the End of the Age uses illustrations from literature, music, science, and sacred texts to show why the superman failed to obtain happiness, and to point the way to a new mode of being.

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In this thoroughly revised edition of a classic in spirituality, Walter Brueggemann guides the reader into a thoughtful and moving encounter with the Psalms. This new edition includes a revised text, new notes, and new bibliography.
"The movement and meeting of God with us is indeed a speech-event in which new humanness is evoked among us. Being attentive to language means cultivating the candid imagination to bring our own experience to the Psalms and permitting it to be disciplined by the speech of the Psalms. And, conversely, it means letting the Psalms address us and having that language reshape our sensitivities and fill our minds with new pictures and images that may redirect our lives." –from Chapter 3

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The Young Baptist's Catechism is a summary of the basic teachings of Christianity. Written in a question-and-answer format, this book of instruction is to be used by young children or other laypeople as a guide in daily devotions and as a study of Holy Scripture. Every Christian, no matter how young, ought to have a complete understanding of the true teachings of the Bible. This catechism, taken from the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, is meant to fill the role of teaching especially the young about Christian belief. This wonderful guide will introduce young children to the historic Reformed faith.

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Depression and related illnesses threaten to wreck the lives of many teens and their families. Suicide driven by these illnesses is one of the top killers of these young people. How do teens become depressed? What does depression feel like? How can we identify it? What helps depressed teens? What hurts them? How do families cope with teen depression? In A Relentless Hope Gary Nelson uses his experience as a pastor and pastoral counselor to guide the reader through an exploration of these and many other questions about teen depression. Nelson has worked with many teens over the years offering help to those who find themselves confronted by this potentially devastating attacker. The author also uses the story of his own son's journey through depression to weave together insights into the spiritual, emotional, cognitive, biological, and relational dimensions of teen depression. Through careful analysis, candid self-revelation, practical advice, and even humor, this pastor, counselor, and father reminds us that God's light of healing can shine through the darkness of depression and offer hope. A Relentless Hope is written for teens, parents, teachers, pastors, and any who walk with the afflicted through this valley of the shadow of death.

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