LITMIR.BIZ

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Long before Moses wrote Genesis, the world's first astronomers invented star signs to illustrate a prophecy: a God-man would come to repair the breach between us and the Creator. Those starry figures were pirated, however, and used to advance a false religion which spread all over the world. Faithful men from Noah to the magi of the Christ child stood against that error, yet the true star signs all but vanished for millennia. Adam's Astronomy lays out the original signs, introduces the linguist who recovered them, and explains how she did it. The last chapter describes many deep sky objects whose traits–revealed by modern telescopes–illustrate the ancient message of the constellations in which they are found.

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Deep faith meets high tech here in The Renewal of Preaching in the Twenty-first Century. A communications revolution is sweeping through the churches leaving some on fire and others burned out. This work shows what makes the difference for church leaders and communities who are using new media to advance Christian preaching. Join them by recovering the great tradition and expanding it through creative use encouraged by artists and filmmakers as well as preachers and professors. This work explores ways to maximize the promise of preaching and confront the perils leading to the renewal of church and society. Beginning with review of the situation today, we proceed step by step through the preparation and presentation of the sermon leading to transformation. The sermon in the local parish is seen as the microcosm of the macrocosm that is the communication of God's good news.

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Many books on the market are designed to help us through times of suffering. They all offer answers and proposals for why we suffer, for what purpose is to be found in this experience, and for how can we go forward after our life has been shattered. Most approach the subject from the perspective of defending God. Historically the great and not-so-great thinkers of the Christian community have demanded that followers not blame God for their suffering or hold God responsible for the pain that they have experienced. Others have taught that God sends and uses pain to correct the wandering, wayward believer.
I have found that the majority of these answers leave readers without hope. Through several years of teaching about suffering and a concept in Christian theology called theodicy, and through listening to the personal stories told through anger and tears, I have struggled to recover teachings that open our hearts to God's promised hope. Resistant Hope is the result of my faith journey. This book does not set out to defend God. God does not need my defense. Resistant Hope is about how God works alone and through us, to teach us to fight back when we stand at the abyss of despair. Resistant Hope is a pathway to finding hope in the midst of the pain of daily life and at the moments of greatest grief and sorrow.

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People too often enter into conflict with an eye on how to resolve, manage, or transform it, thereby losing sight of the people involved and the end desired. Justice and peace too often serve as abstract ideals or distant shores. We have not yet learned enough about how these ends can also be the means of conflict resolution. Drawing on the imaginations of some leading peace and restorative justice practitioners, Justpeace Ethics identifies components of a justpeace imagination–the basis of an alternative ethics, where the end is touched with each step. In this simple companion to justpeace ethics, Jarem Sawatsky helps those struggling with how to respond to conflict and violence in both just and peaceful ways. He offers practical examples of how analysis, intervention, and evaluation can be rooted in a justpeace imagination.

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More than at any time in the past, today's evangelicals struggle to understand what the essence of the Christian faith really is. The basic teachings of Jesus Christ have been lost in many pulpits and have been replaced with feel good doctrines foreign to God's Word. Christians who want to defend their faith must first have a basic understanding of what it is and how to support it with Scriptural proofs. This book assembles the fundamentals of the Christian religion in an easy-to-read, question-and-answer format. Whether you are continuing your pursuit of biblical knowledge or just beginning, this little instructional book will go a long way toward achieving your goal.

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The Gospel of Mark has long been regarded as «The Gospel of Action.» It contains more miracles and supernatural phenomena than Matthew, Luke, or John. In fact, a third of Mark's Gospel is centered on the miraculous deeds of Jesus. Mark is clearly more concerned with what Jesus did than with what He said. From the vision that Jesus experienced at His baptism to the supernatural events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection, Dr. Spell will take the reader on a journey of exploration through the pages of Mark's Gospel. The miracles of Jesus are as profoundly important for us today as they were for those who experienced them. This study will help to guide readers in finding insights for their own lives.

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The poet's quest is one of wide magnitude. He or she must explore the untapped regions of mind and spirit and then proceed to paint a picture in words of that strange and mysterious landscape. The book before you is such a picture, depicting a new yet ancient province of the soul. By middle age, it starts to become obvious to most of us that we operate with a split mind; the lesser mind that focuses on the acquisition and defense of things and the higher mind that impels us to a more unified reality. With age and experience, the acquisition of wealth, status, and sophistication start to pale in comparison to the more etheric goals of peace, freedom, and union with our Creator. As we start to notice a shorter road ahead than behind, we seek a more meaningful existence. We intensify our search for union with our earthly brothers and our heavenly Father. In effect, we require a reality based on our need to be free, whole, and eternal. By now, we are far too skeptical to accept wishful thinking as our truth, yet still yearn for an intellectual and spiritual certainty that we can believe in simply because the case for it is far too compelling to ignore. After several decades of just such a search I discovered a path that, at long last, gave me confidence in the truth of a divine Mind and Spirit. That path led me to a place that my soul knew and honored as divine. From that connection and in that place, this book was born.

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Christians have been interpreting Scripture with an aim of deepening their life with God and each other from the very beginning of the church. The past twenty years or so have witnessed an explosion of scholarly writing devoted to the theological interpretation of Scripture. Stephen Fowl, as an active participant in and contributor to the burgeoning literature, has written an ideal companion for guests at the «large and somewhat chaotic party,» introducing them to important people, texts, and issues. The companion explores some of the connections between the long-running and essential Christian practice of theological interpretation and the more recent body of scholarly literature. Ultimately, the companion hopes to encourage readers to join the party in their own right.

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If the Bible teaches that the Lord is sovereign over all and that mankind is naturally hostile towards God, then it stands to reason that we would never choose the Lord apart from the Holy Spirit working within us to change our hearts. Proceeding from this logical starting point of God's sovereignty and man's depravity, it necessarily follows that God must save His people from their sins, those that are otherwise helpless and in a desperate state. No theological system like Reformed theology allows one to remain consistent when carrying out one's beliefs to the ultimate conclusions as the doctrines of God's sovereignty and grace do.
Murrell examines common arguments against Calvinism and demonstrates how they are oftentimes the result of misunderstandings, faulty reasoning, or poor scriptural exegesis. God's sovereignty is not so much a barrier to Calvinism as it is a powerful support for it.

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