Living Witness

Living Witness PDF

Author: Ralph Yznaga

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2012-04-02

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 1603447679

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In a beautiful tribute to the natural heritage of the Lone Star State, photographer Ralph Yznaga celebrates the strong connections between Texans and their trees. Inspired by the old Texas Forest Service book, Famous Trees of Texas, Yznaga has captured the continuing attachment we have to these magnificent reminders of our culture and history. Stunning images, stories, a detailed map, and driving directions to thirty-seven famous (and infamous) trees help us appreciate how entwined the lives of people and trees are: The Treaty Oak, memorialized in Texas lore as a meeting place for Native Americans and also as the site of Stephen F. Austin’s first boundary treaty with local Indians; The Burnt Oak, standing witness to the dramatic events leading up to the Battle of the Alamo, one of the largest known specimens of Quercus virginiana var. fusiformis; The Sam Houston Kissing Oak, said to occupy the location of a Houston campaign speech near San Marcos, where the "Old Hero" kissed local young women who presented him with a flag; The Great Goose Island Tree, believed to be more than a thousand years old; and many others. The photographs in Living Witness premiered at the groundbreaking of the Mollie Steves Zachry Texas Arboretum at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Set to open in 2012, the centennial of Lady Bird Johnson’s birth, the arboretum will feature descendents of historic trees in the Hall of Texas Heroes.

Living Gently in a Violent World

Living Gently in a Violent World PDF

Author: Jean Vanier

Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com

Published: 2010-06-21

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 1458756092

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

How are Christians to live in a violent and wounded world? Rather than contending for privilege by wielding power and authority, we can witness prophetically from a position of weakness. The church has much to learn from an often overlooked community--those with disabilities. In this fascinating book, theologian Stanley Hauer was collaborates wi...

Leaving the Witness

Leaving the Witness PDF

Author: Amber Scorah

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2020-06-02

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 073522255X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"A fascinating glimpse into the consciousness of being an outsider in every possible way, and what it takes to find your path into the life you'd like to lead."--Nylon A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries. A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture--and a whole new way of thinking--turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true. As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness. Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery--with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.

Nature's Witness

Nature's Witness PDF

Author: Daniel M. Harrell

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 0687642353

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

People of faith insist that God is the God of the world around us. Yet scientific evidence supporting evolution seems to offer an explanation of reality different from the biblical one. In light of this apparent conflict, some choose either to deny the scientific data or separate science and faith from each other, giving the appearance that faith is disconnected from reality. Others accommodate faith to science, but run the risk of watering down faith such that faith "fills in the blanks" left by science. Against these options, Daniel Harrell asserts that the evidence for evolution accurately describes the world we see, but insists that this description does not adequately serve as an explanation for the world. Rather than seeing science and faith as diametrically opposed, Harrell suggests that evolutionary data actually opens the door for deeper theological reflection on God's creation. Writing out of a pastoral concern for those struggling to negotiate faith and evolution, Harrell argues that being reliable witnesses to creation helps people of faith be reliable witnesses to its creator. Whether they are pastors wondering how to talk about these issues with their congregations, or students asking whether their biology classes make their faith irrelevant, Harrell's readers are winsomely led on a journey of exploration in which a robust biblical faith can be held along with affirmation of the scientific data for evolution.

Living Witness

Living Witness PDF

Author: Andy Draycott

Publisher: Wipf and Stock

Published: 2013-01-24

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781498266710

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Description: Because God calls his people to be a living witness to him, morality is mission. Conversely, immorality is ""anti-mission,"" a failure to give true testimony or witness. This, in essence, is the theme of this stimulating and challenging volume. The whole life of the people of God, not just verbal proclamation, testifies to the church's faith--or lack of faith--in her Lord. The contributors explain that mission and ethics are intricately and necessarily interwoven, and explore why this is so by unpacking the biblical and theological roots of ""missional ethics,"" probing its limits and exploring its possibilities through examination of some foundational themes and a selection of specific issues. Intended primarily for pastors and church leaders, this volume encourages reflection and conversation that will feed the life of the body of Christ. ""Missional ethics"" concerns all the ways in which Christian ethical practice flows out of, supports, and advances the wider mission of the church to proclaim the gospel. The contributors are Brian Brock, M. Daniel Carroll R., Jonathan Chaplin, Guido de Graaff, Sean Doherty, Andy Draycott, Joshua Hordern, Matt Jenson, Grant Macaskill, Nathan Moser, Jonathan Rowe, Sarah Ruble, and Christopher J. H. Wright. Endorsements: ""The Western church needs to rediscover not only its missional identity in an increasingly post-Christian context, but also its missional theology. So it's a delight to welcome this look at ethics from a missional perspective. But the significance of Living Witness goes beyond the academy, for it offers a thought-provoking contribution to the discussion of how we can be missional in the context of ordinary life."" --Tim Chester ""This stimulating and groundbreaking collection explores the connections between two disciplines that are often treated separately: ethics and mission. In doing so, it sets God's calling to ethical living in a missionary context, arguing that the whole of our lives, not just our words, are to be a living testimony to the reality of the gospel. It deserves a wide readership, and will doubtless inspire fresh biblical reflection, challenge complacency, and encourage Christians to live out the whole of life as a response to the gospel."" --Paul Weston, Lecturer in Mission Studies, Ridley Hall, Cambridge ""Here, at last, is a genuine step forward for the 'missional' conversation. Exploring the integral link between morality and mission, this theologically informed set of essays provides a rich resource on the centrality of ethics as encompassing the whole life of the people of God--called to live in a distinctive way as witnesses to the redemptive activity of God in the world. Concerned for the transformation of existing thinking and practices, the authors issue a strong reminder that mission occurs wherever God is at work through his people--in families and friendships, in the challenges that come with handling money as well as migration, in politics as much as in preaching."" - Antony Billington, Head of Theology, The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity About the Contributor(s): Andy Draycott is Assistant Professor of Theology, Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. Jonathan Rowe (PhD, St Andrews), Tutor and Director of Development, South West Ministry Training Course, Exeter. Author of Michal's Moral Dilemma: A Literary, Anthropological and Ethical Interpretation (T. & T. Clark).

Witness (Scholastic Gold)

Witness (Scholastic Gold) PDF

Author: Karen Hesse

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 0545345944

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Newbery Medalist Karen Hesse emerses readers in a small Vermont town in 1924 with this haunting and harrowing tale. Leanora Sutter. Esther Hirsh. Merlin Van Tornhout. Johnny Reeves . . .These characters are among the unforgettable cast inhabiting a small Vermont town in 1924. A town that turns against its own when the Ku Klux Klan moves in. No one is safe, especially the two youngest, twelve-year-old Leanora, an African-American girl, and six-year-old Esther, who is Jewish.In this story of a community on the brink of disaster, told through the haunting and impassioned voices of its inhabitants, Newbery Award winner Karen Hesse takes readers into the hearts and minds of those who bear witness.