Christianity After Religion

Christianity After Religion PDF

Author: Diana Butler Bass

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2012-03-13

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0062098284

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Diana Butler Bass, one of contemporary Christianity’s leading trend-spotters, exposes how the failings of the church today are giving rise to a new “spiritual but not religious” movement. Using evidence from the latest national polls and from her own cutting-edge research, Bass, the visionary author of A People’s History of Christianity, continues the conversation began in books like Brian D. McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity and Harvey Cox’s The Future of Faith, examining the connections—and the divisions—between theology, practice, and community that Christians experience today. Bass’s clearly worded, powerful, and probing Christianity After Religion is required reading for anyone invested in the future of Christianity.

Why I Tried to Die

Why I Tried to Die PDF

Author: Lisa Kessler-Peters

Publisher: Mercy & Moxie

Published: 2020-05-19

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 9781945169380

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Come walk with Lisa as she takes you on a journey from death to life. Her testimony of how she was delivered from a life of addiction and trauma will inspire you to seek a deeper relationship with God. Why I Tried to Die will grip you from the beginning through the end. Lisa's courageous transparency throughout the pages of this book reveal the glory of God and His redemptive healing and restorative powers. It is a must- read for all who are currently going through or dealing with trauma from the past. You will not be disappointed. -MB Busch President, Heartbeat of Heaven Ministries Lisa invites the reader on a journey. This journey is the story of her life, full of hopelessness, tragedy and trauma. Yet, in the midst of the most difficult and hopeless of moments, she encountered the living God who repositioned her with a hope and a future. No life is beyond the reach of a loving God, and Lisa's story is a great reminder of this truth. -Pastor Ruth Hendrickson, Ruth Hendrickson Ministries A riveting page-turner! Lisa's story is one of how heartbreaking trauma kept her world from being safe. But, God had other plans! In the most surprising of places, He set her free. Her trust, resiliency and transformation are a testimony of God's power that speaks profound truth. -Mary Whitman Ortiz, Founder, Limitless Intimacy When reading Why I Tried to Die, I instantly was able to connect to the author. Her ability to capture and articulate her story to the reader was simply amazing. As someone who dealt with abuse for many years, I was able to identify with what Lisa described. As an author myself, I understand firsthand how difficult it is to not only keep the reader intrigued, but also create an imagery for the reader to experience. Lisa was able to do that as well. I believe that this book will not only transform lives, but also change the minds and stereotypes that have been in place. The author is an amazing woman, and I am blessed to have her in my life. -Veronica Dixon Co-Pastor, Elevated Life in Christ Community Church What comes through for me in Why I Tried to Die is Lisa's amazing courage and resilience. I read her words but cannot fathom how she endured persistent childhood trauma in her home, the shuttling back and forth to foster homes and a different school every year, and exposure at such an early age to drugs, alcohol, sex and sexual abuse. On several occasions, I have had the privilege of hearing Lisa eloquently summarize her life's journey, but the book captures what a ten-minute talk cannot-the depth of the harm she experienced and her battle to overcome the pain and trauma against all odds. Speaking with her before her initial talk, I had no clue that she was so horribly mistreated by too many for so long. Lisa is truly a remarkable woman. Her work is an inspiration to all who read it that even the most inhuman challenges can be overcome with faith and the love of life as expressed by her devotion to her children. -Robert K. Reed Executive Deputy Attorney General for Special Initiatives Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

Hope Runs

Hope Runs PDF

Author: Claire Diaz-Ortiz

Publisher: Revell

Published: 2014-04-15

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1441245316

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Sammy Ikua Gachagua had lost his father to illness, his mother to abandonment, and his home to poverty. By age ten, he was living in a shack with seven other children and very little food. He entered an orphanage seeing it as a miracle with three meals a day, a bed to sleep in, and clothes on his back. When Claire Diaz-Ortiz arrived in Kenya at the end of an around-the-world journey, she decided to stay the night, climb Mt. Kenya, then head back home. She entered an orphanage seeing it as little more than a free place to spend the night before her mountain trek. God had other plans. Hope Runs is the emotional story of an American tourist, a Kenyan orphan, and the day that would change the course of both of their lives forever. It's about what it means to live in the now when the world is falling down around you. It's about what it means to hope for the things you cannot see. Most of all, it's about how God can change your life in the blink of an eye.

Bloom in the Dark

Bloom in the Dark PDF

Author: Paula Wallace

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-07

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 9780996530910

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A compilation of true stories, letters, and poems about painful times in women's lives caused by some type of abuse or trauma. Each woman found hope and redemption through a relationship with God. This book is written to give hope to those experiencing personal darkness.

The Edge of Redemption

The Edge of Redemption PDF

Author: Troy D. Evans

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780898274899

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The Edge of Redemption is far more than a remarkable story. Troy Evans challenges us to engage subcultures that we often perceive as threatening--to ask ourselves, who are the unreachable in our own communities? Rather than flee them, we are called to reach out and offer redemption to those who are on the edge of destruction. Evans was chasing the hip-hop dream; fame, fortune, and power could be his. And he was sure he could get it all if the gang violence or the law didn't get him first. Then redemption stepped in from the most unlikely circumstances to bring about the most unlikely change. Today, Pastor Troy Evans ministers to the community that once was his prey. He is connecting with lives and seeing the miracle of his own redemption repeated and multiplied in the same mean streets that once enslaved him. Enter into Evans' story and God's vision.

Redemption's Hope

Redemption's Hope PDF

Author: Kathleen D. Bailey

Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group

Published: 2022-07-22

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1522303855

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Two distinct sets of villains. Two orphaned children. A man without a country and a woman with too much past...All in a rambunctious young country where anything goes, especially in the West. Seriously. What can go wrong? In this latest installment of the best-selling series, "Western Dreams", join Jenny and White Bear as they cross the historic West in an epic story peppered with grit, guns, and glory that award-winning author Kelly Goshorn calls "a sweeping tale of faith, dedication, and perseverance set in the American west." "...masterful wordsmithing!" says Clarice G. James, author of "The Least of These," "Party of One," "Double Header" and "Manhattan Grace."

The Shawshank Redemption Revealed

The Shawshank Redemption Revealed PDF

Author: Mark Dawidziak

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-08-09

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1493040995

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A 25th anniversary history and celebration of The Shawshank Redemption, one of the most cherished American films of the late twentieth century and one of the finest movies made from a Stephen King story. The movie not only boasts a great story, it has a great backstory, starting with the dollar deal that eventually led King and co-stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman to put their trust in a largely untested director making his first feature film. Although the film received mostly positive reviews on its release in September 1994, the box office was disappointing and it failed to win many awards. But as Andy tells Red in the film, “no good thing ever dies.” The movie found new life, reaching an ever-growing audience on cable and home video (through word of mouth, it became one of the top-rented movies of 1995). Each year, The Shawshank Redemption rises in polls asking film fans to name their favorite movies. It has become nothing less than this generation’s The Grapes of Wrath, an inspiring story about keeping hope alive in bleak times and under the most horrendous conditions.

The Most Beautiful Disaster

The Most Beautiful Disaster PDF

Author: Hope Carpenter

Publisher: FaithWords

Published: 2021-05-04

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 154601747X

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Hope Carpenter opens up about her personal struggles that nearly destroyed her family, her church, and her ministry, but then God did something miraculous—out of her brokenness, He made something beautiful. As co-pastor of one of the nation's largest megachurches, Hope Carpenter had perfected the roles of supportive wife, good mother, devoted worship leader, and dutiful homemaker. But inside, she was secretly ashamed, sad, and afraid. She didn't know who she was, and she didn't know how to ask for help without bringing down the whole façade. A series of bad choices led to multiple affairs; her husband kicked her out and announced from the pulpit of their church that their marriage was over. Hope was sure her life was done. But in her lowest moments, something beautiful happened. God met her there, and, with a lot of hard work, time, and mountains of therapy, she started to understand the pain that had caused her to act out. She and her family faced their brokenness together, and in powerful acts of forgiveness only God could have arranged, they all found real breakthrough and healing. Ron and Hope rebuilt their marriage and their family, and their ministry thrives today. In The Most Beautiful Disaster, Hope helps readers understand the lasting impact of childhood trauma and gives readers practical steps to uncovering the root of pain in their own lives. She shows how small decisions can lead to big changes, and helps readers find healing and wholeness in Scripture and prayer. Ultimately, readers will be led to hope, reconciliation, and true freedom.

The Deferment of Hope

The Deferment of Hope PDF

Author: Marc D. Simon

Publisher: WestBow Press

Published: 2015-03-19

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 149087027X

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I approached The Deferment of Hope with high expectations and did not come away disappointed. Minister Marc Simon writes from a deep and compassionate space within himself. His intimate journals strategically placed throughout the book tell the story of a life lived on the run, and in confinement, both in and out of the penitentiary. Once you begin reading you will immediately recognize that Marc was not serving time, but time was serving Marc. Bishop Kalem Kengga Zoe Ministries of the Antelope Valley There is nothing in our own time which the enemy fears more than a thinking church. For a fired up and emotionalized church, which nonetheless refuses to think, is no real threat to the stronghold of ignorance which persists in our communities, despite much fervency in our worship. Marc D. Simon The Deferment of Hope Join the author in a penetrating look into the mind and thoughts of a prisoner in exile. Experience the deferment of hope, and the lessons learned along the way. Simon, through his provocative narrative and teaching, challenges us to rethink our ideas about hope, all the while weaving the reader through the inspiring story of his own 12 year incarceration in prison, loss, and his journey of faith and redemption. The Deferment of Hope resists traditional religious boxes and modes of speech, and ushers the reader into the authors own interior world of experience.