Christmas is perhaps the most treasured Christian holiday and at the same time, one of the least understood. Research suggests that large numbers of Americans are confused about the central reason for the holiday. Even evangelical believers cannot agree that the birth of Jesus is the most important factor of this national observance. Modern American culture has challenged the religious importance of Christmas. The media and retail stores have helped suppress the religious emphasis by asserting "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas."So, the question is, "What is the truth about Christmas?" Is it found in the season's holiday music? Is the meaning in decorated trees and lighted city streets? Does commercialized gift-giving explain the purpose of the holiday? Perhaps it resides in Santa Claus and his magic-flying reindeer. So, where do we find the value in a holiday titled Christmas? The truth is found in the pages of the New Testament. Angels, shepherds, magi, a Jewish king, and the Roman Empire all play a part in the validity of the holiday.How was Christmas planned in heaven? What does Scripture say about the incarnation? How did the shepherds find the Christ child in the darkness of a city without streetlights? How many magi arrived in Jerusalem to seek the new king? Where did they travel from? Why did they make the journey? What binds all these issues together around the birth of a baby in a small insignificant village? This volume presents the truth about an event the entire world uses to date its calendar.
Keeping You in My Heart: A Grief Journal for Tweens offers children, in the in-between years of nine to twelve, a place to work through their grief after the death of a loved one. The design, prompts and illustrations are engaging and meant to inspire this age group in giving voice to their feelings, celebrating memories, and learning to cope and move forward.
One Team / One Family: Winning Is a Lifestyle, reflects the belief that building character, trust, and positive chemistry among teammates is at the core of success. Whether in the realm of athletics, the corporate boardroom, on the factory floor, or in schools and offices across America, this book provides a blueprint for success. Sharing stories from a forty-year career in teaching and coaching, Mark lays out the fundamental principles for building team relationships.
Learn how you can be healed from disease and emotions torn by brokenness. Discover in this thirty-one-day devotional how you can release your destiny by the power of forgiveness. Experience the joy of knowing that God can do anything you have faith to believe and hear from God's heart with his perspective that you can find peace in the midst of your storms.This thirty-one-day devotional book contains daily divine promises of God, birthed from his heart and a simple walk of faith. Beverly's first book shares tragedy to triumph. People from all walks of life, denominations, and corners of the world are catching Beverly Bernson's contagious passion for the intimacy of God and his word through her praise and worship, weekend conferences, books, and teachings.Founder of Beverly Bernson Ministries, she's appeared on TBN, ISPN, C-SPAN, and ESPN Networks.Beverly Bernson MinistriesPO Box 9243Longview, Texas 75608(903) 987-4437www.beverlybernson.comCopyright 2023, Beverly Bernson All rights reserved. Duplication is prohibited.
Years after her mother died, Astra Larkin feels trapped in her head and on her planet. Her only place of refuge is her Knot, Xack. He gives her the safety she longs for. But that beautiful peace is in danger as the Leaders are closing in on the dark secret Astra and Xack have been hiding. They broke the rules--and now they must die.After sacrificing everything for each other, Xack ends up in danger, and Astra must face her past traumas to save him. Throughout the many trials and internal struggles with herself, Astra finds the horizon and learns that family is what you make of it, and love comes in many forms.
As a Christian, do you ever wonder why you still struggle with sin? Are you tired of repeating the same old mistakes? Have you found yourself caught in a seemingly never-ending cycle of habitual sin and shame? Are you tired of the feelings of defeat and long for the freedom, peace, and victory promised in being a new creation? Then it's time to face him. He is called the old man, the old self, or our old nature. We all have one. Are you ready to look him in the eye? Are you ready to fight him? Are you ready to live free? Let it begin today. It's time to kill your old man and be the person God sees in you."Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him" (Rom. 6:6-8).
I have written this book for you! As you journey through life's distractions, you will need to be equipped with understandings which will guide you in making decisions. This will help you know who God is and what He wants you to be: His disciples. Your life, as it spreads over years, matures as should your understanding of Christ. While the Bible speaks of us becoming mature (i.e., Luke 8:14; Hebrews 5:14, 6:1; Colossians 1:28; Ephesians 4:13; James 1:4), this book lays a solid foundation to that end."Not that I have already attained all this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." This gives me grace, direction, and hope. Philippians 3:16 encourages us to "live up to what we have already attained."So I challenge you to grow in your understanding, and I offer this book as an aid, a flashlight in dark times.
An ancient prophecy. Powerful Secrets. And a desperate quest to save the land from the treacherous King Syrack...After her country is struck by a ruthless war, Vanna, a seventeen-year-old orphan from Esten, crosses paths with three mysterious young men with strange-colored eyes and a dangerous mission. When offered the opportunity to help save her land, Vanna does not hesitate to take it. Together, the four new companions embark on a risky journey in search of a foretold Warrior in hopes of saving their world before it is too late.Will they be able to find the Warrior and save the northern lands, or will the powerful king stop them before they discover the mystery of the fourth Secret?
In the Company of Angels chronicles one woman's travels to Medjugorje, where she becomes a witness to how our Lord takes part in everything we do. Her faith journey leads her from skeptic to true believer with miracles in between. The nonprofit Toybox Connection is the result of Michelle Maxia's quest to help others. Its ongoing success is a testament to the power of faith.
The church that is supposed to be following the Word of God has fallen into the trap of the devil to keep the commandments of men, traditions of men, and doctrines of demons. This writing will expose some of those lies and guide the reader into truth by the scriptures of the Living God and the commandments of God. Pray for God to open your heart, mind, soul, and spirit to Him, leading you into the truth of His word and obedience to Him, the Great I am.
WHAT IS THE CARAT OF YOUR DIAMOND? refers to knowing your worth as a woman, and I share some of my most intimate secrets with you about things that I've experienced in my life. This book shows and provides you with information on how to forgive and go forward with your life.This book will also touch your heart in a special way. There will be moments of tears. There will be moments of joy and laughter.Throughout all our trials and tribulations, pain, sorrow, hurts, disappointments, mentally abused, physically abused, molestation, failures, and our bad choices, we also learn how to remain standing.This book is a guide to finding out what your value is, and once you have determined that, you begin to see yourself differently, and for me, I see myself as a transparent three-dimensional precisely cut diamond in the eyes of God.We are women of depth, length, and breadth no matter where we are standing and being viewed of everyone. We will have a fluorescent reflection of brightness. This is a reminder of no matter what we went through in our lives, we were and still are beautiful and created marvelously. We reflect God's goodness and greatness all around us at every angle, and when the Son shines on us, we sparkle and shine, and we could be blinding to the unprotected natural eye. We are children of the Most High God. He is our knight and shining star, and we are the perfectly cut women that he created us to be.
As we enter a Community of Faith for the first time, we are naturally drawn to a shared spirituality. It may be a congregation, synagogue, mosque, or temple. It is shared spiritually of the people at prayer which attracts us and draws us to unite with others in prayer. There are three shared stands of any Community of Faith: their shared faith tradition, the culture of the community, and the personalities of the members.This book examines the elements of tradition, culture, and personal temperament to determine how the three become spiritually integrated at the moment of prayer. The conclusion is that through an explicit assessment of these three elements, members of the faith community can enrich their personal spiritual life, resulting in spiritual growth and can ultimately revitalize the spiritual prayer life of the community of faith.The books is a spiritual intervention of a Presbyterian congregation in Central New York in the 1980s. I'm grateful for the prayer group that committed there Wednesday nights during 1986. This is their story of how they were able to revitalize the spiritual life of a 150-year-old three-hundred-member Presbyterian congregation.
Delightful Questions for Children, by Tawni Smith, is a collection of intentional open-ended questions with the purpose of drawing out answers filled with imagination and conversation.If you don't want to forget the interesting and humorous things that a child says, then this keepsake journal is for you. It will help you create memories that last a lifetime.For media inquiries, contact Tawni through her email, authortawnismith@gmail.com, or follow her Facebook page, Instagram, and YouTube channel @authortawnismith.
When you look at the life of Ben Davis, you'll see a man with a heart of gold. He's the perfect husband, the best example of a father you'll ever find, a great friend, and a man who loves God and wants to serve him. He seems to have his life together on the outside. He's reliable, fun-loving, patient, kind, respected, accountable, an exceptional role model, and a vital part of his church and family.What Ben feels, though, and what God knows is that Ben Davis has the same struggles and challenges that everyone else has. He doubts his decisions, second-guesses his ideas, and sometimes makes mistakes. If left to do what he wanted, Ben feels that on his own, he would fail every time. With the partnership of a precious wife whom he adores, a great son who looks to him for spiritual direction, and a sweet and hilarious little girl who lights up his world and brings an abundance of joy to his life, Ben has help. But no matter how much help he gets from his family, Ben knows his best help is to rely on God for wisdom and a lot of grace and mercy.Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it?" Things usually work out, and Ben comes out looking like a good guy, and God is glorified, but most of the time, he's glad not everyone can read the heart of Ben Davis.
The author of I'm Just a Teacher shares his love of teaching, his passion for learning, and his art of building relationships with students and their families. As a highly imaginative, innovative, and award-winning educator with over fifty years of experience his remarkable lifelong goal has been "To Reach Out, Touch Others, and Make a Difference." Over the years, he has developed a unique and highly motivational system of project-based learning and assessment with multiple pathways, fostering greater student engagement and success.Today, teachers face angry and hostile citizen groups; a merciless, raging pandemic; encounter a lack of respect and waning trust while the nobility of the profession has been run aground. For public school teachers, some career politicians bent on their unwavering agendas to abandon and bury public education is a continual threat. The shortage of teachers is seriously rampant and shortchanging students while overworking current educators. The vital academic freedom needed to teach and make a difference in the lives of students is replaced with forced data collection for political reasons.The author insists that in spite of these challenges to the profession, educators wear many hats and are masters of multitasking. Indeed, learning can become fun, and in his teaching bag, the use of humor is a key methodology. Learning can be exciting, entertaining, and challenging in creating a positive and proactive learning environment. Knowledge of aikido instills in him a sense of calm, confidence, and control in the face of adversity. It is turning anguish into positive action. It enables him to be in charge of the situation and not the situation in charge of him. To this day, the author firmly believes in teachers, trusts in teachers, and applauds teachers that shower students with praise, compassion, solid example, and instill hope for a brighter future while unleashing student imagination.
The Kingdom vs. Religiosity explains the difference between religion and the Kingdom of God.
US Navy Lieutenant John Rush, firstborn son of American founder Dr. Benjamin Rush, shot and killed his best friend in a duel October 1, 1807. The lieutenant was later admitted to the lunatic ward of Pennsylvania Hospital on February 10, 1810, with a diagnosis of insanity. Dr. Rush later became known as the father of American psychiatry. Later serving as his son's attending physician, the doctor eventually would label the diagnosis as a melancholy derangement, a diagnosis which would probably be recognized in today's psychological taxonomy as schizoaffective disorder bipolar type.Whatever John Rush's diagnosis, his story is one that provides invaluable insight to the evolution of mental health care in America. A closer look into the case study of John Rush affords the reader a better appreciation of the evolution of parenting and a more intimate understanding of the everyday life of one of America's most consequential founding fathers.Honor Makes Gray Hairs is essentially a biographical novel chronologically designed to depict the life and times of John Rush who represents the succeeding generation of the founders of the United States. The reader in mind for this work would be anyone interested in American history, psychology, family dynamics, parenting, and the etiology of mental health disorders.The work should be especially interesting for those who live with family members or other loved ones who struggle with what is still referred to as severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). Most of the stories included in the novel actually happened in the life of John Rush, and those that did not could easily have happened to one degree or another, based on an understanding of the times and personalities involved.
I am sure we can all relate to and are interested in reading about the struggles others have encountered throughout life, which will help to encourage us and keep us motivated to keep the faith and not give up.This is the book to read.Once you start reading, it will hardly leave your hand until completed, unless you are taking a break to laugh, ponder, and reminisce on your own experiences.It is mostly geared toward women, but men will find it very interesting and may learn from some of the lessons included.It depicts happiness, hardships, realistic experiences, and dreams that the author creatively captures in a humorous way.She starts out in childlike fantasy of exploring her world. Her family background is presented to show how much this has prepared for her a good foundation in relying on God to go through all the obstacles encountered and still encountering in her life.Therefore, in each area, one is pointed to biblical references as guidelines for living.Being brought up in the church throughout her life, she boldly talks about sexual desires in relation to herself and in general, which were unmentionable in church, and is still a difficult area to deal with.Her writing provides a break from ordinary reading as she incorporates poetry and motivational verses for inspiration while touching on a wide range of areas, including some of the controversies in today's world.
This story is about two children who learn a life lesson about procrastination! They promised in a family meeting to help more with their chores when they moved into their new house. They did not follow through and keep their promise to their parents. They procrastinate anytime they are asked to do chores around the house. Follow along as the children meet some bugs and learn a valuable life lesson.
This format used for Along My Way book is a series of conversations as if the author is talking to you, the reader, at different times and about different topics each time. This allows you to read for a time, stop, and return later to new discussions. All sorts of happenings and ideas will pop up to tweak your thinking and your interest, to arouse your questioning while you enjoy a different topic you may or may not be familiar with at the time being. Happy reading!
Prenumerera på vårt nyhetsbrev för att få fantastiska erbjudanden och inspiration för din nästa läsning.
Genom att registrera dig accepterar du vår personuppgiftspolicy.
