Böcker utgivna av Resource Publications (CA)

Just a Dropped Stitch is a memoir told in interlocking short stories. It's a family photo album; each snapshot tells a mini-story. You're sure you understand what you're seeing, but it's not until you've finished ¿ipping through the entire album that you develop an intimate sense of who this family is. You thought you knew them, understood all the subtleties and dynamics, but, change the angle, soften the focus, ¿ip the page; there's a different story.Jesse, the narrator, is on a search. She's trying to identify the ""dropped stitches"" in her own life, to name them, and reknit them into a whole.As the book opens Jesse's mother is dying, but Jesse and her father find it impossible to face the inevitable. Turn the page: Jesse desperately wants to have children; she's a lesbian; she has to figure out how to make that happen. Later we meet her children, Noah and Sophie; we're introduced to Anna, who becomes Jesse's spouse, before the world has caught up with the concept. We meet grandparents, and learn that in Jesse's family writing is revered, but infused with unspoken taboos. And we meet her brothers who each has a particular place to stand in the family portrait.Jesse has a story to tell, and she isn't sure it's safe to tell it. Loss and grief, being silenced and silencing oneself, becoming frozen, and the heat-generating, melting power of love, these are the themes in Just a Dropped Stitch. The importance of naming, the redemption that comes from breaking silences, these are the interwoven threads.Meanwhile, keep ¿ipping through the album and you see snapshots of everyday life: hiking with Noah, shopping with Sophie for a bat mitzvah dress. And Jesse's mother, who refuses to completely disappear, makes a surprise appearance, embarrassing Jesse at a job interview. As we close the album, we're keeping vigil with Jesse in the hospital while she waits to hear whether she has the disease that killed her mother. And, then, there's a final snapshot: a handmade Chinese box, with sides that drop open, revealing a blood-red interior where there's nothing to hide.

An elderly peasant woman lives with her coffin in the kitchen. An American teacher is ""adopted"" by a village family. An eccentric grandfather teaches Chinese to his American student by jumping around the room and other perilous pantomimes. China is a vast and populous nation which demands our understanding. But while newspaper headlines commonly focus on politics and economics, Saving Grandmother's Face, written by Christian university teachers in China, recounts their experiences in the classroom and in the countryside, celebrating a child's birth and mourning a child's death, grading papers and discussing Chinese literature. Through these stories you will see a side of China often left out-the human side.

""Jesus Does Stand-Up,"" and Other Satires is a collection of fifty short parables and parodies that highlight the weaknesses of the contemporary Western church and the increasingly secular culture in which its members live out their faith. The satires target an entire herd of sacred cows, making fun of areas of discipleship or Christian living such as prayer, evangelism, worship, mission activity, and social justice issues. Several entries skewer the church's tendency to trivialize our faith or the holiness of God, or our obsession with our culture's emphasis on efficiency and individual fulfillment.The entries range from parodies of familiar hymns, including one that looks at Jesus as our friend on Facebook, to an exploration of the dilemma facing Donald Trump as he decides which member of the Trinity to fire. Others describe a group of cheerleaders rehearsing for Jesus' second coming, explain why Jesus couldn't be hired for a church's child-care job, and record Lazarus' difficulty in convincing his HMO that he was raised from the dead.The result allows Christians to laugh, or sometimes squirm, at these commentaries on the pressures of the consumerist, individualistic, and even narcissistic culture in which Western believers find themselves. Neither Christian conservatives nor progressives are spared. The intent of the entries, however, is never mean spirited. Collectively, these satires offer a corrective or warning, prodding the church and Christians to be the distinctive, counter-cultural presence and witness that God calls us to be.

How does Jesus expect his followers to live in this world? The Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of his Kingdom. Not a future kingdom, but his present kingdom. Satan is the ruler of this world. The Bible tells us he is the prince of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and a king. This world is enemy territory. As Jesus told Pilate, his kingdom is not of this world. Jesus' followers represent his kingdom and are to live out its values. The Sermon on the Mount lays out the values of Christ's kingdom. It is in living out these values that we can subvert the kingdom of this world. We are revolutionaries inside the enemy's kingdom. But our revolution is not one of violence and force. It is a revolution of love and peace based on obedience to our Lord and living out his values.

This little book tackles the big questions about worship music. In considering the theology of biblical and Reformed worship and the purpose of music in worship, Pastor Janssen develops objective guidelines which lead to an evaluation tool for selecting the best music for worship. This book helpfully moves beyond personal preference, leading to greater light than heat in the continuing discussion of worship practice. Written from a pastoral perspective, this book is theological, readable, and practical.

Who Me? Worthwhile? Yes, You! is a workbook to help you evaluate where you stand with yourself. As an abused individual, I feel it necessary to change the way one sees who one is. Many people have a low self-image. We think we are who others say we are, when in fact their view of us might be very wrong. It is easy to see good qualities and value in other people, but when it comes to who we are, the tables can get turned. Our vision is sometimes colored by what hides deep inside. This workbook is designed to help us take a deep look into what makes us the people we are. Emotions play a part in our make-up; therefore, in discussing those, we can better evaluate the true nature of our total being.Looking at Scripture helps us to revaluate who we are in God. It gives us the hope and help needed to better our lives. The Bible also has many quotes and stories that are relevant today. It applies to every emotion we have and lets us know God gave us these feelings. God is there in all that we go through. He can, will, and does help us live through events thought to be too tough to handle. He changes us in ways we only thought we could dream would happen. He gives us value beyond measure. He is the one who ultimately measures our worth.

In the late summer months of 2000, on a cool dark night in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado, a seventeen year old boy was murdered by a young man he once considered his best friend. The calamity nearly crippled the boy's parents, especially the father who struggled mightily with grief, anger, and guilt. With the help of a very special elderly sage, the father of the boy struggled to survive the tragedy and recover from the heartbreaking ordeal.The story begins with the funeral of Michael's son, reveals the pain of a grief-stricken father on the verge of self-destruction, and ends with his redemption and return to a meaningful life. Michael is referred by a close friend to an elderly gentleman named Solomon. Solomon is a wise, irreverent, white-haired seer living in the small coastal village of Carlsbad, California where he teaches his own very special brand of spiritual therapy for lost souls. His office is a coffee shop and the beach where he and Michael meet and together try to find a way to recover Michael's lost life after his son's death. The relationship that develops between Michael and Solomon reaches a depth rarely found between two men.

The books of Obadiah and Jonah can be read in just ten minutes. Yet these two books, written nearly three thousand years ago by two very different Hebrew prophets, address attitudes and actions that we struggle with even today. The valuable lessons the ancient writers have for people of the twenty-first century truly make them prophets for our time.Prophets for Our Time strikes a balance between scholarly study and practical exposition to bring these two prophetic books alive for modern readers. The result is a practical, readable book that clearly explains the meaning of the biblical text. Maps, charts, and suggestions for personal application and further study enhance the value of the book, making it a very useful tool for personal and group study.

Seeking to live a Christian life in this American society can often evoke a wide range of emotions, and the precipitation sometimes looks like poetry. Times of great joy as well as times of disappointment and great sorrow are excellent catalysts for a kind of poetry that speaks in real ways to real people. This project contains both joy and sorrow, in an attempt to express different aspects of the changing atmosphere of the religious experience in the twenty-first century. I believe poetry can speak simply to deeper theological ideas in a way that is both deeply beautiful and deeply true.At times theology can be a very inaccessible subject for the average layperson, but it can also have a certain simple beauty that anyone can appreciate. As I have read and learned about theology, I've always found that the most profound ideas can be written out logically in essays and books, or they can be stated in succinct but imaginative phrases. I write with the latter category in mind.Pages Called Holy has been written over the past three years as I live, work, and learn in a local church. Most of these poems have their inspiration in the struggles of church life and the disparity between what I see happening and what I see God calling the Church to be. It is this tension that brings life to the poetry I write, and it is my hope that these poems would speak to an audience of the countless numbers of believers across all generations who feel that same tension between what is and what could be.

Effective communication with the African society in the field of missions, church planting, and social development work has been and continues to be a great challenge, particularly to people from western cultural and language orientation. Africans are a ""we"" rather than ""I"" and a ""depended on"" rather than ""independent of"" society. The worldview of a traditional African in terms of society, relationships, and communication is communal. Certainly, the African perception of communalism affects how they communicate with the people of different cultural orientation.Africa has several cultures and people differ in their communication depending on their cultural orientation. However, there are universal African cultures that act as a framework for understanding key aspects of communication with Africans for successful missions, church planting, and social development work. This book, therefore, provides a strategy of understanding communication with the African society. The discussions in this book provide readers with different cultural orientations unique perception of the African society as s/he may be planning to communicate with the African society for missions, church planting, and social development work, even doing humanitarian ministry in African society.Although literacy levels have improved tremendously in most African countries, most of Africa is not a reading society. It is imperative to understand that most Africans still communicate orally and are not time conscious. Hence, effective communication in African societies ought to be based on storytelling rather than literature distribution, although this is in transition. In fact, Africans are oratory and good listeners. Thus, this book provides an understanding to people of different cultural orientations when they plan to communicate with the people in Africa.

From Death to Life examines what happens when people die. Have you ever wondered or are you curious about end of life moments? Is there actually a splitting of the body and soul at the time of death, or is there something else? What happens to the survivors after their loved one dies, and how are they comforted in their time of sorrow and grief? In this book the words of the Holy Bible, and others like Martin Luther, will speak to you, tell you the truth, and give you words of comfort, so that you too can have the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

At one time when an individual wanted a direct, personal experience of God that person turned to his or her dreams. The early third century Christian defender of the faith, Tertullian, observed, "Is it not known to all people that the dream is the most usual way that God reveals himself to man?" Yet by the eleventh century, King William II of England states, "They are not good Christians that regard dreams." Why did this reversal of opinion occur, not only in Christian thinking, but in Jewish and Islamic attitudes also? God and Dreams: Is There a Connection? traces the historic connection between God and dreams and examines why this shift happened. While particular attention is given to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thought, several secular disciplines are discussed also. After investigating the different points of view, an argument is made that the connection between God and dreams still exists.

When he was asked to summarize his philosophy, Plato reportedly said: "Practice dying," which seems a rather strange, even morbid, comment until one realizes that every life consists of passages, some smooth and some not. Within these passages are what John Morgan calls "thin places." On a trip to Wales, Morgan discovered that the term "thin places" is part of Celtic culture. Thin places are those places where the eternal and the temporal touch, if only for a brief glimpse; where you know that life is more than just the obvious. Thin places can be of great beauty, where life's meaning breaks through by the ocean or in the mountains; but thin places can also arise in the life of every person, whether with the birth of a child or the death of a family member. John Morgan believes that being fully awake to such times and places holds a clue to living more deeply and with greater wisdom about what's really important. His poems express this understanding.

Psalm 15 begins with two related questions: ""LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?"" (v. 1). These are questions worthy of our consideration as Christian business professionals seeking to integrate our faith and our work. The psalmist answers the questions with the following description: ""He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken"" (vv. 2-5, NIV). Using this psalm as a basis, Southwest Baptist University's College of Business and Computer Science is devoted to educating ""Psalm 15 professionals,"" who exemplify traits including integrity, service, respect, charity, faithfulness, truthfulness, humility, and perseverance. The devotions in this small volume draw readers' attention to the need for believers to exemplify such character traits. Contributions from the SBU faculty and administration remind us of the necessity to approach life and work with a biblical worldview. This volume is an abbreviated version of another Resource Publications book, A Noble Calling: Devotions and Essays for Business Professionals, also available from Wipf and Stock Publishers (www.wipfandstock.com).

Every organization wants to achieve the kind of success that leads to greater success, and every leader wants to guide a successful venture. Leaders with drive want to be surrounded by people who have an overarching desire to expand all boundaries and utilize their talents for the good of the goal. Effective team members see problems as challenges, boundaries as movable, and the synergism of the team as a way to reach their goals. It's important to note, however, that a group of people working together toward a common goal will not necessarily make a team. They might merely be ""a group of people working toward a common goal."" I am completely committed to the team concept in the workplace. Obviously, much more can be accomplished by a finely tuned team of people than can be accomplished by one person; but more than that, people thrive when they are in an environment that values a team approach to the tasks at hand. Establishing and cultivating the concept of team in and among those you oversee will spark a fresh fire of productivity that will be as noticeable as it is enjoyable.

The Philosophy of the Law Idea (PLI) analyzes the manner in which religious beliefs control scientific theorizing. Religious beliefs control philosophical overviews of reality. Overviews of reality, also called ontologies, try to discover and disclose the essential nature of reality. They are concerned with what kinds of things exist and with the connections between the various types of properties and laws in human experience. Among such overviews are the biblically consistent overview provided by the PLI and certain humanist ""mathematicist"" and ""subjectivist"" overviews. The science of statistical inference seeks to evaluate the credibility of scientific hypotheses given empirical data. This essay reviews various popular paradigms, or systems of theories, concerning the ways that credibility may be evaluated, and identifies some ways that these religiously controlled overviews of reality have, in turn, controlled statistical paradigms. In particular, one paradigm harmonizes with the PLI's overview; another, with the subjectivist overview; and two others, with the mathematicist overview.

Praise is a hidden doorway in the world that enables us to see things outside of the universe. But it's a doorway that is easily missed; people walk past it, thinking nothing of it, not realizing the value of it. But God has placed it there for us to walk through and see where he lives.This look at praise takes some surprising turns and gives us insight into heaven, hell, the world we live in, and our own souls.People praise all sorts of things. I find myself praising my wife--or praising children, footballers, or chefs. I even praise my dog. When we praise God, it is a natural extension of what we normally do every day. And praise isn't one way, because God praises us, too. When we are patient, praise will come our way from the most unexpected source, and it will come just when our enemies have turned up to see it. God intervenes on our behalf when we leave the task of being praised to him. Contrary to popular belief, praise comes to those who wait. We don't have to fish for it.

This book is a biography rather than a doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Focusing on the Holy Spirit as a person, the author portrays the Spirit as the one who has done and is doing every work of the creation and re-creation. The Holy Spirit is the most important and basic substance, binding together the three persons of the divine Trinity into one. The name of the Holy Spirit as well as of God the Father is "Jesus," and it is strongly recommended to baptize "in the name of Jesus Christ" instead of "in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit would like to be acknowledged as true God and true Lord by all his servants all over the world.

In this book, Walter Friedman exposes internal contradictions that nullify the theory of evolution. He also reveals the ways Charles Darwin falsified observation data to promote his pseudoscientific discovery.In a variety of ways, Friedman aims to undercut the logical assumptions of evolutionary theory. First, he applies elementary probability theory to show that a random mutation cannot spread to an entire population, which means that the evolution of species is a myth. Friedman further contends that the centerpiece of Darwin's theory--the hypothesis of natural selection--is also a statistical impossibility, as simple arithmetic reveals. Third, he turns to genetics data to demonstrate that the idea of the evolution of species leads to ridiculous conclusions. Next, Friedman employs anthropological findings of so-called human ancestors to argue the reverse of what anthropologists believe to be true-- that evolution never took place. Fifth, Friedman appeals to the laws of physics to explain why it is impossible, in principle, for inorganic matter to transform into organic matter with a DNA-like structure. Darwin's racist view of people of African descent and its legal implications for the teaching of the evolutionary theory in public schools are also investigated. The last section of the book provides extensive criticism of the books written by prominent evolutionists, including Darwin.Friedman points out that a vast majority of false scientific theories stumbled and fell not because they were replaced by new, more sophisticated theories, but simply because of an abundance of conflicting statements and disagreement with the experimental data. For the same reasons, he finally asserts, the theory of evolution is destined for oblivion.

The time is Earth Year 2333 AD--a year at the beginning of a horrible new reality for civilization. The location is the city of Chicago, one of the last cities in the United States that remains. But it, too, has suffered great devastation. Death and destruction have been directed on it by the other cities that were caught up in what turned out to be a self-destructive competition to gain preeminence. Most of the people are gone, and the believers that remain in Chicago are thrust into survival mode. Marduk, a vicious leader of the forces loyal to the Leader, sees the remnant as a threat and makes his personal goal to wipe them out. Victor Steinhouse and his friends are all that stand in his way. But who will win this contest of wills? And what will it cost? And will the believers glorify God as they deal with such opposition? Yet the bigger question remains: Is faith all you really need when faith is all you have?

Can you imagine millions of acres of grain ripened for the harvest with thousands of laborers seeking to gather in the crop by hand? What would happen if a large shipment of combines were suddenly delivered? We know the grain ripe unto harvest represents those in several thousand people, ethnic, and language groups who have not yet heard the Gospel message. But what if those combines were businesses that could be used as vehicles and platforms for building relationships? Galtronics is one such business and its story will both encourage and enlighten you as to how a man and a woman turned an idea into a global business for the express purpose of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We hope by the time you finish reading this book you will better understand the potential of using your profession and/or business as a great combine to bring in the harvest.