The Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year. But it is also a season of reflection and preparation for that special day when we remember the arrival of our eternal God in our own frail humanity. Let the Christ of Christmas prepare your heart for the celebration of his birth through a devotional journey reflecting on Advent and Christmas. Enjoy thirty-one thoughtful, and never-before-published Christmas devotionals from the late, beloved, best-selling author, J. Ellsworth Kalas. The inspirational selections were lovingly compiled by Dr. Kalas’ son, David, and daughter, Taddy, and include additional notes and memories of their father and the holiday season. Unlikely Gifts celebrates the Savior’s birth as we explore the blessings of hope, joy, love, and peace that believers can experience as they keep their eyes on Jesus.
Years of reader evaluations yield a record of overwhelming positive teaching results. Teachers agree that The New International Lesson Annual gets highest marks for helping Christian educators in the classroom, making Scripture understandable or intelligible, relating Scripture to contemporary living, and challenging students to respond with positive life-changing actions. Based on the Bible study foundations of America’s leading ecumenical Bible educators and editors in the venerable Committee on Uniform Series. Inside discover: • Easy-to-use design with tint boxes, thumb index, goals for learners, and a key-word pronunciation guide • Easy-on-the-eyes clear type • The only lesson commentary with popular easy-to-understand NRSV and CEB translations (Combined with your own King James Bible, NIV, or any other Bible translation, you have a multiversion parallel.) [Karla, multi- forms a closed compound] • Eight pages of Bible background, interpretation, and step-by-step lesson plans keyed to learner goals for each lesson make lesson preparation thorough without requiring difficult and tedious research • In-depth quarterly teacher enrichment articles and Bible background covering both the big picture and close-up views. Complete index to background Scriptures and occasional additional helps such as maps, charts, and timelines • “Faith in Action” section gives ideas for placing faith concepts of the lessons into action • “Preparing Our Hearts” section with Bible reading and reflection questions for the teacher’s personal spiritual growth • “Continue the Journey” section includes ideas for prayer, learner preparation for next week’s session, activities the learners can do during the coming week to live out what they have learned, and a suggested closing hymn and benediction • Edited by one of the nation's leading Christian educators, Dr. Nan Duerling
The New International Lesson Annual is designed for teachers who seek a solid biblical basis for each session and a step-by-step teaching plan that will help them lead their classes. It can be used with any student curriculum based on the Uniform Lesson Series. In many classes, both the students and teacher rely on the Annual as their companion to the Bible. Includes the CEB and NRSV translations. Over the four quarters of the 2016-2017 Sunday school year we will explore the themes of God’s sovereignty, creation, love, and call. During the fall quarter we examine Isaiah, Hebrews, and Revelation to see how these books reveal the Sovereignty of God. Luke’s Gospel, selected psalms, and Galatians will help us understand Creation: A Divine Cycle, our study for the winter. In the spring we will survey both the Old and New Testaments to discover that God Loves Us. We conclude during the summer with God’s Urgent Call, a study of the way God spoke to certain judges, prophets, and people of the New Testament. Inside discover: Weekly Scripture reading and reflection questions to enhance the teacher's personal spiritual growth. Weekly activities that the learners can do beyond the classroom to live out what they have learned. In-depth background article for each quarter. Quarterly pronunciation guide. Additional quarterly reference material, such as maps, charts, or timelines. Quarterly ideas for putting one's faith into action. Annual teacher enrichment article. Annual index to background Scriptures.
Why does the God of the Old Testament seem so different from the God of the New Testament? Throughout history, seasoned church goers and newcomers to the Christian faith have all struggled with this question. In When Did God Become a Christian?, David Kalas identifies some common experiences, troublesome passages, and natural reactions that we all encounter while reconciling the God of both the Old and New Testaments. In twelve chapters, Kalas explores the unity of Scripture, biblical history, and the two primary attributes of God, love and holiness, to help readers clarify the integrity of the nature of God. With a better understanding of the Bible's unity and of God's integrity, they will come to love, worship, and trust God more. The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study including session plans and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.
Do you struggle with knowing how the Old Testament law aligns with the good news found in the New Testament? Following up on When Did God Become a Christian?, author and pastor David Kalas explores what he sees as a rather significant hole in so many American Christians’ experience. For many, while the New Testament is seen as the good news of God’s love through Jesus, the law is set aside as tedious, troubling, or irrelevant. Some even see it as an example of an unloving God in the Hebrew Bible. If we were looking for a ‘review’ on Amazon of the Law, the Psalms would be the five-star. The Psalmist goes on and on, thanking God for it, calling it perfect, and claiming that it revives the soul. In his thoughtful and assuring style, Kalas would like to help readers rediscover that experience of the Old Testament Law. The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.
Why does the God of the Old Testament seem so different from the God of the New Testament? Throughout history, seasoned church goers and newcomers to the Christian faith have all struggled with this question. In When Did God Become a Christian?, David Kalas identifies some common experiences, troublesome passages, and natural reactions that we all encounter while reconciling the God of both the Old and New Testaments. In twelve chapters, Kalas explores the unity of Scripture, biblical history, and the two primary attributes of God, love and holiness, to help readers clarify the integrity of the nature of God. With a better understanding of the Bible’s unity and of God’s integrity, they will come to love, worship, and trust God more.
Do you struggle with knowing how the Old Testament law aligns with the good news found in the New Testament? Following up on When Did God Become a Christian?, author and pastor David Kalas explores what he sees as a rather significant hole in so many American Christians’ experience. For many, while the New Testament is seen as the good news of God’s love through Jesus, the law is set aside as tedious, troubling, or irrelevant. Some even see it as an example of an unloving God in the Hebrew Bible. If we were looking for a ‘review’ on Amazon of the Law, the Psalms would be the five-star. The Psalmist goes on and on, thanking God for it, calling it perfect, and claiming that it revives the soul. In his thoughtful and assuring style, Kalas would like to help readers rediscover that experience of the Old Testament Law. Additional components include a comprehensive Leader Guide for small group study.
This is the new lectionary-based small-group study for Lent 2005. Using the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel readings from the Revised Common Lectionary and the NRSV translation of the Bible, each lesson includes commentary on the Scripture and relevant questions. A separate leader's guide is available and is designed so that leaders can rotate teaching responsibilites. The Psalm is used during a worshipful prayer opening or closing. (separate leader's guide order #0687345707)
Full of gripping illustrations that bring the scriptures to life, this anthology of sermons for the entire church year offers readers a treasure trove of spiritual guidance. Five distinguished preachers representing a variety of denominations and ministry settings contribute messages based on gospel texts for each Sunday and major celebration in Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary. Their thoughtful meditations proclaim the good news for today's world and exemplify the transforming power of God's word in our lives. Unforgettable in their power and biblical witness, these sermons provide readers with strength, support, and a Christ-centered vision. This is an essential resource that's useful for: - Fresh homiletical approaches to the lectionary texts - Preaching illustrations - A clearer understanding of scripture passages - Adult study and discussion groups - Personal devotions and Bible study on each Sunday's readings Frank Honeycutt's sermons are exciting in their evocative power. His narrative ability is a real gift that enables these messages to illumine the word of God and human life so that a listener is drawn into the word and encouraged to reflect, remember, and think about life in terms of God's activity. These sermons reflect a pastor whose imaginative juices flow mightily. Thomas E. Ridenhour McClurg Distinguished Professor of Homiletics Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary I am impressed by the sense of urgency in Robert Cueni's messages. When the specter of my immediate death flashes before me, I want to know that I have lived toward God's reign with all that I have. These sermons help transform me in that direction. Ronald J. Allen Sweeney & Miller Professor of Preaching and New Testament Christian Theological Seminary
In Papua New Guinea, primitive highlanders are armed with AK-47's. In the Persian Gulf, a fishing boat has a sinister cargo. At a luxury hotel in Manila, a ‘financial planner' has a rendezvous with men on the world's Most Wanted list. In Israel's West Bank, the unwinnable war continues to rage. And in Canberra, top intelligence and police specialists assemble to find out why terrorists from either side of the world are joining forces in Australia's back yard. Present is Sergeant Tom Wilkes of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. Wilkes is seconded to the US Central Intelligence Agency where he spearheads the action team set up to fight the latest extremist menace, a plan more monstrous than anyone – even the experts – could have foretold. Gripping, intelligent and terrifying, Sword of Allah is the ultimate thriller for the post September 11 world.
Alte Sünden werfen lange Schatten Amos Decker, der Memory Man, besucht seine Heimatstadt, als plötzlich ein alter Bekannter vor ihm steht. Meryl Hawkins ist ein verurteilter vierfacher Mörder und der Erste, den Decker als junger Polizist hinter Gitter gebracht hat. Hawkins, der aufgrund seines schlechten Gesundheitszustandes vorzeitig entlassen wurde, beteuert seine Unschuld. Sein letzter Wunsch: der FBI-Ermittler soll seinen Namen reinwaschen. Kurz darauf wird Hawkins erschossen. Nun kommen Decker echte Zweifel: Hat er dabei geholfen, den Falschen zu bestrafen? Als er den Fall wieder aufrollt wird klar: Jemand wird weiter töten, um ein altes Geheimnis zu verbergen . . .
Conspiracy theories--everybody has one. The difference with this conspiracy is that it's all too real. David Baldacci's The Camel Club takes readers inside the Beltway as four unlikely misfits struggle not only to survive, but to save their president and their country from a plot that will lead to nuclear disaster.
A dramatic true story of a Kansas family extending over four continuous generations. Tragedy after tragedy would haunt this family, including the mama burning to death on New Year's Day of 1927. Papa's enduring love prevails as he raises two families of five children each. Papa's five-year-old daughter, Faithe, would be the oldest witness of seeing her mama burning to death. As a result, she would live a lifetime of depression and mental illness, leaving her to become an abusive wife and mother. A son who suffered emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his mother himself would lead a life of severe depression and acute anxiety. The emotionally and physically abused son will share five escapes or places of refuge which helped him endure his eight-year continued abuse. Throughout our true dramatic story will be vivid illustrations of a number of families' enduring love through prayer, climaxing with the greatest enduring love ever, of God giving his only begotten Son, Jesus to die on the cross, shedding his blood for all sinners.
Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star some 20.3 light years from Earth. Red dwarfs are among the most numerous stars in the galaxy, and they sport diverse planetary systems. At magnitude 10, Gliese 581 is visible to amateur observers but does not stand out. So what makes this star so important? It is that professional observers have confirmed that it has at least four planets orbiting it, and in 2009, Planet d was described in the letters of The Astrophysical Journal as “the first confirmed exoplanet that could support Earth-like life.” Under a Crimson Sun looks at the nature of red dwarf systems such as Gliese as potential homes for life. Realistically, what are prospects for life on these distant worlds? Could life evolve and survive there? How do these planetary surfaces and geology evolve? How would life on a red dwarf planet differ from life on Earth? And what are the implications for finding further habitable worlds in our galaxy? Stevenson provides readers with insight into the habitability of planets and how this changes as time progresses and the central star evolves. Explore with him in this engaging, fascinating book the possibilities for finding life, from bacteria to more complex and even intelligent organisms, on red dwarf system planets.
Contemplative reading is a spiritual practice developed by Christian monks in sixth- and seventh-century Mesopotamia. Mystics belonging to the Church of the East pursued a form of contemplation which moved from reading, to meditation, to prayer, to the ecstasy of divine vision. The Library of Paradise tells the story of this Syriac tradition in three phases: its establishment as an ascetic practice, the articulation of its theology, and its maturation and spread. The sixth-century monastic reform of Abraham of Kashkar codified the essential place of reading in East Syrian ascetic life. Once established, the practice of contemplative reading received extensive theological commentary. Abraham's successor Babai the Great drew upon the ascetic system of Evagrius of Pontus to explain the relationship of reading to the monk's pursuit of God. Syriac monastic handbooks of the seventh century built on this Evagrian framework. 'Enanisho' of Adiabene composed an anthology called Paradise that would stand for centuries as essential reading matter for Syriac monks. Dadisho' of Qatar wrote a widely copied commentary on the Paradise. Together, these works circulated as a one-volume library which offered readers a door to "Paradise" through contemplation. The Library of Paradise is the first book-length study of East Syrian contemplative reading. It adapts methodological insights from prior scholarship on reading, including studies on Latin lectio divina. By tracing the origins of East Syrian contemplative reading, this study opens the possibility for future investigation into its legacies, including the tradition's long reception history in Sogdian, Arabic, and Ethiopic monastic libraries.
Leaving on Top: Graceful Exits for Leaders explores what it means to move on from a career with a class and a view for what?s next. While most graceful exiters pursue a variety of interests throughout their professional lifetime, others are content to reach the top and then cling to it. Through this research, David Heenan has found that most leaders can be categorized into four exiting types: Timeless wonders: With their skills very much intact, these white-haired prodigies have no need to call it quits. Aging Despots: Reluctant to leave the spotlight, they are past their prime and should turn the reigns over to a new generation. Comeback Kids: Whether to return their enterprises to their former glory, or simply save themselves from boredom, these once-departed leaders have returned with a vengeance. Graceful Exiters: Quitting while ahead, they leave a sterling reputation as they move on. Heenan understands how to exit gracefully from his profession?he?s done it several times. In Leaving On Top, he pairs wisdom derived from his experience with dozens of high-profile exits, both graceful and untimely. Heenan?s examination includes ten exiting lessons from leaders of industry, such as: Know Thy Situation: Situations change, and the intuitive know when a great career has fizzled. Take Risks: Accept change as a natural part of your transition, push your comfort zone to confront new challenges. Keep Good Company: Build alliances to help plan your exit strategy, then stay connected. Keep Learning: Graceful exiters remain curious. They are intellectually interested, alert, and adaptable. Know When to Walk Away: Blind determination often backfires. Don?t let professional success cloud your personal life.
For centuries, the Caddos occupied the southern prairies and woodlands across portions of Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Organized into powerful chiefdoms during the Mississippian period, Caddo society was highly ceremonial, revolving around priest-chiefs, trade in exotic items, and the periodic construction of mounds. Their distinctive heritage helped the Caddos to adapt after the European invasion and to remain the dominant political and economic power in the region. New ideas, peoples, and commodities were incorporated into their cultural framework. The Caddos persisted and for a time even thrived, despite continual raids by the Osages and Choctaws, decimation by diseases, and escalating pressures from the French and Spanish. The Caddo Chiefdoms offers the most complete accounting available of early Caddo culture and history. Weaving together French and Spanish archival sources, Caddo oral history, and archaeological evidence, David La Vere presents a fascinating look at the political, social, economic, and religious forces that molded Caddo culture over time. Special attention is given to the relationship between kinship and trade and to the political impulses driving the successive rise and decline of Caddo chiefdoms. Distinguished by thorough scholarship and an interpretive vision that is both theoretically astute and culturally sensitive, this study enhances our understanding of a remarkable southeastern Native people.
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