My name is Zhang Rongliang, and I am an unashamed follower of Jesus Christ.…It is considered quite dangerous to reveal the contents of this book, but these are stories that need to be told for God’s glory and for the encouragement of the church.” So begins this extraordinary first-person account by the prominent leader of one of the largest underground churches in China. A former Communist Party member, Zhang took a stand for Christ and was targeted for prison, work camps, and torture, all the while helping to build a network of millions of faithful believers. Spanning the time of Mao’s regime to today, Zhang testifies of God’s supernatural movements, of the sacrifice of countless Christians who loved and served Christ—regardless of the cost—and of the exciting new vision among believers in China to reach not only the Chinese but the entire world with the gospel.
I would not encourage anyone to seek persecution, but as Christians, we should never deny ourselves the privilege of traveling on the path of suffering. It is a difficult path--but a glorious one." -Pastor Shen Xiaoming Shen Xiaoming is the pastor of millions. Founder of one of the largest underground churches in China, he is no stranger to persecution from China’s historically hostile government. Time and again, Pastor Shen has experienced deprivation, disease, and imprisonment for the sake of the incredible spread of the gospel in rural central China. But April 16, 2002, brought the persecution to a new level. Pastor Shen was kidnapped by the murderous Eastern Lightning cult after being lured into a supposed Bible conference. This dangerous cult believes that Christ returned in the form of a female Chinese leader, and they use force, torture, and indoctrination to gain followers. Yet again, Pastor Shen had to take a stand against evil. Here is his story.
Where did the major scale come from? Why does most traditional non-Western music not share Western principles of harmony? What does the inner structure of a canon have to do with religious belief? Why, in historical terms, is J.S. Bach’s music regarded as a perfect combination of melody and harmony? Why do clocks in church towers strike dominant-tonic-dominant-tonic? What do cathedrals have to do with monochords? How can the harmonic series be demonstrated with a rope tied to a doorknob, and how can it be heard by standing next to an electric fan? Why are the free ocean waves in Debussy’s La Mer, the turbulent river waves in Smetana’s Moldau, and the fountain ripples in Ravel’s Jeux d’Eau pushed at times into four-bar phrases? Why is the metric system inherently unsuitable for organizing music and poetry? In what way does Plato’s Timaeus resemble the prelude to Wagner’s Das Rheingold? Just how does Beethoven’s work perfectly illustrate fully functional tonality, and why were long-range works based on this type of tonality impossible before the introduction of equal temperament? In this new century, what promising materials are available to composers in the wake of harmonic experimentation and, some would argue, exhaustion? The answers to these seemingly complicated questions are not the sole province of music professors or orchestra conductors. In fact, as E. Eugene Helm demonstrates, they can just as easily be explained to amateurs, and their answers are important if we are to understand how Western music works. The full range of Western music is explored through 21 concise chapters on such topics as melody, harmony, counterpoint, texture, melody types, improvisation, music notation, free imitation, canon and fugue, vibration and its relation to harmony, tonality, and the place of music in architecture and astronomy. Intended for amateurs and professionals, concert-goers and conductors, Helm offers in down-to-earth language an explanation of the foundations of our Western music heritage, deepening our understanding and the listening experience of it for all.
The regular use of a devotional book can assist with one's spiritual growth. Whether you are beginning your faith journey or desire to develop a deeper relationship with Christ, you will find this book to be engaging. Selected topics are based on newsworthy stories, historical events, or other twice-told tales. The author frequently draws personal inspiration from biblical parables and scriptural references as they relate to his own life experience. The reading of these 366 devotions is unique in that they can be utilized every day for a full year or weekly over a seven-year period. Reflection questions following each devotion will benefit and challenge the reader to consider possible direction for change through application in one's daily activities.
Sentenced to Death for Her Beliefs Mariam Ibraheem was born in a refugee camp in Sudan. Her Muslim father died when she was six, and her mother raised her in the Christian faith. After a traumatic childhood, Mariam became a successful businessperson, married the man she loved, and had a beautiful baby boy. But one day in 2013, her world was shattered when Sudan authorities insisted she was Muslim because of her father’s background. She had broken the law by marrying a Christian man, and she must abandon both her marriage and her son and adopt Islam. Under intense pressure, Mariam repeatedly refused. Ultimately, a Sharia court sentenced her to 100 lashes—and death by hanging. Shackled is the stunning true story of a courageous young mother who was willing to face death rather than deny her faith. Mariam Ibraheem took a stand on behalf of all women who are maltreated because of their gender and all people who suffer from religious persecution. Follow Mariam’s story from life under Islamic law, through imprisonment and childbirth while shackled, to her remarkable escape from death following an international outcry and advocacy that included diplomats, journalists, activists, and even Pope Francis.
The Chinese house church is one of the most misunderstood and controversial subjects in Christian world missions today. Questions about it abound, such as… How did it start? How does it work? How is it led? Why does it continue to experience revival? Is it necessary, now that China has extended religious freedoms? Much of the confusion is caused by the Chinese government, which deceives journalists and foreign missionaries with promises of religious freedom that are never kept. The truth is, the house churches of China are growing at a phenomenal rate. Never in the history of the world have so many people in such a short time left one belief system for another without a hostile revolution. Lives in China are being transformed daily by the gospel of Jesus Christ and the display of His miraculous power. The Underground Church demystifies the Chinese house church movement, with real-life examples and personal testimonies from Chinese Christians. The movement’s unique characteristics—both good and bad—are addressed, as well as how they have led to the church’s astonishing growth. Read and be amazed at what God is doing in China!
Ordered to play for the Jewish prisoners of a Nazi concentration camp, young German violinist Gottfried Keller reluctantly complies in spite of his growing horror about the camp's atrocities and his own culpability in renewing its prisoners' hopes. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
This book acquaints the reader with the fundamentals of truth conditional model-theoretic semantics, and in particular with a version of this developed by Richard Montague.
Spectroscopy and Photochemistry of Uranyl Compounds is a guide to the research and physics of the actinide elements, particularly the uranyl ion. The book is introduced with the subject of the spectroscopy of uranyl salts in the solid state. Studies dealing with the fluorescence and absorption spectra of solid uranyl salts through band measurements and empirical classification, term analysis, and fluorescence spectrum in relation to excitation by light of various wavelengths are then discussed. The book also mentions the analysis of the uranyl spectrum by Dieke and co-workers, because of the precise measurements of the fluorescence and absorption bands obtained under the Manhattan project. The table determined by Pant and Sakhwalkar in their study of the florescence spectrum of solid, hydrated uranyl fluoride at -185 degrees centigrade is presented. The text also discusses the theory of electronic structure and spectra of the uranyl ion. The spectroscopy of uranyl compounds in solution and the uranyl fluorescence intensity and decay are then presented. The book then explains the process of measuring the intensity of slowly decaying florescence of uranyl salts. The primary photochemical reactions in uranyl compounds are found to be slow, giving rise to many secondary thermal reactions that may be unwanted. Researchers in the fields of chemistry and physics working on actinide elements will find this collection of monographs invaluable.
This indispensable reference features the latest alternative approaches to diagnosing, treating, and preventing arthritis. It also details how to pinpoint the underlying factors leading to arthritis and includes proven and nontoxic ways to heal or manage arthritis naturally and without the risk of serious side effects. A completely updated and expanded guide to alternative treatments for arthritis. Covers supplement therapy, organ detoxification regimes, and immune system boosters to relieve joint pain, stiffness, and inflammation. From the creators of Alternative Medicine magazine and THE ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE DEFINITVE GUIDE, which has sold 650,000 copies.
During his lifetime (1888-1970), Hall Johnson's concert arrangements of spirituals have been performed and recorded by stellar singers, such as Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, and Denyce Graves, and were sung by school and concert choirs all over the world. The Hall Johnson Negro Choir was acclaimed in concert halls throughout America and Europe, on Broadway, on radio, and in Hollywood and can be seen and heard in movie classics like Lost Horizon, Jezebel, Dumbo, and Song of the South. Yet the story of Johnson's life and accomplishments as conductor, composer, arranger, violist, author, and teacher has never been told until now. Hall Johnson: His Life, His Spirit, and His Music is the first definitive biography of Hall Johnson, providing both a historical narrative of Johnson's entire life and work, as well as a comprehensive treatment of his movie career, his literary creations, his work in musical theatre, and a complete exploration of his music, with special emphasis on the larger works. Author Eugene Thamon Simpson, the curator of the Hall Johnson collection in New Jersey, has amassed important pieces of the collection, such as letters, reviews, interviews, and other documents by and about Hall Johnson, and referenced or published them here for greater accessibility. The book also includes personal recollections of Hall Johnson by people who knew him as teacher, conductor, or professional colleague. Over 20 photos, a discography, and a complete listing of Johnson's works help to document his achievements, making this a valuable resource for those interested in Black History Studies, the evolution of the Negro Spiritual, and blacks in American Cinema and musical theatre.
More and more information is pumped into our media-saturated world every day, yet Americans seem to know less and less. In a society where who you are is defined by what you buy, and where we prefer to experience reality by watching it on TV, Eugene Halton argues something has clearly gone wrong. Luckily Halton, with scalpel-sharp wit in one hand and the balm of wisdom in the other, is here to operate on the declining body politic. His initial diagnosis is bleak: fast food and too much time spent sitting, whether in our cars or on our couches, are ruining our bodies, while our minds are weakened by the proliferation of electronic devices—TVs, computers, cell phones, iPods, video games—and their alienating effects. If we are losing the battle between autonomy and automation, he asks, how can our culture regain self-sufficiency? Halton finds the answer in the inspiring visions—deeply rooted in American culture—of an organic and more spontaneous life at the heart of the work of master craftsman Wharton Esherick, legendary blues singer Muddy Waters, urban critic Lewis Mumford, and artist Maya Lin, among others. A scathing and original jeremiad against modern materialism, The Great Brain Suck is also a series of epiphanies of a simpler but more profound life.
This book deals with two aspects pertaining to the understanding of John. On the one hand it examines the style of the Gospel and on the other hand it introduces, for the first time in the study of the Fourth Gospel, a comprehensive speech act reading of a Johannine discourse. In the first chapter different approaches to Johannine style are identified, and the deficiencies current in perceptions regarding style are indicated. The second chapter deals with theoretical observations regarding the nature of style in terms of modern stylistics. It is suggested that a possible paradigm for a comprehensive approach to style is speech act theory. The next chapter contains a comprehensive speech act reading of John 4: 1-42. Finally, observations regarding style, and understanding Johannine texts, based on this speech act reading, is given. Not only does this study clarify the nature of Johannine style in more modern terms, but it also gives an indication of the enormous possibilities this theory holds for enhancing New Testament exegesis.
“An extraordinary work of intellectual history as well as a scholarly tour de force, a bracing polemic, and a work of Christian prophecy...McCarraher challenges more than 200 years of post-Enlightenment assumptions about the way we live and work.” —The Observer At least since Max Weber, capitalism has been understood as part of the “disenchantment” of the world, stripping material objects and social relations of their mystery and magic. In this magisterial work, Eugene McCarraher challenges this conventional view. Capitalism, he argues, is full of sacrament, whether one is prepared to acknowledge it or not. First flowering in the fields and factories of England and brought to America by Puritans and evangelicals, whose doctrine made ample room for industry and profit, capitalism has become so thoroughly enmeshed in the fabric of our society that our faith in “the market” has become sacrosanct. Informed by cultural history and theology as well as management theory, The Enchantments of Mammon looks to nineteenth-century Romantics, whose vision of labor combined reason, creativity, and mutual aid, for salvation. In this impassioned challenge to some of our most firmly held assumptions, McCarraher argues that capitalism has hijacked our intrinsic longing for divinity—and urges us to break its hold on our souls. “A majestic achievement...It is a work of great moral and spiritual intelligence, and one that invites contemplation about things we can’t afford not to care about deeply.” —Commonweal “More brilliant, more capacious, and more entertaining, page by page, than his most ardent fans dared hope. The magnitude of his accomplishment—an account of American capitalism as a religion...will stun even skeptical readers.” —Christian Century
This book explores the science behind intuitive decision-making in business, and shows how people's innate capacity for intuition can be nurtured and strengthened to maximize performance. We are all familiar with those perplexing situations when we think we 'just know' without knowing how or why we know. In professional life it might be the job candidate's CV that checks all the boxes but somehow doesn't stack-up: should we perform some due diligence and dig a little deeper? In personal life it could be the apartment that we're looking to rent that just felt right the minute we walked through the front door: should we trust our hunch and grab it while we can? What if time is of the essence? What if there isn't any more data to be had in the time available? In this volume, Eugene Sadler-Smith examines why situations like these often leave us in a quandary, and why these decisions so often leave us in two minds. He reveals that metaphorically speaking, we have two minds in one brain: an 'analytical mind' and an 'intuitive mind', which sometimes come to quite different conclusions about what we ought to do in those consequential decisions that permeate our professional and personal lives. Rather than thinking of our intuitive and analytical minds in constant battle with each other, we might instead think of them as two information-processing systems that have evolved to complement each other. The main idea of this book is that our analytical mind evolved to 'solve' whilst our intuitive mind evolved to 'sense'. Neither is infallible, and our intuitions can be both flawed and marvellous at the same time. The author's clear and detailed explanation of the science behind intuition reveals how we can make intelligent use of our intuition to sense and solve our way through a world that is fast-moving, complex, and uncertain.
The jihadist group ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has been wreaking havoc in northern Iraq and Syria. But its reign of terror is not confined to the Middle East. Its 2014 beheadings of American journalist James Foley and Israeli-American journalist Steven Sotloff have shocked the world and instilled fear in the hearts of many Westerners. ISIS is the wealthiest, most technologically advanced, and most powerful terrorist organization in history. Its members are extremely diverse, having been recruited from countries all over the globe, including Canada, Britain, and the U.S. Now that ISIS has the world’s attention, what’s next? Governments around the world have spent billions of dollars employing military strategies, and they are still convinced that ISIS is mainly a political problem that requires a political solution. But what if the answer isn’t political or military? What if the real solution is spiritual in nature? Missionaries from the underground church of China are launching a spiritual offensive. They are not armed with a sentence of death but with a message of life, and ISIS jihadists are in their crosshairs. In ISIS, the Heart of Terror, you will learn about the missionary vision “Back to Jerusalem” and the underground church’s unique method of responding to ISIS by evangelizing Muslim militants. Discover how Chinese missionaries are fulfilling the Great Commission by sharing the gospel with some of the most unreachable people groups in the world, and find out how Christians everywhere can take part in a powerful evangelization of the Middle East.
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