This book is an attempt to relate the wonderful biblical truths about the possibility of having a living, personal relationship with God. This truth comes down through the entire history of the Christian faith, as well as in the Bible. Yet there is very little teaching or promotion of this truth in organized religion. This lack of a presentation of the message of God as our Father results in a corresponding lack of power and freedom for effective daily living in the Christian community. Sadly, many people in religious organizations (not to mention people outside the religious system) doubt if a personal relationship with God is even possible. This is even sadder when we consider the Bible is very clear on this point. The Bible tells us that a personal relationship with God as our Father is not only possible but this relationship is God's greatest desire for us. It is Bill Landon's hope that this book will be an encouragement for those people who seek a spiritual life that has more practical impact on their daily living. For those who wish to explore the possibilities of a greater peace and fullness in their living, this book can be a help.
It is beyond debate that the world is troubled with numerous problems. We live in a time of political, economic and social uncertainty. While all of us earnestly hope that these problems will be worked out, we all differ widely in our views of the best route to get to these solutions. Perhaps the most basic issue in seeking solutions to our problems is the identification of the cause or source of these problems. As the world is an interconnected system where we all have some impact on the whole, it is logical to assume that the most basic issues of the world's problems lie within each of us individually. This book takes this approach. If we are to ever hope to move toward solutions to the world situation we must begin with each of our own individual situations. This is not a look at our physical situation but with our psychological and spiritual situation. The only way we can ever hope to build a better world is to build better people. The making of better people begins with a proper constitution of our "self" or the person we truly are. In the end, there are only two versions of our self that we can elect to live in-the independent self or the individual self. One of these versions leads to a life of bondage and the other leads to a healthy life of positive impact. This impact touches both our own life and the condition of all those we have contact with.
Each of us goes through life on a search for the truth. We may do this ether consciously or subconsciously but the journey is a part of our living. Please understand that this is not some theoretical exercise. The search for truth is vital for us to make correct decisions in all aspects of our life. As such, this is one of the most important understandings we can come to as human beings. The search for truth is actually the search for reality and the nature of reality. Thus, this is an important part of meaningful living. How successful we are going to be in living is heavily reliant on how clearly and correctly we understand the true nature of reality. It is for this reason that this is no mere philosophical exercise. This book is an exploration of the Bibles view of reality. Contrary to popular opinion there is only one ultimate truth. We need to reject the misconception that reality is subjective. This is the error Pontus Pilate expressed to Christ (John 18:38) and that the Athenian Greeks proposed to the apostle Paul (Acts 17:1921). Yet, the true nature of life is that there is only one real truth. Given the impact our understanding of truth has on our life here and now as well as in eternity, there is no more important pursuit a person can undertake. This book puts forth the view of truth that is based on the teachings of the Bible.
What is the most important part of any life? The correct answer to this question holds the key to ultimate success in our living. To be able to answer this question we have to understand what life is truly about. Surprisingly, the Bible is very clear as to the answer to this question. In The Life that is Real Life, Bill Landon explores the basic nature of human life as it is described in the Bible. While this sturdy is based on Christian beliefs, it is not affiliated with any denomination or organization. In this nontraditional approach to life we will look at the spiritual view of living. This is a view that is not found in most of the world's explanations of what human life is about. Why do we need a new view of our living? Most people sense that their living lacks a certain something. Bill believes that something is peace and rest. We are not at rest because we don't know where to look for these blessings. The good news is that we can begin today to find a way to living with greater peace no matter what circumstances we face. All we need to do is to seek from the right source for the answers. Come and explore the wonderful world of the life that is real life.
There are many traditional concepts of the devil in organized religion as well as in popular myth and culture. Nearly every worldview has an explanation for the evil we see in our daily life experiences. While we may not like to think much about the darker side of life, we instinctively seek a reason or cause for the negative parts of our experience in this world. In most of the explanations of evil there is some personification of hurt and suffering called Satan, the devil, the evil one or some other name. The Bible tells us a great deal about the enemy of God and humanity including the fact that he is bent on hurting God by harming us. Given the fact that Satan is dedicated to harming us, we would do well to have as clear and accurate an understanding of him as we can. Our best defense against any opponent is to know how they operate, what they are capable of and what their limitations and weaknesses are. Fortunately, we can do this without succumbing to an unhealthy level of obsession about the foe of all humanity. In this book you will find a nontraditional explanation of where and how Satan operates within humanity. This view deserves a hearing, as the prevailing ideas about the devil's working don't seem to be terribly effective for the purpose of aiding us in overcoming our adversary. Some may find the idea of a personal devil (Satan in the flesh) a disturbing or insulting concept. If you will give it a careful hearing, however, this unorthodox idea may just be a key understanding in your successful resistance to the evil one's desire to harm you.
What does it mean to be human? Most of us have asked this question at one time or another. At least we have considered this question from the standpoint of our own life-What is the most basic part of me? We don't have to be philosophers or "deep thinkers" to ask these questions. It is normal and natural for us to wonder about the fundamental nature of our being. In The Spiritual You, Bill Landon continues his examination of what our life in this world is truly all about. In his earlier books (My Father and Your Father and The Life that is Real Life) Bill has looked at our relationship with God and the Lord's wishes for us as part of His creation. In The Spiritual You, Bill brings this search to the level of the individual person. What is our real, basic nature? If we are to ever come to a place of harmony with ourselves, each other, our environment and world, we must understand this basic nature. This understanding, as Bill sees it, is not found in the world of formal education, politics or even organized religion. To understand our true nature we must seek for this knowledge from God. This understanding is integral to our finding the place we were meant to hold in God's creation. It is the author's hope that this book will be help and an encouragement to anyone seeking to find the real spiritual you.
THERE ARE FEW SUBJECTS IN HUMAN THOUGHT THAT RAISE SUCH STRONG EMOTIONS AS THE AFTERLIFE. What if anything, awaits us after we leave this physical world? Are we reincarnated to try to "get it right" through another life? Do we simply vanish? Do we enter some state of bliss or torment based on our good deeds or lack of them? It seems that there is no end of conjecture offered by human religion and philosophy on this subject. Yet, most of this seems to be nothing more than baseless speculation. As we have no evidence (indeed, we cannot have any physical evidence) of what becomes of us after our physical death, it appears that we have no choice but to pick the idea that is most appealing to us and go with it. It is true enough that we will ultimately pick the idea of the afterlife that we choose to believe to be correct, yet this is a matter of sufficiently great importance to warrant our choosing wisely. The source of information we choose to accept as the correct depiction of the afterlife is one of the most critical decisions we will ever make. While this will ultimately be a matter of belief, we owe it to ourselves to make our choice based on what these sources actually say and not on what we think they say or what others tell us they say. This book is presented as a look at the Bible's teaching on the subject of the afterlife and the choices available to us for an existence after this present life is over. The findings presented in this book are at considerable variance with the teachings of traditional institutional Christian church doctrine and dogma. It is the author's hope that the points presented here will give the reader a different perspective of the biblical view of life, death and afterlife.
SERMONS OF W. L. OLIPHANTby W. L. OliphantDallas attorney and minister W. L. Oliphant was an effective radio speaker as well as an evangelist. Fifteen of his classic sermons are here presented. Titles include: God?s Dynamo, Fundamentalism and Modernism, The Deadly Danger, The Model Church?How Formed?, My Creed, A Trip to Paradise, Defeating God?s Purposes, Re-digging Old Wells, Following the Star, Whither Have You Made a Road?. The Matchless Words of Jesus, What Crucified Jesus?, By Grace?Through Faith, Incidents About the Cross, Help From the Other Side.172 pages, illustrated, black hardcover. $6.95ISBN 978-1-933965-32-1
By 1520, Niccolò Machiavelli’s life in Florence was steadily improving: he had achieved a degree of literary fame, and, following his removal from the Florentine Chancery by the Medici family, he had managed to gain their respect and patronage. But there is one figure whose substantial contributions to Machiavelli’s restoration has been hitherto neglected – Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi (1482–1549), a younger and fabulously wealthy Florentine nobleman. As manuscript evidence suggests, Strozzi brought Machiavelli into his patronage network and aided many of his post-1520 achievements. This book is the first English biography of Strozzi, as well as the first examination of the patron-client relationship that developed between the two men. William J. Landon reveals Strozzi’s influence on Machiavelli through wide-ranging textual investigations, and especially through Strozzi’s Pistola fatta per la peste – a work that survives as a Machiavelli autograph, and for which Landon has provided the first ever complete English translation and critical edition.
MOST OF US GREW UP WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT ORGANIZED RELIGION WAS THE NORMAL, correct and proper expression of God's interaction with humanity. However, suppose that this is not the case. Just for a moment, let's think about what the implications are of the possibility that the church organizations of the world got it wrong. Was it ever God's intention that we should deal with Him on a corporate or mass level? Is it the Lord's wish that we deal with Him through agents or intermediaries? Certainly the case can be made for the Jewish tradition as described in the Old Testament for God's dealing with a group of people. Yet we go quite far wrong if we try to apply the directions of the temple worship to any group other than the one it was divinely given to. The organizational Christian churches have done a great deal of harm to the beauty of the Christian message. This harm was not done intentionally but this fact does not minimize the injury. Organized religion has strayed from the original biblical Christian message in an attempt to gain position, power and status for itself. This is a serious charge and we should never consider accepting such an allegation without substantial proof. In this book we will look at the proof of these charges from the Bible as well as examining the proper role of organizational religion in the Christian experience. In making these charges it is not being claimed that church organizations have no place in people's living or that they have nothing positive to contribute to people's faith experience. This book is a call for the religious organizations of the Christian community to assume their proper place in the plan of God and end their rebellion against the Father. This is a change that requires action on both the organizations' part and on the part of the individual members of the Christian community. It is no overstatement to say that the entire world will benefit from this change in the order of things.
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