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This book is the English edition of my German book "Reise durch das Alte Testament" (ISBN 978-3-9815308-0-3). Both books were published in January 2013. The Journey is an annotated storybook with texts from the first part of the Old Testament, the Five Books of Moses, and illustrations covering more than 2000 years of Christian and Jewish art.

It was first and foremost written for all those who always wanted to get to know the biblical texts but never really got into it. Maybe the remote language made you shrink back or the seemingly obsolete content with apparently no connection to your own life. Therefore, since understanding the texts is not self-evident, I inserted commentaries alongside the selected stories. The commentaries are based upon insights of current academic theology. And to get our children going, too, I added easy-to read explanations alongside the pictures. You’ll find more than 120 masterpieces of art in this book in beautiful print! The texts are excerpts from different Standard English translations of the Bible.

Since my plan is to give you a thorough introduction to all books of the Bible, I had to divide my bible project into several volumes. This book is volume one and contains the Five Books of Moses, the Torah. It underlines the necessity for Christians to have a sound knowledge of the Old Testament. The New is based upon the Old!

So far, I have not been able, to upload a preview of my book in epub; instead you could visit my homepage (www.bibleandart-publishinghouse.com) and you’ll find sample readings to download if you navigate to the information on “The first book” (scroll down to the bottom).

So, I would be very happy if this book could help opening up the biblical treasures for you – in a fresh, unbiased and transparent way, written by a Catholic and ecumenical Christian!

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• Lucid analysis of how beliefs, expectations, and experience differ from one generation to the next
• Clear-cut, practical, and specific advice about how to use that analysis to facilitate communication, congregational harmony, and spiritual direction
• Intended for anyone in ministry who wants to be a more effective minister to "other" generations, including pastors, chaplains, and spiritual directors

Designed for churches trying to figure out how to grow and reach young people, Faithful Generations provides a hopeful and helpful guide to the different adult generations alive today, discussing the events that formed them and the issues important to them. Most importantly, it describes their spiritual distinctions—the particular needs, gifts, and concerns that drive these different generations. With a basic understanding of how other generations think and what drives them spiritually, ministers and congregations can not only avoid conflict, but also put those distinctions to work to in order to minister more effectively and create harmony in our religious communities.

John Mabry has spent 19 years in pastoral ministry, and 14 years in private practice as a spiritual director. Former editor of Presence: An International Journey of Spiritual Direction, he currently directs the interfaith spiritual direction certificate program at the Chaplaincy Institute for Arts and Interfaith Ministry and is pastor of Grace North Church in Berkeley, CA.

For pastors, chaplains, spiritual directors, pastoral counselors and those training for these ministries.


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[close] Father D’Angelo and Bakeman, two devoted priests were brutally murdered while going on one of their nightly walks. Detective Frank Rinelli is called to the case- not only due to his close friendship with the priests, but with his expertise of tracking psychotic killers. Rinelli suddenly discovers these murders were based on a scandal that occurred several years ago at the same Church where the two murdered priests preached. And it doesn’t stop there. The list of people being murdered in connection with the scandal continues to grow until the killer has his ultimate vengeance- and the truth released. Join Detective Rinelli on the fearful streets of Philadelphia as he chases a madman who has nothing to lose and everything to gain- destroying the face of the Catholic Church. Rinelli discovers a hidden secret while confronting the killer that is way beyond betrayal and begins to question his faith. Could this betrayal be the killer’s momentum of not only killing Rinelli, but to complete his master plan which will affect the lives of every citizen? [close]

[close] The name of my book is:CAUGHT IN A WEB:Changed by Destiny. This is a true story of my life how I lived in horror from my stepmother when I was a child. I was in many relationships. I was looking for love and romance and I ended up being the spider's prey. This story tells how I was trapped in the web and how my life changed from what I had become. This is a book mostly to help young women and anyone else caught in some kind of horrible situation,that you feel you cannot escape. It is a story that will give you hope about your circumstances and instruct you to think about what choices you should make before you make them. Choices can become webs,because the consequences of those choices can be very difficult to undo,and sometimes those circumstances last a lifetime. It is a story that will give you some insight to your life and show you how to make the right choices. [close]

[close] I am giving away one free autographed book in commemoration of Memorial day on May 27th. The book will be mailed out on May 29th.

[close] Over the past few decades, the ever-expanding scientific knowledge of the universe and the human condition, combined with the evolution from religion-based to personal morality, has led to a mass crisis of faith. Leaders of most Protestant and Catholic religious traditions, which include nearly 80 percent of Americans, have watched their memberships stagnate or dwindle. Over the years, philosophers and scientists have argued that science has in fact "killed" God, and that if we believe the facts science has presented, we must also accept that God is fiction. Others, holding fast to their long-standing doctrines, attempt to justify their beliefs by using God to explain gaps in scientific knowledge. Having left an upbringing in a family of Mennonite preachers to discover his own experience of God, Galen Guengerich understands the modern American struggle to combine modern world views with outdated religious dogma. Drawing upon his own experiences, he proposes that just as humanity has had to evolve its conception of the universe to coincide with new scientific discoveries, we are long overdue in evolving our concept of God. Gone are the days of the magical, supernatural deity in the sky who visits wrath upon those who have not followed his word. Especially in a scientific age, we need an experience of a God we can believe in—an experience that grounds our morality, unites us in community, and engages us with a world that still holds more mystery than answers. [close]

[close] Objection! Overruled! (Or, Two Lawyers Have a Little "Chat" about God and Hell) [BookLocker.com, Inc.] – Steve Baughman and Ellsworth McMeen

A must-read on the Christian faith! Not a dry dissertation, but a vigorous and immensely entertaining 21st Century “chat” between two insightful lawyers and authors, Steve Baughman and Ellsworth (“El”) McMeen. El is a Christian; Steve is an atheist. The result is passionate, yet humorous, provocative, yet heartfelt. The conversation ranges from hell to emoticons, from philosophical matters to the movie "Ghostbusters."

Reviewers have called this book "a great boxing match" and "a wild ride," and cited the "extraordinary privilege to be allowed to listen in on this conversation of hearts and heads."

You'll be chuckling while you ponder deep spiritual matters in this engrossing dialogue.

This vivid book also lends itself to Bible studies, and to studies in Christian apologetics, philosophy, and law.

A free excerpt can be found here:

http://assets.booklocker.com/pdfs/682... [close]

[close] Women want answers! A busy twenty-first century woman who has not taken the time to think through exactly what she believes about God, even why she believes in God, tends to live as a practical atheist. Today's Christian woman needs the transformation that having a reasoned belief in the reality of God's existence can bring, the intellectual confidence that will empower her to speak boldly on faith issues, with love and self-control.

It's not that women need different or special apologetics arguments; they simply need to be encouraged and instructed in the importance of apologetics in their daily lives. Women who are exposed to apologetics find themselves energized and excited about sharing their faith with family, friends, and coworkers.

Popular apologist Mary Jo Sharp issues a personal challenge for sisters in Christ to approach their faith on an intellectual level, along with a compelling call for women's ministries to help women love God with their minds by incorporating apologetics into their programs. [close]

[close] *SIGNED COPY*

"Heaven. It's there. It's real. It's the same as on earth, but different."

These are some of the first words this middle-aged man slowly whispered after coming out of a twelve day coma following cardiac arrest and triple-by-pass surgery.

Imagine There's a Heaven is more than a glimpse of Heaven. It's an abstract, personal account of a non-churchgoing man who journeyed to Heaven—no filler, no fluff—making it a shorter read. Jim Austerman is a self-published author who documented his journey of what he saw, heard, felt, and did in the vast dimension of Heaven.

Excerpt:
As my spirit lingered in the casket, I came to realize, I was not who I thought I was. I was not my body. My spirit was conscious—aware of the events taking place. I realized I was my spirit. As I gazed at myself lying there, I knew that my body was dead—a most peculiar discernment. Suddenly, I felt movement and quickly hovered near my body. The casket was set in motion as I watched flashes of white light speed by. It was like traveling at the speed of light, but strangely, somehow, it felt as if it wasn't moving at all. Almost as swiftly as it began, the movement stopped. My spirit continued hovering over my body, as if it were protecting me—watching—waiting to see what would happen next. No sound was heard—nothing but silence.

Words of the Author:
"During and after recovery I wrote down all my memories of Heaven. I'm not a Pulitzer Prize writer by any stretch of the means, but I've tried my best to take you through my journey. I hope you find some inspiration in this book and find God, as I did." [close]

[close] Are science and faith antithetic? Are the new discoveries in science making faith in God totter? Or can science be the basis for strong faith and the belief in a Creator? Discover how.

The Beautiful Scientist takes an interesting look at science and faith, and how the two can work together to prove there is a Creator. Corrado Ghinamo believes it is the very existence of the universe that allows people to see there is a super-entity, there is a God. He uses scientific evidence, like the Big Bang Theory, the smallest particles of the universe, the galaxies, and what he calls the Super-Force to prove just that—God does exist.

Creation and evolution are not two separate ideals; rather evolution is one of the means that God used and still uses in creating and governing the universe. Ghinamo shows that God is a logical necessity to complete the vision of scientist’s universe. The same goes for people of faith; there is scientific evidence that can further the existence of a Creator.

The Beautiful Scientist: A Spiritual Approach to Science uses easy-to-understand language, examples from everyday life, and an easy-to-follow structure to prove that the universe, far more beautiful and complex than people can imagine, was in fact created by God, and that evidence and rationality in science can lead to the belief in God. [close]

[close] A mystery is revealed through numbers. Exciting, unusual and groundbreaking.....

Description:

Within the cuneiform records a King's List has been found. The Weld-Blundell prism speaks of a great deluge that destroyed a scientific civilization 241,000 years old.

Within the ancient text of the Torah lies a secret. It is a mystery revealed through numbers. The size of the Biblical Ark, the number of days Moses wandered in the wilderness, and Noah's great age all tell us a story. Word by word, number by number the mystery unfolds. Even the many Hebrew names for God tell the story.

The Great Giza pyramid has been built to endure a tidal wave. Did it already survive such a wave? Were they predicting another flood?

What happened to the Earth to make the ancient people believe something dreadful might occur again in the future? Scientists know the pole moves over very vast eons of time. Does the pole move more often than that? Does it move on its own? And what happens when it does? Have the ancient mages left us a record of a pole shift?

For the first time ancient monuments are deciphered in a way that allows us to understand a hidden message about the past and a dire warning about the future.

A journey of discovery lies within and our ultimate fate awaits.... [close]

[close] Nik Wallenda, "King of the High Wire," doesn't know fear. As a seventh generation of the legendary Wallenda family, he grew up performing, entertaining, and pushing the boundaries of gravity and balance.

When Nik was four years old, he watched a video from 1978 of his great grandfather, Karl Wallenda, walking between the towers of the Condado Plaza Hotel in Puerto Rico, stumbling, and falling to his death because of improper rigging. When Nik heard his father quote his great-grandfather-"Life is on the wire, everything else is just waiting"-the words resonated deep within his soul and he vowed to be a hero like Karl Wallenda.

Balance is the theme of Nik's life: between his work and family, his faith in God and artistry, his body and soul. It resonates from him when performing and when no one is looking. When walking across Niagara Falls, he prayed aloud the entire time, and to keep his lust for glory and fame in check, Nik returned to the site of his performance the next day and spent three hours cleaning up trash left by the crowd.

Nik Wallenda is an entertainer who wants to not only thrill hearts, but to change hearts for Christ. Christ is the balance pole that keeps him from falling. [close]

[close] THE CAIRO CODEX
by Linda Lambert
West Hills Press

This captivating and suspenseful novel portrays the lives of two provocative women, two millennia apart. One legendary; both heroic.
THE CAIRO CODEX explores the bold themes of dominant human desires, fundamentalism, sexual awakening, feminism, and the pressures that lead to revolution.
2007: Egypt is a powder keg ripe for revolution, sparked by a discovery so shocking that religious and political forces converge to prevent its revelation.
Anthropologist Justine Jenner, the daughter of an Egyptian beauty and American archeologist, has returned to Egypt to forge her own identify and assume a position with the UNESCO Community Schools for Girls.
Two days after arriving in Cairo, she feels compelled to revisit an ancient crypt, once a cave thought to have been the home of the Holy Family. While in the crypt, an earthquake nearly buries her and she unearths a centuries-old codex soon determined to be the diary of the Virgin Mary.
Transcribed entries from the diary appear throughout the novel and contain disclosures so startling that they ignite a series of actions, many provoked by the Muslim Brotherhood, jeopardizing the foundations of both Christian and Muslim faiths. Among the revelations are the influence of Buddhism and Mary's wisdom on the young Jesus. In the wake of these disclosures, violence rocks the region and the Muslim Brotherhood prepares to take over the country.
While Justine is entwined in the exotic cultures of ancient and present-day Egypt and the love of two Egyptian men – one who betrays her – she is followed, kidnapped, and eventually expelled from her beloved Egypt.

An anthropologist, a force of nature, and a codex lead to a complex and engrossing novel of Egyptian history, religion, and politics.
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[close] Many cultures have traditional stories about a certain type of character a person whose understanding of cause and effect is twisted; whose gullibility is unbounded; who is so confident of his wisdom, he is unaware of his own foolishness. But in the Jewish storytelling tradition we do not have such a character; we have a whole village. The Village of Chelm. But what happened to those people?

Some generations ago, a real estate broker offered them an amazing property, a far away tract of land where, he claimed, "every acre is two acres, you can till the soil with a teaspoon, and there are not only four seasons, there are five."

When they arrived they found that everything the real estate broker said was true! Every acre is two acres because the land is so steep, if you flattened it out, for every acre you’d get two! You can till the soil with a teaspoon because that’s how deep you can dig before you hit bedrock! And there are not only four seasons, there are five: summer, fall, winter, spring, black fly season.

Welcome to Chelm’s Pond, centrally isolated in New York's Adirondack Mountains, where the ridiculous stories of Chelm meet the preposterous tall tales of the Adirondacks, and yet raise serious questions about the nature of God and the meaning of prayer.

Welcome to Chelm's Pond, home of Adirondack Mendel, Bloomie, Rabbi Chayim "who looks to heaven," aka Rabbi Chayim Shmayim, and Aufruf, the Yiddishe talking dog, and join me for lunch at The Broiled Beet -- serving the finest in Adirondack-Ashkenazick fusion cuisine.

Zayt gezunt!
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[close] What is God really like? What sort of personality does he have? What are his values and priorities? And who can best answer such questions? These are vital questions for anyone who wants to understand and please him, and so ensure an eternal future. But they are not philosophical or theological questions. They are about his psychology.

Gary Bakker is a clinical psychologist with 30 years of experience at answering these questions. He has studied God's words and deeds (his self-report and his behavior), found evidence of 16 psychological characteristics of God, and from these, reports some surprising conclusions. For example, if God has what we would regard as a diagnosable psychological problem, can it be treated?

The 16 features/chapters that lead to an overall diagnosis and conclusion are:
-To watch an ant walk, build a solar system for it.
-In order to climb Mt Everest, wait until it is eroded to the size of a hill.
-Make the courtroom look like a café.
-For a fair test, only tell a few of the class there’s an exam tomorrow.
-For a fair test, give everyone different exam questions.
-For a fair test, lock most of the students out of the class.
-Revenge, not rehab. That’s the Godly way.
-Put it on paper, but keep it confusing, contradictory, vague, and very horrible.
-Violence is good; Or maybe not; But mostly yes.
-Treat me like a king; I’m insecure.
- God likes dumb people.
- Blessed are the sheep.
-Mind your brain.
-Here’s a good yarn.
-Praying to the poker machine.
-Love God more than your Mum.


REVIEWS
"Gary's clinical psychological examination of what we can know about God is a fresh perspective, and so makes for an interesting read. With this inside information on what God's priorities and preferences and personality really are, even I may be able to ingratiate myself with him, and inveigle my way into Heaven."
David Nicholls, President, Atheist Foundation of Australia [close]

[close] This spiritual fiction novel is a collection of stories about people's afterlife experiences. One of the characters, a mother named Teresa, can see her twelve-year-old daughter, Angelica, enjoying the ecstasies of Heaven while on the other side of a thick glass. The problem is, she can't get her attention, or get to where her daughter is, because that is not her fate.

Read what happens next to each of the inspirational characters in this intriguing book. [close]

[close] (Italian version of "The Beautiful Scientist")

La scienza e la fede. Che rapporto c'è tra questi due modi di interpretare il mondo che ci circonda? Sono antitetici?
In questo volume l'autore propone una bella immagine dello straordinario universo nel quale siamo immersi. Corrado Ghinamo è convinto che la scienza non deve essere vista come contrapposta alla fede: la scienza può addirittura portare a credere in Dio, mostrandoci che l'esistenza di Dio è la risposta più plausibile e razionale. La scienza, di fatto, studia la creazione e quindi studia Dio stesso.

Per ulteriori offerte speciali riguardanti il libro "Il Creatore", visitare: http://www.amazon.it/Il-Creatore-Corr...
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[close] Disappointment is a feeling everyone knows well - failed relationships, buyer's remorse, unmet expectations. In a broken world disappointment surrounds us, but Christians know that Jesus will never disappoint us, right? Wrong. John Koessler explains how Jesus disappoints everyone. He never fails, but he does disappoint.

We come to Jesus with false expectations, demanding or expecting things he doesn't promise and then when he doesn't deliver we are disappointed by Him. But Koessler explains how this can be the best thing for us even though it doesn't feel good. He describes how this sort of disappointment takes our wrong expectations and sets them straight, bringing us closer to Jesus and into a deeper understanding of his very surprising grace.

This book is a wonderful resource for people struggling with life's hard times as well as for counselors or pastors seeking to help others. [close]

[close] A ROYAL WEDDING-AND A SHOCKING CRIME
After rescuing jewelry designer Ruby Tate from an attacker, Lydian royal guard Galen Harris suspects the crime wasn't a random incident. Jewelry thieves have set their sights on Lydia's royal family, and they won't let anyone stand in their way-including Ruby, who's in town to help the princess with her wedding jewels. The closer Ruby and Galen get to uncovering the mystery, the harder it is to deny their feelings. But with a deadly gang of criminals after them, will they live to see their own happily ever after? [close]

[close] How much of science is fact, and how much is theory? How much evidence is needed to prove a theory? Why do scientific dating techniques give so many "ages" that contradict Bible chronology? Why do so many scientists say Noah’s Flood was just a myth? Why do people claim that their loss of faith was due to scientific “enlightenment”?

Science and Religion: Reconciling the Conflicts is a result of more than 40 years of spare-time study on the subject. Truth is truth--from whatever source, however sorting it out from the huge quantity of material bombarding us daily is a formidable task.

This book takes a rather literal approach to the Bible, discusses some of the weaknesses in conflicting scientific theory, and shares summary information about other scientific theories which are more consistent with a literal reading of the scriptures. [close]

[close] Rob Strong knows how to stop a conversation in its tracks. Being a pastor in Massachusetts--"the least churched state in the USA"--can certainly raise eyebrows and halt conversations, but Rob never lets his faith bar him from doing what matters most: building sincere relationships with people as, together, they question and explore the nature of The Big Guy Upstairs.

Here he shares how approachable, interactive, and, above all, relevant God can be our lives, without any of the trappings of religion or "Christianese" that make many of us suspicious. Filled with his inimitable brand of wit and humor, Strong offers a fresh take on:

The importance of understanding our humanity and our purpose in life
Disagreeing and still respecting the perspective of others
Diversity in life and how that means different things to different people
The role that God plays into all of these facets of our lives

From a "weed" that turned into a delicious peach tree to a miraculous pair of brown shoes, Strong will engage readers with stories and biblical commentary that reveal why their lives are significant-and how God is more intentional, active, and closer than they realize. [close]

[close] Agnosticism + Logic + Faith = My Spirituality

These are the ingredients in my ice-cream cone, along with Soul Energy, Reincarnation, Karma, Detachment, Vegetarianism, Astrology, Meditation, and the Ego. I believe these concepts make some sense based on the tenets of logic and science. Even to a skeptic like me.

But I am entitled to change my mind at any time. If tomorrow someone were to show me some indisputable, miracle-backed proof that their way is the correct way and I will go to Hell if I don't squat on one foot chanting 3.5 times a week, I will happily throw away my chocolate cone and switch to strawberry.

For now, here is what I believe, and why . . . [close]

[close] In the same way an acorn becomes an oak tree, evolution pushes us towards our destiny. When its path is blocked, anxiety, depression, chronic physical and mental illnesses ensue and happiness cannot be achieved.

At this time, we are immobilized on this path and have now become similar to laboratory rats that would bar press 6,000 times in 40 minutes to get their cocaine fix. We try every kind of stimulation offered by consumerism in the hope of reaching happiness. It simply does not work that way. Our brain is an expression of the model which unfolds through evolution. Isis Code invites the readers to decipher this model by embarking on a pilgrimage through the Reptilian, Mammalian, Human, Analytical and Universal brain aspects and to emerge, freed, with a clearer vision of what, why, how and who we are. [close]