Contemporary Religion

Two weeks from tomorrow, at precisely 6:11 in the morning, the rapture or apocalypse or Armageddon or whatever else it is you’d prefer to call it, is going to occur. But only in Goodland, Kansas. The Hendersons are caught in the middle as the town—and the family—divides between belief and unbelief in this satirical and illuminating apocalyptic novel.

Struggling to succeed in the Nashville music scene, talented singer/songwriter Parker James finds the competition fierce...even deadly. A young womans murder, industry corruption, and a menacing stalker draw Parker into danger and intrigue. Nothing is as it appears, and unraveling the truth challenges everything Parker believes about her talent, her future, and her faith.

Legend Tripping: A Contemporary Legend Casebook explores the practice of legend tripping, wherein individuals or groups travel to a site where a legend is thought to have taken place. Legend tripping is a common, informal practice, depicted in epics, stories, novels, and film, throughout both contemporary and historical vernacular culture. In this collection, contributors show how legend trips can express humanity’s interest in the frontier between life and death, and the fascination with the possibility of personal contact with the supernatural, or spiritual.

A comprehensive and practical handbook of stories, counsel, suggestions, and projects covering all the major responsibilities and relationships involved in serving as a staff member in today’s church.

A survey and critique of the eschatological aspects of non-Evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic thinkers—Altizer and the "Death of God," de Chardin and "Process Theology," and Moltmann and "Theology of Hope."

One out of five people in the world is Muslim; only 18 percent of those, however, are Arab. Ernst moves away from a Middle Eastern bias, addressing the pluralistic nature of Muslim societies and thought. Framing his argument in terms of religious studies, Ernst describes how Protestant definitions of religion and anti-Muslim prejudice have affected views of Islam in Europe and America.

Only months after losing her beloved husband, does Meredith dare accept help from another man. Meredith Stoltzfus could never love anyone like she loved her husband, Luke. When a friend from her past stops by her home to offer a helping hand, Meredith hesitantly agrees. But deep down, she feels uneasy about it. How would it look to others, seeing Jonah around so often? Meanwhile, as a young, nameless man heals and regains strength in his body, his mind grasps at every image that flits across his memory....

International art dealer Louis Dubose has been murdered, and the police are certain that they've got their man. Ben Robinson, recently fired by Dubose, has a motive backed by a convincing trail of evidence, and it looks like an open-and-shut case. But one woman, who knows Ben all too well, isn't convinced. Sharon Robinson is about to gamble her own well-being on Ben's innocence, even though her personal indictment against him is almost as bitter as murder.

In this companion volume to When You Pray and When You Fast, L. Joseph Letendre juxtaposes scriptural and patristic admonitions about almsgiving with a look at contemporary issues that make it sometimes difficult to see our way forward in this regard. Along with the rationale for almsgiving, he offers practical suggestions for how almsgiving can work in our lives as modern Christians.

Adeelah El-Sayed meets Martin Webster, a Christian - a dangerous liaison for a Muslim woman that leads to a private war.The first battle comes from within. Adeelah knows this attraction to a non-Muslim man is unacceptable in her Islamic world. But she loses this battle. She cannot overcome the forbidden love that invades her soul, and she hopelessly surrenders. Together Martin and Adeelah face more attacks from mosque, church, and their two families, all because they dare to love each other.

Transcending Architecture considers the mysterious, profound, and real power of designed environments to address the spiritual dimension of our humanity. The book offers a wide, critical, and nuanced understanding of the lived relationship between the built and the numinous worlds. It examines phenomenological, symbolic and designerly ways in which the holy gets fixed and experienced through buildings, landscapes, and urban forms, and not just in institutionally defined religious or sacred places. Transcending Architecture brings together a stellar group of scholars and practitioners to share their insights: architect Juhani Pallasmaa and philosopher Karsten Harries, comparative religion scholar Lindsay Jones and architectural theoretician Karla Britton, sacred architecture researcher Thomas Barrie and theologian Kevin Seasoltz, landscape architect Rebecca Krinke and Faith & Form magazine editor Michael Crosbie, are among the illustrious contributors.

Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena are widely represented throughout modern culture. They can be found in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts, but popular media or commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from the beliefs people hold about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Personal belief and cultural tradition on the one hand, and popular and commercial representation on the other, nevertheless continually feed each other.

This is audiobook #5 in the Full Circle Series. lexana is willing to risk her life to make history, and nothing - not even love - will stand in her way! As supervisor of the historically significant Solomon's Stables dig, archaeologist Alexana Rourke, grad school friend of Dr. Christina Alvarez (Treasure), knows she's in serious danger. Yet she's determined that nothing will impede her excavations under the Temple Mount, not even the concern of handsome, world-renowned news correspondent Ridge McIntyre.

This short account of Swami Vivekananda, the Vedantist who brought Hinduism to America, focuses on the years 1893 to 1897. After a famous speech at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, Vivekananda promoted his religious beliefs and practices by lecturing extensively across the United States, teaching and attracting devotees, producing a wealth of publications and tracts on Hinduism, encouraging vegetarianism, writing the first book on yoga to appear in America and so on, for a new and enthusiastic audience.

People regularly give certain reasons for not believing in God, but they are much less aware of what the New Testament actually teaches. Although challenges to Christianity are perennial and have frequently been addressed, they are noticeably more common today and are currently of particular interest among evangelicals.

Are you fascinated by other religions and beliefs? The Wicca Book for Beginners is a gentle but thorough introduction to Wicca and will teach you everything you need to get started. The two-in-one audiobook combines the contents of Frank Bawdoe's Wicca for Beginners and Modern Witchcraft for Beginners. This book is the go-to resource for understanding the misconceptions that surround Wicca. You will unearth an account of the fastest-growing religious practice in the world, learning common ritual tools used for magic.

Modern Witchcraft and Magic for Beginners will help you learn the joys of modern witchcraft, and it will teach you how all the information you need to know to get started on your own craft. You’ll learn how you can empower yourself to create magic using tools that seem ordinary. Magic has long been a mystery, and too few sources compile the history and craft of magic into one book. Thus, this book seeks to illuminate many of the secrets that have long been kept about witchcraft because witchcraft should be accessible to everyone!

This practical, how-to book will help churches plan and implement passionate and invigorating worship. Step by step, author Lester Ruth and contributors Zachary Barnes, Andrew Eastes, Jonathan Ottaway, Adam Perez, Glenn Stallsmith, and Deborah Wong break down the process of re-thinking what the official or recommended order of worship is truly suggesting, so pastors and worship leaders can plan and lead a service of Word and Table that feels genuinely relevant and attuned to the congregation's culture.

All Americans, liberal or conservative, religious or not, can agree that religious freedom, anchored in conscience rights, is foundational to the US democratic experiment. But what freedom of conscience means, what its scope and limits are, according to the Constitution - these are matters for heated debate.

At just 16, Marsha Carter (now Stevens-Pino) shared her newly born-again Christianity with a song that went on to become one of the most widely recognized and translated hymns in Christian circles: "For Those Tears I Died (Come to the Water)". Some historians have said it was the first song to be called "contemporary Christian music". Since those modest beginnings, Marsha has continued her journey in the world of Christian music.