Contemporary Religion

In the twinkling of an eye, their lives changed forever. Husbands, wives, children, all lost in what was first called "the disappearance." Now many understand that with millions of Christians called home, the Rapture has irrevocably torn the fabric of their lives. They wander in the wake of events nearly too powerful, too overwhelming to comprehend. Some set out on a personal odyssey to reconnect with family, their past, with some semblance of order in a world menaced by the Muslim mujahideen.

Though her B&B/Antiques business has fallen off, Billie D'Allesandro doesn't let it dampen her spirits. At forty, she no longer entertains any notions about falling in love and living happily ever after. Instead, she focuses on helping her friends and neighbors, giving generously of both her time and her money. When her niece arrives with her four-year-old twin daughters, Billie finds it a welcome distraction.

The New Guinea jungle holds many fascinations, but not for librarian Johanna Holland. Johanna is simply aghast at the lack of hot showers and...well...clothing! She is positive the mission field is most certainly not God's plan for her life, but will that mean letting go of the man she loves?

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.

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.

A living lost soul in this book can be a life from the old life to a born-again new life in Jesus. This book is my life of darkness without Jesus, but when Jesus touched me, I was free to worship and praise him for giving his life for me. I was that person walking in the darkness, and now have seen this great light (Isaiah 9:2). This light has shone; do you want this? It's a great gift from a Holy King who loves like nobody can touch his love. Love is his character; look what he did for me; he will do it for you too.

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.

When Adrianne found out she was pregnant eight years ago, she made the decision to leave Bible school and raise her child alone. Staying would have prevented her boyfriend from fulfilling his God-appointed mission in life. But every day since, she has regretted her decision. Chris - rejected, confused, and heartbroken - finished school and soon found himself in Nicaragua, loving life as a missionary. But the void left by Adrianne's unexplained departure remains.

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.

Seeking to leave her troubled past behind, nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Cameron decides to join a religious group in Belton, Texas, where she and her five-year-old Indian charge will be hidden from a cruel world. Former gunfighter and robber Caleb Martin will do anything for a governor's pardon, even if it means escorting an irritatingly prim young woman. After this assignment, he'll have his freedom. Yet along the way, he learns that there may be something he needs even more.

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!

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.