Browse Results

Select your format based upon: 1) how you want to read your book, and 2) compatibility with your reading tool. To learn more about using Bookshare with your device, visit the Help Center.

Here is an overview of the specialized formats that Bookshare offers its members with links that go to the Help Center for more information.

• Bookshare Web Reader - A customized reading tool for Bookshare members offering all the features of DAISY with a single click of the "Read Now" link.
• DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) - A digital book file format. DAISY books from Bookshare are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of access technology that reads text. Books that contain images will have the download option of ‘DAISY Text with Images’.
• BRF (Braille Refreshable Format) - Digital Braille for use with refreshable Braille devices and Braille embossers.
• MP3 (MPEG audio layer 3) - Provides audio only with no text. These books are created with a text-to-speech engine and spoken by Kendra, a high quality synthetic voice from Ivona. Any device that supports MP3 playback is compatible.
• DAISY Audio - Similar to the DAISY option above; however, this option uses MP3 files created with our text-to-speech engine that utilizes Ivonas Kendra voice. This format will work with Daisy Audio compatible players such as Victor Reader Stream and Read2Go.
• EPUB - A standard e-book format that can be read on many tools, such as iBooks, Readium or others.
• Word - Accessible Word output, which can be unzipped and opened in any tool that allows .docx files

Holy Communion: Celebrating God with Us (Belief Matters)

Experience God in the here and now through Communion.This book explores howcelebrating the presence of God With Us through Holy Communion nourishesour souls, refreshes our sense of community, and equips us for missionin Christ's name. Yet many Christians do not understand Communion or seeit only as an empty ritual. Because of that, low worship attendance orenthusiasm commonly accompanies Communion Sundays—leaving churchesfeeling spiritually depleted. This book provides insights and practicalsuggestions for giving this sacrament a more prominent role, not justin church life, but in the Christian formation of individuals.For small groups, Sunday school classes, and as a preaching resource, Holy Communion: Celebrating God with Us byKenneth M. Loyer and general editor William H. Willimon is suitable fora four-week study and includes discussion questions at the end of eachchapter. The Belief Matters series assistspastors and clergy in explaining fundamental elements of the church andits worship to congregations. Holy Communion is the second in the series and follows Incarnation by William H. Willimon.

Holy Contradictions: What's Next for the People Called United Methodists

How might United Methodists bear witness to graceful and mutually respectful ways of living in the Wesleyan tradition amid enduring disagreements about same-gender relationships and related church practices?The contributors engage the question by asking themselves:• How do I approach this question in light of my particular social location?• What do I believe is most at stake, most at risk, and most needed at this time in the life of The UMC?• How does my understanding of scripture and our theological task shape how I envision how we might best live into the future?From the Faultlines collection, resources intended to inform conversations around human sexuality and the church.

Holy Daring

A woman of intrepid faith, St. Thérèse inspired her contemporaries to embrace their littleness and cling to God with loving assurance and trust. She spoke freely and intimately with God, intuitively grasping Jesus' exhortation to pray to the Father with "bold confidence." And she invites each of us to this same intimacy, to learn her way of "holy daring."

Holy Days: Meditations on the Feasts, Fasts, and Other Solemnities of the Church

According to Pope Benedict XVI, "the liturgical year is a great voyage of faith on which the Church sets us out." The feast days in the Church's liturgical calendar follow the major events of Jesus' life as recounted in the Gospels. This cycle gives a rhythm to the life of the Church and helps Christians better understand the divine mystery. Especially in our secularized society, liturgical practices guide and deepen our path, centering our focus on Christ and teaching us how to live.Beginning with Advent and concluding with the feast of Christ the King, Pope Benedict's Holy Days presents excerpts from selected homilies that he has given over the course of the liturgical year in Rome. The book is organized by season and feast days, with brief introductions. This short devotional volume will be a welcome resource for priests and parishioners seeking to focus their minds in preparation for worship.

Holy Days: The World Of The Hasidic Family

Hasidism, the Jewish revivalist movement begun in 18th century Poland, encourages prayer, mysticism, singing and sanctification of daily life. The Lubavitchers, the largest of some 40 Hasidic sects, today live mostly in Brooklyn's Crown Heights. There Harris befriended a Lubavitcher couple and penetrated a sect known for its strict adherence to Old World customs, its deep suspicion of outsiders and secretiveness. To some, the Lubavitchers seem frozen in the past; to Harris, a sympathetic observer, they "live in a kind of perpetual Biblical present" by linking everyday events in their personal lives to a spiritual heritage that is very much alive.

Holy Days: The World Of The Hasidic Family

A beloved contemporary classic, Holy Days is a personal account of New York's Hasidic community, its beliefs, its mysteries, and its encounter with secularism in the present age.Combining a historical understanding of the Hasidic movement with a journalist's discerning eye, Harris captures in rich detail the day-to-day life of this traditional and often misunderstood community. Harris chronicles the personal transformation she experienced as she grew closer to the largely hidden men and women of the Hasidic world.

Holy Desperation: Praying as if Your Life Depends on It

When life has driven you to your knees, the only thing that works is prayer. Desperation has many faces: the addict who has hit bottom; the laid-off worker struggling to make the next house payment; the person who seems to have it all together but is wracked with fear, guilt, anger, or shame. We know we need help, but we are afraid to let anyone—especially God—see how broken we truly are. In Holy Desperation, Heather King demonstrates that, when we’re desperate, it’s precisely the right time to cry out to God. King, a survivor of addiction and other forms of desperation, begins with the basics of how to pray when you’re uncertain that God exists or when you feel that you’re beyond God’s reach. She challenges the assumptions that only the saintly can pray and that prayer ought to be tidy and nice. She reveals how prayer leads us beyond ourselves and into a life of purpose, lived for the good of others. Ultimately, Holy Desperation is an invitation to engage in bold, come-exactly-as-you-are prayer, offering a way forward, upward, and outward for anyone desperate enough to cry out for God’s help and presence. You are not alone.

Holy Discontent: Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision

What is the one aspect of this broken world that, when you see it, touch it, get near it, you just can’t stand? Very likely, that firestorm of frustration reflects your holy discontent, a reality so troubling that you are thrust off the couch and into the game. It’s during these defining times when your eyes open to the needs surrounding you and your heart hungers to respond that you hear God say, “I feel the same way about this problem. Now, let’s go solve it together!” Bill Hybels invites you to consider the dramatic impact your life will have when you allow your holy discontent to fuel instead of frustrate you. Using examples from the Bible, his own life, and the experiences of others, Hybels shows how you can find and feed your personal area of holy discontent, fight for it when things get risky, and follow it when it takes a mid-course turn. As you live from the energy of your holy discontent, you’ll fulfill your role in setting what is wrong in this world right!

Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth

"Not only was I singled out and shamed, but I was lied to as well. I'm still trying to untangle the lies--some of them televised across the country--from the truth."You've heard some of the story: the manipulation and abuse hidden behind the traditional Christian values that the Duggar family held up on TLC's hit reality show 19 Kids and Counting. As some of the scandal came to light, several of the Duggar children, including Jill and Jinger, have opened up about what it was like growing up in that environment.But for the first time, Amy Duggar King--a close relative who spent almost every day with her 19 cousins and her aunt and uncle--brings the story into sharp relief, vulnerably sharing not only what life was like with the Duggars but how she, at the end of the day, had her own broken home to return to, a home that was hiding many other secrets.Amy knows what it's like to be coerced and have her voice silenced. Her story reveals a world of unrealistic expectations and gaslighting in which a normal young woman had to untangle a web of carefully crafted lies while fighting to protect her own mental health. In that world, she was branded "Crazy Cousin Amy"--an identity she didn't choose but was forced to live into.In Holy Disruptor, Amy gives her unfiltered testimony to finally break free from the toxic cycles that swirled around her and to confront the trauma she endured off-camera.In the years since the Duggar family collapse, Amy has intentionally dissociated from the toxic family environment, which has helped her learn how to be a "holy disruptor" and make life-changing decisions for her well-being. This is a story about how she discovered that disrupting such deception is a holy act that brings freedom and joy . . . and it applies to you too. No matter what you've been told or how you've been manipulated in the past, freedom is waiting for you.It's time to use your voice and get loud with the truth.

Holy Dissent: Jewish and Christian Mystics in Eastern Europe

Brings together highly regarded scholars of Jewish and Christian mysticism in Eastern Europe to analyze the overlap of mysticism in the two religions.

Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us

Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others

The renowned and beloved New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark recounts her moving discoveries of finding the sacred in unexpected places while teaching the world’s religions to undergraduates in rural Georgia, revealing how God delights in confounding our expectations. Barbara Brown Taylor continues her spiritual journey begun in Leaving Church of finding out what the world looks like after taking off her clergy collar. In Holy Envy, she contemplates the myriad ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students’ eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques. Troubled and inspired by what she learns, Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present. Re-imagining some central stories from the religion she knows best, she takes heart in how often God chooses outsiders to teach insiders how out-of-bounds God really is.Throughout Holy Envy, Taylor weaves together stories from the classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been complicated and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions—even those whose truths are quite different from hers. The one constant in her odyssey is the sense that God is the one calling her to disown her version of God—a change that ultimately enriches her faith in other human beings and in God.

Holy Envy: Writing in the Jewish Christian Borderzone

What is between us and the Christians is a deep dark affair which will go for another hundred generations . . .” (Amos Oz, Judas)Among the great social shifts of the post–World War II era is the unlikely sea-change in Jewish Christian relations. We read each other’s scriptures and openly discuss differences as well as similarities. Yet many such encounters have become rote and predictable. Powerful emotions stirred up by these conversations are often dismissed or ignored. Demonstrating how such emotions as shame, envy, and desire can inform these encounters, Holy Envy: Writing in the Jewish Christian Borderzone charts a new way of thinking about interreligious relations. Moreover, by focusing on modern and contemporary writers (novelists and poets) who traffic in the volatile space between Judaism and Christianity, the book calls attention to the creative implications of these intense encounters.While recognizing a long-overdue need to address a fundamentally Christian narrative underwriting twentieth century American verse, Holy Envy does more than represent Christianity as an aesthetically coercive force, or as an adversarial other. For the book also suggests how literature can excavate an alternative interreligious space, at once risky and generative. In bringing together recent accounts of Jewish Christian relations, affect theory, and poetics, Holy Envy offers new ways into difficult and urgent, conversations about interreligious encounters.Holy Envy is sure to engage readers who are interested in literature, religion, and, above all, interfaith dialogue.

Holy Fire: A Balanced, Biblical Look at the Holy Spirit's Work in Our Lives

The Holy Spirit... Greater than your theology, bigger than denominations, beyond all we can imagine, God's gift to the church and to you Debate about the Holy Spirit has been around for a long time. In Holy Fire, best-selling author and respected theologian R. T. Kendall sets the record straight about the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives and in the life of the church. If you want to increase your knowledge of this most misunderstood member of the Trinity, or if you long to experience His presence in your life in a deeper way than ever before, this book is for you. Are you charismatic? He is bigger than your signs-and-wonders events. Are you Reformed? He will not be limited by your theology. As Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “He blows where He will.”

Holy Ghosted: Spiritual Anxiety, Religious Trauma, and the Language of Abuse

How to recognize the tactics of spiritual abuse—and save your faith Are you questioning the church of your upbringing but want to maintain your faith? Do you want to cut ties with your denomination, but fear abandonment by God? Are you struggling with spiritual anxiety—fear of hell, obsessive religious ritual, or feelings of never measuring up? Tiffany Yecke Brooks first explored reconstructing faith in Gaslighted by God. In this much needed follow-up, she equips readers to understand and name tactics of spiritual abuse and manipulation. Each chapter covers a different method of control found in toxic religious communities—including legalism, indoctrination, praise, and fear—and how to identify and respond to it in a healthy way. Brooks also reframes scriptural passages commonly weaponized by those in power. Weaving together interviews with diverse Christians and her own experience, Brooks offers a voice to those feeling isolated by spiritual anxiety. Empowered by this guide, readers will learn to trust their intuition, seek truth fearlessly, and love God and neighbor without restraint or fear.

Holy Ghosts

IN THIS EXTRAORDINARY TRUE STORY, the haunting of a Long Island household forces a respected writer and editor to reevaluate the mysteries of life and death as he struggles with the frightening truths of his childhood home and his town's past. Growing up in Rockville Centre, Long Island, Gary Jansen never believed in ghosts. His mother-a devoutly Catholic woman with a keen sense for the uncanny-claimed that their family house was haunted. But Jansen never found anything inexplicable in how their doorbell would sometimes ring of its own accord; or in the mysterious sounds of footsteps or breaking glass that occasionally would fill their home; or even in his mother's sometimes unnervingly accurate visions of future events and tragedies. Though he once experienced a supernatural encounter in a Prague church as a young man, Jansen grew up into a rationalist, as well as a noted writer and editor. In 2001, Jansen moved back into the very same house where he had once grown up, to raise a family with his wife. In 2007, he encountered a frightening, full blown haunting in his home. This became the first step of a phenomenon that lasted a full year and eventually included unveiling the identities of the spirits who occupied his house, reliving a tragic murder in his hometown, encountering mind-boggling coincidences between local history and episodes in his household; and finally-with the help of Mary Ann Winkowski, the real-life inspiration for TV's Ghost Whisperer-ridding his house of these uninvited visitors. Holy Ghosts is not only a gripping true-life ghost story, but a wry and touching memoir, as well as a meditation on the relationship between religion and the paranormal, which are often considered at odds, but which the author shows are intimately linked.

Holy Ground: A Gathering of Voices on Caring for Creation

Religions worldwide celebrate Earth's abundance and sustenance, and call on humankind to give thanks, practice compassion, seek justice, and be mindful of future generations. Here, leaders from many faith traditions, along with writers who hold nature sacred, articulate the moral and spiritual imperative of stewardship and share personal stories of coming to understand humans' unique power and responsibility to care for creation. Holy Ground features essays, sermons, and other short pieces from, among others, Pope Benedict XVI, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, Islamic scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Rabbis Zoe Klein and Arthur Waskow, Evangelical pastors Joel Hunter and Brian McLaren, environmental justice proponents Allen Johnson and Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Native American novelist Linda Hogan, and writers Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, Terry Tempest Williams, and David James Duncan. In a world polarized by "culture wars," religious extremism, and political manipulation, this collection is a sure sign of hope.

Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus as a Former Catholic

Drawing on his Roman Catholic background, personal interviews with Catholics and Evangelicals, and years of research, Chris Castaldo takes readers on a fascinating and practical exploration of the challenges and opportunities encountered by Catholics who become Evangelicals. He examines the five major reasons why Christ’s followers often leave the Catholic Church, and shows how to emulate Jesus in practical ways when engaging Catholic friends and family. And, with humor and authenticity, he shares his own faith journey in order to help readers understand and work through their own. For those who are tired of scratching their head in confusion or frustration about how their Catholic background may influence their walk with Jesus, and why on earth their Catholic family believes they’ve gone off the deep end, Holy Ground offers vast insight and practical help. More than providing historical perspective, theological reflection, and practical lessons, it shows readers how to emulate the grace and truth of Jesus Christ in relating to the Catholic people whom they love.

Holy Hardship: How Jesus Turns Your Adversity into an Advantage

Too often we avoid what Jesus clearly pursued. Pastor Dicks unlocks the mystery of holy hardships, arming readers with wisdom and revelation to embrace what they’ve been trying desperately to escape; the advantage of adversity.Holy hardship is cross-shaped adversity you can’t avoid or ignore. The experience can change you for the better, but you must handle your hardship like Jesus handled his. Based on his own journey through a dark season of personal adversity, Pastor Dicks provides perspective on the passion of Christ, showing you how to handle your hardship and grow closer to Jesus. You can do more than survive your trouble. Holy Hardship will convince you that you can thrive because of it. Through this book you’ll learn how to:-Get the most out of adversity without it getting the best of you.-Initiate holy acts in hostile environments.-Give up without quitting.-Identify the people you need on your side in high pressure situations.-Handle six types of adversaries.-Pray during tough times.-Thrive after adversity

Holy Harlots

Holy Harlots examines the intersections of social marginality, morality, and magic in contemporary Brazil by analyzing the beliefs and religious practices related to the Afro-Brazilian spirit entity Pomba Gira. Said to be the disembodied spirit of an unruly harlot, Pomba Gira is a controversial figure in Brazil. Devotees maintain that Pomba Gira possesses an intimate knowledge of human affairs and the mystical power to intervene in the human world. Others view this entity more ambivalently. Kelly E. Hayes provides an intimate and engaging account of the intricate relationship between Pomba Gira and one of her devotees, Nazaré da Silva. Combining Nazaré's spiritual biography with analysis of the gender politics and violence that shapes life on the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, Hayes highlights Pomba Gira's role in the rivalries, relationships, and struggles of everyday life in urban Brazil.

Holy Hell: A Case against Eternal Damnation

What if everything we&’ve heard about hell is wrong? Eternal torment. A lake of fire. Wailing and gnashing of teeth. Many of us have sat through enough sermons to know what awaits us if we slip up. These dark visions of the afterlife seem a bit sadistic. Is there any hope within the Christian faith if this is the God of Love we serve? In this lively debut, Derek Ryan Kubilus makes the case for universal salvation. Kubilus shows how our ideas about hell have been distorted by mistranslation of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. Armed with proof-texts, those in power have used threats of eternal damnation as an instrument of control. Arguing that such torture is contrary to God&’s nature, Kubilus offers an alternative understanding of hell—a temporary and holy rehabilitation, reconciling all creation in Christ. Theologically serious and culturally engaged, Holy Hell will shake readers&’ assumptions about a seemingly implacable Christian doctrine that chains so many to eternal dread. In its place, Kubilus offers a vision for a church that serves all people with compassion, wherever they are in their journey toward Christ.

Holy Hills of the Ozarks: Religion and Tourism in Branson, Missouri (Lived Religions)

Over the past century, Branson, Missouri, has attracted tens of millions of tourists. Nestled in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, it offers a rare and refreshing combination of natural beauty and family-friendly recreation—from scenic lakes and rolling hills to theme parks and variety shows. It has boasted of big name celebrities, like Wayne Newton, Andy Williams, and Petula Clark, as well as family entertainers like Mickey Gilley, the Shanghai Magic Troupe, Jim Stafford, and Yakov Smirnoff.But there is more to Branson's fame than just recreation. As Aaron K. Ketchell discovers, a popular variant of Christianity underscores all Branson's tourist attractions and fortifies every consumer success. In this lively and engaging study, Ketchell explores Branson's unique blend of religion and recreation. He explains how the city became a mecca of conservative Christianity—a place for a "spiritual vacation"—and how, through conscious effort, its residents and businesses continuously reinforce its inextricable connection with the divine. Ketchell combines the study of lived religion, popular culture, evangelicalism, and contemporary American history to present an accurate and honest account of a distinctly American phenomenon.

Holy Hills of the Ozarks: Religion and Tourism in Branson, Missouri (Lived Religions)

“Confronts readers with the implications of a popular tourist destination founded on the values and sentiments of American evangelical Protestantism.” —Thomas S. Bremer, Journal of the American Academy of ReligionOver the past century, Branson, Missouri, has attracted tens of millions of tourists. Nestled in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, it offers a rare and refreshing combination of natural beauty and family-friendly recreation—from scenic lakes and rolling hills to theme parks and variety shows. It has boasted of big-name celebrities, like Wayne Newton, Andy Williams, and Petula Clark, as well as family entertainers like Mickey Gilley, the Shanghai Magic Troupe, Jim Stafford, and Yakov Smirnoff.But there is more to Branson’s fame than just recreation. As Aaron K. Ketchell discovers, a popular variant of Christianity underscores all Branson’s tourist attractions and fortifies every consumer success. In this lively and engaging study, Ketchell explores Branson’s unique blend of religion and recreation. He explains how the city became a mecca of conservative Christianity—a place for a “spiritual vacation”—and how, through conscious effort, its residents and businesses continuously reinforce its inextricable connection with the divine.Ketchell combines the study of lived religion, popular culture, evangelicalism, and contemporary American history to present an accurate and honest account of a distinctly American phenomenon.“As Ketchell brilliantly argues, Branson entrepreneurs wove Christian sentiment ‘into a fabric of nostalgia, premodern longing, and whitewashed rusticity.’” —Matthew Avery Sutton, The Christian Century“At a time when Jim Wallis and other observers have forecast the end of the prominence of right-wing-religion on the U.S. political stage, this book will cause many readers to question that prediction.” —David Stricklin, The Journal of Southern History

Holy Hot Mess: Finding God in the Details of this Weird and Wonderful Life

Mary Katherine Backstrom shares heartbreaking and hilarious stories of how God uses each "mess" in our lives to bring us closer to Him. She shows us that it's okay to celebrate exactly where we are right now—holy, hot mess and all.A lot of people struggle with the concept of being holy. But the fact is, even the hottest of messes are being shaped—right now—into Jesus' likeness. In this book, Mary Katherine shares the sometimes-hidden evidence of God's work in her life and shows you that it's okay to embrace the hot messes. Mary Katherine will share both hilarious and vulnerable stories about faith, friendships, motherhood, marriage, and depression. She will cover the topics that plague our hearts every day with raw, honest truth and a side of laughter. Mary Katherine invites you into her story as a friend, encouraging you to embrace the hot messes in your life. Because we are all a work in progress, and as long as we are alive, we are under construction—and construction sites tend to be messy.

Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars

In Holy Hullabaloos, he takes us along for the ride, crossing the country to meet the people and visit the places responsible for landmark decisions in recent judicial history.