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Touched by a Vampire: Discovering the Hidden Messages in the Twilight Saga
by Beth Felker JonesEXAMINING TWILIGHT THROUGH A BIBLICAL LENS People around the world are asking the same question, enraptured with Edward and Bella’s forbidden romance in the Twilight Saga, a four-book serial phenomenon written by Stephenie Meyer. The bestsellers tell the story of a regular girl’s relationship with a vampire who has chosen to follow his “good” side. But the Saga isn’t just another fantasy–it’s teaching girls about love, sex, and purpose. With 48 million copies in print and a succession of upcoming blockbuster films, now is the time to ask the important question: Can vampires teach us about God’s plan for love? Touched by a Vampireis the first book to investigate the themes of the Twilight Saga from a Biblical perspective. Some Christian readers have praised moral principles illustrated in the story, such as premarital sexual abstinence, which align with Meyer’s Mormon beliefs. But ultimately, Beth Felker Jones examines whether the story’s redemptive qualities outshine its darkness. Cautionary, thoughtful, and challenging,Touched by a Vampireis written for Twilight fans, parents, teachers, and pop culture enthusiasts. It includes an overview of the series for those unfamiliar with the storyline and a discussion guide for small groups.
Touched by the Light: Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences
by Yvonne KasonHow Peak Spiritual Experiences Transform Lives Today Dr. Yvonne Kason’s life was touched by five Near-Death experiences (NDEs), the most recent in 2003. Her dramatic Near-Death Experience in a 1979 plane crash propelled her as a young medical doctor to research and counsel people with diverse types of peak spiritual experiences. In 1994, she coined the now widely used phrase “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” (STEs). These include Near-Death Experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual energy or kundalini awakenings, diverse psychic experiences, and inspired creativity. Touched by the Light is a synthesis of forty years of Dr. Kason's research on STEs and their profound after-effects on body, mind, and spirit. Filled with fascinating case studies, Touched By the Light is inspiring to all, as well as a practical guide for those experiencing STEs and their counsellors.
Touched by the Truth (MyDaily)
by Johnny HuntThe latest addition to the Johnny Hunt MyDaily year-long devotionals, Touched by the Truth continues the beloved series with more than fifty trusted pastors inviting us to discover anew the eternal value of Scripture.You will discover blessing upon blessing as you read the daily devotions and prayers from church leaders around the country in Touched by the Truth. Each contributor offers a week's worth of devotions that include a Scripture reading, a reflection, and a prayer. Start your devotional journey any time of the year since the weeks are numbered but not dated.Every day you learn more about Jesus—the Way and the Truth—you will discover more of what it means live a life with God. Touched by the Truth invites you to find the comfort and contentment that comes from walking God's way, every day.
Touches the Sky: A Novel
by James SchaapIntrigued and fearful of the religious practices of the Lakota, 1890s Dutch settler Jan Ellerbroek and his wife wonder if their Native American neighbors worship the same God and fear that the Lakota may be responsible for the death of a hired hand.
Touching Cloth: Confessions and communions of a young priest
by Fergus Butler-Gallie'Touching Cloth can be compared to Adam Kay's This Is Going to Hurt and the writings of the Secret Barrister' Observer'I laughed my way through this... Funny, fascinating, and gorgeously humane' Marina Hyde'Funny and touching in equal measure' Tom HollandA laugh-out-loud memoir of becoming a 21st-century priest, Touching Cloth is also a love letter to the Prayer Book, Liverpool, funerals, cake tins, lager and, above all, to what the Church of England can be at its best. The very word 'reverend' inspires solemnity. To be a priest is to dedicate one's life to quiet prayer and spiritual contemplation. Isn't it?Fergus Butler-Gallie reveals what it's like to become a priest in the twenty-first century. Find out why black really is slimming, how to keep a straight face when someone is inadvertently hot-boxing a funeral, and which royal-themed biscuit tin can best contain a very loud personal alarm that no one knows how to switch off. Spot a sweet old lady trying to pay for a taxi with coinage from fascist Spain? Congratulations, shepherd, she's your problem now.Behind the daily scrapes is an all-too-human love letter to the Church of England, and the amazing variety of people who manage to keep it going, providing a listening ear, company and community at a time when so many people desperately need it, as well as a reflection on what it means to follow a spiritual path amid the chaos of the modern world.
Touching Ground: Devotion and Demons Along the Path to Enlightenment
by Jaimal Yogis Tim Testu Emma Varvaloucas Jeanette TestuThe vivid story of a hippie, a carpenter, a Vietnam vet, an alcoholic, a marine engineer, and a great dad who battled his demons on the Buddhist path.From October 16, 1973, to August 17, 1974, Tim Testu walked all the way from San Francisco to Seattle, bowing his head to the ground every three steps. And that’s not even the best part of his story. Tim Testu was one of the very first Americans to take ordination in Chinese Zen Buddhism. His path—from getting kicked out of school to joyriding in stolen boats in the Navy to squatting in an anarchist commune to wholehearted spiritual engagment in a strict Buddhist monastery—is equal parts rollicking adventure and profound spiritual memoir. Touching Ground is simultaneously larger than life and entirely relatable; even as Tim finds his spiritual home with his teacher, the legendary Chan master Hsuan Hua, he nonetheless continues to struggle to overcome his addictions and his very human shortcomings. Tim never did anything halfway, including both drinking and striving for liberation. He died of leukemia in 1998 after packing ten lifetimes into fifty-two years.
Touching Heaven: A Cardiologist's Encounters with Death and Living Proof of an Afterlife
by Chauncey Crandall Kris BearssHow a doctor's glimpses of eternity confirmed everything he believed about God, suffering, life on earth, and what happens after death. Dr. Chauncey Crandall knows his patients well. When they are dying, he sits at the bedside with them and holds their hands. He prays with them. Sometimes he can feel what they feel and see what they see. At other times his patients have near-death experiences and "come back" with astonishing descriptions of the afterlife. In TOUCHING HEAVEN, Dr. Crandall reveals how what he has seen and heard has convinced him that God is real, that we are created for a divine purpose, that death is not the end, that we will see our departed loved ones again, and that we are closer to the next world than we think.
Touching Peace: Practicing the Art of Mindful Living
by Thich Nhat HanhIn Touching Peace, Thich Nhat Hanh expands the teachings on practicing the art of mindful living begun in the best selling Being Peace by giving specific, practical instructions on extending our meditation practice into our daily lives. The book reminds us to focus on what is refreshing and healing within and all around us, and how, paired with the practice of mindful breathing, it can be used as the basis for examining the roots of war and violence, alcoholism and drug abuse, and social alienation.Touching Peace offers Thich Nhat Hanh's vision for rebuilding society through strengthening our families and communities, and realizing the ultimate dimension of reality in each act of our daily lives. The book concludes with the author's profound vision and determination to make efforts to alleviate the suffering of all people.Included are such classic Thich Nhat Hanh practices as the conflict resolution tool of the Peace Treaty; his thoughts on a "diet for a mindful society" based on his interpretation of the 5 Mindfulness Trainings, and his early writings on the environment."When we touch peace everything becomes real." -Thich Nhat HanhWith 10 original illustrations by Mayumi Oda
Touching Wonder
by John BlaseThis bold retelling of Luke 1-2, based on Eugene Peterson's Message translation, reads like a novel and invites readers to experience the Nativity with fresh wonder.To Eugene Peterson's The Message Bible translation, John Blase adds his own storytelling voice, exploring the familiar events from multiple first-person viewpoints. What emerges is the intimate story of unlikely people--a frightened teenaged girl, a worried carpenter, a collection of senior citizens, a disillusioned young shepherd--meeting up with the divine as they bumble and stumble toward the realization that the little one just born is the One.This retold story of Word made flesh invites readers to react appropriately--with eyes opened wide in wonder, jaws dropped in amazement, and hearts rejoicing. The beautiful design and Amanda Jolman's lively line drawings make this book a fitting gift as well as a Christmas tradition that families will treasure for years to come.
Touching the Earth: Guided Meditations for Mindfulness Practice
by Thich Nhat HanhThough the original edition of Touching the Earth is deeply embraced by those already practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, the revised edition seeks to make the exercises contained within more accessible for those new to Buddhist or mindfulness practice. <P> <P> Based on the loving kindness and compassion meditation of the Lotus Sutra, Touching the Earth contains one of the most popular and transformative practices of Thich Nhat Hanh. Written as a poetic conversation with the Buddha, it is a step-by-step guidebook to the practice of 'Beginning Anew'. Thich Nhat Hanh describes it as having the capacity to removing obstacles brought about by past wrongdoings and to bring back the joy of being alive. According to many of his students who are deeply touched by this practice, it can help renew our faith and develop our compassion. It presents a opportunity to heal our relationships through forgiveness and to embrace our ancestors, parents, teachers, and ourselves. Touching the Earth contains clear instructions for the 'Beginning Anew' practice with over 40 guided meditation verses, allowing the reader to practice alone or with others.
Touching the Infinite: A New Perspective on the Buddha's Four Foundations of Mindfulness
by Rodney SmithA prominent Insight Meditation teacher explores the profound implications of the traditional Buddhist teaching on the four areas to which mindfulness is applied as a means to liberation.Awakening manifests through the application of mindfulness to four areas: body, feelings, mind, and dharmas. Buddhists of all the traditions share this principle found in the Satipatthana Sutta, which has been expounded upon since the time of the Buddha himself. Rodney Smith challenges us to hold this teaching up against our own experience, and in doing so to discover the inherent interconnection of all Four Foundations. They are revealed to be a sequential path leading the practitioner from the world of form to the joyous perception of the formless. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness thus serve as a road map for any genuine spiritual path.
Touching the Invisible
by Norman P. GrubbHow can I have Christ's power in my everyday life?Until we know how to recognize God's voice, we are unsure of His will, uncertain in our prayers, and ineffective in our Christian service. Norman Grubb opens the reality of living secretly with God, whose invisible resources become more real than the visible world around us. The answers here have revolutionized the lives of thousands, providing practical help for those who desire a life of power; the heritage of all who are "hidden with Christ in God."
Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness
by John M. HullThis calmly eloquent, deeply perceptive memoir of a writer and theologian who lost his vision in his mid-forties conveys the unimaginable and ushers its readers into the world of blindness--a world in which the faces of loved ones recede into memory or speculation, while the presence of God becomes supremely important.
Touching the Shadows
by Bruce NygrenMany issues can strain a marriage relationship, but none is as challenging as a life-threatening illness. Every year, almost two hundred thousand women are diagnosed with breast cancer. When Racinda Nygren joined the ranks of these women, she and her husband, Bruce, were thrust into an agonizing season of their marriage. With warmth and depth, Bruce shares their moving story. Touching the Shadows shows the power of love and faith amid a harrowing trial and will encourage readers to renew their own commitment to their spouse and celebrate God's special gift of love together.
Touching the Sky (Land of the Lone Star #2)
by Tracie PetersonWhen Laura Marquardt first meets Brandon Reid, their encounter is anything but pleasant. But when the two are seated together at a dinner party, they soon find that they share similar interests--Laura desires to educate blacks, and Brandon, as a white officer over colored troops, eagerly supports her cause. When Laura's sister, Carissa, marries her Confederate beau, Laura finds herself in a difficult situation when she overhears plots to kill Union soldiers. Though in her heart she feels she should share this information with Brandon, Laura fears she will betray her sister's trust and possibly endanger her sister's life. And when Brandon's motives for pursuing her come into question, her heart is even more conflicted. Where is God leading her?
Touching, Devotional Practices, and Visionary Experience in the Late Middle Ages
by David Carrillo-Rangel Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel Pablo Acosta-GarcíaThis book addresses the history of the senses in relation to affective piety and its role in devotional practices in the late Middle Ages, focusing on the sense of touch. It argues that only by deeply analysing this specific context of perception can the full significance of sensory religious experience in the Late Middle Ages be understood. Considering the centrality of the body to medieval society and Christianity, this collection explores a range of devotional practices, mainly relating to the Passion of Christ, and features manuscripts, works of devotional literature, art, woodcuts and judicial records. It brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars to offer a variety of methodological approaches, in order to understand how touch was encoded, evoked and purposefully used. The book further considers how touch was related to the medieval theory of perception, examining its relation to the inner and outer senses through the eyes of visionaries, mystics, theologians and confessors, not only as praxis but from different theoretical points of view. While considered the most basic of spiritual experience, the chapters in this book highlight the all-pervasive presence of touch and the significance of ‘affective piety’ to Late Medieval Christians.Chapter 3: Drama, Performance and Touch in the Medieval Convent and Beyond is Open Access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com
Touchstones of the Spirit: Essays on Religion, Tradition & Modernity
by Harry OldmeadowThis book explores three themes: the timeless messages of traditional Religion; the modern obscuration of this perennial Wisdom; and the spiritual encounter between East and West. Topics include the Australian Aborigines, the Bodhisattva in Buddhism, and key Perennialist figures such as Frithjof Schuon, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Huston Smith. Characterizing modernism as &“a spiritual disease which is spreading like a plague across the globe,&” Oldmeadow offers insightful criticisms of Eckhart Tolle&’s The Power of Now and what he calls the &“false prophets of modernity.&”
Tough As They Come
by Marcus Brotherton Gary Sinise Travis MillsThousands have been wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Five have survived quadruple amputee injuries. This is one soldier's story. Thousands of soldiers die year to defend their country. United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was sure that he would become another statistic when, during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was caught in an IED blast four days before his twenty-fifth birthday. Against the odds, he lived, but at a severe cost--Travis became one of only five soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to survive a quadruple amputation. Suddenly forced to reconcile with the fact that he no longer had arms or legs, Travis was faced with a future drastically different from the one he had imagined for himself. He would never again be able to lead his squad, stroke his fingers against his wife's cheek, or pick up his infant daughter. Travis struggled through the painful and anxious days of rehabilitation so that he could regain the strength to live his life to the fullest. With enormous willpower and endurance, the unconditional love of his family, and a generous amount of faith, Travis shocked everyone with his remarkable recovery. Even without limbs, he still swims, dances with his wife, rides mountain bikes, and drives his daughter to school. Travis inspires thousands every day with his remarkable journey. He doesn't want to be thought of as wounded. "I'm just a man with scars," he says, "living life to the fullest and best I know how."From the Hardcover edition.
Tough As They Come
by Marcus Brotherton Gary Sinise Travis MillsThousands have been wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Five have survived quadruple amputee injuries. This is one soldier's story. Thousands of soldiers die year to defend their country. United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was sure that he would become another statistic when, during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was caught in an IED blast four days before his twenty-fifth birthday. Against the odds, he lived, but at a severe cost--Travis became one of only five soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to survive a quadruple amputation. Suddenly forced to reconcile with the fact that he no longer had arms or legs, Travis was faced with a future drastically different from the one he had imagined for himself. He would never again be able to lead his squad, stroke his fingers against his wife's cheek, or pick up his infant daughter. Travis struggled through the painful and anxious days of rehabilitation so that he could regain the strength to live his life to the fullest. With enormous willpower and endurance, the unconditional love of his family, and a generous amount of faith, Travis shocked everyone with his remarkable recovery. Even without limbs, he still swims, dances with his wife, rides mountain bikes, and drives his daughter to school. Travis inspires thousands every day with his remarkable journey. He doesn't want to be thought of as wounded. "I'm just a man with scars," he says, "living life to the fullest and best I know how."From the Hardcover edition.
Tough Choices: An Amish Romance (Stepping Stones)
by Linda BylerFollow Mary's journey as she navigates love, marriage, and motherhood in this final book in the Stepping Stones series Decisions have always been hard for Mary. Her whole life, she has found herself so controlled by the stern voice of her father that she struggles to hear God's voice or even know her own desires. What does it mean to give up one's will when you can't tell what your own will is, never mind God's? Finally, Mary commits to marriage, and so begins a tumultuous journey into life as a wife and mother. Will she pass her insecurities on to her daughter, or will she choose a new way of parenting? And will her daughter be able to navigate life and love without the same pain that Mary faced? Author Linda Byler is an active member of the Amish church and writes all her novels by hand with a pen and notebook. She offers a unique and fascinating look into Amish history and culture.
Tough Crowd: My Adventures as a Chastity Educator
by Shawna SparrowAuthor Shawna Sparrow has spent the last 16 years teaching teenagers about chastity--saving sex for marriage. In her book, Tough Crowd: My Adventures as a Chastity Educator, she shares her experiences in the classroom as well as her insights into social issues related to sexuality. Covering topics such as the media, technology and comprehensive sex education, Shawna examines how our culture shapes the sexual behavior and morals of our youth. Her countless interactions with students reveal that chastity is indeed possible in our modern world. This book is a must read for parents, educators, youth pastors and anyone with a heart for young people. Find out how chastity education can change the world.
Tough Guys and Drama Queens Facilitator's Handbook
by Mark GregstonParents of preteens and teens can move from scared to prepared with a new approach to parenting their adolescents. Parents of preteens intuitively know that no matter how good their kids are, there is turbulence ahead. Many feel lost and unprepared as they watch the damaging effects of culture collide with their child's growing pains and raging hormones. For the past 35 years Mark Gregston has lived and worked with struggling teens and knows what it takes to reach them. He says, "A parent's success has little to do with either the validity of their words or their intent as messengers, it's more about how they approach their child and engage with them." Designed for use with the DVD-based study, the handbook will explore: What's so different about today's culture Why traditional parenting no longer works A new model for parenting teens Foundational and practical, Tough Guys and Drama Queens Facilitator's Handbook answers the questions that parents are asking, helping them become the parents their children need them to be.
Tough Guys and Drama Queens Parent's Guide
by Mark GregstonParents of preteens and teens can move from scared to prepared with a new approach to parenting their adolescents. Parents of preteens intuitively know that no matter how good their kids are, there is turbulence ahead. Many feel lost and unprepared as they watch the damaging effects of culture collide with their child's growing pains and raging hormones.For the past 35 years Mark Gregston has lived and worked with struggling teens and knows what it takes to reach them. He says, "A parent's success has little to do with either the validity of their words or their intent as messengers, it's more about how they approach their child and engage with them."Designed for use with the DVD-based study, the guide will explore:What's so different about today's cultureWhy traditional parenting no longer worksA new model for parenting teensFoundational and practical, Tough Guys and Drama Queens Parent's Guide answers the questions that parents are asking, helping them become the parents their children need them to be.
Tough Guys and Drama Queens: How Not to Get Blindsided by Your Child's Teen Years
by Mark GregstonAre you ready for your child's teen years?If you've ever lain awake at night wondering what might be around the corner of your child's adolescence, this book is for you! After more than thirty-eight years of working with more than 2,500 years, Mark Gregston, founder of heartlight, a Christian residential counseling center, introduces Tough Guys and Drama Queens--a must-read "how-to" book for parents of pre-teens and teens with time-tested, biblical techniques to guide you through these unavoidably challenging years.Mark helps parents realize that some natural parenting approaches are actually counter-productive and therefore totally ineffective.In place of those, he offers tried and true wisdom on the vital importance of relationship, forgiveness, and explains how conflict is actually the precursor to change.Everyday your child is bombarded by highly sexualized culture and over-exposed to words and images that can influence them beyond your reach.your connection to them during these years is critical as is your response to tough issues such as appearance, performance, authority and respect, boundaries, and many more.
