Art Religion

Many Christians view the Bible as an instruction manual. While the Bible does provide instruction, it can also captivate, comfort, delight, shock, and inspire. In short, it elicits emotion - just like poetry. By learning to read and love poetry, says literature Professor Matthew Mullins, listeners can increase their understanding of the biblical text and learn to love God's word more. Each chapter includes exercises and questions designed to help listeners put the book's principles and practices into action.

In Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart, Russ Ramsey digs into these artists' stories for readers who may be new to art, as well as for lifelong students of art history, to mine the transcendent beauty and hard lessons we can take from their masterpieces and their lives. Each story from some of the history's most celebrated artists applies the beauty of the gospel in a way that speaks to the suffering and hope we all face.

What do you do when you start to feel a shift and must decide if it’s time to make a change? When it comes to navigating big decisions about when to stay and go, how can we know for sure when the time is right? Though we enter and exit many rooms over the course of our life—jobs, relationships, communities, life stages—knowing how and when it’s time to leave is a decision that rarely has a clear answer.

Two quotients analyze our minds and emotions: IQ and EQ. But Kris Vallotton believes we are ignoring a deeper dimension - spiritual intelligence. Because believers have the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit, we have the capacity for brilliance. God invites us to embark on a journey of discovery as he reveals mysteries and helps us bring our perspective in line with his - transforming our understanding and endowing us with spiritual intelligence.

This extensive encyclopedia is the most complete and practical work ever published on the art and craft of biblical preaching. Its 11 major sections contain nearly 200 articles, comprehensively covering topics on preaching and methodology.

The pandemic has only exacerbated what was already a startling trend: loneliness and disconnection have been on the rise for a long time in our society. We long for a deep sense of meaning to make sense of our lives, but we don't know how to find it. Even worse, we often search for it in unhealthy ways that hinder the very thing we're desperate for: genuine relational connection.

Most all tarot books present card-by-card interpretations as well as an instruction on how to read spreads. This book takes the next logical step inward by presenting the art of reading in a workbook format and helps you learn to interpret the cards intuitively. The book falls into two parts. The first part concerns learning about the cards and includes exercises for each card that teaches you to trust your interpretation of the card. The second part helps you develop that ability, a skill that Reed calls “intuition”.

We are all improvisers! The principle of "yes, and..." in improvisational theater has produced a lot of great comedy. But it also offers an invigo­rating approach to life in general, and the spiritual life in particular...Pastor, speaker, and improv aficionada MaryAnn McKibben Dana here blends scripture, psychology, theology, and pop culture in a wise, funny, down-to-earth guide to improv as a practice for life.

Do you long to bring greater fulfillment, peace, and purpose into your everyday life? Do you struggle to choose joy as you face anxiety and depression each day? Or are you simply looking for a straightforward way to be happy and compassionate? If you answered yes to any of the questions above, this book will quickly change your life. The teachings of Buddhism have guided spiritual seekers for over 2,500 years. In our modern world, we can all benefit from the inner peace, selflessness, and higher knowledge that Buddhists practice each day.

"If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?" And what of the suffering of animals, who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by it? The greatest Christian thinker of our time sets out to disentangle this knotty issue. With his signature wealth of compassion and insight, C. S. Lewis offers answers to these crucial questions and shares his hope and wisdom to help heal a world hungering for a true understanding of human nature.

The Homiletical Plot, Expanded Edition follows in the same solid tradition of its predecessor. Upon its release, The Homiletical Plot quickly became a pivotal work on the art of preaching. Instead of comments on a biblical passage, Lowry suggested that the sermon follow a narrative form that moves from beginning to end, as with the plot of a story. This expanded edition continues to be an excellent teaching resource and learning tool for all preachers, from introductory students to seasoned clergy.

In this classic book, Madeleine L’Engle addresses the questions, What makes art Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian artist? What is the relationship between faith and art? Through L’Engle’s beautiful and insightful essay, listeners will find themselves called to what the author views as the prime tasks of an artist: to listen, to remain aware, and to respond to creation through one’s own art.

In this timely and important audiobook, one of the most trusted and admired writers on the world of faith examines the meaning of Scripture. The sacred texts have been co-opted by fundamentalists, who insist that they must be taken literally, and by others who interpret Scripture to bolster their own prejudices. These texts are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behavior that are divinely ordained: They are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows, such a narrow, peculiar reading of Scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon.

The Shaolin Monastery charts for the first time in any language the history of the Shaolin Temple and the evolution of its world-renowned martial arts. In this meticulously researched and eminently readable study Meir Shahar considers the economic political and religious factors that led Shaolin monks to disregard the Buddhist prohibition against violence and instead create fighting techniques that by the 21st century have spread throughout the world.

The cacophony of modern life can be deafening, leaving us feeling frazzled and uneasy. In this warm, wise book, Prem Rawat teaches us how to turn down the noise to “hear ourselves” - to listen to the subtle song of peace that sings inside each of us. Once we learn to truly “hear ourselves” and the voice of peace within, then we can hold on to that as we face all the noise of the world. The culmination of a lifetime of study, Hear Yourself lays out the crucial steps we can use to focus on the voice within.

The second part of Peterson's momentous five-volume work on spiritual theology, Eat This Book challenges us to read the Scriptures on their own terms, as God's revelation, and to live them as we read them. With warmth and wisdom Peterson offers greatly needed, down-to-earth counsel on spiritual reading. In these pages he draws readers into a fascinating conversation on the nature of language, the ancient practice of lectio divina, and the role of Scripture translations.

Set against the lush backdrop of Crosswicks, her family's farmhouse in rural Connecticut, this deeply personal memoir details Madeleine L'Engle's journey to find balance between her career as a Newbery Medal-winning author and her responsibilities as a wife, mother, teacher, and Christian.

A Course in Miracles is profound, deeply moving, and as boring to read as a bookshelf assembly manual. Pam Grout to the rescue! Her new audiobook is for all those still struggling with the Course. Grout offers a modern-day rewrite of the 365-lesson workbook - the text at the heart of the Course. Unlike the original, it's user-friendly, accessible, and easy for everyone to understand. Grout drills down to the Course's essential message and meaning, grounding it in the context of everyday life in a way that's bound to stick.

The Art of Manifesting inspires listeners to discover how to tap into the power of the universe to create change. Each section is focused around manifesting a specific area of life with ideas, quotations and pointers to allow the listener to picture their desires, direct their thoughts, and manifest joy, health and wellbeing. Move from a life full of distractions into a life full of enthusiasm and passion. This book is a detailed step by step how-to guide for those wishing to manifest change in their life.

The Art and Practice of Geomancy teaches readers how to divine the answers to life's everyday questions about health, luck, new jobs, and love, as well as finding buried treasure, predicting the weather, and identifying secret enemies. Greer delivers to readers an ancient system of divination in an easy-to-use form requiring little more than a pen and a piece of paper.