Out of God's Closet


Book Description

This book could have been titled The Book of Tolerance. The Psychologist author recognizes that every child learns a lot of traditions and beliefs when too young to evaluate them. Such prejudices are very deeply ingrained into the subconscious. They are difficult to overcome even in our adult years of further experience and education. (Dr. Uhl was already in his 30s when he finally got free; many people never get free.) Each person grows up and learns to analyze and think criticallly at different rates. Even in the same family one sibling may remain opinionated and prejudiced, stuck in the past, while another thoughtfully unlearns childhood myths and becomes a broadminded adult ready for planetary friendships. Therefore, tolerance of such differing rates of learning and unlearning is necessary for civilized peace in a pluralistic society. Such friendly understanding comes easy under the new Golden Rule: Treat others as you would reasonably want and expect to be treated if your roles were reversed. Out of God's Closet: This Priest Psychologist Chooses Friendly Atheism shows how the author got really free and how readers can enjoy the same freedom to be proud, happy, planetary neighbors. Generous sprinkling of earthy humor richly seasons this revolutionary book for enjoyable spiritual nourishment.




The Skeletons in God's Closet


Book Description

How can a loving God send people to hell? Isn’t it arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way to God? What is up with holy war in the Old Testament? Many of us fear God has some skeletons in the closet. Hell, judgment, and holy war are hot topics for the Christian faith that have a way of igniting fierce debate far and wide. These hard questions leave many wondering whether God is really good and can truly be trusted. The Skeletons in God's Closet confronts our popular caricatures of these difficult topics with the beauty and power of the real thing. Josh Butler reveals that these subjects are consistent with, rather than contradictory to, the goodness of God. He explores Scripture to reveal the plotlines that make sense of these tough topics in light of God’s goodness. From fresh angles, Josh deals powerfully with such difficult passages as: The Lake of Fire Lazarus and the Rich Man The Slaughter of Canaanites in the Old Testament Ultimately, The Skeletons in God's Close uses our toughest questions to provoke paradigm shifts in how we understand our faith as a whole. It pulls the “skeletons out of God’s closet” to reveal they were never really skeletons at all.




A Skeleton in God's Closet


Book Description

When an ancient skeleton is discovered in Israel, will it shed new light on the life of Jesus or plunge the world into chaos? Dr. Jonathan Weber, Harvard professor and biblical scholar, is looking forward to his sabbatical year on an archaeological dig in Israel. But a spectacular find that seems to be an archaeologist’s dream-come-true becomes a nightmare that many fear will be the death rattle of Christianity. Carefully researched and compellingly written, A Skeleton in God’s Closet explores the tension between faith and doubt when science and religion collide. In the end, it’s a thought-provoking page-turner, driven by one man’s determination to find the truth—no matter the cost.




The Epic of Eden


Book Description

Does your knowledge of the Old Testament feel like a grab bag of people, books, events and ideas? Sandra Richter gives an overview of the Old Testament, organizing our disorderly knowledge of the Old Testament people, facts and stories into a memorable and manageable story of redemption that climaxes in the New Testament.




God in My Closet


Book Description

Sonya Black is born in the projects to addicts and alcoholics bent on the kind of destruction that drives children mad. One night, her mother shuts her in her closet, but Sonya finds a friend in the dark. This is the beginning of her lifelong conversation with God. As Sonya and her brothers are dragged from Section-8 apartments to shelters to crack-houses, she begs God for help. As she endures violence, sexual violation, and loss, Sonya gives God a piece of her mind. Sonya becomes her own worst enemy, inflicting dangerous wounds on herself, and descending into madness-but she never gives up on God.The adult Sonya battles grief to seek the one thing she never had: a home. God in My Closet is the story of a woman who cries out to God but keeps laughing, who argues with God but never stops talking to Him, until their conversations turn darkness to light.




God Hears Her


Book Description

Take comfort in knowing that God hears you. The story of Hannah in 1 Samuel tells of one woman’s personal heartache and trust in the One who could fulfill her desires. She poured her heart out to God, and He heard her. The Our Daily Bread devotions selected for this collection reassure you that God is with you, God is for you, and God hears you. The personal stories and Scripture passages lift you up and remind you that God is bigger than the trials you face.




Cleaning Out the Family's Closet


Book Description

Secrets...they exists for all of us. It takes courage to face the raw truth—a truth characterized by molestation, incest, physical abuse, domestic violence, denial, fear, shame, and pain. It takes God to help clean out a closet of that magnitude—the family's closet. Journey with author Delton Adams Sr. as he recounts a horrific life story exposing his very dark and evil childhood from hell. Death had viciously sprinted after me since age three when my female babysitter would oftentimes suffocate me with her extreme acts of sexual abuse. At age seven, my next babysitter made me think that I might bleed to death after repeatedly raping me in spite of him being my uncle. And at the begging mercy of my father's Hitler-like dictatorship parenting, I was sure to die whenever he violently beat me upside down with that drop cord as if I were a disobedient slave-child. The sight of my own blood became commonplace between the trauma of my extreme physical abuse and rape sessions. My mother was helpless because extreme domestic violence was a part of her daily survival. Eventually in my adulthood, I qualified for a desperately needed divine intervention plan to break a fifth-generation curse which I chronicled back to the 1800s. Loving women and being attracted to men simultaneously had destroyed my marriage and several times almost cost me my life due to self-destructive behaviors. My inner struggle for divine purpose became a daily mental battle, but God has assured me already that I'm an overcomer. This book tackles very complex and diverse social issues with real talk. It is a personal testament of a man able to move beyond betrayal and mistrust that strongly influenced his perceptions and personal behavior for much of his life. This book will help you to: • face your shame, fears, and pain courageously; • avoid the paths of self-destruction; and • bring healing and deliverance to your broken heart and soul to move forward. If it's time for a breakthrough in your life, this is the book you must read. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of the sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised (Luke 4:18).




Out of the Broom Closet


Book Description

How do you tell your mother you're a witch? Coming out as a witch isn't easy. You may feel misunderstood, rejected, even discriminated against by friends, family, and coworkers. If you haven't come out, you may be leery of criticism from those who don't really know what it means to be a witch. In this one-of-a-kind collection, you'll meet fifty witches just like you who reveal what drew them to the craft and how they dealt with coming Out of the Broom Closet. Inside you'll find inspiring stories like: Empowered by My Faith: Debra's belief in the God and Goddesses is strengthened when she asks for their guidance during energy-healing to save her son from a near-fatal gunshot wound Yes, We Are Working Professionals: Deb stands up against discrimination and shows her Wiccan pride during a meeting at work I Am Pagan and I Am Proud: Gwinevere explores her faith and strength when she becomes a published Wiccan author at sixteen years old An Exercise in Tolerance: Joshua risks at losing the woman he loves when he has to convince her strict Christian family that he doesn't worship the devil Out of the Broom Closet will give you the encouragement and inspiration you need to practice magick with pride and dignity, no matter where you are on the path.




The Cross in the Closet


Book Description

From bigotry to empathy, this is the true story of a conservative Christian attempting to find the answers. And it all begins with two words. "I'm Gay."




My Heart--Christ's Home


Book Description

More than ten million readers have enjoyed Robert Boyd Munger's spiritually challenging meditation on Christian discipleship. Now revised and expanded, My Heart--Christ's Home leads you to examine for yourself all the aspects of your life--considering what Christ most desires for you.