The Estranged Family of Abraham's God


Book Description

The Estranged Family of Abraham's God J. Grathmore Stratus III The topic of Arab-Israeli and Christian relations often invokes strong emotions and frequent hostility. It entails extremely sensitive subject matter and cuts deep to the essence of religious beliefs, loyalties, and sometimes mortal commitments. Anyone who follows international media realizes that every family on Earth is, or somehow might be, either directly or indirectly affected by a situation that is ever expanding from the Middle East. If visiting from another planet, it might appear as though Earth was inhabited by one very large dysfunctioning family. Unlike others who have addressed this issue, J. Grathmore Stratus III does not imply what anyone should believe or what to conclude. Looking through the lens of the family microscope, J. Grathmore Stratus III provides a fresh new perspective to viewing international relations. This study presents considerations that seem to be overlooked by many authors attempting to analyze ancient rivalries that continue to shape the history of mankind. In the process, readers and listeners gain insight into their own family matters, along with hope for reconciliation.




Father Abraham Has Many Sons and Daughters


Book Description

Racism, greed, and politics: these are skeletons from the past that have come to haunt the Church, and the younger generations are demanding answers. In the United States, the African-American community holds the “white church” responsible for their plight with slavery. Throughout history, the Church has been under pressure to negotiate a secular compromise that nullifies its testimony. Is the Church going to continue in denial, or will it model the gospel’s transforming power? Father Abraham has Many Sons and Daughters, highlights the Church as the family of transformed relationships. It focuses on transformation among the people of God and how it forms the foundation for our witness today. Traditional studies of how the gospel transforms individuals and communities focus on the believer’s character as the predictor of transformation. This book brings a needed balance by focusing on Kingdom relationships as the context of transformation through the gospel of Jesus Christ.




Estranged: Finding Hope When Your Family Falls Apart


Book Description

In Estranged: Finding Hope When Your Family Falls Apart, Julie Plagens shares about her life as a child of well-known parents in full-time ministry and the hardships it puts on families to maintain an image of perfection. After many years of anger and unforgiveness, Julie and her husband walked away from the family to find healing after a life-altering health diagnosis. This is the amazing story of how God knitted a Christian family back together through a series of miracles that can only be explained by divine intervention after seven years of estrangement. This book is written for families who are struggling to get along in a healthy manner all the way to those who are experiencing a full-blown family estrangement. Julie gives her story from the perspective of an estranged adult child but also gives tips for parents and adult children who are struggling to find a connection between the two generations. Julie's mother, Joanne Ventura, wrote the afterword to help parents who are struggling with the rejection of their adult children. Estranged is unique in that it not only gives personal stories from both sides of the estrangement (which is rare), but it also gives tips to help families move towards hope and healing, even if there is never reconciliation. This is a must read for anyone dealing with shame, anger, rejection, and unforgiveness. You can find hope when your family falls apart.




God Is Greater Than Family Mess


Book Description

On the basis of the biblical phrase, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generation," the author traces Family Mess or "generational bondage" in the family of Abraham to the fourth generation. As the father of Israel and of the Christian faith, Abraham provides an excellent example for us to examine his family mess in order to help us conquer our own. God is Greater Than . . . Family Mess will help you: . -Understand how God worked through the difficult circumstances of Old Testament characters to give them a destiny. -Understand the impact of dysfunction in your family of origin. -Look at dysfunction and co-dependency from a biblical perspective. -Identify your own "family mess." -Understand that God is greater than your upbringing. -Pursue your hopes, dreams, expectations, and destiny in the Holy Spirit. God worked in the midst of Abraham's family problems to give the promise of a brighter future. He gave Abraham and his posterity a destiny that overcame their outward limitations. Praise God that He does the same thing for us, the spiritual children of Abraham.




Abraham


Book Description

From God's surprising call to Abraham to leave home and family to God's enigmatic commands that he evict one son and sacrifice another, Genesis 12-25 is one of the most dramatic stories of the Old Testament. In an inviting style that showcases his literary discernment, theological sophistication, and passion for the biblical text, Terence E. Fretheim guides readers through the intricacies of the plot. Abraham, called "the father of a multitude" (Gen 17:5), lives up to his name as the patriarch of three major religious traditions. Fretheim examines Abraham's family and assesses the significant roles it plays across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In addition, Fretheim contributes to the increasingly important interreligious dialogue surrounding Abraham by examining the continuing conversation among Muslims, Christians, and Jews about the place of Hagar and Ishmael in Abraham's family. Relating biblical narrative to theological concerns, Fretheim wrestles with such controversial concepts as God's selection of an elect people, the gift of land and other promises, the role of women and outsiders, the character of God, and the suffering of innocents. Throughout the text, Fretheim frames the narrative as rooted in the trials of family and faith that define Abraham as the father of three religions.







Abraham


Book Description

In this timely, provocative, and uplifting journey, the bestselling author of Walking the Bible searches for the man at the heart of the world’s three monotheistic religions—and today’s deadliest conflicts. At a moment when the world is asking “can the religions get along?” one figure stands out as the shared ancestor of Jews, Muslims, and Christians. One man holds the key to our deepest fears—and our possible reconciliation. Abraham is that man. Bruce Feiler set out on a personal quest to better understand our common patriarch. Traveling in war zones, climbing through caves and ancient shrines, and sitting down with the world’s leading religious minds, Feiler uncovers fascinating, little known details of the man who defines faith for half the world. Both immediate and timeless, Abraham is a powerful, universal story, the first-ever interfaith portrait of the man God chose to be his partner. Thoughtful and inspiring, it offers a rare vision of hope that will redefine what we think about our neighbors, our future, and ourselves.




Abraham's Family


Book Description

The book of Genesis provides the basis of much of the teachings of both Judaism and Christianity. It also provides a record of the relationships between members of Abraham's family, God, and various neighboring groups over a period of nearly three hundred years. This makes it one of the longest running studies of such relationships ever done. By studying these relationships we can learn a lot about why people develop certain attitudes and respond to different situations. As a result we can make reasonable predictions as to how changes in our behavior will affect our children, and our neighbors. It also helps to understand our own reactions .




The Sons of Abraham


Book Description

The Sons of Abraham is book three of a 4-book series of Bible Studies concentrating on the spiritual trunk of the Jewish family tree. The LORD called Abram, later renamed Abraham, to leave Ur of the Chaldees, his native country, to go wherever God revealed to him. Abram trusted God to show him the way and believed God when He promised to make him a great nation. The LORD blessed Abram, and his seed-of Sarai, later Sarah-namely Isaac, Jacob, Jacob's twelve sons and their sons. Throughout the Old Testament, we read the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the sons of promise. They would inherit land the LORD showed Abram/Abraham. At that time, their land grant was referred to only as 'the land of promise'. Inhabiting that property would take many years. Abraham's descendants would have to fight to take possession of their inheritance, which was the land of distant relatives, the Canaanites. But God was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and promised to bless those who blessed them and curse those who cursed them. They had the LORD God Almighty on their side; with them all the way. But the journey proved to be hard-fought and bitter-sweet. Many of the people were destroyed because of their disbelief, or because of their disobedience. However, the story inside these covers will help you discover for yourself just how much our natural and/or spiritual lives have been impacted by our ancestor Abraham. (Gen 12:1-7; 13:14-18; 15:18-21; 17:1-9; 21:12; 32:24-30; 50:24; Ex 2:23-24; 3:6; Num 14:34; Deu 6:3; Heb 11:9)..