A Beautiful Union


Book Description

Although many marriages today end up in divorce tomorrow, marriage is still a blessing and a sacred Union instituted by God. For every person to experience a great marriage regardless of what they may have been through, God has set in place fundamental principles to an enduring Union. When these principles are appropriately followed, they do not only help us grow in Christ but prepare us to be mentors to others who may be struggling in their marriage. A Beautiful Union, which is a simple biblical guide designed to help you look at God's perspective for a strong and healthy marriage, not only focuses on preparing you mentally but provides biblical guidance to help you understand God's expectations when it comes to settling down with someone, and also strengthen your relationship whether you are already married or thinking about jumping the broom.




Beautiful Union


Book Description

A powerful call for Christians to understand sex as a window into God's story of redemption, and a validating guide to living with authentic love in a changing culture—from the influential pastor and author of The Skeletons in God’s Closet. Beautiful isn’t likely the first word that comes to mind when we think about sex. Our reactions are as varied as our experiences and backgrounds. Perhaps the word brings up past baggage. Perhaps it holds yearning for a dream that has never come true. Maybe we would rather not talk about it. Maybe it’s all we want to talk about. Around us, our culture is divided by this topic. On one side, “progressive” voices seek to dismantle historic Christian teachings to fit current norms. On the other side, “conservative” voices can reinforce messages of shame, judgement, and repression. Beautiful Union offers a third way, one that is both true and beautiful. It gives us a provocative, positive look into the deepest Christian understanding of sex . . . and what sex reveals about God, our world, and even ourselves. Through biblical teaching and livable, joyful answers to our tough questions about sexuality, author and pastor Joshua Ryan Butler shows how sex illuminates the structure of creation, the nature of salvation, the abundance of God’s kingdom, and God’s heartbeat for the world. Discover afresh the beautiful invitation of our sexuality . . . as God intended it to be.




A More Perfect Union


Book Description

Inspired by true events, A More Perfect Union is an epic story of love and courage, desperation and determination, and three people whose lives are inescapably entwined… Henry O’Toole sails to America in 1848 to escape the famine in Ireland, only to face anti-immigrant prejudice. Determined never to starve again, he changes his surname to Taylor and heads south to Virginia, seeking work as a traveling blacksmith on the prosperous plantations. Torn from her home and sold to Jubilee Plantation, Sarah must navigate its intricate hierarchy. And now an enigmatic blacksmith is promising her not just the world but also her freedom. How could she say no? Enslaved at Jubilee Plantation, Maple is desperate to return to her husband and daughter. With Sarah’s arrival, she sees her chance to be reunited at last with her family—but at what cost?




Beautiful Union Study Guide


Book Description

A practical, illuminating companion guide to Beautiful Union, Joshua Ryan Butler’s positive exploration of how God’s design for sex reveals the good, true, and beautiful in Scripture . . . and all of life. Designed as a companion to that life-changing book, this dynamic study guide is your road map for diving more deeply into the key concepts of Beautiful Union—whether by yourself or with a group. Through seven fast-paced sessions, you’ll encounter thought-provoking questions, be prompted to reflect on powerful concepts, discover what God’s design for sex was always meant to reveal, and consider what it all means for living a joyful, faithful life. These sessions include features such as: • Unpack It: questions to illuminate Beautiful Union with space to record your reflections • Use Your Imagination: exercises to creatively help you see God’s larger invitation for human flourishing • Reflect on It: ways to understand our lives in the expansive story of God that sex points to With this guide, you’ll experience a bigger, more beautiful vision of God, the gospel, and the Christian vision for sex.




Mystical Union


Book Description

The gospel is a mystical message, based on an instant and effortless union with God achieved at Christ's cross.When you think of the cross, do you think of fun?If the answer is "no" then you have not been taught the cross aright. There is a delicious feast prepared for the believer. Nothing is more satisfying than the revelation of what Christ has conclusively accomplished for you. This book threatens to turn your Christianity upside down. No longer a struggle to please God -- the Truth will plunge you into a celebration of what He has done for you.With clear revelatory truths on the New Creation and the scandalous joys of the cross, Mystical Union promises to be one of John Crowder's most revolutionary, lifechanging works. The happy gospel of grace is about uninterrupted union with the Divine. This book lays out our most core beliefs. It promises to wreck your theology and cheer you up with undeniable Biblical truths on the free gift of perfection.







Beauty Revealed


Book Description

A Lost Princess. A Mysterious Box. A World full of Unhappily Ever Afters. It's been a year since Queen Erianna and Crown Prince Gabriel were married after the Summer solstice. The Lord of Darkness promised that everyone's happy stories wouldn't last, and that promise has been coming true in each of the realms. Key members of the realms have gone missing. Lines between light and darkness have been blurred. Loyalties are being called into question. It seems like everyone's stories have been turned upside down, and Prince Aiden of the Fall realm has discovered a secret about his past that could either restore or destroy his realm. The fate of the realms hang in the balance, and one person’s choice could change everything. Can the royals of the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer realms find a way to destroy darkness for good, and set their kingdoms right before the Fall equinox? Join Erianna, Brinn, Gabriel, Julianna, Darien, Aiden and Amber as they all must band together to save their realms from the pending darkness that's threatening to take over their world. Everyone has a choice–Which side will you choose?




Folk Art


Book Description

Listen to the artists of the Brazilian Northeast. Their work, they say, comes of continuity and creativity. Continuity runs along lines of learning toward social coherence. Creativity brings challenges and deep personal satisfaction. What they say and do in Brazil aligns with ethnographic evidence from New Mexico and North Carolina; from Ireland, Portugal, and Italy; from Nigeria, Turkey, India, and Bangladesh; from China and Japan. This book is about that, about folk art as a sign of human unity.




The Most Beautiful Man in the World


Book Description

When Andy Warhol cast Paul Swan (1883?1972) in three films in the mid-1960s, he knew that the octogenarian had once been internationally hailed as ?the most beautiful man in the world? and as ?Nijinsky?s successor.? Arthur Hammerstein had advertised Swan as ?a reincarnated Greek God,? and George and Ira Gershwin had celebrated his beauty in their musical Funny Face. What Warhol didn?t know was that Swan had also been called ?America?s Leonardo,? portrait artist of the famous and the infamous, including writer Willa Cather, aviator Charles Lindbergh, British Prime Minister James Ramsay MacDonald, and dictator Benito Mussolini. This book is the first to tell Swan?s story, from his days as a world-famous dancer and artist, through his film career?which ran from silent pictures, including De Mille?s Ten Commandments (1923), to Warhol?s Camp, Paul Swan, and Paul Swan I-IV (1965)?to his portrait painting late in life when Nelson Rockefeller?s children, Malachy McCourt, and Pope Paul VI were among his subjects. With unprecedented access to Swan?s scrapbooks, letters, diaries, and an unpublished memoir that tells the story of a bisexual man trying to build a public life in perilous times, Janis and Richard Londraville reconstruct the intriguing life of this uniquely interesting figure, whose story, although widely glossed in the press, was until now never fully known.




Walk in My Boots - The Joy of Connecting


Book Description

Journey with Bonnie as she shares insights, ideas, and stories of how connecting with ourselves, with others, and with the world creates lasting value. JOY exists when we support and honor each other and when we feel connected to those whose lives touch our own.