Religion

Grandma's heirloom ornaments. The family carol singalong. Aunt Millie's fruitcake. We all have our special holiday traditions we practice year in and year out. This book not only embraces these old standbys, but also explores unique rituals celebrated the world over. This heartwarming collection evokes the memories of Christmas past with such stories as:

Holly Berry Dreams, in which a young girl hangs holly leaves above the doorway as a sign of better times to come while waiting for her father to return from war

PJ Presents, featuring a single mom who enlists her neighbor to leave new pajamas on the front porch every Christmas Eve to surprise her children

Too Much Christmas, in which a young mother buys up all the leftover tags on the Giving Tree, leaving her with too many tags and too little money

Christmas Diaries, featuring a Scottish family who exchanges a diary every Christmas with their extended family in Germany that details the highlights of the past year
With touching stories like these, this book is the perfect gift to commemorate old traditions and create new traditions--for many Christmases to come.

He spent his childhood trapped within the confines of countless bizarre, strict rules. And lived to tell about it.

In this first-hand account, author Matthew Paul Turner shares amusing-sometimes cringe-worthy-and poignant stories about growing up in a fundamentalist household, where even well-intentioned contemporary Christian music was proclaimed to be "of the devil."

churched is a collection of stories that detail an American boy's experiences growing up in a culture where men weren't allowed let their hair grow to touch their ears ("an abomination!"), women wouldn't have been caught dead in a pair of pants (unless swimming), and the pastor couldn't preach a sermon without a healthy dose of hellfire and brimstone. Matthew grapples with the absurdity of a Sunday School Barbie burning, the passionate annual boxing match between the pastor and Satan, and the holiness of being baptized a fifth time-while growing into a young man who, amidst the chaotic mess of religion, falls in love with Jesus.

Tom Bandy has come to be known as one of today's most insightful interpreters of congregational life and the cultural changes that are affecting it. In previous books he has addressed issues such as the addictive behaviors congregations exhibit, the cultural situation that makes this a "pre-Christian" era, and the organizational changes that must occur if bold new congregational systems are truly to work.

By evaluating the responses to all of these concerns, the author has heard a recurring set of questions: How do I help people overcome the fear of change? How do I persuade them to accept the cost? Why is there a sense that change is inherently unfaithful? When I go to my church next Sunday and drink coffee with that little group of people God has gathered in our place, how in the world do I convince them to take such risks?

Drawing on the penetrating analysis of contemporary cultural shifts that has come to be his trademark, Bandy offers detailed and pragmatic suggestions for how one can invite established church members into the mission of transforming their congregation into a place that calls and equips people to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

In his own day the dominant personality of the Western Church, Augustine of Hippo today stands as perhaps the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity, and his Confessions is one of the great works of Western literature. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine relates his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of power at the imperial court in Milan, his struggle against the domination of his sexual nature, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother Monica had taught him during his childhood.

Now, Henry Chadwick, an eminent scholar of early Christianity, has given us the first new English translation in thirty years of this classic spiritual journey. Chadwick renders the details of Augustine's conversion in clear, modern English. We witness the future saint's fascination with astrology and with the Manichees, and then follow him through scepticism and disillusion with pagan myths until he finally reaches Christian faith. There are brilliant philosophical musings about Platonism and the nature of God, and touching portraits of Augustine's beloved mother, of St. Ambrose of Milan, and of other early Christians like Victorinus, who gave up a distinguished career as a rhetorician to adopt the orthodox faith. Augustine's concerns are often strikingly contemporary, yet his work contains many references and allusions that are easily understood only with background information about the ancient social and intellectual setting. To make The Confessions accessible to contemporary readers, Chadwick provides the most complete and informative notes of any recent translation, and includes an introduction to establish the context.

The religious and philosophical value of The Confessions is unquestionable--now modern readers will have easier access to St. Augustine's deeply personal meditations. Chadwick's lucid translation and helpful introduction clear the way for a new experience of this classic.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.