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Better to Have Gone: Love, Death, and the Quest for Utopia
by Akash Kapur*Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, New Statesman, Air Mail, and more * Longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize * Recipient of a Whiting Grant*A &“haunting and elegant&” (The Wall Street Journal) story about love, faith, the search for utopia—and the often devastating cost of idealism.It&’s the late 1960s, and two lovers converge on an arid patch of earth in South India. John Walker is the handsome scion of a powerful East Coast American family. Diane Maes is a beautiful hippie from Belgium. They have come to build a new world—Auroville, an international utopian community for thousands of people. Their faith is strong, the future bright.So how do John and Diane end up dying two decades later, on the same day, on a cracked concrete floor in a thatch hut by a remote canyon? This is the mystery Akash Kapur sets out to solve in Better to Have Gone, and it carries deep personal resonance: Diane and John were the parents of Akash&’s wife, Auralice. Akash and Auralice grew up in Auroville; like the rest of their community, they never really understood those deaths.In 2004, Akash and Auralice return to Auroville from New York, where they have been living with John&’s family. As they reestablish themselves in the community, along with their two sons, they must confront the ghosts of those distant deaths. Slowly, they come to understand how the tragic individual fates of John and Diane intersected with the collective history of their town.&“A riveting account of human aspiration and folly taken to extremes&” (The Boston Globe), Better to Have Gone probes the underexplored yet universal idea of utopia and portrays in vivid detail the daily life of one such community. Richly atmospheric and filled with remarkable characters, spread across time and continents, this is narrative writing of the highest order—a &“gripping…compelling…[and] heartbreaking story, deeply researched and lucidly told&” (The New York Times Book Review).
Better Together: Equality in Christ
by Kevin GilesIn 'Better Together', Kevin Giles positively considers from a Christian perspective the changes in the man-woman relationship that have occurred in recent years and invites us to take a fresh look at the biblical texts quoted in support of women's ongoing subordination, setting out questions at the end of each short chapter for home groups to discuss.
Better Together: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future
by Danielle StricklandWe are currently at a strategic cultural intersection with relationships between women and men eroding. And it seems no one knows what to do. While it is good for women to expose their pain, what often happens is that they immediately blame the person at the other end of it, which sets up a never-ending cycle of accusations, denial, avoidance, and ultimately devastation for everyone involved.This moment of discovery should not signal the end but instead become an opportunity to create a different world where men and women are better together.Better Together is a beacon of hope in a challenging storm. It&’s where thoughts can be rechanneled and hope rekindled as author Danielle Strickland offers steps toward a real and workable solution. Her premise is that two things are needed for change:1) imagine a better world, and2) understand oppression.Understanding how oppression works is an important part of undoing it.Danielle says, &“I refuse to believe that all men are bad. I also refuse to believe that all women are victims. I don&’t want to be just hopeful, I want to be strategically hopeful. I want to work toward a better world with a shared view of the future that looks like equality, freedom, and flourishing.&”
Better Together
by Jim Tomberlin Warren Bird Craig GroeschelThousands of Protestant churches are perplexed by plateaued or declining attendance, while other congregations nearby thrive. Is there a way for them to combine forces, drawing on both their strengths, in ways that also increase their missional impact? Church merger consultant Jim Tomberlin, with co-writer Warren Bird, makes the case that mergers today work best not with two struggling churches but with a vital, momentum-filled lead church partnering with a joining church. In this new book, they provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches so that they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute a variety of forms of merger for church expansion and renewal to reinvigorate declining churches and give them a "second life. "
Better Together Study Guide: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future
by Danielle StricklandCan you imagine a future where women and men are better together?We are at a strategic cultural intersection where relationships between women and men are eroding. While it is good for women to expose their pain, abuse, and experiences of gender inequality and oppression, what often follows is a never-ending cycle of blame, accusations, denial, avoidance, and ultimately devastation for everyone involved.Better Together, a six-session video-based Bible study (DVD/digital downloads sold separately), is a beacon of hope in this challenging storm. Danielle Strickland helps us understand how oppression works–whether it relates to gender, race, socioeconomic status, or religion–and how to overcome it. Let Danielle inspire you to believe that change is possible and equip you with ideas and strategies that will compel you to action.The Better Together Study Guide includes six guided Group Gatherings intended to amplify the video teachings as well as between-session personal time to engage the Bible and study content.Sessions include:Through Kingdom LensesHope for the FuturePulling the ThreadEmbracing DifferenceReplacing Root BeliefsTransition to ThrivingDesigned for use with the Better Together Video Study (9780310110781), sold separately. Streaming video also available.
The Better Voice
by Robert TrindadeMany things keep us from a child-like faith in a loving God. Our experience shapes our beliefs and expectations for life and greatly influence our view of who God is, and who He could and couldn't be. The Gospel is the universal message that stands in stark contrast to the sins of the world we've lived in. The God of the Gospel is unfortunately viewed through eyes that have only seen evil apart from any of God's goodness. God's love is not limited or flawed as we receive from all others. God's character is purely different from man's, and the message of the Gospel is beauty that only a God can give.
A Better Way to Live: 52 Studies in Proverbs and Psalms
by Graham HooperIn A Better Way to Live, Graham Hooper shares his love for the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Psalms, opening up their truth and wisdom in a fresh way. Together these books of Scripture reveal a beautiful picture of godly living, showing us what wisdom and integrity look like when faith is tested in the pressures of daily life and work. In 52 practical and insightful studies, Graham Hooper cuts through the bleak emptiness of secular materialism and helps us grasp the authentic and attractive alternative presented in Proverbs and Psalms - a better way to live.
A Better Way to Live: Og Mandino's Own Personal Story of Success Featuring 17 Rules to Live By
by Og MandinoOg Mandino is the leading inspirational author in the world. But once, he was a thirty-five year old derelict who nearly spend his last few dollars on a suicide gun. Now, for the first time ever, he describes the joyously redemptive process that turned a down-and- out alcoholic into a millionaire and a happy man within ten years. Og Mandino is the only person who could tell this heartwarming tale of personal triumph--because it is his own true story. And it can profoundly influence your life.
Betting on Hope: Betting On Hope, Counting On A Cowboy, And Kissed By A Cowboy (A Four of Hearts Ranch Romance #1)
by Debra CloptonOne clutzy advice columnist. One champion cowboy. And an entire small town rooting for love. Advice columnist Maggie Hope never dreamed she'd be shaking hands with champion horse trainer Tru Monahan over a high-stakes bet, especially one that involves horses. And saddles. And everything else a city girl like Maggie feels uncomfortable around. But after filling in for a coworker and interviewing the handsome cowboy, she finds herself doing just that. Anything to save her advice column. Despite Maggie's two left feet, Tru is bound and determined to bring out her inner cowgirl by teaching her to ride a cutting horse, trained to separate cattle from the rest of the herd. While her riding improves, their attraction intensifi es, but Tru knows he can never let her into his heart--for her own good. In Wishing Springs, a community full of meddling but well-meaning townsfolk, Maggie discovers the home she's always longed for. But she's holding something back--a secret that could destroy her reputation and any future she's ever hoped for with the cowboy she might just love.
Betting on Hope: Betting on Hope, Counting on a Cowboy, and Kissed by a Cowboy (A Four of Hearts Ranch Romance)
by Debra CloptonOne clutzy advice columnist. One champion cowboy. And an entire small town rooting for love. Advice columnist Maggie Hope never dreamed she'd be shaking hands with champion horse trainer Tru Monahan over a high-stakes bet, especially one that involves horses. And saddles. And everything else a city girl like Maggie feels uncomfortable around. But after filling in for a coworker and interviewing the handsome cowboy, she finds herself doing just that. Anything to save her advice column. Despite Maggie's two left feet, Tru is bound and determined to bring out her inner cowgirl by teaching her to ride a cutting horse, trained to separate cattle from the rest of the herd. While her riding improves, their attraction intensifi es, but Tru knows he can never let her into his heart--for her own good. In Wishing Springs, a community full of meddling but well-meaning townsfolk, Maggie discovers the home she's always longed for. But she's holding something back--a secret that could destroy her reputation and any future she's ever hoped for with the cowboy she might just love.
Betty: The International Bestseller
by Tiffany McDaniel'Breahtaking'Vogue'So engrossing! Betty is a page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story steeped in Cherokee history, told in undulating prose that settles right into you'Naoise Dolan, Sunday Times bestselling author of Exciting Times 'I felt consumed by this book. I loved it, you will love it' Daisy Johnson, Booker Prize shortlisted author of Everthing Under'I loved Betty: I fell for its strong characters and was moved by the story it portrayed' Fiona Mozley, Booker Prize shortlisted author of Elmet 'A girl comes of age against the knife.' So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.A heartbreaking yet magical story, Betty is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel - full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words. 'Not a story you will soon forget' Karen Joy Fowler, Booker Prize shortlisted author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves 'Shot through with moonshine, Bible verses, and folklore, Betty is about the cruelty we inflict on one another, the beauty we still manage to find, and the stories we tell in order to survive' Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow Child
Betty: The International Bestseller
by Tiffany McDaniel'NOT A STORY YOU WILL SOON FORGET' Karen Joy Fowler, author of Man Booker Prize finalist We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves'A girl comes of age against the knife.' So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.A heartbreaking yet magical story, Betty is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel - full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words.
Betty Bunny Loves Easter (Betty Bunny)
by Michael KaplanNobunny does an Easter egg hunt quite like Betty Bunny! For fans of Ladybug Girl and Fancy Nancy, check out the loveable handful from the creator of Disney’s T.V. series Dog with a Blog.Yes, Betty Bunny loves Easter. She loves it so much that she just knows when she grows up, she will be the Easter Bunny. So it comes as quite a shock when she learns that her brothers and sister have been helping her in the egg hunt every year. Determined to find eggs on her own, this time, Betty Bunny also finds out a thing or two about the satisfaction of accomplishment. Going it alone, Betty Bunny strikes again in the latest in her series, a funny Easter tale of independence.
Betty Shabazz: Sharing the Vision of Malcolm X
by Laura S. JeffreyProfiles the life of Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, discussing her life as the wife of the outspoken civil rights leader and her role in the civil rights movement after his death.
Between a Church and a Hard Place
by Andrew ParkRead Andrew Park's post on the Penguin Blog. Stumped when his children start asking questions about God, a lifelong nonbeliever takes a colorful and thought- provoking tour of religion in America. At age thirty-six, Andrew park hit a parenting snag. Teaching his children about ethics, good manners, and the perfect free throw posed no problem. But when they started asking about religion, he came up empty-handed. He was raised faith-free in a household of nonbelievers. Confronted with the responsibilities of being a young father, park knew it was his place to find the answers to his children's questions about spirituality-and perhaps some of his own. Between a Church and a Hard Place is the often funny, yet deeply tender story of that quest. Though Park and his wife are not religious, Between a Church and a Hard Place doesn't so much struggle with God as it struggles with whether to struggle with God. From megachurches to Humanism Seminars, Park explores the polar reaches of religion in our country while trying to find a comfortable middle ground for himself and his family. With the perfect blend of humor and humility, he uncovers what it means to embrace religion-or not-while still being a good role model, and most important, still being true to himself. In the spirit of Father Knows Less and Foreskin's Lament, Park's story is a captivating exploration of parenthood, and the beliefs that shape our culture.
Between a Man and a Woman?: Why Conservatives Oppose Same-Sex Marriage (Gender, Theory, and Religion)
by Ludger H. Viefhues-BaileyThrough a probing investigation of conservative Christianity and its response to an issue that, according to the statistics of conservative Christian groups, affects only a small number of Americans, Ludger Viefhues-Bailey alights on a profound theological conundrum: in today's conservative Christian movement, both sexes are called upon to be at once assertive and submissive, masculine and feminine, not only within the home but also within the church, society, and the state. Therefore the arguments of conservative Christians against same-sex marriage involve more than literal readings of the Bible or nostalgia for simple gender roles.Focusing primarily on texts produced by Focus on the Family, a leading media and ministry organization informing conservative Christian culture, Viefhues-Bailey identifies two distinct ideas of male homosexuality: gender-disturbed and passive; and oversexed, strongly masculine, and aggressive. These homosexualities enable a complex ideal of Christian masculinity in which men are encouraged to be assertive toward the world while also being submissive toward God and family. This web of sexual contradiction influences the flow of power between the sexes and within the state. It joins notions of sexual equality to claims of "natural" difference, establishing a fraught basis for respectable romantic marriage. Heterosexual union is then treated as emblematic of, if not essential to, the success of American political life-yet far from creating gender stability, these tensions produce an endless striving for balance. Viefhues-Bailey's final, brilliant move is to connect the desire for stability to the conservative Christian movement's strategies of political power.
Between a Rock and a Grace Place: Divine Surprises in the Tight Spots of Life
by Carol KentCarol Kent and her husband, Gene, are now living what some would call a heartbreaking life—their son, Jason, a young man who initially had so much promise, is now living out a life sentence for murder in a maximum security prison. All their appeals have been exhausted at both the state and federal levels—humanly speaking, they have run out of options. But despite their hopeless situation, Carol and her husband live a life full of grace. Kent reveals how life’s problems become fruitful affliction where we discover the very best divine surprises, including peace, compassion, freedom, and adventure. Through the Kent’s remarkable ongoing journey, Jason’s riveting letters from behind bars, and true “grace place” stories from the lives of others, Between a Rock and a Grace Place reveals that when seemingly insurmountable challenges crash into our lives, we can be transformed as we discover God at work in ways we never imagined. With vulnerable openness, irrepressible hope, restored joy, and a sense of humor, Carol Kent helps readers to find God’s “grace places” in the middle of their worst moments.
Between a Rock and a Grace Place Participant's Guide: Divine Surprises in the Tight Spots of Life
by Carol KentThis participant’s guide will help you dig decide where you stand when you are caught between a rock and a hard place: Will you place yourself in a posture of humility and complete dependence on God, or will you just “try harder” and stumble over what could be a transforming encounter with grace? Carol Kent and her husband, Gene, are living what some would call a heartbreaking life—their son, Jason, a young man who initially had so much promise, is now living out a life sentence for murder in a maximum security prison. All their appeals have been exhausted. But despite their hopeless situation, the Kents live a life full of grace. With hope, joy, and a sense of humor, in this six-session, video-based study, Carol will help you find God’s “grace places” in the middle of your worst moments. Designed for use with the Between a Rock and a Grace Place video.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Tony EvansYou know the story: God told Abraham he would become a great nation. Then he told him to sacrifice his own (and only) son, Isaac. Abraham obeyed God and was about to kill Isaac—when God intervened.This is a classic 'between a rock and a hard place' situation. So how was Abraham able to obey in the face of losing it all? Or to bring it closer to home—what would you have done?In this powerful book, Tony Evans reveals what to do when your love for God is tested. According to Evans, &“When you don&’t know God, or when you either forget or dismiss what is true about Him, then you don&’t know how to respond…&”Moving through passages in both the Old and New Testaments, Evans makes a powerful case for obedient living as the key to an abundant life.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Tony EvansYou know the story: God told Abraham he would become a great nation. Then he told him to sacrifice his own (and only) son, Isaac. Abraham obeyed God and was about to kill Isaac—when God intervened.This is a classic 'between a rock and a hard place' situation. So how was Abraham able to obey in the face of losing it all? Or to bring it closer to home—what would you have done?In this powerful book, Tony Evans reveals what to do when your love for God is tested. According to Evans, &“When you don&’t know God, or when you either forget or dismiss what is true about Him, then you don&’t know how to respond…&”Moving through passages in both the Old and New Testaments, Evans makes a powerful case for obedient living as the key to an abundant life.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Aron RalstonOne of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told -- Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought him home. It started out as a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands on a warm Saturday afternoon. For Aron Ralston, a twenty-seven-year-old mountaineer and outdoorsman, a walk into the remote Blue John Canyon was a chance to get a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorado's highest and toughest peaks. He'd earned this weekend vacation, and though he met two charming women along the way, by early afternoon he finally found himself in his element: alone, with just the beauty of the natural world all around him. It was 2:41 P.M. Eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, Aron was climbing down off a wedged boulder when the rock suddenly, and terrifyingly, came loose. Before he could get out of the way, the falling stone pinned his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. And so began six days of hell for Aron Ralston. With scant water and little food, no jacket for the painfully cold nights, and the terrible knowledge that he'd told no one where he was headed, he found himself facing a lingering death -- trapped by an 800-pound boulder 100 feet down in the bottom of a canyon. As he eliminated his escape options one by one through the days, Aron faced the full horror of his predicament: By the time any possible search and rescue effort would begin, he'd most probably have died of dehydration, if a flash flood didn't drown him before that. What does one do in the face of almost certain death? Using the video camera from his pack, Aron began recording his grateful good-byes to his family and friends all over the country, thinking back over a life filled with adventure, and documenting a last will and testament with the hope that someone would find it. (For their part, his family and friends had instigated a major search for Aron, the amazing details of which are also documented here for the first time.) The knowledge of their love kept Aron Ralston alive, until a divine inspiration on Thursday morning solved the riddle of the boulder. Aron then committed the most extreme act imaginable to save himself. Between a Rock and a Hard Place -- a brilliantly written, funny, honest, inspiring, and downright astonishing report from the line where death meets life -- will surely take its place in the annals of classic adventure stories.
Between Allah & Jesus: What Christians Can Learn from Muslims
by Peter KreeftWhat would happen if Christians and a Muslim at a university talked and disagreed, but really tried to understand each other? What would they learn? That is the intriguing question Peter Kreeft seeks to answer in these imaginative conversations at Boston College. An articulate and engaging Muslim student named 'Isa challenges the Christian students and professors he meets on issues ranging from prayer and worship to evolution and abortion, from war and politics to the nature of spiritual struggle and spiritual submission. While Kreeft believes Christians should not learn extremism or unitarian theology from Muslims, he does believe that if we really listened we could learn much about devoted religious practice and ethics. Here is a book to open your understanding of one of the key forces shaping our world today. It's a book that just could make you a better Christian.
Between Ball Games: Stories and Wisdom of Raising up and Cheering on Strong Young Men
by Amy BloyeFrom energy and injury to surviving middle school, moms are asking questions. They want to know about training, role models, overcoming fear, dealing with ADD, how to talk to their teenagers and how to get them to have a conversation. Moms want to know if they have permission to take care of themselves, how to not act shocked, and how to experience God’s grace and joy in being a boy mom. Twenty-six years of encouragement and wisdom is packed into this short read. Each three-to-five page chapter begins with a story and concludes with a challenging truth and a Scripture reference.
Between Care and Criminality: Marriage, Citizenship, and Family in Australian Social Welfare (Politics of Marriage and Gender: Global Issues in Local Contexts)
by Helena ZeweriBetween Care and Criminality examines social welfare’s encounter with migration and marriage in a period of intensified border control in Melbourne, Australia. It offers an in-depth ethnographic account of the effort to prevent forced marriage in the aftermath of a 2013 law that criminalized the practice. Disproportionately targeted toward Muslim migrant communities, prevention efforts were tasked with making the family relations and marital practices of migrants objects of policy knowledge in the name of care and community empowerment. Through tracing the everyday ways that direct service providers, police, and advocates learned to identify imminent marriages and at-risk individuals, this book reveals how the domain of social welfare becomes the new frontier where the settler colonial state judges good citizenship. In doing so, it invites social welfare to reflect on how migrant conceptions of familial care, personhood, and mutual obligation become structured by the violence of displacement, borders, and conditional citizenship.
Between Christ and Caliph: Law, Marriage, and Christian Community in Early Islam (Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion)
by Lev E. WeitzIn the conventional historical narrative, the medieval Middle East was composed of autonomous religious traditions, each with distinct doctrines, rituals, and institutions. Outside the world of theology, however, and beyond the walls of the mosque or the church, the multireligious social order of the medieval Islamic empire was complex and dynamic. Peoples of different faiths—Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, Jews, and others—interacted with each other in city streets, marketplaces, and even shared households, all under the rule of the Islamic caliphate. Laypeople of different confessions marked their religious belonging through fluctuating, sometimes overlapping, social norms and practices.In Between Christ and Caliph, Lev E. Weitz examines the multiconfessional society of early Islam through the lens of shifting marital practices of Syriac Christian communities. In response to the growth of Islamic law and governance in the seventh through tenth centuries, Syriac Christian bishops created new laws to regulate marriage, inheritance, and family life. The bishops banned polygamy, required that Christian marriages be blessed by priests, and restricted marriage between cousins, seeking ultimately to distinguish Christian social patterns from those of Muslims and Jews. Through meticulous research into rarely consulted Syriac and Arabic sources, Weitz traces the ways in which Syriac Christians strove to identify themselves as a community apart while still maintaining a place in the Islamic social order. By binding household life to religious identity, Syriac Christians developed the social distinctions between religious communities that came to define the medieval Islamic Middle East. Ultimately, Between Christ and Caliph argues that interreligious negotiations such as these lie at the heart of the history of the medieval Islamic empire.