First Religion

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job. Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn't like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Beginning with the life of Jesus, Robert Louis Wilken narrates the dramatic spread and development of Christianity over the first thousand years of its history. Moving through the formation of early institutions, practices, and beliefs to the transformations of the Roman world after the conversion of Constantine, he sheds new light on the subsequent stories of Christianity in the Latin West, the Byzantine and Slavic East, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

The first Christians were weird. Just how weird is often lost on today's believers. Within Roman society, the earliest Christians stood out for the oddness of their beliefs and practices. They believed unusual things, worshiped God in strange ways, and lived a unique lifestyle. They practiced a whole new way of thinking about and doing religion that would have been seen as bizarre and dangerous when compared to Roman religion and most other religions of the ancient world.

Do you hate sleep and love real ghost stories? Then this 50-story collection is exactly what you’re looking for! These stories are unexplainable true accounts from first responders, police officers, firemen, and 911 operators, told from the perspective of everyday people. Every single tale between these covers is 100 percent true.

What does spirituality mean to you? Can your spirituality help depression? How does spirituality affect your health? Are spirituality and religion the same? When does someone's spirituality become toxic? Which spirituality is right for me? Where is it exactly that money and spirituality mix? Why is spirituality important? These are all good questions, and our creator—the source, the all—has heard our questions. This book, if you can listen and hear what it is truly saying, will answer all of your questions. I'm so excited for this journey we all must take back home. Where's home?

Does extraterrestrial life exist? Have alien beings actually visited Earth and, indeed, left clear traces of their visits? One man has the answer...and his son can now break the silence. The Roswell Legacy is the story of Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence officer for the 509th Bomber Group (famous for dropping the atomic bomb on Japan), and the first military officer to reach the scene of one of the most famous and enduring UFO events in the recorded history of mankind.

The 1961 abduction of the Hills stirred worldwide interest and enthralled the public and media for decades. It also became a target for debunkers, who still attack it today. But the complete story of what really happened that day, its effect on the participants, and the findings of investigators has never been told - until now. In Captured!, you'll get an insider's look at the alien abduction.

First Principles and First Values is the tip of the spear in the fight for a humane future. Establishing frameworks for a new school of thought called CosmoErotic Humanism, the book is built around forty-two propositions that provide new source code for the future of planetary culture.

Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read or heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.

The First Will Be Last: A Biblical Perspective on Narcissism is just what the title says - an A-Z look at the Biblical perspective on these toxic people; including who they are, how they got that way, and how to deal with them. From key words to Biblical case studies, it will unlock a new perspective and provide a framework in your search for truth.

Muhammad's was a life of almost unparalleled historical importance, yet for all the iconic power of his name, the intensely dramatic story of the prophet of Islam is not well known. In The First Muslim, Lesley Hazleton brings him vibrantly to life. Drawing on early eyewitness sources and on history, politics, religion, and psychology, she renders him as a man in full, in all his complexity and vitality. Hazleton's account follows the arc of Muhammad's rise from powerlessness to power, from anonymity to renown.

Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.

Paul is second only to Jesus as the most important person in the birth of Christianity, and yet he continues to be controversial, even among Christians. How could the letters of Paul be used both to inspire radical grace and to endorse systems of oppression - condoning slavery, subordinating women, condemning homosexual behavior? Borg and Crossan use the best of biblical and historical scholarship to explain the reasons for Paul's mixed reputation and reveal to us what scholars have known for decades: The later letters of Paul were created by the early church to dilute Paul's message.

Many Christians mistakenly believe that their only choice is either to reconcile themselves to a fundamentalist reading of scripture (a "literal-factual" approach) or to simply reject the Bible as something that could bring meaning and value into their lives. In Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg shows how instead we can freshly appreciate all the essential elements of the Old and New Testaments - from Genesis to Revelation - in a way that can open up a new world of intelligent faith.

Best-selling author, humorist, and internationally known psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman helps firstborns understand their natural advantages for the highest level of personal success at home, at school, at work, and in relationships.

"God, I need you to do something in my children!" Have those words found their way into your desperate prayers? Do you feel helpless to know how to equip your children for this world and all it throws at them? If so, you're not alone. When Brooke McGlothlin realized her best efforts were falling woefully short of her goal to produce godly children, she discovered the joy and power of praying Scripture over her family. Her life and her children's lives were transformed. Yours can be, too.

The Bible as we know it today is best understood as a process, one that begins in the tenth century BCE. In this revelatory account, a world-renowned scholar of Hebrew scripture joins a foremost authority on the New Testament to write a new biography of the Book of Books, reconstructing Jewish and Christian scriptural histories, as well as the underappreciated contest between them, from which the Bible arose. The Making of the Bible is the most comprehensive history yet told of the world's best-known literature, revealing its buried lessons and secrets.

The Pilgrims' celebration of the first Thanksgiving is a keystone of America's national and spiritual identity. But is what we've been taught about them or their harvest feast what actually happened? And if not, what difference does it make? Through the captivating story of the birth of this quintessentially American holiday, veteran historian Tracy McKenzie helps us to better understand the tale of America's origins—and for Christians, to grasp the significance of this story and those like it.

In the pattern of his best-selling book The Master Plan of Evangelism, author Robert E. Coleman offers a close examination of how Jesus made disciples and how his followers did the same throughout the book of Acts.  

"WHO AM I?” is the most important question in life you’ll ever ask yourself. Yet many will go to their graves without EVER finding the True answer... Before finding love, happiness or success, the key is to first Know Thyself! The vast majority of the population live in a slumber and will go from birth to death without ever pausing for a moment to even wonder "Why am I here?" We dream that we are flesh and bone. In reality, we are spiritual beings witnessing a human experience. We spend our lives in the pursuit of happiness while failing to realize the Source of all we seek is right ...