Matthew: The Book of Mercy Review

Matthew: The Book of Mercy
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I have enjoyed all of Megan McKenna's books and this one did not disappooint me. I especially enjoy the stories that are intertwined with the commentary to give us examples and illustrations. Matthew doesn't put his own personality and opinions into this gospel for the focus is on Jesus. He learned much as JEsus' disciple and now McKenna helps us delve deep into these writings to appreciate the richness of the wisdom.

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Known as a scribe, minor tax collector, and public sinner, Matthew sought to create an identity for the fledgling Christian community as it struggled against persecution by the Romans and ostracism by the Jewish leadership. In her new book, well-known author and master storyteller Megan McKenna shows how this identity is forged of forgiveness, reconciliation and atonement. What characterizes Matthews church is Jesus as the Mercy of God, as mercy shared. Matthew's community becomes the presence of the kingdom of heaven on earth the presence of God's mercy on earth. In this masterful commentary, McKenna shows that, as it did for that early Jewish community of Christians, Matthew's gospel offers balm and hope for the Church today.

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The Get: A Spiritual Memoir of Divorce Review

The Get: A Spiritual Memoir of Divorce
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If you want to read an honest representation of what a divorce and a Get look and feel like, this is your book. It's a quick read and you will have to indulge the author in her attempt at prose on evey other page...let it go.
While the author isn't willing to come right out and say that her ex-husband was a thoughtless pig, I will. This man is a selfish, scheming, faithless and deceitful swine. The day she received her divorce papers, she learned that he was dating one of her closest friends. He then remarried 4 months after the Get and refused to pay for his only child's college education. He cleverly, under the guise of leading a more Orthodox life, dismantled his family for his own amusement. Shame on the Denver Orthodox Community who embraced and supported him throughout the civil dissolution and the Get. Shame on the `black hats' who sat in the room during the Get Ceremony laughing and joking with her soon to be ex. Their behavior infuriated me.
The author does come though it in the end but she is way too often at the mercy of thoughtless, egotistical and retarded men who call themselves `Orthodox', as if G-d would tolerate such behavior. It's a good thing she's in the Social Services/Psychology field and is able to see and deal with her own unhealthy behaviors in a clear way. That's how she gets through. At the end, my only hope is that her husband pays dearly for destroying his family and attempting to destroy the author, Elise. What a jerk.


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The Get is the story of a woman's journey through love, divorce,spirituality, empowerment and, finally, self-discovery. It focuses on thereal-life experiences of a modern woman who is pressured to participate in anancient Orthodox ritual that ends her thirty-year marriage. Initially fearful ofparticipating in an ancient ceremony that requires her to stand alone before apanel of emotionally distant Orthodox rabbis, she ultimately comes to believethat the get is truly a profound emotional experience. With the assistance oftwo very special spiritual leaders, she confronts her insecurities and fears,and emerges victorious.

This beautifully written book details a process that has rarely been toldbefore. Readers of all faiths will be fascinated by this personal and spiritualquest from loss to abundance. Readers will be propelled through an experience ofanxiety and intensity until the moment of finality is reached, when a singlepiece of parchment-representing a life together-is dropped into the author'shands and cut.


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Parlour Games for Modern Families Review

Parlour Games for Modern Families
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I was sorely disappointed to find that the publishers of this Kindle edition completely ignored the value of a linked table of contents in a digital book. For whatever reason, they ignored the idea that browsing an ebook requires that kind of navigation. Whereas in a print book, one might flip through and see what kind of game caught the eye, the publisher in this instance thought a reader should be forced to follow a completely linear path through the book. As a person looking for something to entertain visitors, they thought I would be best served by having to read every page. Given the type of content being presented and given a $9.99 price tag for the Kindle edition, I am unhappy with the lack of consideration by the publisher. One has to wonder -- did they send the printed volume out into the world without a table of contents? I suspect not.

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Reviving the tradition of indoor family games, this guide invites mental stimulation, silliness, and laughter back into the household. From games of logic, memory, and wordplay to rough-and-tumble activities and even simple recipes, this collection takes the environment into consideration, only requiring items easily found around the home, such as a deck of cards, a dictionary, an hour glass, dice, or paper and pen. The featured games are organized thematically and cross-referenced for age-appropriateness. Concise rules and instructions are included, outlining games that will challenge and stimulate, last all night, or fill the empty half-hour before dinner. Ideal for a wide age range, this guide brings back long-forgotten pastimes, guaranteeing entertainment for all.

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Jesus the Teacher: A Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation of Mark Review

Jesus the Teacher: A Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation of Mark
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Of the dozens of books published on Mark over the past 15 years, this has to be on anyone's "Top Ten" list. This work is a well-balanced and well-reasoned approach to understanding the author, audience and social climate of the first gospel. Robbins writes in an easily understandable style, and sheds new light on both the Jewish and Hellenistic roots of the gospel. For anyone wanting a better understanding of Mark, this book is an essential read. For those ready to accept the fact that Mark's gospel is a work of divinely inspired rhetorical literature rather than a historical biography of the divine, this is your book. Robbins' other works and journal articles are equally valuable for clarity and depth of insight.

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"This book makes an important, indeed a groundbreaking, contribution to Markan studies. Not only does it address a lacuna in these studies, but it does so by means of an innovative methodology. . .that permits a satisfying integration of the Jewish background of Mark's Gospel with its Greco-Roman background while retaining a sensitivity to the literary dimensions of the text as well as an interest in its reader. Robbins has accomplished a remarkable feat. . . . Markan studies are certain to benefit greatly from this work."-Jouette M. BasslerJournal of Biblical Literature"Robbins proposes a challenging alternative to current approaches to the study of Mark by demonstrating that its literary qualities are inseparable from ancient social conventions in which Greco-Roman traditions are no less relevant than those of the Old Testament and early Judaism. This book is a major contribution to Markan scholarship as well as an incisive critique of some of the self-imposed limitations of contemporary New Testament research."-David E. AuneUniversity of Notre Dame"In this important contribution of Markan studies, Robbins demonstrates that contemporary approaches to the New Testament can lead to genuinely new and fruitful insights."-Richard I. PervoAnglican Theological Review"This volume breaks new ground in Markan study in the areas of historical background, genre, structure, plot, and theology. . . . It contains more fresh ideas than most books of its size."-Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.Catholic Biblical QuarterlyVernon K. Robbins is Professor of New Testament and Comparative Sacred Texts in the Department and Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University in Atlanta. He was appointed Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities in 2001. Among his many books are The Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse and Exploring the Texture of Texts.

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Young Lords of Siyah Chan: A Novel of the Ancient Maya Review

Young Lords of Siyah Chan: A Novel of the Ancient Maya
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With this, her third book (and second on the Ancient Maya), the author hits her stride as a storyteller. She makes learning about the Mayan people interesting, and gives you a real feel of what it was like to live in their time. She interweaves the stories and lives of four central characters, as well as other supporting members, in a way that makes you want to keep on reading, and turning pages, to find out what will happen next.
One tool that was helpful in the reading, was providing notes on dates, name pronunciation, and family trees, at the beginning of the book. She wants the reader to learn, and to feel comfortable while learning.
This is Ms Wrenn's longest effort to date, and it invites readers to prepare for more. Having an eye catching cover by illustrator Duncan Long, doesn't hurt either. Looking forward to Book Two in this series, Holy Lord of Siyah Chan.

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Who were the Ancient Maya who inhabited those mysterious ruined cities in the Central American jungles?As aspects of their lifeways and history are uncovered by archaeological research and the decipherment of their intriguing inscriptions, it becomes possible to imagine the details of their daily life, their annual ritual cycle, their aspirations and challenges.Their inscriptions reveal the histories of their ruling families, as tumultuous as those in any other known civilization, their towering pyramids suggest a strong sense of the sacred, while their paintings and carving suggest a vigorous military presence.In this novel, Joan C Wrenn presents the story of the Maya of one city-state at a crucial time in its history, the royal family about to be split, struggles over competing ideologies and the life-and-death challenges of living in a jungle environment in city-states involved in nearly continuous warfare.Through colorful glimpses into the lives of four young Maya and their families, the reader is introduced to the culture, the lifeways, the religion, the rulers, the battles and the successes of these magnificent people.

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On Your Mark: Reading Scripture Without a Teacher Review

On Your Mark: Reading Scripture Without a Teacher
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The book is a self-help workbook including questions and review suggestions at the ends of sections for ones looking to gain a deeper understanding of the religious significance of parts of the Bible from their own readings. O'Malley deals with the Gospel of Saint Mark. He makes some cross references to the other gospels. And some of his explanations and interpretations would apply to specifics in those gospels. But for the most part, he concentrates exclusively on the Gospel of Saint Mark phrase by phrase and often word by word.
Deeper understanding of this Gospel calls for some knowledge of literary techniques (e. g., metaphor), religious history, Middle East and Roman culture of the period, and the life of Jesus--which the author covers succintly in the front matter before the detailed literary, religious, and biographical analysis of Mark. As a Jesuit, O'Malley is interested mainly in the New Testament with its four gospels recording and spreading the "good news" of the coming of Christ. Having taught high-school senior religious classes for more than four decades, O'Malley has the ability to convey the material in a useful and instructive style for the general reader.

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Sadly, some good Christians take statements from the Bible literally and feel they must be true. But literalism shackles the liberating message of Jesus. Geared to engage all readers in understanding the gospel messages as the authors intended, this book first addresses the differences in approaching what still is an ancient text, how the gospel Jesus preached became the written gospels, and how the writer Mark s attitudes and interests agree and differ with his fellow evangelists. Then it opens up all of Mark, step by step, offering confidence to those who read it.

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Spend Less, Reach More: A Pastor's Guide to Reaching the Most People for the Least Amount of Money Review

Spend Less, Reach More: A Pastor's Guide to Reaching the Most People for the Least Amount of Money
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David Jones has written a short, but very useful and practical marketing "handbook" for pastors and ministry leaders. In this step-by-step guide he explains how we can be good stewards of the resources God has given us, and how we can maximize these resources as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission. Spend Less, Reach More is to the point and highly readable.

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Jesus' Attitude Towards the Law: A Study of the Gospels Review

Jesus' Attitude Towards the Law: A Study of the Gospels
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Bill did a great job explaining the the different evangelists'(Gospel Writers) concept of Torah\Law, including Q and even a reconstructed historical Jesus. It does not have anything to do with skihism, but putting that aside it is a great work.

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This book provides a critical reassessment and fresh analysis of Jesus' attitude towards the Law as portrayed in each of the canonical Gospels, Q, Thomas, and the apocryphal Gospels. Representing William Loader's definitive work on the subject, this compr

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Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom: A Spirituality Review

Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom: A Spirituality
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It is a good book for those beginning to look closely at scripture.

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"Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom provides comprehensive coverage of the wisdom literature within a liberative framework. Ceresko introduces the books of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth), Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and the Book of Wisdom, showing the development and function of wisdom literature in the ancient world and within Israel, both as a form of literature and as a guide for daily life. He presents a general overview of the themes, structure and historical background and looks closely at significant texts from each wisdom book."--BOOK JACKET.

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Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction to Textual Criticism Review

Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction to Textual Criticism
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If your into textual criticism, definitly get Metzger and Aland's books (both named TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT) before this one.
Kind of a strange book, on one hand it give you very basic introductry info on textual criticism, then it dives into some very complex comparison/contrast of greek wording in variant readings of some of the more important witnesses (i.e. p66, p75, Aleph, B, etc.) -- You'll have to be pretty sharp in greek to make any sense of these....
For your money, you're much much better off getting Metzger's and Aland's books. You will learn WAY MORE!!!
I would only recommend this book to someone who has first read and enjoyed the books mentioned above. -- but even then, the buyer will be disappointed in the amount and depth of info when compared to Metzger/Aland.
Recomendation: Save your money, there are so many other great books to buy ahead of this one.
Eric

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The field of textual criticism remains an exciting one. Thousands of manuscripts have been recovered in recent years. Using the methods of textual criticism, translators have been able to discern from these manuscripts a probable reading of the original New Testament text, a difficult but important task. / Several scholarly books describing the process of textual criticism have already been written, but Encountering New Testament Manuscripts is uniquely different in its approach. Here students have an opportunity to see and read portions of the chief manuscripts for themselves and to learn firsthand the principles of textual criticism. / Included are 24 photographs of some of the oldest and most important manuscripts, including papyri, parchment, and paper texts with both uncial and miniscule script. Through the steps of transcribing the original manuscripts and organizing the various evidences presented, the student learns to develop conclusions about the reading of the original text. / A comprehensive introductory chapter surveying the nature and history of textual criticism and a concluding chapter on the question of methodology make this book a complete course on the subject. Helpful indices and lists of important New Testament manuscripts make it an excellent resource volume as well.

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Tempest & Exodus Review

Tempest and Exodus
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The sequel to Jesus: Last of the Pharoahs is more reasonable than the former. Mostly, because Ralph Ellis concentrates on one period of time only and takes more time to reason about this single issue. It is about the volcano's eruption on (Greek) Thera/Santorini playing catalyst for the religious strife within ancient Egypt, leading to the Hyksos' exodus(es). Prominently featured is the identification of Biblical Mt. Sinai with the Great Pyramid of Giza. Which functions both, as the template for the portable ark of the covenant of the Jews and circling procession like around today's Kabaa (to be precise, a different pyramid is suggested for the latter tradition). All of which sounds..., well... more than a bit unusual. The reasoning of the author merits attention, however, maybe only to be found out later that it was important for the way to "the truth" than actually representing the last word on everything touched.
I read the 2nd revised edition of 2006 (of the original book of 2000) and I advise to read the respective latest edition, as the author revises his books frequently. As such, some of my and others' criticism may get revised in later editions.
The major problem with Ralph Ellis' books is that they predominantly depent on linguistics as the basis for his hypotheses. On the one hand, this methodology offers largely untapped opportunities for revelations from the perspective of the current lack of historical knowledge about those Imes (times). On the other hand, these hypotheses should get confirmed by other means, which this book does a little bit more than other works of the author, yet still not sufficiently. For a simple reason: Linguistics offer a potential minefield for folk etymologies. Additionally, Ralph Ellis is very liberal in averring connections and changing words to fit each other. He will be right at times, but hardly all the way. He also likes to find proof for this theories, never to be wrong in the end. That is very suspicious in itself, smacking of constructivism, for the odds are slim that a scientist is right about his initial assumptions all the time. Even though I have to say, this book currently reads as mostly comprehendable.
Mostly means not all the time. One example for his falling for an folk etymology is his reproduction of the historic legend that the croissant is derived from Hungarian bakers thwarting a conquering attempt of the Budapest besieging Turks, celebrating themselves with a food product in the form of the Islamic crescent. This goes back to a supposed event of 1686. Unfortunately for this legend, this wasn't known before 1948, when Alfred Gottschalk wrote that in a book. Which was totally fabricated. As can be seen by the fact that 10 years previously he wrote the same story in another book ("Larousse gastronomique"), but this time placing the events in Austrian Vienna three years previously. In reality, the croissant, which is supposed to be derived from the crescent, hasn't been heard of in France before the 19th century. And in Austria the template for croissants has been known many centuries before any Turk army appeared on the horizon. Ironically maybe connected to even earlier monastery bakers celebrating Easter with this product looking like horns of an animal, as the original Austrian/German name suggests - which would have been interesting for Ralph Ellis to find/construct some other connection to ancient Egypt. But I do not necessarily want to encourage him any further... This paragraph by no means debunks the entire book, as Ellis' hypotheses do not depent the croissant. It is just that anything whatsoever I know about which Ralph Ellis writes about in his books, he gets wrong without further question. Which makes me wonder about the things he writes, nobody else knows anything about. In other words: I think most in this book sounds plausible, but everything should be checked independently. Even Ellis himself corrects his previous books. For example, in Thoth: Architect of the Universe he locates Atlantis in the Atlantic. In this book, he corrects himself in locating Atlantis among the Greek islands. And in later books, such as in Cleopatra to Christ (Jesus was the Great Grandson of Cleopatra) / Scota, Egyptian Queen of the Scots (Ireland and Scotland were founded by an Egyptian Queen) [Two Books in One] he suddenly turns his most prominent theory over that the Hyksos were Egyptians without any migratory background. Simply because new theories of his collide with his former ones. Simply, because, again, he likes to prove his theories by finding the corresponding/constructed evidence. He should revise all of his books more frequently, I may offer... The positive aspect of this is that he himself is showing that prolonged reasoning and research leads to ever new insights and even not quite correct theories are necessary for progress.
By the way: Atlantis???
His reasoning about Sodom and Gomorrha doesn't grow stronger in this book than in the prequel. This time he wants to derive "Sodom" from fornication. Whatever, but here's the message: The original theology of that story is not about any sexual matters whatsoever, it's about greed and not sharing a bit of one's accumulated wealth, going so far as to maltreat any potential one in need.
The bottom line is: This book is worth reading, just don't ingrain anything in it as incontrovertible. The sequel in this series is Solomon, Falcon of Sheba: The Tombs of King David, King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba Discovered (original title).

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The dramatic discovery of a large biblical quotation on an ancient Egyptian stele.When compared to its Biblical equivalent, the text appears to be two separate accounts, Egyptian and Israelite, of a conference about how the Biblical exodus should be organized. This sequel to Jesus, Last of the Pharaohs also contains.• the secret name of God• the location of Mt. Ararat• illustrations of Noah's ArkThe quotation thus has fundamental implications for both history and theology because it explains:• why the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were constructed• why the exodus started• where Mt. Sinai was located• who the God of the Israelites was• who the Israelites really were• why the Torah, Bible and Koran were written.

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Hidden Mark: Exploring Christianity's Heretical Gospel Review

Hidden Mark: Exploring Christianity's Heretical Gospel
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The Gospel of Mark has some certain unusual elements for its place in the Bible. "Hidden Mark: Exploring Christianity's Heretical Gospel" analyzes more deeply the place of the Gospel of Mark in the bigger picture of Christianity. Claiming that the Gospel of Mark may actually have roots in the Gnostics, it provides an intriguing case for Mark's unusual place. Blending an analysis of the Gnostics as well as the Book of Mark, "Hidden Mark" is a top pick for any student of the Bible who wants to understand Mark's eccentricities in the scope of the Holy Bible.


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The First Edition of the New Testament Review

The First Edition of the New Testament
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You don't need to know New Testament Greek to follow Trobisch's arguments. Although an astute reader and clever interpreter of textual evidence, Trobisch spares us the usual myopia and nit picking textual critics like to heap upon their readers. He avoids discussions of authorial authenticity that so easily put many people on the defensive. Instead, he helps the reader appreciate larger redactional issues of how the different components of the New Testament relate to one another. By making comparisons to familiar modern publishing practices, Trobisch makes his arguments easily accessible to the modern reader (for example, he shows how the decisions publishers and editors make and the conventions they establish can affect the final form of the text as much, perhaps, as those of the authors.) There's much here I'll want to re-examine when I've done more reading in this area, but on my first read-through I found Trobisch's thesis exciting and refreshing. This book has certainly changed the way I'll be reading the New Testament from now on.
Trobisch's aim was "to describe the history of the Canonial Edition by analyzing the oldest existing copies and tracing the edition back to the time and place of first publication. With this method, Greek manuscripts became more important witnesses than the lists of canonical writings, quotes from biblical literature, and debates about the authenticity of certain writings, translations, and so on." (p. 37) By doing this, Trobisch is able to draw some interesting conclusions: (1) that the editors of the New Testament took great care in naming the different sections of the Bible, and in doing so validated, rather than minimized, the place of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible, (2) that the sequence of the four Gospels as we have it today is a tradition of long-standing, and one that makes good sense even though it means separating Luke from Acts (his explanation of the role of John 21 in this regard is truly fascinating, p. 96ff), (3) that the "first edition" of the New Testament would have positioned the General Letters after Acts and before the Letters of Paul (the logic being, in part, that the first half of Acts introduces the reader to Peter, John and James, and it is only in the second part that Acts starts to focus on the missionary efforts of Paul), (4) that the editors used an elegant system of internal cross referencing to validate both the authority of the leaders in Jerusalem and of Paul (this seeming harmony serving as a unified barrier against Marcionite error), and (5)that the editors managed to straddle the potentially devisive issue of the date upon which Easter should be celebrated by including both the Synoptic and Johannine traditions. Just to name a few! And don't skip the fascinating discussion of the codex ("bound book") v. the scroll in the establishment of the Canonical Edition of the Bible (p. 69-77).
I must admit the flow of Trobisch's argument was so engrossing that I never really examined the endnotes. But they're there and they're detailed. The bibliography is substantial, too (but be warned, it includes a high percentage of German works).
This book is truly worth the investment (both in money and in the time you'll spend digging into it). Treat yourself!

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Using Picture Books to Teach Language Arts Standards in Grades 3-5 Review

Using Picture Books to Teach Language Arts Standards in Grades 3-5
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Having taught grades 1-5, I expected to find familiar books to use when teaching and reviewing literary devices with my fifth graders. I was unfamiliar with most of the books listed, so I haven't found this resource as useful as I expected.

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Transforming Problems into Happiness Review

Transforming Problems into Happiness
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This is a book on how to destroy mental and physical suffering. Lama Zopa Rinpoche discusses Mahayana Thought Transformations. These are statements or views that we can use in our everyday life to massively destroy suffering and create happiness. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is believed that all our suffering is caused by selfishness or what Lama Zopa Rinpoche calls, "self-cherishing." We all have comitted selfish acts in the past. We must experience the results in the future. But we can experience all these problems in such a way as to put a stop on all suffering sometime in the future. Simply because the impetus of suffering has lost it's ability to cause a chain reaction. Lama Rinpoche gives plenty of thought transformations. And a comprehensive list is given in the back. Some of these ideas may strike the reader as a bit strange. Using suffering to destroy suffering. As Harry Truman said, "The buck stops here!" In this book, "The suffering stops here. I blame all this suffering on selfish actions and thoughts which I have performed in the past. I will not blame anybody. And I am suffering for all beings." Having done so, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how this stops suffering. Usually, when we experience a problem, we blame other people, places, or things. This blaming increases our self-cherishing stance. "If only my tire didn't go flat..." and so forth. We can learn to like suffering so that we can put a stop at it's nucleus. Which is that suffering leads to more selfish actions. Lama Zopa Rinpoche even goes as far as stating that we can enjoy suffering like eating ice cream or listening to classical music! You can actually experience problems, which are the result of selfish actions, and state, "Well! I got rid of that selfish action. My tire went flat!" This may sound strange. The author is not asking you to stick your hand into a fire. He is just asking you to give Mahayana Thought Transformations a try. Or as Jesus said, "Ye Reap What Ye Sow." The object of this book is to sow no more. You have been in pain long enough. So buy this book and give it a good test run. I think that you will be happy with the results.

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"Happiness and suffering are dependent upon your mind, upon your interpretation. They do not come from outside, from others. All of your happiness and all of your suffering are created by you, by your own mind," says Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Commenting on a 13th-century Tibetan text of instructions and practical advice for everyday spiritual living, Lama Zopa Rinpoche literally teaches us how to be happy when we are not, by bringing about the changes in attitude that permit us to live a happy and relaxed life in which external circumstances no longer rule us. In Transforming Problems Into Happiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche brings his own special flavor or contemporary relevance to a timeless teaching on Buddhist psychology. This volume will be valuable to everyone, whatever their religious or spiritual background.

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Jesus the Misunderstood Jew: What the New Testament Really Says about the Man from Nazareth Review

Jesus the Misunderstood Jew: What the New Testament Really Says about the Man from Nazareth
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Raised as a Christian who recently became a Jew by Choice and is teaching a Religious Belief and Disbelief course,I couldn't put this book down. The book happens to support a view I find personally intriguing. But I never realized that the New Testament did too.
The power of Kupor's approach is in using the most official Christian sources to make his Jewish case--Jesus exhorting Jews to become more spiritual and devout as Jews, following their Jewish precepts. At most the discrepancy ebtween de facto Jewish practice and his teachings created a new Jewish sect, similar to the Essenes but also less rigidly orthodox. Christianity, by contrast with either sects, was more likely started by Paul (Saul of Tarsus)who never met Jesus and radically altered Jesus's teachings.
Christians arguing against Kupor's case--say fundamentalists relying on a literal biblical interpretation--would have no leg but his to stand on. But unlike them, he uses the literal meaning of the Bible when it was written, not reinterpreted later. This is as literal as one can get. Those arguing from Church doctrine against a Jewish Jesus would also be recruiting Kupor's own position. He squares his New Testament reading with the Church's. And those relying on faith, aided by these two sources, would find themselves as faithfully Jewish as Kupor shows Yeshua to be. There is hardly a more powerful way to convince critics than to argue to them on their own grounds.
What Kupor challenges is the proprietary right Christians feel over Jesus, defining him based simply on the idea that they like him so much and claim him as their own. It's as if saying his name (in the wrong language) and repeating his citations from the Torah is enough to make them Yeshuans. It's unclear they are even Christian since `they say yes to God, but do not do his will.' Only the evangelicals, as far as I can see, spend a significant part of each year in full-time service to the poor. And `by their deeds will you know them.'
According to Kupor's Jewish Jesus,we must love God with our whole heart our whole soul and our whole strength and love our neighbor as ourself. These are the two greatest commandments. But who actually lives by these precepts among either the Christians (bad Jews) and the Jews (also bad Jews). Not only does Kupor offer a new account of Jesus--the Christian account of Jesus as a Jew, but an account of Christians' would-be Judaism.


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"We must understand that some of the early Christians [in the decades after Jesus' death] saw the message of Jesus largely within the context of Judaism. Indeed, Christianity might have remained as a sect within Judaism ... In this initial stage there was little or no thought of any dividing line between Christianity and Judaism."—The Catholic Study Bible (written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, ruling body of the American Roman Catholic Church)
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When the world's largest Christian denomination acknowledges that early "Christianity" was merely a sect of the Jewish religion—both during Jesus' life and for years thereafter—isn't it time to reexamine what the New Testament really says about the Man from Nazareth?

The Roman Catholic Church monopolized the New Testament for over fourteen hundred years, forbidding laypeople from reading or interpreting it. Although this monopoly was shattered by the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, knowledge about Jesus' first-century world was too sparse for anyone to understand the New Testament in its proper context. Today, we know more about Jesus' times than ever before. Yet Christian religious leaders have been reluctant to disseminate these new insights—largely because they reveal that Jesus was a Jewish prophet who insisted on adherence to traditional Judaism. In Jesus the Misunderstood Jew: What the New Testament Really Says About the Man from Nazareth, Dr. Robert Kupor illuminates the New Testament in a way that allows both Christians and Jews to understand this seminal document in a startling new light. Jesus the Misunderstood Jew will surprise and enlighten you.


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Dart and the Squirrels Review

Dart and the Squirrels
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Nicole has written another charming book Dart and the Squirrels. Everyone will enjoy this book, but as a dog owner/lover myself, the book was especially enjoyable. Nicole has captured the frenetic, joyful nature of a dogs brain. It romps and plays throughout. Well done!
Dart and the Squirrels

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Name's Dart-short for d'Artagnan. You may not think much of a grizzled old German Shepherd with a torn ear and a nasty bite, but, trust me, when you've spent your whole life dogging it out in the pound, you learn appearances can be deceiving. I mean, just look at that squirrel. Nutty, crazy, you name it. If that sly squirrel isn't chewing up Banshee's homework and blaming me, she's stealing my food, following me around the house, stealing my food, biting my tail, and, did I mention the worst part, stealing my food! This is outrageous! A proud purebred-okay, semi-purebred-German Shepherd such as myself can't stand for this! I'll sit. Hey, since you're here, why don't you listen up to my complaints? All my doggy pals like them-and their reviews are a little 'ruff."

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