In this fascinating work of historical fiction, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright captures all the gripping drama and black humor of Panama during the final, nerve-racking days of its legendary dictator, Manuel Antonio Noriega. It is Christmas 1989, and Tony Noriega's demons are finally beginning to catch up with him. A former friend of President Bush, Fidel Castro, and Oliver North, this universally reviled strongman is on the run from the U.S. Congress, the Justice Department, the Colombian mob, and a host of political rivals. In his desperation, he seeks salvation from any and all quarters -- God, Satan, a voodoo priest, even the spirits of his murdered enemies. But with a million-dollar price on his head and 20,000 American soldiers on his trail, Noriega is fast running out of options. Drawn from a historical record more dramatic than even the most artful spy novel, God's Favorite is a riveting and darkly comic fictional account of the events that occurred in Panama from 1985 to the dictator's capture in 1989. With an award-winning journalist's eye for detail, Lawrence Wright leads the reader toward a dramatic face-off in the Vatican embassy, where Noriega confronts his psychological match in the papal nuncio.

When He came to earth, Jesus Christ was rejected in every quarter in which He stepped. The Creator was rejected by His own creation. “He came to His own and His own received Him not,” said John. For this reason, Jesus Christ had “no where to lay His head.” There was one exception, however. A little village just outside of Jerusalem named Bethany. Bethany was the only place on earth where Jesus was completely received. God’s Favorite Place on Earth is a retelling of Jesus’ many visits to Bethany and a relaying of the message it holds for us today. Frank Viola presents a beautifully crafted narrative from the viewpoint of Lazarus, one of the people who lived in Bethany with his two sisters. This incomparable story not only brings the Gospel narratives to life, but it addresses the struggle against doubt, discouragement, fear, guilt, rejection, and spiritual apathy that challenges countless Christians today. In profoundly moving prose, God’s Favorite Place on Earth will captivate your heart with its beauty, charm, and depth. In this book you will discover how to live as a “Bethany” in our world today, being set free to love and follow Jesus like never before.

Cast size: medium.

A noted biblical scholar explores how the claim of divine choice has been used from ancient times to the present to justify territorial expansion and prejudice. The Bible describes many individuals and groups as specially chosen by God. But does God choose at all? Michael Coogan explains the temporally layered and allusive storytelling of biblical texts and describes the world of the ancient Near East from which it emerged, laying bare the power struggles, the acts of vengeance, and persecutions made sacred by claims of chosenness. Jumping forward to more modern contexts, Coogan reminds us how the self-designation of the Puritan colonizers of New England as God’s new Israel eventually morphed, in the United States, into the self-justifying doctrines of manifest destiny and American exceptionalism. In contemporary Israel, both fundamentalist Zionists and their evangelical American partners cite the Jews’ status as God’s chosen people as justification for taking land—for very different ends. Appropriated uncritically, the Bible has thus been used to reinforce exclusivity and superiority, with new myths based on old myths. Finally, in place of the pernicious idea of chosenness, Coogan suggests we might instead focus on another key biblical concept: taking care of the immigrant and the refugee, reminding the reader of the unusual focus on the vulnerable in both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

Divine health and prosperity are better than divine healing and provision. If you live in divine health and prosperity, you wont need a miracle to get healed or to pay your bills. If you cant see the difference between the two, that may be one reason you only visit Gods best instead of truly living in it. Most Christians live in a place where...

An inspirational look at how God works in the life of an ordinary woman who just wants to serve Him. Often funny or thought-provoking, this blog-to-page book is filled with stories that will make you look at God, and the world around you, in a different way.

She was destined to Die. He was born to Kill. Cassandra has known nothing but suffering and slavery for her whole life. Unjustly condemned to death, she was ready to leave this hell and expire her last breath in the arena.  But destiny had other plans for her, and instead of being killed, she was offered as a tribute to the merciless Kairen, one of the Dragon Princes, also known as the Empire's God of War. What will happen now that she is trapped in his den, at his mercy...?

This book invites the reader into the heart of Jewish spirituality, to learn about its idiom and imagery, its emotions and its great sweeping dramas. It invites the reader to meet six ideal personalities of Jewish prayer and to get to know some of God's favorite prayers. What others are saying about God's Favorite Prayers: "God's favorite prayers have all been right in plain sight for centuries, though never before experienced like this. With his characteristic blend of chutzpah and humor, Professor Rav Zahavy makes finding spiritual experiences into a real page turner! A fun, fascinating and totally refreshing way to finally learn how to pray." -Dr. Arlene Rossen Cardozo, author of Sequencing, Woman at Home and Jewish Family Celebrations "Tzvee Zahavy's artful melding of memoir, analysis, and typology enriches our understanding of liturgical experience and encourages us to emulate him by reflecting more thoughtfully on our own prayer lives." -Rabbi Eliezer Diamond Ph.D., Associate Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, Jewish Theological Seminary "... An engaging, humanly sensitive introduction to the types of religious personalities whose views are expressed in the diverse parts of the Siddur and, more generally, in components of Jewish liturgical practices... A fine text for helping students and interested lay people gain an understanding and appreciation of the spiritual viewpoints expressed in Jewish liturgical texts." -Joel Gereboff, Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University "It is not often that one has the opportunity to share the authentic personal experiences of a distinguished scholar in the field of liturgy, who is also an award-winning teacher. These two elements stand out in Tzvee Zahavy's God's Favorite Prayers. Zahavy takes us on an amazing journey into the world of Jewish Prayer and into the personalities that make up the 'quorum' in the synagogue. His observations and insights will inspire people of all faiths, who truly seek out a way to make prayer, both personal and communal, a meaningful part of their lives." -Rabbi Shimon Altshul, Director, the Ludwig and Erica Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies, Bar Ilan University Contents INVITATION BEGINNING THE PRAYER BOOK THE PERFORMER'S PRAYERS THE MYSTIC'S PRAYERS THE SCRIBE'S PRAYERS THE PRIEST'S PRAYERS THE MEDITATOR'S PRAYERS THE CELEBRITY'S PRAYERS THE KIDDUSH THE SHOFAR SOURCES ABOUT THE AUTHOR REVIEWS Publisher: Talmudic Books

A Favourite of the Gods is the story of two generations of a single family, united by a strong matrilineal bond but divided by the customs of their differing nationalities. Anna Howland, the matriarch and American heiress, born in the 1870s to a prominent, liberal New England family marries an Italian prince and makes her home in Rome; her daughter Constanza, the favorite of the title, inherits her mother’s beauty, intelligence, and wealth, along with her father’s Catholicism, which she soon rejects. When disaster strikes, Anna and the prince fall back on the standards of behavior of their disparate cultures; Constanza, with her European upbringing, is free to plot her own course, and she does so with daring, making an unconventional life for herself in England and on the continent during and after the First World War. Her own daughter Flavia is the heroine of A Compass Error, which begins where the first novel concludes. Flavia too is a brilliant young woman, though both more brash and more faltering than her mother, studying for her entrance exam to Oxford when she becomes involved with a mysterious woman whose arrival at a sensitive moment in Flavia’s adolescence will alter both her and her mother’s lives forever.

-If God visited your city in the flesh this Sunday, which church would He attend? -Does He prefer one music style over another? -Does He like the music loud or quiet? -Does He like the music to be about Him or to Him? -What was it about this church that He longs to see restored? -How is it that there are churches popping up all over the earth today that are incorporating in the forms that David introduced in his Tabernacle? Understanding this truth will help you move from religious legalism to freedom of relationship with God. Do you attend a Tabernacle of David or a Tabernacle of Moses?