“A lively memoir mixed with short biographies of appealing religious outcasts.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY With untested ideals and a thirst for adventure, Christiana Peterson and her family moved to an intentional Christian farming community in the rural Midwest. It sounded like a simple and faithful way to follow Jesus, not to mention a great place to raise kids. In Mystics and Misfits, Peterson discovers that community life is never really simple and that she needs resources beyond her own to weather the anxiety and exhaustion of trying to save a dying farm and a floundering congregation. She turns to Christian mystics like Francis of Assisi, Simone Weil, and Dorothy Day to find sustenance for the everyday struggles and unique hardships of community life. With a contemplative’s spirit and poet’s eye, Peterson leads readers into an encounter with the God of the wild mystics and the weird misfits.

The history of Christianity if filled with misfits. This collection of sermons intruces us to heretics and mystics from the very earliest church to the present day, including the Gnostics, Origen, Julian of Norwich, Michael Servitus, Emanuel Swedenborg, Soren Kierkegaard, Madame Blavatsky, Teilhard de Chardin and many, many more. With humor and compassion for these misunderstood characters, John Mabry explores their teachings and how they can speak to us today, helping us be better people of faith, regardless of one's denomination or even religion. Mabry holds a PhD in World Religions and serves as co-pastor of Grace North Church in Berkeley, CA.

Mavericks, Mystics, and Misfits: Americans Against the Grain takes the reader on a journey across American history through the lives of exemplary men and women whose stories capture the spirit of their time and place and reveal the American character.

If you've ever felt like you don't fit into American church culture... Brant Hansen has been there, too. Join Hansen as he explores modern Christianity, the beauty of being different, and the astonishing goodness of God. American church culture can feel designed for extroverted, emotional people -- so what does that mean for the rest of us? Brant Hansen gets it. Introverted, a natural skeptic, and an "Aspie," he often wondered how, even if, he fit into the Kingdom of God. But the good news is that the Good News is for all. Maybe "spiritual" doesn't always look like we expect. And maybe those of us whose lives aren't full of amazing or emotional spiritual stories, or those of us who struggle to be social, confident, or happy -- "misfits," really -- have a beautiful place in God's kingdom too. In his trademark dry, self-effacing humor, Brant addresses questions like: If I don't relate to God as emotionally or feel His presence as intensely, is there something wrong with me? What if I'm not good at talking to people about my faith -- or not good at talking to people at all? What if I'm terrible at praying and even struggle to want to pray? If I struggle with depression, does that mean I've failed spiritually? For anyone who has felt left out, anyone who has gone through the motions, or anyone who feels like they have more questions than answers, Blessed Are the Misfits is a breath of fresh air. Praise for Blessed are the Misfits: "This book is for those who feel disconnected, lonely, or spiritually dry. Brant's writing is honest, quirky, funny, and downright therapeutic. I can think of no one I'd rather have sit down with me and say, "You know what? It's okay to be you.'" --Benjamin C. Warf, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School

Fear of death is nearly as inevitable as death itself, so we have used modern medicine and the funeral industry to create an ever-increasing distance between us and our mortality. But these interventions have stripped death of its mystery and mysticism. Taking readers on a journey through history, guided by the mystics, Awakened by Death shows us how our psychological and spiritual relationship to death has changed over time, and helps us to reclaim a healthy engagement with our own mortality. Ultimately, readers will gain a deeper understanding of how facing the fear of death, and embracing rather than eschewing its mysteries, can help us live richer, fuller lives.

Just before the turn of the century, a renegade Russian aristocrat named Madame Blavatsky came to America claiming that man was descended not from the ape but from spiritual beings. Thus began Theosophy, the very first "new age" religion. This thought-provoking and often hilarious study delineates the course of Theosophy and other sects which have come down through the years. Photos.

Hell Hath No Fury… It all started the day the cyclone touched down in Hawk’s Hollow, just a few days before the annual rodeo and cross-country race. Unbeknownst to the four women caught in the twister, a dark destiny had befallen them. Willow gains the ability to create chaos, Penelope causes illness if she loses her temper, Felicity can drain a person to within an inch of their life, and Dynah can summon the dead. It’s hard enough for a woman to navigate society in the 1800s, let alone in a land of outlaws and cutthroats. Add in angels, demons, and enough raw magic to blow Colorado off the map, and you’ve got a recipe for the end of the world. Because a woman’s rage is just a fuse waiting to be lit, and once that day comes, the Apocalypse is nigh. *** Good Omens meets Westworld with a feminist twist. This fantasy Western by bestselling author A.A. Chamberlynn will also appeal to fans of Wynonna Earp. Chock-full of kickass women, cowboys, angels, and demons, this supernatural thriller and historical fantasy will take you on a wild ride. Saddle up! WANT MORE FOUR HORSEWOMEN? A War of Daisies (Book 1) A Death of Music (Book 2) A Famine of Crows (Book 3) A Pestilence of Pride (Book 4) (pre-order) A Bargain with Angels (Book 5) (forthcoming) A Dance with Demons (Book 6) (forthcoming) A Song for the Devil (Book 7) (forthcoming) Reviews “Are you ready for a series about magic, the west, steampunk, and amazing leading ladies? Great, this is your series then. If you don't enjoy complex stories of women in patriarchal societies navigating different cross sections of identity, sex, and race...well, I'm afraid I can't help you there, and neither can Chamberlynn.” Dark and Silly Book Reviews “I loved this book! 5 full and shiny stars.” Archaeolibrarian “If you like: - atmospheric wild west settings - strong, complicated women as main characters - extremely cool plots Then you should read this book right away.” Amazon Reviewer “This is a fast paced, well written, page turning thrill ride with twists/turns that keeps you glued to the pages until the end. Looking forward to the next book to see what the author has in store for these characters. SO SO GOOD!!” Goodreads Reviewer “A.A. Chamberlynn’s narrative skills are awesome, the plot flows through the pages taking the reader into a wild ride that blends action, character description, mythology and social critique into a very interesting, extremely entertaining story.” Goodreads Reviewer “Wow! This was amazing.” Goodreads Reviewer “This is a fantastic beginning to this fantasy western series. I've always loved weird westerns, and this one is a great twist on traditional retellings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse stories.” Goodreads Reviewer “So many books nowadays seem to have the same elements when creating an apocalyptic world. A.A. Chamberlynn has created something new, something interesting. She always writes strong female characters, but these ladies, well, I love the character development.” Amazon Reviewer Keywords: Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse, feminist retellings, fantasy western, historical fantasy, horses, cowboys, angels and demons, western, romantic elements, strong heroine, paranormal ebook, contemporary fantasy ebook, top fantasy reads, top mythology reads, top ebooks in fantasy, top ebooks in mythology, contemporary fantasy, fantasy books

This is a book for everyone who wants to lead a deep, true, and passionate life and leave the world better for having passed this way.

RUNNING FROM RELIGION is the story of a journalist's search into the lives and the lies of his forefathers. Don Lattin traces the two sides of his immigrant family back to the sixteenth century European wars of religion and the nineteenth century diaspora of Russian Jews.His paternal ancestor, Richard Lettin, arrived in New England just eighteen years after the Mayflower. Don's maternal clan, the Kubeys, descended from a family that included the notorious "Gangster Joe" Kubey. Their stories go beyond the comforting myths of the ancestral search to reveal what the actual lives of our ancestors tell us about faith and family in America. This is not just the Lattin/Kubey story. It's an American story.To deepen the historical context of his family's saga, Lattin pens profiles of Julian of Norwich, the first woman author of a surviving book written in English; Erasmus of Rotterdam, the great Christian humanist; Hendrik Niclaes, whose Family of Love was one of the most despised sects of the Protestant Reformation; Giordano Bruno, the Dominican mystic burned at the stake; Anne Hutchinson, the Puritan prophetess and convicted heretic; Baruch Spinoza, the Dutch philosopher and renegade Jew; and John Humphrey Noyes, an exiled prophet of free love. Lattin places these mystics and misfits within his newly imagined Sangha of Skeptical Universalists - a kind of "tradition of no tradition."This edition is Illustrated with fifteen black and white photographs inside and a full-color colonial New England map on the back cover.It's available exclusively through the author at [email protected]. Read the first six chapters online at lattinancestors.com .

In this compelling book, G. Lee Ramsey Jr.mines the riches of southern fiction and discovers a colorful assortment of ministers who arise out of the religious South. At once mystical and mischievous, these ministers haunt the margins of southern life while preaching a gospel that startles and compels. But their oddness is also their appeal--and part of their gift. For through these colorful portraits of Christian ministry, today's readers are challenged to think about what matters in ministry and to re-imagine ministry in ways that bring new life to the church and community. Throughout, Ramsey shows how ministers such as Roger Hagan in Will Campbell's The Conventionand Hazel Motes in Flannery O'Connor's Wise Bloodcan help show us the stumbling blocks to faithful ministry and steer clergy and congregations forward in today's world.