This ethnographic study focuses on the religious imagery and practices of a sample of Buddhist temples and Muslim mosques in the greater Los Angeles area. As a way of expanding interfaith dialogue, it is framed as a conversation between the largely Christian researchers and the seventy-five respondents, who were asked about the images, space, and practices of their religious experience. From the respondents in their various religious settings, it seeks to distill the specific religious imaginations and aesthetic profiles that might be said to characterize their experience--to discover what might be considered the living images of these faiths. Set in the context of contemporary discussions of the nature of religion and visual culture, this richly textured study of visual and sensory practices in religion raises fundamental questions about the place of belief and ritual practice and the role these play in our increasingly pluralistic religious culture.

Usually when we pray we try to shut out the outside world and focus on the interior, the spiritual, in order to be able to be with God. Instead, this book invites us to be with God through the very tangible, specific objects of our everyday life. We're invited to take another look--as well as another listen, taste, touch, and smell--at what is right before us and see God there. A rock, a shoe, a pen--all offer an opportunity for entering into prayer and experiencing God's presence.

The widening of political, racial, generational, and religious differences leads too often to an "us vs. them" mentality. The Sacred Overlap communicates a refreshing vision that embraces tension and shows us how to live in radical love and faithfulness between the extremes that isolate and divide people. The gospels display how Jesus was committed to crossing the either/or waters of the cultural and societal wars of his day. His miracles and parables often broke or ignored religious and political lines that seemed all important. He comforted the disturbed and disturbed the comfortable. Using Jesus' example, J. R. Briggs offers a fresh and relevant understanding of evangelism and discipleship in our present time of extreme polarization. Without sacrificing biblical integrity, The Sacred Overlap is a joyful exploration of the complexity of life in the peace of Christ. With careful discernment, Briggs: Shares creative ways to engage with God's mission of ministering to those who are intrigued by Jesus but turned off by church. Explores what it means to be joyful in the midst of heart-wrenching pain and earthly suffering. Models what it means to maintain a posture of convicted civility which emphasizes both grace and truth. The Sacred Overlap helps readers see how Christians are called to live with their feet firmly planted in two different worlds—in both heaven and earth—living naturally with both the sacred and the ordinary. Only then can a Christian be a faithful witness and disciple of Jesus.

Is God speaking to me? Most Christians know God speaks through His Word, but when He speaks through the spiritual senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, it can leave a person feeling crazy! In You Can Hear the Voice of God Through All Your Spiritual Senses, the author shares how she came to her senses in Christ in more ways than one! Have you ever dared to ask or believe that there might be more-now-on this side of Heaven? More that we don't have to wait to access? More of something on which you just can't quite put your finger? That's how Sallie Dawkins felt. She was no longer satisfied with living a complacent or powerless life as a Christian. She had a holy hunger for more. And the Lord answered that desire. A heart encounter with God in 2015 challenged Sallie's entire belief system. It was the beginning of the end of two-and-a-half decades of wavering faith and started her on a supernatural journey of discovery that rapidly transformed her life. Now a Christian Healing Evangelist, Sallie Dawkins is an expert at coaching born-again Christians in spiritual growth. When she realized others were asking the same questions she once asked, she was inspired to write The Awakening Christian Series. This series is for Christians seeking a closer relationship with God. In book one, You Can Hear the Voice of God Through All Your Spiritual Senses, the author shares with heartwarming honesty the lessons she's learned in her pursuit of growing in spiritual maturity. This book will help you to: - Discover your true identity as a child of God - Grow in awareness of God's presence as you navigate the supernatural awakening of your spiritual senses-and it doesn't mean you're crazy - Recognize the voice of God over the other voices vying for your attention - Grow in confident faith even after years of doubt and unbelief - Restore peace, clarity, and freedom in your life as you learn to harness negative thought patterns Teaching through testimony, the author uses Bible verses to illustrate her points and answers FAQs regarding the supernatural. The lessons Sallie shares about her journey of spiritual growth can benefit every born-again Christian. You'll find valuable resources and application questions at the end of each chapter to help you achieve victory in your spiritual walk. Sallie will show you how God brought healing to her own life, and how He can do it for you, too! You'll find this book inspiring, empowering, and encouraging as you build upon basic spiritual concepts for overcoming challenges and creating the supernatural life you desire. Applying the foundational truths presented in this book will help you experience God in fresh ways and gain confident faith. This book is a must-read for born-again Christians who desire to grow in spiritual maturity and the gifts of the Spirit to live a happy, purposeful life in Christ. Why not use Amazon's "Look Inside" feature for a preview before you buy?

The Bible. You've heard of it, yes? Maybe something about David and Goliath or Noah’s ark, or a baby in a manger? What if I told you there was tons of stuff in the Bible that you’ve never heard about? Things like talking donkeys, self-conscious magicians, and kings who think they’re cows. The Bible is a curious book full of deeply flawed people and a God who refuses to give up on them. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself. In these 60 devotions, we examine these unique stories, the circumstances and biblical truth around them, and what they reveal about the heart of God.

Sacred Pathways reveals nine distinct spiritual temperaments--and their strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies--to help you improve your spiritual life and deepen your personal walk with God. It's time to strip away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and discover a path of worship that frees you to be you. Experienced spiritual directors, pastors, and church leaders recognize that all of us engage with God differently, and it's about time we do too. In this updated and expanded edition of Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and--like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality--encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise. Plus, as you begin to identify and understand your own temperament, you'll soon learn about the temperaments that aren't necessarily "you" but that may help you understand the spiritual tendencies of friends, family, and others around you. Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here. Sacred Pathways will show you the route you were made to travel, marked by growth and filled with the riches of a close walk with God. A Sacred Pathways video Bible study is also available for group or individual use, sold separately.

The book investigates the aesthetic theology embedded in the Franciscan artistic tradition. The novelty of the approach is in applying concepts gleaned from Franciscan textual sources to create a deeper understanding of how art in all its sensual forms was foundational to the Franciscan milieu. Chapters range from studies of statements about aesthetics and the arts in theological textual sources to examples of visual, auditory, and tactile arts communicating theological ideas found in texts. The essays cover not only European art and textual sources, but also Franciscan influences in the Americas found in both texts and artifacts.

This fascinating volume offers a transdisciplinary and transcultural approach to understanding the senses by exploring themes in anthropologies of sound, sight, smell, taste, touch, and movement as expressed through aesthetic, perceptual, religious, and spiritual experiences. In drawing upon comparative perspectives from Indian and Western theories, the essays demonstrate the integral relation of senses with each other as well as with allied notions of the body, emotion and cultural memory. Stressing the continued relevance of senses as they manifest in a globalized world under the influence of new media, this work will interest scholars of anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, ritual studies, psychology, religion, philosophy, and history.

This interdisciplinary volume examines the role of sensation in the religious transformations of early modern Europe. Sensation was both central to the doctrinal disputes of the Reformation and critical in shaping new or reformed devotional practices.