More than sixty-five years after the end of the American Civil War, African-Americans still dealt with the debilitating poverty of sharecropping and the Depression, and the violence of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1930s. Two African-American brothers, James and Robert Paschal, persevered despite these limitations and realized their dreams through years of hard work and determination. Serving Up Hope and Freedom is the moving true story of the Paschal brothers from Georgia. Fighting against the odds of a sharecropping life, James and Robert went on to become millionaires, philanthropists, world-renowned restaurant/hotel owners, and leaders in the struggle for civil rights. As told by James Paschal, this memoir showcases the brothers' extraordinary devotion to making a difference in the world, inspiring others to tap into the unlimited power of their dreams. Their legacy will continue to provide hope, inspiration, and encouragement for future generations.

Jake Wilson once sought to replace the loss of his father with many vices including alcohol, drugs, and women. But Jake eventually turns his life around and becomes the man God always wanted him to be. Now, he and his wife, Terry, have formed a family centered on faith, love, and, most importantly, hope. As he opens his heart and home to his two daughters through a custody agreement, Jake has no idea that he is about to discover the answers to the challenges that still plague him from his past. As Jakes daughters slowly acclimate to living with a new family, Jake finds solace in his Bible study group. With his family of six packed in a three-bedroom apartment, Jake has no choice but to push his financial misgivings aside and begin searching for a larger home. Soon after he places his trust in the Lord through prayer, Jake stumbles onto an old farmhouse in desperate need of renovation and secretly wonders if the ramshackle dwelling is the answer to his prayers. In this inspirational tale, a man embarks on an emotional journey through his past, present, and futureand soon discovers that God always has a plan.

You’ve prayed for deliverance—you’ve forgiven those who have hurt or abused you—and yet you’re still nursing the painful wounds of your past. Does this describe your experience? Many Christians have suffered unspeakable trauma and wonder why they aren’t experiencing the freedom God has promised. The reason is that trauma goes deeper than the mind. It infiltrates the body at the cellular level, and only a deliverance that deals with the whole man—soul, spirit, and body—will treat the trauma and set you free—completely free. Speaking as one who has received miraculous healing herself and also ministered it to others, Christian author and healing expert Joan Hunter demonstrates how to find true freedom through such methods as… Cursing cellular memory of rape and other forms of sexual abuse Escaping the stress that wears you down Renewing your mind with the mind of Christ Forgiving those who have harmed you Learning to love yourself Accepting the unconditional love of your heavenly Father As you break free from the bondage of trauma and pain, you will walk in deliverance and discover your true identity as a beloved child of God. You can be healed and whole! Start the recovery process today.

Publisher Marketing: "From Dancing with the Devil to Living for the Lord, He served in the America [sic] Armed Forces. Now a soldier of the cross and fights still, to turn America back to God. In God, Country, and Tattoos: A Cry for Freedom, Dennis Dwyer (biker, award-winning tattoo artist and seminarian), recounts the history of the tattoo arts and expounds on America's Bible-based origins. America has changed over the last four decades, and not for the good. From the unique vantage point of his tattoo parlor, and by exchanging personal journeys and stories with thousands of people from across America and the world, Dwyer takes a loving look back at America's history, while viewing the future with a tear in his eye. Still, Dwyer sees hope for America. America has hope, if we act now, sharing America's incredible history and rich spiritual foundation with younger generations. "God, country, and tattoos: each of these three, through the tension each creates in the others, has shaped my life, forming the foundation upon which I stand," the author writes. You will be inspired and moved as you read of Dwyer's broken past, new birth in Christ, and his plea to America to return to God in, God, Country, and Tattoos: A Cry for Freedom. Dennis Dwyer is an Eagle Scout, Navy veteran, avid student of American history, and a patriot who loves America and the biblical principles upon which she was founded. In his over 40 years as a world-traveling professional tattooist, he has made over 40,000 "marks." He has served as Executive Director of APT (Alliance of Professional Tattooists), co-directed the Tattoo Tour for 10 years, and owned and operated Ancient Art Tattoo of Tucson for 25 years. He has performed associate pastoral work in his church for ten years and now studies at Phoenix Seminary."

In a society where we are taught to be self-sufficient, the notion of Jesus doing for us is hard to understand in mind and spirit. We do a lot of striving to make our life good and secure and happy. Has it worked? Or, do we find ourselves to be busy and bored, our lives filled with much activity but not much meaning, direction, and purpose? When Jesus turned the water into wine, He restored the goodness of life. Jesus gives us a relationship that is at the heart of what the good life is really all about, gives us a relationship that is a constant source of celebration and joy, and which will never run dry. These devotional readings will take you from Ash Wednesday through the joys and pain of Holy Week and to the celebration of the Resurrection, during which you no doubt will find freedom, peace, and life in Christ Jesus. Come and see.

Freedom All The Way Up proposes four intertwined elements that make up the meaning of life—self-worth, purpose, identity, and hope. Materialism (atheism) claim the universe has no meaning, so there is no larger purposeful story into which we can place ourselves—we are left on our own to construct meaning for our lives. Barrigar argues, though, that the universe possess God’s meaning and purpose—to provide the space and conditions by which to bring about the existence of agape-capable beings in agape-loving relationships with God and with others. In effect, the universe is a great ‘freedom system’ designed by God with freedom built in ‘all the way up’, from the Big Bang to the emergence of big brains and free will. Barrigar describes the emergence of this system through his novel agape/probability account of God’s design for the universe, which integrates such disciplines as quantum physics, statistical mechanics, probability theory, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and game theory. This system sets up the conditions for a fundamental choice between autonomous freedom, which focuses principally on self, and agapic freedom, which focuses principally on God and on others. Materialism chooses autonomous freedom, but thereby introduces nihilism into each of the elements of meaning. In turns out that nihilism is a much greater problem for Materialism than suffering is for Theism. In contrast, agapic freedom infuses self-worth, purpose, identity, and hope with God’s agape-love, dispelling Materialism’s inherent nihilism. Freedom All The Way Up provides a dramatic new proposal for God and the meaning of life in our scientific and humanist age.

Dieses Buch ist das Ergebnis einer intensiven mehrjährigen internationalen und interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit. Das Buch erschließt vielperspektivisch die Themen: Freiheit und Sklaverei (Ron Soodalter, Manfred Oeming, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Katharina von Kellenbach); Selbstbestimmung und Begriffe von Freiheit (Rüdiger Bittner, Peter Lampe, Cyril Hovorun, Risto Saarinen, Friederike Nüssel); Von Gott gegebene und geprägte Freiheit (Patrick Miller, Beverly Gaventa, Larry Hurtado, Hans-Joachim Eckstein); Freiheit als Ethos der Zugehörigkeit und Solidarität (Jan Gertz, Jürgen van Oorschot, Dirk Smit, Jindrich Halama); Freiheit, Menschenrechte und theologische Orientierungm (Carver Yu, Susan Abraham, Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Michael Welker).

We speak of being 'free' to speak our minds, free to go to college, free to move about; we can be cancer-free, debt-free, worry-free, or free from doubt. The concept of freedom (and relatedly the notion of liberty) is ubiquitous but not everyone agrees what the term means, and the philosophical analysis of freedom that has grown over the last two decades has revealed it to be a complex notion whose meaning is dependent on the context. The Oxford Handbook of Freedom will crystallize this work and craft the first wide-ranging analysis of freedom in all its dimensions: legal, cultural, religious, economic, political, and psychological. This volume includes 28 new essays by well regarded philosophers, as well some historians and political theorists, in order to reflect the breadth of the topic. This handbook covers both current scholarship as well as historical trends, with an overall eye to how current ideas on freedom developed. The volume is divided into six sections: conceptual frames (framing the overall debates about freedom), historical frames (freedom in key historical periods, from the ancients onward), institutional frames (freedom and the law), cultural frames (mutual expectations on our 'right' to be free), economic frames (freedom and the market), and lastly psychological frames (free will in philosophy and psychology).

This book presents one of the first accounts of Christianity in colonial India by a nun. Set in Goa in the early eighteenth century, this translation of Soror Magdalena’s account from Portuguese brings to life a watershed moment in the politics of Christian faith in early colonial India. The volume recounts the nuns’ rebellion against the then Archbishop of Goa, Dom Frei Ignaçio de Santa Teresa. In their account they accused him of mistreating the nuns and implored the Superior General and the King of Portugal to replace him. It sketches the intricate relationships between the nuns themselves, the clerical and secular authorities, the fidalgos and the lower classes, Hindus and Catholics, and nuns and priests. It goes on to discuss the convent’s finances and the controversies surrounding them, the politics of the Church, as well as contemporary preoccupations with miracles and demons. Expertly annotated and introduced by Daniel Michon and David Addison Smith, this book is key to understanding Portuguese colonial rule in India. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of South Asian studies, Portuguese studies, religion, especially Christianity, and colonialism.

Prisons, an integral part of society, generally are not familiar to most people. Length of sentence and treatment by others in the prisons vary widely. The immediate “Man-in-charge” of each prison unit is the warden, who has some flexibility within TDCJ guidelines. Warden Dr. Keith Price gained a reputation for turning around some chaotic prison units. He knows from experience that at best, prisons are very difficult places for people, whether they are behind the bars or in front of them. “People that wind up in prison, inmates, generally are society’s rejects,” Price said. “They’ve been unable to do the things other people do to make life a success, whether it’s because of an abusive parent, addiction to some substance, stupidity, being unable to read or write, they’ve been failures and have chosen alternate means, that is crime.” Price also knows officers have a challenging life, “The correctional officer, has to deal with people so maladjusted that society says they can’t live amongst them anymore. It’s conflict day after day, hour after hour and it really takes a toll, from broken marriages to financial problems to substance abuse. It’s continual.” The Texas Prison System was named “one of the best” in the country by a leading penology expert. However, shortly after that, a Federal Judge took control of the entire Texas Department of Corrections for “unconstitutional treatment” of inmates. TDC denied and resisted many of the reforms the judge ordered. The result was chaos. Too few guards, rampant gangs, gang wars and overcrowding were the norm for several years. The court kept control 20 years and finally the prison system adapted to the new (and constitutional) ways of operating. At the same time Texas prison population doubled, and more than doubled, again. During that time, 19-year-old Rickie Smith began a 10-year sentence in TDC on a drug charge. He joined the gang wars, in the Aryan Brotherhood and then made his own personal war with prison officers. He could have been released in a few short years, but, in 3 separate trials juries added 3 ninety-nine-year sentences for him to serve. Trial transcripts have many references in testimonies to how dangerous Rickie Smith is--even calling him “the most violent inmate” in TDC. REAL PRISON / REAL FREEDOM is a biography of Rickie Smith and how his life intersects with the woes of the prison system and with Warden Keith Price. Naturally, he wanted out, knowing that realistically it will never happen. Officials told him he’ll never get out. Then came the impossible that shocked everyone, especially Rickie.