Avalanche a white, seventy-four pound Labrador retriever developed a special bond with Susan's husband, Joe. When Joe died suddenly on a family vacation, both Avalanche and Susan mourned his loss. But the relationship between dog and owner thrived when they became volunteers at a local hospital and enriched the lives of patients in their small hometown. Molly an orange-red Newfoundland mix was rescued by Emily. Naturally friendly, Molly was an excellent candidate to be a therapy dog. Molly and Emily visited hospitals and hospices and also listened to children read at an elementary school. Through it all, Molly was patiently teaching Emily an important life lesson. Stories about dogs like Avalanche and Molly form the basis of Transformation of the Heart a collection of engaging tales about eighteen therapy dogs and how they help each person they visit. But equally important, the stories show the power of partnering with a loving canine. It provides a unique insight on how the therapy dogs also heal the souls of their handlers. Heartwarming and inspiring, Transformation of the Heart demonstrates animals' unconditional love and their capacity for understanding situations that humans cannot. It reveals how dogs have the power to transform our hearts.

This wonderful book is a collection of stories by people whose lives have been transformed by Sathya Sai Baba. Written with warmth and compassion, these stories provide a unique and personal glimpse of Sai Baba, one of the most impressive men of miracles to appear for centuries. These personal narratives, written by people who share our normal, everyday lives, show how true spiritual awakening occurred for each of them. A musthave introduction to the basic teaching of Sathya Sai Baba.

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today’' context. To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context. Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible. Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved. This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

This is a thoughtful essay, well research and written with special edits by Reverend Sifu Sylvain Chamberlain on the core of all Buddha's teachings on the process of all phenomena and noumena. The concept of Dependent Origination also known by other transliterations as Conditioned Genesis, end several others, are repeated discussions in various sutra throughout the Buddha's 58 years of teaching. It is the fundamental concept in Tien-Tai's 3000 realms in a single thought moment, Nichiren's Ichinen Sanzen, the Satipatthana's formation of bodies, and countless discourses. Well explained with many source references, this essay will contribute a greater understanding in yet another voice, for those seeking a well reasoned argument for the practice and insight into liberation from the sufferings of samsara.

In this book R. Scott Rodin offers a unique and profoundly theologically informed model of leadership forged out of his extensive experience and theological studies. This model is personal, dynamic and transformative for the leaders themselves, for the people they work with and for the institution or organizations in which they serve.

Liu Zhi (c1662-c1730), a well-known Muslim scholar writing in Chinese, published outstanding theological works, short treatises, and short poems on Islam. While traditional Arabic and Persian Islamic texts used unfamiliar concepts to explain Islam, Liu Zhi translated both text and concepts into Chinese culture. In this erudite volume, David Lee examines how Liu Zhi integrated the basic religious living of the monotheistic Hui Muslims into their pluralistic Chinese culture. Liu Zhi discussed the Prophet Muhammad in Confucian terms, and his work served as a bridge between peoples. This book is an in-depth study of Liu Zhi's contextualization of Islam within Chinese scholarship that argues his merging of the two never deviated from the basic principles of Islamic belief.

Normal cardiovascular function requires the concerted action of many cell types, each capable of adaptive gene expression in response to developmental, physiological, and pathological cues. The genetic basis of cardiovascular function, development, and disease is an area of intense investigation, in the hope of significant insights into the heart and vessels? basic workings and improvements in diagnosis and therapy. This latest volume in a prestigious book series presents a remarkable survey of current progress in these efforts, through the contributions of over fifty of the world's leading investigators. Sections are devoted to angiogenesis, cardiogenesis, homeostasis, development, vascular biology, and cardiovascular repair and therapy. The book is an essential source of ideas, discoveries, and references for clinical scientists and physicians interested in basic cardiac biology, hypertension, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and heart failure.