Showing results by narrator "Al Kessel" in All Categories

Despite our good intentions, many of us experience a chronic imbalance between the desire to live our values and the distractions and never-ending to-do lists that can get in the way. In Your 168: Finding Purpose and Satisfaction in a Values-Based Life, listeners learn how to pursue a values-based life by identifying and committing to their values and priorities.

After the sudden death of their three-year-old son, Cameron Cole and his wife found themselves clinging to Christ through 12 key theological truths - truths that became their lifeline in the midst of unthinkable grief. Weaving together their own story of tragic loss and abiding faith, Cole explores these 12 life-giving truths to offer hope and comfort to those in the midst of tragedy.

In 1963 America's most famous atheist, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, won the landmark lawsuit filed on behalf of her son, William, that effectively banned prayer in public schools. Bill shares in vivid detail his upbringing - the raging battles, his activity in his mother's atheistic empire, his dependence on drugs, and his years as a fugitive. Nearly two decades after the court's decision, Bill came to the end of his personal strength. In desperation he called out to God, and God answered.

What does Plato have to do with the Christian faith? Quite a bit, it turns out. In ways that might surprise us, Christians throughout the history of the church and even today have inherited aspects of the ancient Greek philosophy of Plato, who was both Socrates's student and Aristotle's teacher. To help us understand the influence of Platonic thought on the Christian faith, Louis Markos offers careful readings of some of Plato's best-known texts and then traces the ways that his work shaped the faith of some of Christianity's most beloved theologians.

This biography of Chester Arthur is a fascinating look at a man who, thrust into the highest political office, exceeded expectations and left a lasting mark on history.

Logic is synonymous with reason, judgment, sense, wisdom, and sanity. Being logical is the ability to create concise and reasoned arguments - arguments that build from given premises, using evidence, to a genuine conclusion. But mastering logical thinking also requires studying and understanding illogical thinking, both to sharpen one's own skills and to protect against incoherent or deliberately misleading reasoning. Elegant, pithy, and precise, Being Logical breaks logic down to its essentials through clear analysis, accessible examples, and focused insights.

The doctrine of reprobation—that is, the eternal, unconditional decree of God for the non-elect—is frequently misconstrued in both pastoral and theological literature. In Reprobation and God's Sovereignty, Peter Sammons reintroduces this oft-misunderstood doctrine, revealing its relationship to divine sovereignty. With Romans 9 as a guiding text, Sammons presents a thoroughly researched defense of reprobation as an essential part in a Reformed theology that magnifies God and encourages believers to trust in him.

Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition—and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular—for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.

Former high school quarterback Leo Cecchino sacrificed his dreams for his family. Unfulfilled by the daily grind of their ailing farm, he can’t help but feel resentment. But, he’s soon redirecting his smoldering frustration into battle rage when his small town is invaded by bloodthirsty Russians armed with a zombie virus. Forced from his home to a secret hideaway, Leo tries desperately to spread the word and defend his country.

John Shelby Spong, best-selling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly, and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus' life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the "Beloved Disciple."

In the age of Big Data we often believe that our predictions about the future are better than ever before. But as risk expert Gerd Gigerenzer shows, the surprising truth is that in the real world, we often get better results by using simple rules and considering less information. In Risk Savvy, Gigerenzer reveals that most of us, including doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, and elected officials, misunderstand statistics much more often than we think, leaving us not only misinformed, but vulnerable to exploitation.

We're all searching for contentment. Whether it's in relationships, families, jobs, finances, or something else entirely, we all want to be happy and fulfilled. And yet, all too often we find ourselves disappointed with what God has given us. But the apostle Paul says that he learned the "secret" of being content in any and every situation. Is this level of contentment possible for believers today? In this immensely practical book, Erik Raymond teaches us what contentment is.

In The 7 Most Important Equations for Your Retirement, Moshe Milevsky argues that 21st-century retirement income planning is indeed a science and has its foundations in the work of great sages who made conceptual and controversial breakthroughs over the last eight centuries. In the book, Milevsky highlights the work of seven scholars - summarized by seven equations - who shaped all modern retirement calculations.

The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2), and these CO2 emissions are a major driver of climate change. Carbon capture offers a path to climate change mitigation that has received relatively little attention. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Howard Herzog offers a concise guide to carbon capture, covering basic information as well as the larger context of climate technology and policy.  

Paralleling the content and chapters of Fierce Women, but featuring LeRoy's perspective and Kim's insider insights, it equips men to better understand, love, and relate to their strong wives. Each chapter closes with a study section of diagnostic questions and Scripture to apply the content practically and personally.

Many pastors and lay counselors have had minimal training in clinical methods of grief and trauma counseling. The Complete Guide to Crisis and Trauma Counseling is a biblical, practical guide to pastoral counseling written by one of the most respected Christian therapists of our time. Dr. H. Norman Wright brings more than 40 years of clinical and classroom experience to this topic. He shares real-life dialogues from his decades in private practice to demonstrate healthy, healing counseling sessions.

David Clark went from the rock bottom of bankruptcy, addiction, and obesity to becoming an accomplished athlete. In this compelling story of his life, he not only shares his journey with complete honesty, but he also lays out a blueprint for change that anyone can use to redefine what is possible.

Roberto Calasso's The Book of All Books is a narration that moves through the Bible as if through a forest, where every branch—every verse—may offer some revelation.

The modern healthcare system has become proficient at staving off death with aggressive interventions. And yet, eventually everyone dies - and although most Americans say they would prefer to die peacefully at home, more than half of all deaths take place in hospitals or health care facilities. At the End of Life tackles this conundrum head on. Featuring 22 compelling personal-medical narratives, the collection explores death, dying, and palliative care, and highlights current features, flaws, and advances in the healthcare system.

Lasting marriages are built one defining moment at a time. Ultimately, these are invitations from God to consider our direction and pursue transformation. With 37 years of marriage and thirty-three years of pastoring under his belt, Dave Harvey has identified those life-defining moments of a post-newlywed marriage. He wants to help couples recognize them in their own relationships so that they can take a proactive, godly approach to resolving conflicts, holding one another up as change inevitably happens, and ensuring that their marriage survives and thrives.