Beyond The Rivers Of Babylon

Rowing upon the Tigris River to enjoy a summer campfire on the tiny islands that emerged every summer, teenaged Joseph Samuels never could have imagined that these waters would soon become his only hope for freedom. At the age of 19, he was forced to leave his family behind as he smuggled out of Iraq in the secret hold of a Basra riverboat to escape the violent and repressive anti-Semitism that, over the next few years, would spell the end of the two-millennium old Iraqi Jewish community. Beyond the Rivers of Babylon follows Joe's remarkable journey, from his colorful childhood in the Old Jewish Quarter of Baghdad, to his life-altering service in the Israeli Navy, to starting a family and building a real estate empire in Montreal and Los Angeles. Blessed with a remarkably vivid memory and a keen ability to look inward, Joe paints a sensory landscape of a home that is no more, and in the process imparts the lessons of a life lived to its fullest.

The north and the west and the south are good hunting ground, but it is forbidden to go east. It is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except to search for metal and then he who touches the metal must be a priest or the son of a priest. Afterwards, both the man and the metal must be purified. These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden to cross the great river and look upon the place that was the Place of the Gods-this is most strictly forbidden. We do not even say its name though we know its name. It is there that spirits live, and demons-it is there that there are the ashes of the Great Burning. These things are forbidden- they have been forbidden since the beginning of time.

They were forced to meet by the rivers of Babylon... In Israel, two Concorde jets take off for a UN conference that will finally bring peace to the Middle East. Covered by F-14 fighters, accompanied by security men, the planes carry warriors, pacifists, lovers, enemies, dignatories - and a bomb planted by a terrorist mastermind. Suddenly they're forced to crash-land at an ancient desert site. Here, with only a handful of weapons, the men and women of the peace mission must make a desperate stand against an army of crack Palestinian commandos - while the Israeli authorities desperately attempt a rescue bid. A story of compulsive excitement, rich in personal drama and political tension that must rank as one of the greatest of our times.

"One of the persistent questions for people of faith throughout history is how are we to live faithfully in the empires of the world? In Out of babylon, Walter Brueggemann, one of the best interpreters of the Hebrew Bible, takes a fresh look at the prophetic paradigm of exile and restoration in Babylon and the realism of balancing `resistance' and `accommodation' in Persia, examining characters like Daniel and Esther. He asks what those biblical precedents might mean for living within `American Empire,' prompting reflections and lessons for Christians who reside in the midst of the world's last remaining super-power." Jim Wallis, President of Sojourners and author of God's Politics and Rediscovering Values "If Left Behind eschatology and the politics of Christian Zionism represent the worst and least responsible in applying biblical texts to contemporary realities, to whom would we turn to find the best and most responsible? Surely we would turn to Walter Brueggemann, and this new book would provide a primer---not only in its material conclusions but also in its manner of reaching them. Brueggemann offers his signature biblical insight and writes with exceptional vigor." Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christianity (brianmclaren.net) "Walter Brueggemann is stunningly brilliant here. Besides surveying most of the First Testament prophets to show the relationship of the contemporary Church to the metaphor of `Babylon,' this volume takes some surprising turns and gives us fresh directions. Out of Babylon is a must for All Christians!" Marva Dawn, author of Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, Being Well When We're lll, and In the Beginning GOD "This book drips with prophetic flavor and imagination. For decades, Brueggemann has been a gentle, steadfast voice in the wilderness---inviting cultural refugees, political misfits, and religious burnouts to set up camp and build a new world. In an age that is growing tired of militarism and materialism, here is a book that dares you not only to say NO to the empire but to say YES to another world. Let this book inspire you to look from a distance at Babylon as the falls and Wall Street as she falters and sing songs of deliverance and freedom, songs about the God who lifts up the lowly and casts the mighty from their thrones; these are the songs of Zion." Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and freelance troublemaker

This powerful and revealing look into God's purpose for the black race gives scholastic yet simple answers to questions you have always had about the black presence in the Bible. The roles and exploits of blacks in the Bible that have either been omitted or treated lightly by European and Euro-American scholars are now revealed.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

The Nature of the Beast is a New York Times bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache novel from Louise Penny. Hardly a day goes by when nine year old Laurent Lepage doesn't cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village. But when the boy disappears, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true. And so begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. What they uncover deep in the forest sets off a sequence of events that leads to murder, leads to an old crime, leads to an old betrayal. Leads right to the door of an old poet. And now it is now, writes Ruth Zardo. And the dark thing is here. A monster once visited Three Pines. And put down deep roots. And now, Ruth knows, it is back. Armand Gamache, the former head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, must face the possibility that, in not believing the boy, he himself played a terrible part in what happens next.

"Identifies and locates one of the Ancient World wonders -- New description of a very early garden and the technology behind its water supply -- Identifies the early occurrence of the "Water-raising Screw" -- Links Assyrian texts and sculpture to later classical sources and explains legends surrounding the characters of Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar -- Reassesses specific sculpture in the British Museum." --Publisher.