God Interrupted

Could the best thing about religion be the heresies it spawns? Leading intellectuals in interwar Europe thought so. They believed that they lived in a world made derelict by God's absence and the interruption of his call. In response, they helped resurrect gnosticism and pantheism, the two most potent challenges to the monotheistic tradition. In God Interrupted, Benjamin Lazier tracks the ensuing debates about the divine across confessions and disciplines. He also traces the surprising afterlives of these debates in postwar arguments about the environment, neoconservative politics, and heretical forms of Jewish identity. In lively, elegant prose, the book reorients the intellectual history of the era. God Interrupted also provides novel accounts of three German-Jewish thinkers whose ideas, seminal to fields typically regarded as wildly unrelated, had common origins in debates about heresy between the wars. Hans Jonas developed a philosophy of biology that inspired European Greens and bioethicists the world over. Leo Strauss became one of the most important and controversial political theorists of the twentieth century. Gershom Scholem, the eminent scholar of religion, radically recast what it means to be a Jew. Together they help us see how talk about God was adapted for talk about nature, politics, technology, and art. They alert us to the abiding salience of the divine to Europeans between the wars and beyond--even among those for whom God was long missing or dead.

Could the best thing about religion be the heresies it spawns? Leading intellectuals in interwar Europe thought so. They believed that they lived in a world made derelict by God's absence and the interruption of his call. In response, they helped resurrect gnosticism and pantheism, the two most potent challenges to the monotheistic tradition. In God Interrupted, Benjamin Lazier tracks the ensuing debates about the divine across confessions and disciplines. He also traces the surprising afterlives of these debates in postwar arguments about the environment, neoconservative politics, and heretical forms of Jewish identity. In lively, elegant prose, the book reorients the intellectual history of the era. God Interrupted also provides novel accounts of three German-Jewish thinkers whose ideas, seminal to fields typically regarded as wildly unrelated, had common origins in debates about heresy between the wars. Hans Jonas developed a philosophy of biology that inspired European Greens and bioethicists the world over. Leo Strauss became one of the most important and controversial political theorists of the twentieth century. Gershom Scholem, the eminent scholar of religion, radically recast what it means to be a Jew. Together they help us see how talk about God was adapted for talk about nature, politics, technology, and art. They alert us to the abiding salience of the divine to Europeans between the wars and beyond--even among those for whom God was long missing or dead.

In this series of essays, based on life experiences and his Christian walk, author Joseph Spickard gives insight and observations of the workings of God’s Direct Guidance in the human life. A beautiful testament of faith, spiritual growth, and the enduring power of love and forgiveness is shared along with the author’s experiences and perspective with profound depth and reflection which are part of his life’s journey. A unique comparison to the life of Dutch believer and saint, Corrie Ten Boom, is made in the exploration of Christian discipleship through the symbolism of the Cross that is engaging and thought-provoking. The author seamlessly weaves together personal anecdotes, biblical references, and philosophical impressions to convey a message of spiritual transformation and the trials and triumphs that come with a living faith. Mr. Spickard explores the concept of spiritual Conversion and draws parallels with Greek tragedies and Biblical narratives that are insightful and provide a unique perspective of the process of spiritual growth and self-realization. The author also introduces to the reader the Law of Coincidences and the phenomenon of The Mass Collective Consciousness which he shows a revelatory knowledge drawn from the implied truths of the Holy Scriptures with prophetic insights that will expand the reader’s understanding of an Infinite God. Life,...God Interrupted displays how heartfelt storytelling and spiritual truths come together to create a connection with the reader to inspire and uplift them further in their own spiritual relationship with God and their journey of faith, enlightenment, and self-discovery.

In Shame Interrupted, bestselling author Edward T. Welch empowers readers to live in light of the gospel of God's grace, which breaks the lingering power of shame. Providing immediate application to every reader's spiritual journey, Welch's book guides men and women to seek freedom from the shame of their own relational and sexual brokenness. Shame controls far too many of us, and the Bible addresses the issue of shame from start to finish. Shame Interrupted reminds readers that God cares for the shamed, and that through Jesus, they are covered, adopted, cleansed, and healed. Shame Interrupted creates a safe place to deal with shame, shining a light on the dynamics of sin and how it is overcome through the power of Christ. By identifying with our shame on the cross, Jesus gives believers freedom from the paralyzing effects of sin and shame. As someone who is familiar with the effects and crushing weight of shame—and the overwhelming freedom found in Christ—Welch invites readers to find confidence in the cleansing work of Christ in this raw and brutally honest book. By examining the depths of the human heart, Welch has made accessible invaluable tools for counseling, soul care, and pastoral work. Shame Interrupted dwells on hope and healing, providing gospel answers to difficult questions.

‘Interrupted by God’ embraces true accounts written after a miraculous intervention in the life of an ordinary, much changed, God follower. Destined to be one-of-a-kind classic to be read, re-read and shared. The stories rage with emotion, yet in the end, bow blissfully to heavenly interactions, healing and truth. Not for the faint of heart. Taken from powerfully impacting occurrences on deep issues surrounding murder, suicide, divorce, adultery, death, near-death, the broken-hearted and the soul-wounded with resounding proved results. Crammed with unparalleled answers, God truths, blessings and of course, interventions with God. When the God of Glory touches lives they are forever changed, you will be too! BONUS SECTION included called, ‘What’s Coming?’. These are the crucial truths one needs to know about the coming future of mankind told in a simplistic fashion for the novice or believer. All told, ‘Interrupted by God’, is the total survival manual for a crumbling world and hope for tomorrow.

From telemarketers to traffic jams to twenty-item shoppers in the ten-item line, our lives are full of interruptions. They're often aggravating, sometimes infuriating, and can make us want to tell people what we really think about them. But they also tell us something quite important about ourselves. The prophet Jonah's life was interrupted by a clear call of God that made him mad enough and scared enough to run in the completely opposite direction. Yet it wasn't really an interruption. It was an opportunity for Jonah to be involved in something the likes of which the Old Testament world had never seen: national revival in a Gentile country. What if Jonah had seen God's interruption for what it truly was—a divine intervention that held more adventure and possibility than any other thing he could have been doing at the time? What could have felt any better than being directly in the center of God's will? Yet we play it that same way—always running from major pains and minor problems that just don't seem to suit us at the time. Who knows what we're missing by being so interruption avoidant? In this very personal account of opportunities lost and lessons learned, popular conference speaker and author Priscilla Shirer shows how to embrace the amazing freedom and fulfillment that comes from going with God, even when He's going against your grain. .

Our lives are constantly changing. It's hard to keep up, to keep our balance. It's hard to keep trusting in God. And it's especially difficult when the changes we're faced with are unwanted: the death of a loved one, a child leaving home, an illness, a frustrated dream. Craig Barnes knows the dark side of change. As a pastor, he has counseled many Christians through tough times of transition. And he has been challenged by unwanted changes--interruptions--in his own life. At times it seems as though God has moved far, far away. But Barnes has discovered that just the opposite is true: during times of change and seeming abandonment, God is right at our side offering to lead us in a new direction, offering us new life. He writes, "A young widow can outlive her grief and decide her life may never be the same but is far from over. A lost job can become the beginning of a new vocation." Here is the book for all who have known disappointment, bereavement or the shattering of faith, a book all the more valuable because it promises hope without denying despair. In When God Interrupts a sensitive, insightful pastor shows us how we can be found by God in the middle of unwanted change.

Foreword by Mandy Arioto, President of MOPS International TERESA SWANSTROM ANDERSON is living the life she thought she never wanted. With an art history degree and dreams of living in Europe as a curator, Teresa had big plans for herself. She had no desire to have kids—didn’t even like them—but after a decision to lay her exciting plans at the feet of Christ, God began changing her heart little by little. While dating the man who eventually became her husband, the two felt called to adopt from Africa. Now, Teresa’s house is bursting at the seams with the loves of her life—her husband, Ben, and their six children, four of whom were born in Ethiopia. She believes in celebrating the everyday and instilling the love of God and others in her children’s hearts. She views her life as a series of redirected dreams, stumbling, falling, getting up, and wondering if she is investing her time where it matters most. Through it all, Teresa grasps joy tightly amid the craziness of everyday life. Go from dreaming about your life to living it fully with God in control. Pick up this book, grab a notebook, curl up on the couch, and open your heart to the potential of allowing your life to become beautifully interrupted. Includes reflection questions and Bible study prompts. Have you gotten so caught up in life and your well-intentioned plans that you may have accidentally planned God right out of it all? Teresa Swanstrom Anderson did just that. Her carefully laid out life changed course when she whispered to God, “Send me. Use me.” Be inspired as you read Beautifully Interrupted and learn the importance of giving your plans back to God and allow Him to expand the borders of your life and heart. This book offers strategies and encouragement for living through the in-between times of waiting, as well as facing trials with grace and active faith. Become equipped to brave the storms and embrace the life-changing power of seeking God’s plan first and sacrificing time and set plans in favor of something far greater.