His Invitation

“Pussy Riot are Vvedensky's disciples and his heirs. Katya, Masha, and I are in jail but I don’t consider that we’ve been defeated.... According to the official report, Alexander Vvedensky died on December 20, 1941. We don’t know the cause, whether it was dysentery in the train after his arrest or a bullet from a guard. It was somewhere on the railway line between Voronezh and Kazan. His principle of ‘bad rhythm’ is our own. He wrote: ‘It happens that two rhythms will come into your head, a good one and a bad one and I choose the bad one. It will be the right one.’ ... It is believed that the OBERIU dissidents are dead, but they live on. They are persecuted but they do not die.” — Pussy Riot [Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s closing statement at their trial in August 2012] “I raise[d] my hand against concepts,” wrote Alexander Vvedensky, “I enacted a poetic critique of reason.” This weirdly and wonderfully philosophical poet was born in 1904, grew up in the midst of war and revolution, and reached his artistic maturity as Stalin was twisting the meaning of words in grotesque and lethal ways. Vvedensky—with Daniil Kharms the major figure in the short–lived underground avant-garde group OBERIU (a neologism for “the union for real art”)—responded with a poetry that explodes stable meaning into shimmering streams of provocation and invention. A Vvedensky poem is like a crazy party full of theater, film, magic tricks, jugglery, and feasting. Curious characters appear and disappear, euphoria keeps company with despair, outrageous assertions lead to epic shouting matches, and perhaps it all breaks off with one lonely person singing a song. A Vvedensky poem doesn’t make a statement. It is an event. Vvedensky’s poetry was unpublishable during his lifetime—he made a living as a writer for children before dying under arrest in 1942—and he remains the least known of the great twentieth-century Russian poets. This is his first book to appear in English. The translations by Eugene Ostashevsky and Matvei Yankelevich, outstanding poets in their own right, are as astonishingly alert and alive as the originals.

It invites you not only to know God but to walk with him as you to join a conversation infused with humor, truth, history, and above all, honesty.

Just when Sheryl, a young enthusiastic volunteer was enjoying her carefree lifestyle in Phuket, she discovered a pink seashell, rumoured to be an object that would bring true love to its finder. But ironically, she received a sudden phone call from her childhood friend Claire, bearing grave news. Keith, her best friend was dead. The reason for his death was unclear. The untimely demise prompted her to drop all her work overseas and fly back to her hometown, Singapore. Burning questions about his death unfolded, leading her to do some serious self reflections about life. But, what seemed to be a simple funeral turned out to be one shrouded with twists and turns. Instead of a melancholic affair, Sheryl found herself treated to events entirely in contrast to the mood of a funeral. As each unfolded, Sheryl realised how the funeral ultimately linked up the lives of these childhood friends and the pink seashell itself

An Invitation to Death is the gripping story of a serial killer set in contemporary India. Darius Irani, a hyper-intelligent young man, goes on a murderous spree, targeting young, beautiful, urban women, who fall prey to his easy charm, sense of humour and innate madness. Strangely, he does not rape his victims, but the brutalisation is savage-like, indicating a deep hatred for women. The killer manages to evade the cops every single time. As the inevitable cat and mouse game plays out – with a great deal of blood spilling along the way, and climaxing in a devastating reality – the journey reveals the depravity of the human mind, and the way politicians, police and media deal with hard crime in this country.

Cold war has been ongoing for centuries between the various classes of human societies. It is pervasive in the world all over and is evident in more modernized and rich societies. People regard it in a number of different ways: some consider it a normal life feature, some think it is God’s creation and intention for life, and some believe it is the way it should be and that it is worth fighting for. Still others seem to adopt another method of handling it. Hypocrisy plays an important role in life where it is entrenched and perhaps behind every inexplicable motive.

What are you chasing in life? If you seek the five core needs (love, peace, wisdom, happiness, and purpose) in people, possessions, positions of power, or posts on social media, you’ll end up bouncing from one empty experience to the next. God is pursuing you, and He offers each of these treasures with an open hand. An Invitation to Prayer invites you to: • begin each week reflecting on God’s unchanging nature. • receive love, peace, wisdom, happiness, and purpose. • speak peace to fear and anxiety and learn to pray from a place of rest. • detox unwanted thoughts and behaviors and replace them with helpful habits. • be still long enough for God to fully embrace you. Devote the next ninety days to prayer and develop a lifestyle of intimacy with God. He offers all the treasures you have been searching for.

Drawing on myth, folklore, poetry, and the tales of Celtic gods and heroes, this little book is an invitation to readers to explore the spiritual tradition of the Celtic peoples--a tradition rooted in hospitality and one that is of growing importance in these increasingly fractured and troubled times. An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom is divided into three parts: The Celtic Mystery: In this section McColman illustrates the mystery inherent in the Celtic spiritual path with a brief discussion of the three streams of Celtic spirituality and an introduction to thin places and holy wells. The Celtic Saints: McColman explores how faith in the Celtic saints is rooted in the desert spirituality of the early Christian tradition. Also included are profiles of Patrick, Brendan, and Bridget. How to Walk the Celtic Path: In this section the author explores hospitality, spiritual direction story-telling, spiritual power, and the Grail. McColman has written a splendid intro to a spiritual path that will appeal to both believers and seekers who are interested in all things Celtic.

We like to think our church welcomes visitors. But how welcoming can we be, if we are not inviting? We are welcoming as long as people get themselves across the church threshold, but we fail to take our welcome outside. During the years Michael has been developing Back to Church Sunday, he has conducted an extensive study on the seemingly simple subject of 'invitation'. Over 650 times in 12 countries he has asked: 'Why don't we invite our friends to take a closer look at Christ?' The many answers form the impetus for this book. After considering why it seems so hard to invite friends to church, Michael looks at our concerns over acceptance and rejection, and suggests ideas gleaned from years of trying to establish a culture of invitation. 'When I have specifically encouraged Christians to issue an invitation, some people say yes and some no. God sent his son to invite us all into a relationship, and so to be like God is to be a person who invites!'