Pure Heart

"Pure Heart: Restoration of the Heart through the Beatitudes" is a journey into the deep treasures of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Each chapter addresses one of the eight Beatitudes in a unique approach to inner healing. God longs for us to know Him, and He wants to heal the wounds in our hearts. You may find it difficult to receive love from God or from others because of past abuse or neglect, but desire to go deeper into the Lord's heart. This book is for you. You will discover God's abiding affections toward you and explore His promises over you. As you seek Him for healing, may He restore your heart to wholeness and fulfill the promises of blessing in your life. Tom and Donna Cole have ministered in restoration of the heart and inner healing since 1989. Their desire is to see the Church walk in fullness without the hindrance of wounds and shame. They have spoken nationally and internationally on the healing heart of the Father and speak at conferences, seminars and retreats on issues such as the deeper Christian life and having a life of prayer. They also speak at Pure Heart seminars and retreats, based on this book. For more information, you can visit their website at www.pureheartseminars.com.

"Hassib, herself an Egyptian immigrant living in West Virginia, articulates the full-bodied chorus of Egypt's voices." --The New York Times Book Review "Exquisite. . . . Anchoring the story is a pair of Cairo-born sisters whose fates spin in radically different directions in the wake of the Egyptian revolution. . . . A lovely novel that does a remarkable job of bringing troubling realities to light, and life." --Vanity Fair A Real Simple Best Book of the Year (So Far) A powerful novel about two Egyptian sisters--their divergent fates and the secrets of one family Sisters Rose and Gameela Gubran could not have been more different. Rose, an Egyptologist, married an American journalist and immigrated to New York City, where she works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gameela, a devout Muslim since her teenage years, stayed in Cairo. During the aftermath of Egypt's revolution, Gameela is killed in a suicide bombing. When Rose returns to Egypt after the bombing, she sifts through the artifacts Gameela left behind, desperate to understand how her sister came to die, and who she truly was. Soon, Rose realizes that Gameela has left many questions unanswered. Why had she quit her job just a few months before her death and not told her family? Who was she romantically involved with? And how did the religious Gameela manage to keep so many secrets? Rich in depth and feeling, A Pure Heart is a brilliant portrait of two Muslim women in the twenty-first century, and the decisions they make in work and love that determine their destinies. As Rose is struggling to reconcile her identities as an Egyptian and as a new American, she investigates Gameela's devotion to her religion and her country. The more Rose uncovers about her sister's life, the more she must reconcile their two fates, their inextricable bond as sisters, and who should and should not be held responsible for Gameela's death. Rajia Hassib's A Pure Heart is a stirring and deeply textured novel that asks what it means to forgive, and considers how faith, family, and love can unite and divide us.

When Iseabail is employed by a wealthy merchant to be his daughter's companion, her life changes forever. Transported from her remote island home to the Scottish borderlands, Iseabail is unnerved both by her precocious young charge and the house's secrets: a hidden chapel, servants who speak in a foreign tongue, a mute stableboy. And then the merchant returns with a mysterious cargo. Why has Iseabail really been summoned here? And will she ever make it back home?

Experience Freedom from Sexual Sin through the Power of the Savior Many women and men trapped in sexual sin believe willpower is the key to overcoming temptation, but your shaky self-discipline doesn't have to be the source of your strength. Sharing from his personal struggles, J. Garrett Kell explains that life-long transformation rests in the supernatural power of the Savior and the support of a local church. He offers profound insights into Jesus's teachings on purity and provides you with long-term strategies for your own pathway to freedom. Written for both men and women struggling with temptation, this book is a vital resource for the church, encouraging a healthy, empathetic community to help brothers and sisters in Christ resist sin. The goal isn't purity for purity's sake, but delighting in God and trusting him for ultimate victory.

In America, we live in a fast-paced, self-indulgent society of pleasure-seeking people who predicate their lifestyles on consumer-oriented and materialistic notions. Influenced by this world around us, our hearts may become faithless, dishonest, deceptive, distressed, and, at times, evil. Hence, our hearts become damaged. However, in the quiet of our solitude, we can deeply reflect on how to become devout and pious as we awaken the pure heart. In Awaken the Pure Heart, author Tallal Alie Turfe explains that while the heart pumps blood through the network of arteries and veins called the cardiovascular system, it is also the spiritual control center of lifethe very center of our existence, and the very essence of who we are. The heart is the center of the soul. It is the seat of our emotional intelligence, intention, and desires, and it is the point of our personal contact with God as He judges. By looking to the Quran as a healing source and by slowing down and reflecting in solitude through prayer and supplication, we too can restore our hearts and the hearts of others. The heart is more than the most important organ in the human body. It is also the quintessence of our spiritual and emotional well-being. Acceptance causes the heart to be elated or jubilant, while rejection causes the heart to be saddened or troubled. Thus, by listening to our hearts, we can discover how to embrace its purity and live with virtue in the modern world.

There is nothing stronger than a mother’s love . . . except a good glass of moonshine. The mountains of North Carolina are rich—lush with the greens and blues of the seven-mile views and bursting with a culture where the ways of Old Appalachia meet the new South. This is the heart of moonshine country, where they practice an art passed down from generation to generation, crafted not only out of pride and ingenuity, but also out of a daring to push the boundaries of the law to create a product that has come, in many ways, to symbolize America. Troy Ball is a classic Southern belle, with an easy charm, impeccable manners, a wide smile, and golden-blond hair. But beneath that crisp white blouse and strand of pearls is a streak of tenacity a mile wide. In the early 2000s, Troy and her husband, Charlie, left their native Texas for the up-and-coming town of Asheville, North Carolina, because the climate was better for the health of their two severely ill, special-needs sons. Troy found there something the dedicated mom never expected: time for herself. And then along came Forrest Jarrett, an Appalachian raconteur with a pickup truck, a thousand stories to tell, and a sip or two of white squeezings, aka moonshine, to share with the newcomer. What followed was a surprising friendship and a five-year journey into the heart of distilling old-fashioned corn whiskey. Stretching back to Colonial times and forward to today and the Byzantine laws Troy had to navigate to become the first female legal moonshiner in the history of the South, this a true moonshine-making odyssey that will touch your soul. When the real estate crash wiped out her family financially and threatened the safety of her children, Troy realized that moonshine was more than a hobby . . . her world-class whiskey (and newfound friends) could save her family, too. Pure Heart is a story of dedication, inspiration, and days spent in a run-down shack in the company of some of the finest and funniest good-old boys you’d ever want to meet. It is the story of how a strong woman used grit and determination to launch a thriving business, and what a mother will do to help her children. It is also about sharing a drink with friends—and all that is great about the South.