Sustaining Heaven On Earth

Heaven on earth is a reality that defies description and even belief at times. Yet all who have fallen in love, felt deep wonder, or witnessed what could only be classified as a miracle can attest to its presence. Unfortunately, that presence is all too often only fleeting. What if it didn’t have to be so? What if it was possible to sustain the experience of heaven on earth? This book suggests four keys to doing so, each forged by and for a love that challenged the author to remain awake to the presence of heaven on earth that love had awakened.

This book is intended to open a dialogue on God's plan for mankind at the beginning of creation and how we can enjoy life to the fullest despite the tragedies we see in the paper, on the news or in our own personal experiences. Some may question how to find joy in a world full of violence, but let this book be a guide to sustain a positive attitude in a troubled world by understanding God's master plan. Based on multiple references from the Holy Bible, and the adoption of a mindset that desires to see beauty in an ugly world, my prayer is that you will become empowered to experience Heaven on Earth. This book will share the secrets of God's master plan from the beginning of creation and dispute a world philosophy that it's impossible to be joyful on a daily basis.

New York Times bestselling author John Eldredge offers readers a breathtaking look into God’s promise for a new heaven and a new earth. This revolutionary book about our future is based on the simple idea that, according to the Bible, heaven is not our eternal home--the New Earth is. As Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew, the next chapter of our story begins with "the renewal of all things," by which he means the earth we love in all its beauty, our own selves, and the things that make for a rich life: music, art, food, laughter and all that we hold dear. Everything shall be renewed "when the world is made new." More than anything else, how you envision your future shapes your current experience. If you knew that God was going to restore your life and everything you love any day; if you believed a great and glorious goodness was coming to you--not in a vague heaven but right here on this earth--you would have a hope to see you through anything, an anchor for your soul, "an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God" (Hebrews 6:19). Most Christians (most people for that matter) fail to look forward to their future because their view of heaven is vague, religious, and frankly boring. Hope begins when we understand that for the believer nothing is lost. Heaven is not a life in the clouds; it is not endless harp-strumming or worship-singing. Rather, the life we long for, the paradise Adam and Eve knew, is precisely the life that is coming to us. And that life is coming soon.

Gardens of Heaven and Earth is a lyrical study that explores the roles that gardens have played in delighting and sustaining the human condition throughout the ages. This short work investigates the various meanings gardens have had for the eighteenth-century Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg and what meanings they might hold in turn for his readers.

As the world grapples with the complexities and uncertainties of the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) era, it has become imperative to explore new approaches that align with responsible management and Taoist principles. This second volume builds on the first.

Featuring contributions from top educators, the third volume of The Soul of Educational Leadership series examines leadership and moral choices and offers strategies for supporting professional learning communities.

Living simply isn’t always simple. When Alan Boye first lived in sustainable housing, he was young, idealistic, and not much susceptible to compromise—until rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, and loneliness drove him out of the utilities-free yurt he’d built in New Mexico. Thirty-five years later, he decided to try again. This time, with an idealism tempered by experience and practical considerations, Boye and his wife constructed an off-the-grid, energy-efficient, straw bale house in Vermont. Sustainable Compromises chronicles these two remarkable attempts to live simply in two disparate American eras. Writing with hard-won authority and humor, Boye takes up the “how-to” practicalities of “building green,” from finances to nuts and bolts to strains on friends and family. With Walden as a historical and philosophical touchstone and his own experience as a practical guide, he also explores the ethical and environmental concerns that have framed such undertakings from Thoreau’s day to our own. A firsthand account of the pleasures and pitfalls of living simply, his book is a deeply informed and engaging reflection on what sustainability really means—in personal, communal, ethical, and environmental terms.