The Best Gift Ever Given

An Interactive ADVENTure for Your Family Toys and games are great, but the best gifts from God last a lifetime and beyond. Help your children understand the real meaning of Christmas with this 25-day discovery of the good things God has given us, leading up to the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. From creation to Christmas, your little ones will gain a greater understanding of what God has done and how all of Scripture points toward Jesus. Each day your children will learn a key Scripture verse based on that day’s brief teaching interact with modern and detailed illustrations that correspond to the text answer insightful, open-ended questions to help apply the day’s reading read a prayer that reinforces the biblical concept being taught As you walk your children through the Advent season, your family will gain a deeper appreciation of God’s goodness and develop a stronger sense of gratitude for the ultimate gift of salvation. Begin a special new tradition in your home this December with The Best Gift Ever Given.

In this festive VeggieTales book, the Veggies are celebrating Christmas—decorating the tree, singing carols, and exchanging gifts. But in the middle of all the activity—though it’s so much fun to give and receive presents—the Veggies all know that the greatest gift of all was God’s gift of Jesus, his Son. Children will love the colorful art featuring their favorite Veggie friends. Parents can use this book to introduce little ones to Jesus’ birth as the reason we rejoice at Christmastime.

The Ivory Mirror / Stephen Perkinson -- The Light at the End of the Tunnel : Manuscript Illumination and the Concept of Death / Elizabeth Morrison -- Chicart Bailly and the Specter of Death : Memento Mori in a Sixteenth-Century Estate Inventory / Katherine Baker -- Plates -- List of Plates -- Memento mori Beads : Collecting Histories and Contexts / Naomi Speakman -- The Poetry of Death / Emma Maggie Solberg

If you had one hour to live and could make just one phone call, who would you call? What would you say? Why are you waiting? Richard Carlson's sudden, tragic death in December 2006 left his millions of fans reeling, but even their many letters, calls, and emails couldn't erase the loss felt by his wife, Kristine. To try and come to terms with her loss, she pored over 25 years of love letters, reliving the memories and cherishing her late husband's memory. But one letter stood out. Richard had written to his wife on their 18th wedding anniversary and attempted to answer the question: if you had one hour to live, what would you do, who would you call, and what would you say? An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love is a profoundly moving book that shows the importance of treasuring each day as the incredible gift it is.

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, a professor shares the lessons he's learned—about living in the present, building a legacy, and taking full advantage of the time you have—in this life-changing classic. "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." —Randy Pausch A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull over the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have . . . and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

As a child in a non-religious family, Michael Ridenour found a Bible one day and began reading. Initially excited by its lively stories, he paused at the New Testament, faced with a baffling inner question: Where in the world is Christ today? An unexpected answer came during his teenage years with a spontaneous experience of the Christ being, but this only led to more questions. Later, discovering the work of Rudolf Steiner, he found the authentic vision and language he needed to clarify and better comprehend his own experiences, but the questions kept coming. The Greatest Gift Ever Given is a fruit of Ridenour’s life-long search for answers: a book that is at once deeply thoughtful, humorous, philosophical and poetic. In Part I, ‘Raising the Foundation’, he studies the Judeo-Christian mysteries. After humanity’s ‘fall’ into materialism, these mysteries signal the development of human individuality. The impulse for self-hood continues with Christ, who brings a new path of divine love. But the mystery of Christ leads naturally to his shadow. Today, we can no longer escape the question: Where in the world is Judas? Without Judas’s betrayal, Christ’s greatest gift could never have been given. We can’t reject Judas, but should transform him within ourselves. In Part II, ‘Lowering the Temple’, Ridenour relates the theme of metamorphosis to the contemporary world. Once guided by initiates, personal transformation now needs to blossom from within each individual human soul. The topic of evolution takes us to a consideration of the perennially-controversial Charles Darwin, as well as the intuitive approach of Goethe and the living thinking of Rudolf Steiner. A rich treasure-trove of ideas, The Greatest Gift Ever Given sharpens a dynamic focus on current spiritual needs and contributes a thought-provoking response to them.

How to focus on Christ during Advent Most Christians agree that Christmas is all about Jesus, yet most of us spend little time preparing our hearts to celebrate Him. Why is this? Partly because we don’t know how. In Unwrapping the Names of Jesus, Asheritah Ciuciu leads readers through the four weeks of Advent (Hope, Preparation, Joy, and Love). Each week: Begins with an interactive family devotional that equips readers to celebrate Advent together Offers five daily reflections that focus on that week's name of Jesus Includes suggestions for fun-filled family activities or service projects This devotional can be used by readers in their own personal worship times or as a tool to engage in family worship during the busy holiday season. Either way, participants will gain a greater sense of awe and wonder at who Jesus is. By focusing on the person and character of Jesus throughout the Advent season, readers will prepare their hearts so that when they admire the live nativity, sit in the candlelight service, or wake up on Christian morning, they can join the faithful who sing from the bottom of their hearts, "O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!"

From the hive mind behind the popular Happy Rant podcast (Ted Kluck, Ronnie Martin, and Barnabas Piper) comes this cornucopia of humorous and thought-provoking critiques of Christian culture. Come for the good-natured cynicism. Stay for the enlightenment. Ted Kluck, Ronnie Martin and Barnabas Piper, hosts of the Happy Rant podcast, take their faith-based back-and-forth from the recording booth to the book page with this collection of insightful and often hilarious takedowns of pastor trends, personality tests, political engagement, and more. The Happy Rant crew have a lot of strong opinions, and occasionally they even agree with each other! Always candid and frequently compelling, Ted, Ronnie, and Barnabas tackle everything from the divisive, hot-button issues within the church to more lighthearted fare that reminds us never to take ourselves too seriously. As entertaining as it is engaging, The Happy Rant will help you to think more critically about the world around you and enjoy a laugh or two (or maybe three) along the way.