Verses Against The Darkness

Verses Against the Darkness: offers a new assessment of Pablo Neruda's poetry by looking at the intersection of his aesthetic method and political radicalism from 1925 to 1954. It challenges the canonical view that Neruda was a gifted verse maker who, in 1936, let himself be carried away by the excesses of communist politics. Instead, by focusing primarily on Tercera residencia (1935-1945), Greg Dawes argues for an uneven yet steady evolution and continuity in Neruda's work, politics, and morality. Dawes relies on historical accounts, biographies, literary history, and criticism - and on Neruda's political and aesthetic theory - to prove that his poetry became, contrary to received critical opinion, more sophisticated literarily and politically as he became more radicalized during the Spanish Civil War and World War II and as he developed his dialectical realism or guided spontaneity. Greg Dawes is Associate Professor of Latin American and World Literatures at North Carolina State University and is the editor of the on-line journal A contracorriente.

This updated edition by one of the world's leading apologists presents a systematic, positive case for Christianity that reflects the latest work in the contemporary hard sciences and humanities. Brilliant and accessible.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Rory Perez, a food truck owner who can't cook, is struggling to keep the business she inherited from her aunt out of the red--and an upcoming contest during Modest's annual food truck festival seems the best way to do it. The prize money could finally give her a solid financial footing and keep her cousin with special needs paid up at her beloved assisted living home. Then maybe Rory will have enough time to meet the man she's been talking to via an anonymous online dating site. Jude Strong is tired of being a puppet at his manipulative father's law firm, and the food truck festival seems like the perfect opportunity to dive into his passion for cooking and finally call his life his own. But if he loses the contest, he's back at the law firm for good. Failure is not an option. Complications arise when Rory's chef gets mono and she realizes she has to cook after all. Then Jude discovers that his stiffest competition is the same woman he's been falling for online the past month. Will these unlikely chefs sacrifice it all for the sake of love? Or will there only ever be tacos for one?

True faith is hard. More than mere sentimentalism, faith often calls for a deep and resilient trust in God—especially when the going gets tough and the road is dark. In Things Not Seen, author Jon Bloom encourages readers with 35 imaginative retellings of stories from the Bible that illustrate the importance of living by faith. A follow-up to the author's previous book, Not by Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking by Faith, this inspiring volume explores the lives of Abraham, Moses, Saul, John the Baptist, and more—helping readers remember God's promises, rely on his grace, and follow his leading regardless of the circumstances. The book includes a foreword by popular author and blogger Ann Voskamp.

Many Christians live as though they are effectively alone in the world. However, there is another realm of intelligent life that plays a role in the world—angelic beings. This book explores the doctrine of angels and demons, answering key questions about their nature and the implications for Christians' beliefs and behavior, helping readers see their place in the larger biblical plotline that includes supernatural beings. An understanding of the reality of angels and demons encourages believers to be vigilant in the light of spiritual warfare and to be confident in Christ's victory on the cross.

Light Against Darkness is comprised of articles that put on display the power and pervasiveness of dualistic thought. Dualism has proved a potent cultural tool for clarifying and ordering reality. Particularly in times of social stress and psychological insecurity, it can offer a valuable conceptual grid that provides orientation to the world and a clear sense of identity. At the same time, though, there are important questions to be asked about the social effects of binary thinking. As history amply illustrates, dualistic notions can readily be deployed to legitimate cultural demonization and to rationalize violence. At a deeper level, a dualist worldview can also obscure the possibilities to be found in multiplicity.The articles in this volume treat Dualism across a wide historical spectrum and from multiple methodological perspectives. The studies are organized around the religious and cultural contexts of Ancient Judaism and they include contributions from leading voices on ancient Persia, Israel, Greece, and Egypt.Experts on modern religious and philosophical thought not only lend context to concepts applied to the ancient world, but engage recent European and American experiments in binary thought. All of the studies contribute to a richer and more complete portrait of dualism in ancient Judaism.