Will The Real Christians Please Stand Up

In our culture of personalization, where everything is customizable, Jesus is often reworked into what each individual wants Him to be. Jesus is aligned to a person's agendas and dreams, making it easier for him or her to agree with Him.

This book challenges the "pew-sitting" approach to the Christian life with insights for committed Christians, challenges to fence-sitting Christians, and good information for non-Christians. (Christianity)

We have come to admire Buddhism for being profound but accessible, as much a lifestyle as a religion. The credit for creating Buddhism goes to the Buddha, a figure widely respected across the Western world for his philosophical insight, his teachings of nonviolence, and his practice of meditation. But who was this Buddha, and how did he become the Buddha we know and love today? Leading historian of Buddhism Donald S. Lopez Jr. tells the story of how various idols carved in stone—variously named Beddou, Codam, Xaca, and Fo—became the man of flesh and blood that we know simply as the Buddha. He reveals that the positive view of the Buddha in Europe and America is rather recent, originating a little more than a hundred and fifty years ago. For centuries, the Buddha was condemned by Western writers as the most dangerous idol of the Orient. He was a demon, the murderer of his mother, a purveyor of idolatry. Lopez provides an engaging history of depictions of the Buddha from classical accounts and medieval stories to the testimonies of European travelers, diplomats, soldiers, and missionaries. He shows that centuries of hostility toward the Buddha changed dramatically in the nineteenth century, when the teachings of the Buddha, having disappeared from India by the fourteenth century, were read by European scholars newly proficient in Asian languages. At the same time, the traditional view of the Buddha persisted in Asia, where he was revered as much for his supernatural powers as for his philosophical insights. From Stone to Flesh follows the twists and turns of these Eastern and Western notions of the Buddha, leading finally to his triumph as the founder of a world religion.

Will the Real Me Please Stand Up explores this daunting question of true identity. Through 100 spiritual endowments known as the 'I Am Blessings, ' Pam Kanaly unfolds your immense value to God. These 'I Am Blessings' define the core of your true personhood and implore you to take hold of your God-given inheritance for expansive living. You have the power to conquer defeat and step into a triumphant life. As a child of the King, are you enjoying your spiritual heritage or are you living beneath your privileges? It's time for the real you to arise and embrace your identity in Jesus Christ. Let's Go Deeper study guide also available through Tate Publishing. Teaching DVD available through AriseMinistries.net.

In a world where the God hypothesis is no longer necessary, todays Church may offer skeptical Seekers a Jesus Story that no longer connects with their lives. Nevertheless, their honest questions are to be valued and honored by the Church because they keep us honest and make us rethink the relevancy of our faith. Todays world is asking if there is any Reality to the Jesus about whom we speak, and if so, would he please stand up. It is my contention that faith in God does not depend upon proof of his existence as much as what that Gods attitude is toward us. While the Good News proposed by Christian Faith is that Gods attitude was definitively displayed in Jesus, I am suggesting that our Jesus Story must take the Apostle Pauls understanding of Reconciliation seriously. God, too, has to pay the price of Sin. He is part of the problem of our alienation and neither we, nor God, can escape its consequences. Therein lies the POWER, I believe, of the Jesus Story to hold the attention of todays Seeker. Jesus not only died for our sins, he died for Gods Sin as well! Our Sin, was our disobedience. Gods Sin was his Ignorance. It is Paul who, getting his message directly from the Risen Christ, sees this most clearly. Paul wants us to understand that God was in Christs life and death reconciling the world to himself not just forgiving us. Unlike the Jesus Story told by todays Church, Paul sees Gods Grace as much more amazing than mere payment for our peccadilloes.