Have you ever noticed this statement in the Bible—”a God who hides Himself”? Many Christians have never realized that God’s Word contains such an expression, but Isaiah expresses this thought most emphatically (Isa. 45:15). We may know God as the almighty One, as the righteous One, as One full of grace and compassion; but as the One who hides Himself, He may be unknown to us. “Our personalities are diametrically opposed to God’s personality. He likes concealment, we like display; He does not crave outward manifestations, we cannot be content without them. This divine disposition constitutes a great trial and test to us… I long that God’s children might realize the hidden nature of His working. Do not think that only mighty influences, great visions, and tremendous revelations are of Him. God’s surest work is done in the secret of our beings.”

Why does God hide – day-in and day-out – from those of us who yearn to hear His voice? When we do good, there’s no heavenly applause. When we do evil, no divine rebuke. And when great horrors visit us, He rarely intervenes. In good times and bad, there’s just silence . . . the awful silence of God. Now comes Why God Hides, this magnum opus of Fr. John Portavella, written after many decades of listening to God’s silence – in his own life and in that of thousands of his parishioners. Those years of listening, reading, thinking, and praying have made ever more clear to him – and with the help of this book, will make clear to you– that, in fact . . . God is not silent nor is He hidden, if only you know how to listen and learn where to look. Time and again in the events of salvation history and in the trials and joys of our daily lives, Fr. Portavella here unveils the Face of God and lets us hear His voice, speaking in every instance words of sweet love. Why God Hides is a remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime book that scatters the darkness of our minds, giving us myriad glimpses of our supposedly hidden God, bringing with each of those glimpses the consolation and joys we have yearned for so long.

As well-known Christians announce a newfound loss of faith, other believers face increasing pressure or doubt. We feel let down, ashamed to question God's goodness, and in need of assurance of our faith and answers to our pain. From a leading voice on issues facing Christians today comes a frank and insightful discussion about whether it's okay to doubt God and what to do about it. Michael L. Brown answers the very toughest questions, such as · Why are people leaving the church? · Why haven't my prayers been answered? · Why do people have to experience pain? · What if there is no God? · And more These pages will lead anyone who has been hurt, anyone with questions that will not go away, into a wonderful, fresh, life-transforming encounter with the living God.

In this comprehensive and thought-provoking study, Terence Fretheim focuses on the theme of divine suffering, an aspect of our understanding of God which both the church and scholarship have neglected. Maintaining that "metaphors matter," Fretheim carefully examines the ruling and anthropomorphic metaphors of the Old Testament and discusses them in the context of current biblical-theological scholarship. His aim is to broaden our understanding of the God of the Old Testament by showing that "suffering belongs to the person and purpose of God".

A revelatory primer on what it means to be human, from "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (Deepak Chopra)—and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence. At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the “outside” world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. To help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe, Watts has crafted a revelatory primer on what it means to be human—and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence. In The Book, Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta.

Advent, says Fleming Rutledge, is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season of Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities. In this book, with her trademark wit and wisdom, Rutledge explores Advent as a time of rich paradoxes, a season celebrating at once Christ’s incarnation and his second coming, and she masterfully unfolds the ethical and future-oriented significance of Advent for the church.

In this narrative-driven book, Tony Kriz leads the reader on a journey of "orchestrated epiphanies" along the eternal quest to tangibly encounter God, including the unpredictable moments that give us hope, and even more so, the long gaps between those moments that challenge our faith.