He watched the black glow of what used to be the sun coming up and felt at peace. He was not overwhelmed with the challenge at hand. Perhaps, it had something to do with that feeling he had carried with him all his life. He had been lonely in his life many times, but never had he felt alone. He had always felt a higher purpose was guiding his steps and protecting his way. When he needed protecting he had been protected, when he felt anxiety, his soul was quieted and if he became haughty, he was humbled. The prayers had gone out all over the world and all the people of the world had petitioned their gods, philosophers and shamans for help. It was the "appointed time." This week would be all mankind had to prove that they were worthy of survival. It was his aim to help the gods see that unity could only come if they themselves could achieve understanding, not just of the world's problems, but to reach understanding of each other. He wondered if a god could learn. Could a god learn to change? As he thought these very thoughts, the gods, honored ones, even the demons, were entering the sanctuary. Things would never be the same after this day and week that would follow. It would challenge every rule in the game of life. Many of the gods had never set eyes on the other. What would transpire while they were together could be either inspiring or detrimental to the future of mankind. The Vajra building had been the chosen venue for the gathering because of its historical inspiration. Many wonderful things had happened at the Vajra, and Satya knew its symbolic meaning. He put on his white linen clothes and opened the door to his room. The council received him and escorted him to the elevator. They ascended to the top floor, the Highest High to the luxury view of the Vajra building. He thought back and remembered the news when the first black American president was announced from the Vajra building. It wasn't long after that when the first woman president was elected as well. Third World countries filled with their starving were freed from scarcity and taught to help themselves from this building. But unfortunately the teachings failed later because they were not applied with compassion for all. Men and women who sat in the very room to which he was headed and strategically planned a way to help the world's people had brought down dictators. For those reasons and so many more it could have been said, this is why the Vajra was chosen. But that would have been vanity and also incorrect. It had been chosen for one reason only, for what the Vajra meant and stood for. The word Vajra had a double meaning. It meant Thunderbolt and Diamond. The word Vajra connoted immutability and something unbreakable. As he anticipated that what would be discussed during the week would shake their foundations like thunder, the diamond beneath would be revealed, the answer would be immutable and it would not break the gods. They would not be broken if their spirit of goodness was as strong as he believed it to be. Satya had faith, he believed and he was ready. The men walked him down the burgundy red corridor, six on either side of him, and when they got to the Double Black Doors they stopped. One of the twelve turned to him and handed him a scroll. He opened it and looked down to see what it contained. It read as follows: Divine Attendance Record Book of Names Xipe Totec, Agni, Durga, Ganesa, Ganga hanuman, Himalaya, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, Shakti, Shiva, Vishnu, Ezili Freda, Ezeli Danto, Papa Legba, Gede, Mahakala, Maitraya, Heruka, Hayagriva, Avatar, Brahma, Maya, Siva, Yama, Lakshmi, Sati, Aditi, Parvati, Kali, Manasa, Manu, Mitra, Nandi, Nataraja, Uma, Prajapati, Purusha, Radha, Rama, Ramachandra, Saraswati, Shashti, Trimurti, Soma, Quan-Yin, Ksitigarbha, Lingham, Lao-Tzu, Pa Hsien, Tsao, Shen, Ch' eng Huang, Men Shen, Confucius, Iza

What links brutal serial murders in New York city with the last city on Earth eight billion years in the future? Why do ancient gods stalk the city streets? To answer those questions NYPD homicide detective Prentiss must risk not only her sanity but also her soul: is she ready to be weighed in death's scale?

A Study Guide and a Teacher’s Manual Gospel Principles was written both as a personal study guide and as a teacher’s manual. As you study it, seeking the Spirit of the Lord, you can grow in your understanding and testimony of God the Father, Jesus Christand His Atonement, and the Restoration of the gospel. You can find answers to life’s questions, gain an assurance of your purpose and self-worth, and face personal and family challenges with faith.

“God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The Bible tells us that we are to worship the Lord, that we were created for this purpose. But what is true worship? What does the Bible teach about the right—and the wrong—ways to worship God? In this book, pastors Brian Croft and Jason Adkins unpack a biblical theology of worship, discuss the practical matters of planning a worship service, and offer suggestions and insights on the best way to lead a worship service that honors the Lord. The Practical Shepherding series of guides provides pastors and ministry leaders with practical help to do the work of pastoral ministry in a local church. In Gather God’s People, you will learn how to apply biblical doctrine and spirituality to the practice of Christian worship.

Minter explores what happens when good desires become false gods, robbing people of an intimate relationship with the heavenly Father. (Christian)

At the start of the gay rights movement in 1969, evangelicalism's leading voices cast a vision for gay people who turn to Jesus. It was C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Francis Schaeffer and John Stott who were among the most respected leaders within theologically orthodox Protestantism. We see with them a positive pastoral approach toward gay people, an approach that viewed homosexuality as a fallen condition experienced by some Christians who needed care more than cure. With the birth and rise of the ex-gay movement, the focus shifted from care to cure. As a result, there are an estimated 700,000 people alive today who underwent conversion therapy in the United States alone. Many of these patients were treated by faith-based, testimony-driven parachurch ministries centered on the ex-gay script. Despite the best of intentions, the movement ended with very troubling results. Yet the ex-gay movement died not because it had the wrong sex ethic. It died because it was founded on a practice that diminished the beauty of the gospel. Yet even after the closure of the ex-gay umbrella organization Exodus International in 2013, the ex-gay script continues to walk about as the undead among us, pressuring people like me to say, "I used to be gay, but I'm not gay anymore. Now I'm just same-sex attracted." For orthodox Christians, the way forward is a path back to where we were forty years ago. It is time again to focus with our Neo-Evangelical fathers on care--not cure--for our non-straight sisters and brothers who are living lives of costly obedience to Jesus. With warmth and humor as well as original research, Still Time to Care will chart the path forward for our churches and ministries in providing care. It will provide guidance for the gay person who hears the gospel and finds themselves smitten by the life-giving call of Jesus. Woven throughout the book will be Richard Lovelace’s 1978 call for a "double repentance" in which gay Christians repent of their homosexual sins and the church repents of its homophobia--putting on display for all the power of the gospel.