“Shares lessons learned on his way from the Jim Crow South to a top spot on Capitol Hill . . . [a] remarkably candid new memoir” —NPR From his humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina, to his prominence on the Washington, D.C., political scene as the third highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, US Congressman James E. Clyburn has led an extraordinary life. In Blessed Experiences, Clyburn tells in his own inspirational words how an African American boy from the Jim Crow-era South was able to beat the odds to achieve great success and become, as President Barack Obama describes him, “one of a handful of people who, when they speak, the entire Congress listens.” Born in 1940 to a civic-minded beautician and a fundamentalist minister, Clyburn began his ascent to leadership at the age of twelve, when he was elected president of his National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) youth chapter. He broke barriers through peaceful protests and steadfast beliefs in equality and justice. As a civil rights leader at South Carolina State College, as human affairs commissioner under John C. West and three subsequent governors, and as South Carolina’s first African American congressman since 1897, Clyburn has established a long and impressive record of public leadership and advocacy for human rights, education, historic preservation, and economic development. Includes a foreword from Emmy Award–winning actress and the congressman’s longtime friend Alfre Woodard “Blessed Experiences has captured not just the history of this tireless leader’s more-than-four decades in public service, but also a sense of the times.” —Warren Buffett

An Understandable and Reliable Guide to Revelation Over 12 chapters, Blessed covers the full text of the book of Revelation, exploring its call to patient endurance as God's sovereign plans for judgment and salvation are worked out in the world. In this book, Guthrie shows how Revelation is less about when Jesus will return and more about who we are to be, what we are to do, and what we can expect to endure as we wait for Jesus to return to establish his kingdom in the new creation. With a friendly and engaging tone, Blessed takes the fear, intimidation, and confusion away from studying Revelation, providing a solid and accessible resource that individuals and small groups can use to study this important yet often avoided book. Understand the Book of Revelation: Helps readers make sense of Revelation's unique apocalyptic symbolism, visual imagery, and Old Testament allusions Transformative Personal Application: Every chapter asks and answers the question, What does it mean to hear and keep this part of Revelation and thereby experience its promised blessing? A Focus on What Is Clear and Uncontroversial: Highlights Revelation's call for a costly allegiance to Christ and a refusal to compromise with the world rather than focusing on interpretive approaches and disputes

Blessed Events explores how women who give birth at home use religion to make sense of their births and in turn draw on their birthing experiences to bring meaning to their lives and families. Pamela Klassen introduces a surprisingly diverse group of women, in their own words, while also setting their birth stories within wider social, political, and economic contexts. In doing so, she emerges with a study that disrupts conventional views of both childbirth and religion by blurring assumed divisions between conservative and feminist women and by taking childbirth seriously as a religious act. Most American women who have a choice give birth in a hospital and request pain medication. Yet enough women choose and advocate unmedicated home birth--and do so for carefully articulated reasons, social resistance among them--to constitute a movement. Klassen investigates why women whose religious affiliations range from Old Order Amish to Reform Judaism to goddess-centered spirituality defy majority opinion, the medical establishment, and sometimes the law to have their babies at home. In considering their interpretations--including their critiques of the dominant medical model of childbirth and their views on labor pain--she examines the kinds of agency afforded to or denied women as they derive religious meanings from childbirth. Throughout, she identifies tensions and affinities between feminist and traditionalist appraisals of the symbolic meaning of birth and the power of women. What does home birth--a woman-centered movement working to return birth to women's control--mean in practice for women's gender and religious identities? Is this supreme valuing of procreation and motherhood constraining, or does it open up new realms of cultural and social power for women? By asking these questions while remaining cognizant of religion's significance, Blessed Events challenges both feminist and traditionalist accounts of childbearing while broadening our understanding of how religion is ''lived'' in contemporary America.

From "Facts of Life" to "Living Single" to "Dancing with the Stars" to wife and mom, here's the Blessed Life of Kim Fields, veteran actress, TV personality, and star. Kim Fields has lived most of her life with people thinking they know her, which is understandable. From her first job on a Mrs. Butterworth syrup commercial at age 7, she has spent 40 years in the public eye. There were 9 years as Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey on the classic sitcom The Facts of Life, 5 more in her 20s starring as Regine Hunter on the seminal coming-of-age show Living Single, and most recently appearing as herself on Real Housewives of Atlanta and Dancing with the Stars. Behind the camera, she has directed episodes of Kenan & Kel, Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns and House of Payne, and BET's Let's Stay Together. Between gigs, the pop culture icon's life has included theater, spoken word, music, speaking engagements, and simply being present to the point that she cannot go a day without someone stopping her to say, "When I was a kid, I wanted to be Tootie" or "You were my role model." Flattered and blessed, after four decades in the business, Kim finally understands the role she has played onscreen and off as a successful, outspoken African-American woman. However, for as much as she's been in the public eye, people have really never known her the way they think they have, and that's because she, herself, spent most of her life figuring herself out. Now, at age 48, she is ready to set the record straight. She says, "It's not that I've been misunderstood. It's that I finally feel like I understand me enough to tell the life story that I've been asked to write for years." It will be a chronicle of living, learning, and keen moments of self-discovery as she's journeyed through the many facets and chapters of life. Fields found faith at age 14 and has found God to be right there every step of the way since then.

In My Grandfather's Blessings, Rachel Naomi Remen, a cancer physician and master storyteller, uses her luminous stories to remind us of the power of our kindness and the joy of being alive. Dr. Remen's grandfather, an orthodox rabbi and scholar of the Kabbalah, saw life as a web of connection and knew that everyone belonged to him, and that he belonged to everyone. He taught her that blessing one another is what fills our emptiness, heals our loneliness, and connects us more deeply to life. Life has given us many more blessings than we have allowed ourselves to receive. My Grandfather's Blessings is about how we can recognize and receive our blessings and bless the life in others. Serving others heals us. Through our service we will discover our own wholeness—and the way to restore hidden wholeness in the world.

What If You Could Change the World without Changing Your Daily Routine? When you’ve been transformed by God’s love, you can’t help but want others to experience the same grace and freedom. But how do you share it without scaring them away or offending them? For most Christians, “evangelism” is an intimidating word that suggests handing out tracts to strangers or doing other awkward things. But what if there was a more organic, more authentic way to share your faith with your friends, neighbors, and coworkers? Dave and Jon Ferguson have found five simple, straightforward practices that will allow any believer to do just that. And by consistently living them out, you can affect not just individual lives but your entire neighborhood and community—one person at a time.

Only 2 in 10 Americans under 30 believe attending a church is important or worthwhile. Well over half of young adults raised in the Church have dropped out with many having a strong anti-Church stance, many even believing the Church does more harm than good.Fr. Josh Johnson was one of these people. In Broken and Blessed he tackles the harsh realities facing the Church in the 21st century. With charity and courage he speaks to his own generation of Catholic “Millennials,” who often feel their needs and concerns are not being addressed by the Church, or who simply do not believe the Catholic Faith has any relevance to their lives. Using his own experiences, both as a former struggling young Catholic and as a priest, Fr. Josh offers an inspiring witness of how he came to know God, rather than just knowing about him—and presents practical ways for us to truly know God as well. Broken and Blessed: Addresses head-on Millennials’ most pressing issues with the Catholic Faith Presents powerful and inspiring stories from Fr. Josh’s own faith journey Shows how one can truly encounter Jesus in a personal way Offers practical insights on how to overcome habitual sins Discusses the nature of prayer, as well as the challenges to prayer and how to overcome them