Religion

Innsbruck was founded as a market place in 1133 when the Counts of Andechs bought a field on the left bank of the Inn, today St. Nikolaus.Innsbruck was an important trading post on the Brenner Pass route to Italy some 30 km south, the easiest crossing of the Alps. As part of the Via Imperi, it was under the special protection of the king and the income allowed the city to flourish.There are usually at least four Christmas markets in Innsbruck, and the next one is in the old town the Altstadt, just as you cross from the bridge.The Altstadt the Old Town is rich in what is called imperial architecture buildings from the period Innsbruck was the favored town of the Habsburg emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Old Testament prophets were not appreciated in their day. Sadly, they're often not appreciated today either. The prophetic books of the Old Testament are not suitable for light, casual reading. That's why they are often neglected. But for those who are willing to dig, a study of these books can be a rewarding experience, providing deeper insights into God's character and His role in history."The writings of the prophets are often called the 'white pages' of theBible-the cleanest pages in the book because we rarely spend timein them. In this third volume in David's 'Wings' series, the prophets arerevealed in a way that invites application in our twenty-fi rst centurysociety." - Chris Huntley"The writings of the prophets are often viewed as having little connectionto modern concerns. David skillfully unfolds these texts, helping us to seea deep connection between their situation and ours as people living in afailing society, yet with hope in God's Messiah." - Jay Horsley"The lifetime of study David has dedicated to the scriptures comesthrough every time he teaches or comments on the Bible and life. Inreading this book you will gain valuable insights from a man who lovesGod, God's people, and God's Word. This is a great resource that you willreach for again and again." - Sam Bray

"Musing through a space that’s somewhere between an illuminated, psalmic narrative poem and a graphic novel attuned to the soul, Malkah’s Notebook is an intimate trip through Jewish mysticism and feminist theology." —Foreword Reviews<BR> <BR>Malkah is a child when her father tries teaching her to read Torah. But they don’t get very far. As Malkah studies, her questions multiply. She discovers an earlier, hidden story of creation within the Hebrew Aleph-Bet letters in the first line of Genesis. And a door opens. Malkah’s discovery takes her on a lifelong journey in search of her beginnings—into Jewish mystical texts, far-off places, archaeological digs, ancient gods, and ultimately into the nature of existence itself.<BR> <BR>Part bedtime story, part poem, part journal, and coupled with highly evocative illustrations, Malkah’s Notebook is a love letter to the Hebrew alphabet that unlocks life’s greatest mysteries.

These poems map a private pilgrimage to nowhere--from the chair to the couch, the couch to the chair. These poems also map a public pilgrimage through the landscape of pandemic, from dire disaster to the hope for healing. They chronicle a year spent in lockdown in a small village just outside New York City. Living amid the Coronavirus catastrophe has occasioned extraordinary outpourings of love over the past year. These poems recognize the public love of healthcare workers, front-line essential workers, people helping their sick and elderly neighbors and family members, school teachers ministering to students and their parents--all signs of our belief in the common good, as well as the many forms of private and personal love we practice--among them the uncountable emails, texts, social media posts, phone calls, and Zoom calls we share with our beloveds whom we are separated from, making ourselves present to them virtually when we cannot be present physically. These are but a few of the many forms love has taken--and continues to take--during these late days of pandemic. The title of the book, Love in the Time of Coronavirus, is borrowed from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's luminous novel, Love in the Time of Cholera, about the enduring power of love in the face of time and deadly circumstance. This book of poems goes beyond Marquez's primary focus on romantic attachment to consider love in its many forms. As with Marquez's novel, the poems remind us that love flourishes even, and perhaps especially, during times of extremity, when the reality of mortality becomes palpable to us and we begin to see life in the context of eternity. It is then that love becomes the most powerful antidote we have to human suffering. <BR>

This slim volume offers a thematic exploration of religion and the digital arts. Over the course of six brief sections, this extended essay examines identity and community, authority and authenticity, word and image, ritual and practice, body and space, and myth and faith. Each of these paired sets is explored in concert with technologically inflected correlates. For instance, identity and community are paired with avatars and networks. These twin concepts provide the thematic anchor of each section. Each section looks at four works of digital art with each work employing digital technology in a unique way. The works include virtual and augmented reality pieces, 3D printed sculptures, digital photography, and digitally enabled performance pieces and installations and span the late 1990s to the present. This essay is an introduction to religion and the digital arts and, while no single conclusion can be drawn from such an expansive and diverse field, the reassertion of the religious and theological importance of the body and emotions in the face of digital technology emerges as a recurrent theme.

By the time I was 38, my life was in shambles.When I "came to myself" (see Luke 15), I had been drunk for sixteen years and addicted for longer than that. I was divorced, broke, jobless, homeless, living 1,100 miles away from my children, and totally alone. I had ruined every relationship in my life. Every dream I had was broken. I was discouraged, depressed, and ashamed. I was a mess.Then someone came into my life and told me that God loved me and had a plan for my life. I needed both of those. So, on a beach in Maine in the middle of February 1995, I knelt down and asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to be the Lord of my life. It didn't seem like a life-changing moment at the time.I didn't know exactly what to do next, so I opened an old Bible and read the page I had opened. Luke 18:18 said to leave everything behind and come to follow Jesus. So, I did. From that moment on, everything began to change.

The title, Just South of Heaven, means anywhere on earth. This book is your personal space, no matter where you are, to journal your prayers. God is everywhere all the time. Draw close to him. He is waiting for you. Tell him all about your life-the good and the bad. And let him lead you one day at a time. "I love all who love me, and those who search will surely find me" (Proverbs 8:17 NLT). Enjoy your time with God. Your friend, Jill