The Bible doesn't tell us anything about Mary Magdala before she met Jesus and was healed. After being healed, Mary became a very important person in Jesus ministry, but her presence is noted more than her activity. Because Mary was a common name during Jesus lifetime, scholars sometimes assign additional passages that give her questionable identities.Retired United Methodist pastor Nova Wells researched mental illness and selected paranoid schizophrenia as the devils Mary might ha...

Genesis 35:8 in the Bible records the death and burial of Rebekah's nurse, Deborah. How could a woman who was probably a slave, become so important to Isaac and Jacob's family that her death and burial are recorded in Scripture? Retired United Methodist pastor Nova Wells was so fascinated that she created fiction to enhance the Genesis quotations from the NRSV Bible and tell Abraham's family story from Deborah's perspective.Shaping A Nation begins when eight-year-old slave, Deborah ...

This is a tool to help readers conduct individual or group study of Genesis in the Bible in connection with the novel Deborah, Shaping A Nation. It reminds readers they are in a time period 3500 years ago, in the Middle Bronze age, but the culture was not primitive. Eight Lessons feature multiple questions for study and discussion.

Phoenicia is a favorite Bible story of how a Canaanite woman successfully persuades Jesus to heal her daughter. It was written as a dramatic monologue to be used in a worship service. Approx 8 min.

Sarai, the last child of her aged father, is beautiful, spoiled, and used to getting her own way. Even as a young girl, she is aware of the way men look at her, including her half brother Abram. When Abram finally requests Sarai's hand, she asks one thing--that he promise never to take another wife as long as she lives. Even her father thinks the demand is restrictive and agrees to the union only if Sarai makes a promise in return--to give Abram a son and heir. Certain she can easily do th...

**In this modern classic interpretation of the biblical story of Dinah, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood--the world of The Red Tent, a New York Times bestseller and the basis of the A&E/Lifetime mini-series.Twentieth Anniversary Edition**In the Bible, Dinah's life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons...

Bathsheba is a woman who longs for love. With her devout husband away fighting the king's wars for many months at a time, discontent and loneliness dog her steps--and make it frighteningly easy to succumb to King David's charm and attention. Though she immediately regrets her involvement with the powerful king, the pieces are set in motion that will destroy everything she holds dear. Can she find forgiveness at the feet of the Almighty? Or has her sin separated her from God--and David--for...

“Deepak Chopra’s story is an inspiring gift for those who truly care and have the courage to seek.”—Michael Baigent, author of The Jesus PapersThe founder of The Chopra Center and the preeminent teacher of Eastern philosophy to the Western World, Deepak Chopra gives us the story of the man who became Messiah in his phenomenal New York Times bestseller Jesus. The author who illuminated the life of Buddha now offers readers an unparalleled portrait of Jesus Christ, from carpe...

When her father dies and she is left in the care of her conniving brother Laban, Rebekah knows her life has changed forever. Her hope for the future is restored when she falls in love with her cousin Isaac, and their relationship starts strong. But marital bliss cannot last forever, and the birth of their twin sons marks the beginning of years of misunderstanding, disagreement, and betrayal. The rift between them grows wider and wider until it is surely too deep to be mended. And yet, with...

After a tragic accident, doctors pronounced Richard Sigmund legally dead. Eight hours later, God miraculously brought him back to life on the way to the morgue. During those hours, God allowed him to experience the glorious beauty, heavenly sounds, sweet aromas, and boundless joys of heaven that await every believer.

Two brothers. One betrayal.The patriarch Jacob has made it no secret that young Joseph is his favorite son. Growing up as the pampered heir to his father's legacy, Joseph thrives under the praise of his father but struggles with the disdain of his older brothers, especially Judah. When a chance comes along to rid themselves of Joseph, his brothers sell him to slave traders and deceive their father about his fate.Joseph, now serving the captain of Pharaoh's ...

Johnny Cash. The Apostle Paul.Passionate. Controversial. Fiery. Destructive. Redeemed.Two legendary men. Two thousand years apart-yet remarkably similar.Both struggled with a "thorn in the flesh." And both had powerful visions from God.Paul's encounter with the Man in White knocked him to the ground and struck him blind. It also turned him into one of the most influential men in history.Johnny Cash's vision was of another man entirely-his recently de...