The message of the kingdom of God, as brought to us by Christ, is a message that overturns hierarchies, sets free the enslaved, and breaks the power of the curse upon humanity. Yet when it comes to women, the church has chosen all too often to live according to the structures of sin and death, offering them not the good news of Christ, but the curse of Genesis, as their inheritance. In this powerful and challenging text, Ksenija Magda traces the impact of the curse – and the ever-present temptation to choose the world and its power over the servant-hearted humility of Christ – on our families, our church structures, our nations, and ultimately, our gospel witness. The question of how we view, treat, oppress or empower women is not, Magda reminds us, peripheral to the gospel but foundational. She warns that if men and women will not partner together in building the kingdom of God, they will find themselves partners in the work of upholding the world’s structures of power and oppression. Will we choose to bless the curse or to redeem it? To live in the death that our foreparents chose in the garden, or accept the life and freedom held out to us by Christ? This is a question upon which human history and the hope of our restoration hangs.

The "magical power of the spoken word" is a topic that often comes up in a discussion of biblical blessings and curses. What is the source of social and linguistic power behind these blessings and curses? Many theologians would agree that God can and does bless, but does God also curse? If so, what does that mean to the biblical theology of the Old Testament and the Christian church? Anderson's The Blessing and the Curse applies speech act theory as one way to understand the performative function of blessings and curses. The concept of speech acts provides a method of recognizing the potent social power of language to accomplish certain ends, without drawing a hard line of distinction between word-magic and religion. Even though the chief concepts and practices of blessings and curses are deeply rooted in the broad cultural environment of the ancient Near East, tracing specific trajectories of Old Testament blessings and curses as theological themes conveys broad, inescapable implications for the biblical narrative and the Christian church.

Life's trials and triumphs can seem accidental. One person may feel that life is a constant struggle in which pitfalls abound and someone seems out to get him. Another may feel that every day is a gift from God with special blessings just for her. That's because forces are at work in our lives: the blessings of a loving God or the curses of our spiritual adversary. This hugely popular classic work of Derek Prince helps readers recognize if there are curses at work in their lives and shows them how to get out from under those curses to live under God's blessings. This third edition of Blessing or Curse includes an extensive new study guide for small group or individual use.

Has God's judgment fallen upon America after pressuring Israel to make land concessions? Is God fulfilling the promises to Abraham before our very eyes? Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

“It feels like I take one step forward, two steps back. Yet some people seem to move from one golden opportunity to the next.” Could these remarks be observations of the effects of modern-day curses and blessings? The Bible has much to say on the subject. Bless, and Curse Not will open your understanding to the Biblical principles of blessings and curses. In it, you will learn of the destructive power of generational curses, hereditary curses, word curses, and self-curses. You will also learn how to change, for the better, the circumstances of those you love by the power of blessings. Subjects covered include: Curses need to be removed The cause of a curse must be removed Our responsibility in removing curses The power and authority of the believer to bless What blessings can we make? Whom should we bless? Identify curses operating in your life Identify your own special familial blessings Containing over three hundred pages of Scriptural curses and blessings arranged in tabular form by symptoms, this book allows you to pinpoint the curses hindering you and your family and the blessings to replace them. Bless, and Curse Not by Gary W. Grout is comprehensive in its coverage of the subject, clear in its presentation, and practical in its application to our lives.

An erudite and accessible survey of Jewish life and culture in the twentieth century, as reflected in seminal texts. Following The People and the Books, which "covers more than 2,500 years of highly variegated Jewish cultural expression" (Robert Alter, New York Times Book Review), poet and literary critic Adam Kirsch now turns to the story of modern Jewish literature. From the vast emigration of Jews out of Eastern Europe to the Holocaust to the creation of Israel, the twentieth century transformed Jewish life. The same was true of Jewish writing: the novels, plays, poems, and memoirs of Jewish writers provided intimate access to new worlds of experience. Kirsch surveys four themes that shaped the twentieth century in Jewish literature and culture: Europe, America, Israel, and the endeavor to reimagine Judaism as a modern faith. With discussions of major books by over thirty writers—ranging from Franz Kafka to Philip Roth, Elie Wiesel to Tony Kushner, Hannah Arendt to Judith Plaskow—he argues that literature offers a new way to think about what it means to be Jewish in the modern world. With a wide scope and diverse, original observations, Kirsch draws fascinating parallels between familiar writers and their less familiar counterparts. While everyone knows the diary of Anne Frank, for example, few outside of Israel have read the diary of Hannah Senesh. Kirsch sheds new light on the literature of the Holocaust through the work of Primo Levi, explores the emergence of America as a Jewish home through the stories of Bernard Malamud, and shows how Yehuda Amichai captured the paradoxes of Israeli identity. An insightful and engaging work from "one of America’s finest literary critics" (Wall Street Journal), The Blessing and the Curse brings the Jewish experience vividly to life.

First ladies Rachel Adams and Jasmine Bush are back and a shocking secret will change their lives forever in the latest collaboration between national bestselling and award-winning authors ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Victoria Christopher Murray. Rachel Jackson Adams and Jasmine Cox Larson Bush started off as archrivals. More alike than they care to admit, the First Ladies have battled since they met during a heated American Baptist Coalition election. As their love/hate relationship endured everything from a murder cover-up to a reality show, these women give new meaning to the word scandalous. But now, a long-forgotten photo leads to a startling revelation and Jasmine heads to Rachel's family reunion in Smackover, Arkansas, in search of answers. With her sidekick Mae Frances by her side, this big city girl isn't ready for the country…or Rachel's over-the-top family that may change her life forever.