Audiobooks by M.A. | LoveReading

Great Women of the Apocrypha: Judith Audiobook

In modern times, the Apocrypha has only been excluded from the Old Testament in some Protestant publications. The idea that these books are forbidden is viewed both as myth and fact by many Christian scholars, with the reasonable course left in the midst of divided opinion being to study and understand these books. Jesus himself is said to reference texts from the Apocrypha using the Old Testament language which was familiar to those he was teaching. It is also interesting to note that the Apostolic Fathers of the Early Church referenced the Apocrypha, and quoted from it as they did the Old Testament. It was hard not to do so, as the Jewish Old Testament included the Apocrypha. The Book of Judith, tells the story of a beautiful widow who bravely saves her besieged city of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army. As is so common among all biblical and apocryphal stories, the underlying theme of this book is faith and obedience under seemingly impossible circumstances.. Aside from including an unusual literary device (Judith doesn't even appear in the book until Chapter 8) this 4th book of the official Old Testament Apocrypha also dramatically shows the kind of woman God favors - not necessarily the one who is most talented or brave or even beautiful, but the one who prays first and foremost and is obedient in pursuit of His pleasure before her own comfort.

M.A., Robert J. Bagley (Author), Steve Cook (Narrator)

Audiobook

Great Women of the Apocrypha: Sara (The Book of Tobit)

Read for you by Best-Selling Narrator, Steve Cook, Sara is found in the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha. So as not to confuse; this is not Abraham's wife from the book of Genesis. Sara is miserable because of numerous marital misfortunes and she eventually prays to God that he would let her die. Her story is intertwined with that of Tobit, a righteous man who lived in Nineveh (a town many miles away) near the time of Jonah, the biblical Prophet. Tobit, for reasons of his own, also prays to God to allow him to die at the very same time Sara does. The intertwining of these two stories is reinforced by the fact that almost immediately after Sara ends her prayer, the book mysteriously changes in tense from 1st person (Tobit) to the 3rd person. In addition, the Archangel Raphael is sent to minister to both Tobit and Sara at the end of Chapter 3. Thus, it seems 'another voice' quite literally has taken over the story at the beginning of Chapter 4. Sara's faithful prayers and obedience to God brought her blessings beyond anything she could have ever imagined. In modern times, the Apocrypha has only been excluded from the Old Testament in some Protestant publications. The idea that these books are forbidden is viewed both as myth and fact by many Christian scholars, with the reasonable course left in the midst of divided opinion being to study and understand these books. Jesus himself is said to reference texts from the Apocrypha using the Old Testament language which was familiar to those he was teaching. It is also interesting to note that the Apostolic Fathers of the Early Church referenced the Apocrypha, and quoted from it as they did the Old Testament. It was hard not to do so, as the Jewish Old Testament included the Apocrypha.

M.A., Robert J. Bagley (Author), Steve Cook (Narrator)

Audiobook

Great Women of the Apocrypha: Esther

Read for you by Best-Selling Narrator, Steve Cook, Esther's story is the basis for the Festival of Purim; a joyous commemoration of God's salvation of the Jewish people. Esther acted against the social and political norms of her day to win a victory against misplaced political power. The Book of Esther continues the theme of God's promise to bless the Jewish people given in the Book of Genesis, and His providence and sovereignty over all things. The Apocrypha contains what is known as the 'Rest of Esther', an additional 10 verses of Chapter 10 of the biblical Book of Esther, as well as 6 more full Chapters. In modern times, the Apocrypha (and the 'Rest of Esther' along with it) has only been excluded from the Old Testament in some Protestant publications. Jesus himself is said to reference texts from the Apocrypha using the Old Testament language which was familiar to those he was teaching. It is also interesting to note that the Apostolic Fathers of the Early Church referenced the Apocrypha, and quoted from it as they did the Old Testament. It was hard not to do so, as the Jewish Old Testament included the Apocrypha.

M.A., Robert J. Bagley (Author), Steve Cook (Narrator)

Audiobook

Great Women of the Apocrypha: Susanna

Read for you by Best-Selling Narrator, Steve Cook, Susanna is found in the Apocrypha. It is sometimes called, 'The History of Susanna.' She was very beautiful and feared the Lord, having been raised by righteous parents who instructed her in Mosaic law. After being wrongly accused of a crime, and sentenced to death, Susanna cries out to God, Who hears her and sends a young Daniel (yes, the very same) to her rescue. Daniel conducts a clever investigation and convinces her judges to change their minds and side with Susanna, condemning her accusers to death instead. Daniel's wisdom was respected from that day forward. Much debate continues over which books should be considered part of Holy Scripture to this day. Various church councils have made different decisions about what should be included and which should not. But, ALL Christians who are serious about their walk in the Christian faith should read the Apocrypha, ponder its place in Christian history, compare what the great church scholars have said concerning it, consider why Jesus himself referred to it, and above all, prayerfully understand its significant contributions to the ultimate message of salvation, made available by Jesus the Messiah.

M.A., Robert J. Bagley (Author), Steve Cook (Narrator)

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Sermon on The Mount: From The Revised Geneva Translation

The Geneva Bible is an Elizabethan-era synthesis of Scripture, based largely on William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale's early 16th century translations of the received Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew texts. It is 85% similar to the King James Bible. However, it actually pre-dated the KJV by at least a half-century and was in fact the more popular Bible of its day among folks like the American Pilgrims, William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell and John Bunyon. Read for you by Best-Selling Narrator, Steve Cook, the text for this recording is taken from the Revised Geneva Translation, a 21st Century update of that classic text. It eliminates archaic and potentially distracting 16th Century words and phrases, while at the same time maintaining the strict attention to original intent for which this version of The Holy Bible has always been known. In addition, the RGT strives to preserve the textual cadence and poetry that is so essential to Elizabethan literature. Just as in all preceding centuries, biblical text in the 1500’s was meant to be heard and seen, as much as read, because so many of those who received it were illiterate. And so the living and active characteristic of God’s word is very much kept in mind on this recording.

M.A., Robert J. Bagley (Author), Steve Cook (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Superhuman Mind: Free the Genius in Your Brain

Did you know your brain has superpowers? Berit Brogaard, PhD, and Kristian Marlow study people with astonishing talents-memory champions, human echolocators, musical virtuosos, math geniuses, and synesthetes who taste colors and hear faces. But as amazing as these abilities are, they are not mysterious. Our brains constantly process a huge amount of information below our awareness, and what these gifted individuals have in common is that through practice, injury, an innate brain disorder, or even more unusual circumstances, they have managed to gain a degree of conscious access to this potent processing power. The Superhuman Mind takes us inside the lives and brains of geniuses, savants, virtuosos, and a wide variety of ordinary people who have acquired truly extraordinary talents, one way or another. Delving into the neurological underpinnings of these abilities, the authors even reveal how we can acquire some of them ourselves-from perfect pitch and lightning fast math skills to supercharged creativity. The Superhuman Mind is a book full of the fascinating science readers look for from the likes of Oliver Sacks, combined with the exhilarating promise of Moonwalking with Einstein.

Berit Brogaard, Kristian Marlow, M.A., Ph.D. (Author), Andrea Gallo (Narrator)

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