MSI Press Blog

  The MSI Press study guide series is a set of documents/posts prepared by authors to help readers take a deeper dive into and personal look at various MSI books.  Today's study guide is meant to accompany Blest Atheist by Elizabeth Mahlou.. Book Description: Blest Atheist is the powerful true story of a woman who turned her back on God—only to find Him walking beside her all along. As a young child, Beth is horrified by the silence of a church that does nothing to stop the physical and sexual abuse she endures. In a moment of righteous fury, she delivers a searing youth sermon that gets her family expelled from the congregation—and she slams the door on God for good. Or so she thinks. Over the years, Beth carves out a remarkable life: raising seven children, mastering 17 languages, and building a career that spans NASA, Washington, and 24 countries. Yet even as she denies Him, God continues to protect, guide, and bless her in ways she only comes to recognize decades later. ...

  Today's Publisher's Pride is  Since Sinai  by Shannon Gonyou, which reached #52 in biographies of Judaism and #258 in Jewish life. Since Sinai has appeared in Amazon best-selling categories nearly every week since its release. Book Description: Raised in a heavily Catholic suburb of Detroit, Michigan, Shannon grew up focusing on two things: how to do enough good deeds to get into heaven and how to stay pure enough to escape hell. In college, she followed many of her peers into an Evangelical church known for guitars, drum, religious-based shame, and the idea that without Jesus she was nothing. But when she encountered Judaism on that same campus, a spark ignited within her and refused to be put out. Judaism felt obvious, familiar. After a falling out with her biological mother and two miscarriages, she found the courage to send the most important email of her life: she asked the local Jews by Choice program to accept her as a student. Honest and unflinching, Shannon's s...

Recently released: Audiobook edition of  How to Argue with an Atheist  by Professor TL Brink . Book description Up against the wall in "arguing" with an atheist or challenged by your own inner atheist? TL Brink proposes a simulated discussion, a heuristic for a conversation with an acquaintance, in a formal debate, or with your inner voice. Considering that faith is a commitment to serve God, Brink posits that atheists have refused to participate in the spiritual side of life-and helps them recover by leading them, in a 12 step program, to an exploration of the spiritual dimension. Remember, the goal is to win FOR, not against, that atheist. This book shows you how. Keywords arguing with atheists, d ebating atheism, f aith vs. atheism, t heist vs. atheist debate, r eligion and reason, s piritual discussions, w inning debates on faith, s imulated religious debate, i nner atheist struggles, c onversational apologetics,  12-step spiritual journey, g uiding atheists to faith,...

Today's book excerpt comes from Blest Atheist by Elizabeth Mahlou. Mercy   The Samaritan stopped because he was filled with mercy. He also had clearly been blessed with the resources to help. I stopped by habit. Very early I internalized the concept that helping even one person toward a better life is a way to justify one’s own existence. That may well have given a positive balance to the daily abuse I experienced throughout my childhood. Knowing that someone was better off because of something I had done—whether it was teaching a kindergarten class when I was in first grade, working as the teachers’ helper in conducting an extra reading group for the struggling readers in my elementary school classroom, or serving as an evening telephone resource to the eighth-grade members of my advanced mathematics class whose teacher kept confusing us with high school juniors—established a sense of self-worth that logically should never have appeared, given all the abuse I experienced...