In The Shattered Cross, Linda Carol Jones explores the lives and work of five priests of the Seminaire de Quebec, the first French Catholic missionaries to serve along the Mississippi River between 1698 and 1725. Using an array of archival holdings in Quebec and France, Jones provides deep insight into the experiences of these pioneer priests and their interactions with regional Native peoples and cultures. Encounters between early French Catholic missionaries and Native peoples were always complex, often misunderstood, and typically fraught with an array of challenges. As Jones demonstrates, these priests faced a combination of environmental, personal, economic, and leadership difficulties that, along with cultural misunderstandings and poorly designed strategies, made their missionary work arduous. Nevertheless, their efforts led, in some instances, to assimilation of select Christian elements into Native cultures, albeit through creative, mutual adaptation, not solely through Catholic efforts. In describing the challenges the Seminaire priests faced in their Christianization efforts, Jones reveals patches of middle ground that served to transform both missionary and Native cultures when least expected. She relates the story of Father Marc Bergier, who took the openness and compassion he felt for the Native peoples he encountered in Quebec with him as he descended the Mississippi River and worked among the Tamarois. Bergier revealed a willingness to reject certain aspects of Catholic teaching in order to accept various Native traditions. Jones also investigates the case of Father Jean-Francois Buisson de Saint-Cosme, strongly suspected by church leaders of having an inappropriate interest in women while serving as a priest in Acadie, several years before his departure down the Mississippi. Jones suggests that Father Saint-Cosme's subsequent sexual relations with the sister of the Great Sun of the Natchez may have been an attempt to step into a middle ground with her so as to end the Natchez tradition of human sacrifice upon the death of a Great Sun. Expectations of Seminaire leaders in Quebec and Paris meant that those with the best chance for success on the Mississippi were internally driven, acknowledged a sense of calling to be a part of the overarching mission of the seminary, and adhered to the advice of its leadership. The missionary experiences of these five men - their varied encounters with Native peoples, Jesuit missionaries, and French coureurs de bois - align and diverge in unexpected ways, presenting a mosaic that adds to our understanding of both the tribulations French Catholic missionaries faced and the consequences of their efforts along the Mississippi River in the early eighteenth century.

The Book Living Every Moment Rightly for Jesus can be summarised as: As a Christian, where ever you are, whatever you do, remember you are the messenger. Your life should speak for Jesus. If we belong to Christ, people must see changes in our lives (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christianity is about transformation which gives us a new life, a new heart and a new self (Ephesians 4:22-24). Apostle Paul tells us that this transformation involves renewal of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). He goes further and says that this renewal is about having a new mindset or attitude that you find in Christ himself (Philippians 2:5-8). The Church is where Christians are equipped for the Ministry of Jesus (Ephesians 4:11-12). People cannot advance Spiritually apart from what they hear on the pulpit. Christians bear fruit outside the four walls of the Church. They have been commanded to carry the Good News (the Gospel) which has transformed their lives to people around them through their personal examples. Christians should not expect people around them to accept their doctrine and ignore their personal examples. Our personal examples are what will win souls for Jesus. Jesus is our Saviour and King. He gave His life to pay for our sins and to serve Him faithfully with passion will change the world. The crowd needs God's grace (Joel LIVING EVERY MOMENT RIGHTLY FOR JESUS 3:14). To serve the Lord faithfully with gladness is serving for the Kingdom purpose. It is a call to serve as against volunteering which means I am doing you a favour. To serve is a manifestation of Christianity; Jesus served (Matt hew 20:28). As Christians, we are all in the Ministry of Jesus. The change (transformation) in our lives (new heart, new mind and new self) should be reciprocated in our communities, workplace, political and social life just to mention but a few. The Word of Spirit and of Power: "For just as the sufferings of Christ fl ow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows" (2 Corinthians 1:5).