Like so many bright and beautiful baby boys, Tom Anderson was a child of great promise. Being sexually violated at a young age by an older man who presented himself as a father figure, Tom's life was dramatically changed. With divine grace, God reached into Tom's drugged and lonely life during his late teen years, and led him down a path that touched thousands of lives with the compassion and humility of Jesus Christ. As an outstanding medical doctor, Tom ministered to the sick, the elderly, and the mentally ill. In spite of his successful practice, he was haunted every day of his life by the physical, emotional, and psychological damage perpetrated against him as a child. Yet, it is not for these struggles that we remember him; but, for "His love for his family, his humble service and hospitality to his fellow man, and his commitment to God." In the end, Jesus won.

If you are one of the many Americans fascinated by the American Civil War, but feel that there is nothing new under the sun concerning that epic time, think again. In these pages you will find a wealth of stories of incredible courage, extraordinary perseverance, and heartwarming affection and humor. These stories of the personalities and events from the Civil War are carefully chosen to appeal to both the well-acquainted as well as the novice.

The book includes spiritual lessons for us today, using practical applications and insights from the Holy Scriptures, based on intriguing stories of those who lived through our nation's greatest trial.

My hope is that these stories, written in a highly readable, short-chapter devotional style, will not only provide Civil War lovers with hours of reading enjoyment but wisdom and hope in the midst of our own trials each of us face in these difficult times.

Life never seemed so good. Well, at least that s how you ll feel after completing Confessions of a Bipolar Firefighter. Strap in. From the mountainous highs to the bottomless lows, this adventurous autobiography travels through the mind and experiences of a tremendously controversial, besieged, introspective and tormented man named James L. Nutt.
It begins through the eyes of a child who endures extreme physical, sexual and emotional abuse and then transitions into his impoverished and naturally destructive teenager years accented by his proclivity for violence. After a tumultuous young adulthood, he grows into a working class firefighter who daringly climbs the ranks to chief.
Normalcy appears to be attained as James and his newfound family gain a strong relationship with God. But the ebbs quickly return as James discovers his church pastor has embezzled thousands of dollars from offerings, and his wife passes from skin cancer leaving him to raise four children on his own. All the while, he continues to wage battles against his own bipolar disorder along with the vices of alcohol, drug abuse, sex and violence.
Everything culminates to a fight with his own demons as a God-fearing man with an agenda to avenge those who have betrayed him. His mental illness exacerbates and his relationship with the Lord wavers as he struggles with completing his own vengeance versus allowing God to take the lead.
Whether you believe him to be crazy or sane, right or wrong, you will certainly remain on the edge of your seat as you take a ride with this truly original character who provides insight into his real-life tale for the ages.

From a daily commute through Seattle rush-hour traffic to equatorial jungles, the Olsons experienced a radical change in lifestyle when they answered a call to serve God in Christian radio. Their travels over a nine-year period brought challenging and joyful experiences in cross-cultural living in the twenty-first century. Their stories range from compassionate to humorous as they relate their extraordinary adventures.

Travel along with the Olsons as they move from country to country across five continents. Author Patti Olson captured the sights, sounds, and emotions of new discoveries as they experienced them, allowing her to recount them in rich detail in Frogs in the Loo and Other Short-Term Missions Tales.

Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881-1983), founder of Reconstructionism and the rabbi who initiated the first Bat Mitzvah, also produced the longest Jewish diary on record. In twenty-seven volumes, written between 1913 and 1978, Kaplan shares not only his reaction to the great events of his time but also his very personal thoughts on religion and Jewish life. In Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan Volume III, 1942-1951, readers experience his horror at the persecution of the European Jews, as well as his joy in the founding of the State of Israel. Above all else, Kaplan was concerned with the survival and welfare of the Jewish people. And yet he also believed that the well-being of the Jewish people was tied to the safety and security of all people. In his own words, "Such is the mutuality of human life that none can be saved, unless all are saved". In the first volume of Communings of the Spirit, editor Mel Scult covers Kaplan's early years as a rabbi, teacher of rabbis, and community leader. In the second volume, readers experience the economic problems of the 1930s and their shattering impact on the Jewish community. The third volume chronicles Kaplan's spiritual and intellectual journey in the 1940s. With candour and vivid detail, Kaplan explores his evolving beliefs concerning a democratic Judaism; religious naturalism; and the conflicts, uncertainties, and self-doubts he faced in the first half of the twentieth century, including his excommunication by the ultra-Orthodox in 1945 for taking a more progressive approach to the liturgy. In his publications, Kaplan eliminated the time-honored declarations of Jewish chosen-ness as well as the outdated doctrines concerning the resurrection of the dead. He wanted a prayer book that Jews could feel reflected their beliefs and experiences; he believed that people must mean what they say when they pray. Kaplan was a man of contradictions, but because of that, all the more interesting and significant. Scholars of Judaica and rabbinical studies will value this honest look at the preeminent American Jewish thinker and rabbi of our times.