Many people probably didn't think that Phyllis was anything special. Single lady that lived alone all of her life. No kids. No husband. No grand career. But Phyllis had an active inner life along with an adventuresome spirit that led her into all sorts of situations. She worked for the American Embassy in Spain and Greece just after World War II, biked and skied around Europe with her dog Chispa, worked with famous midcentury Modernist architect E. Stuart Williams, had movie legend Pepe Serna for a landlord, and once had to have Jose Greco do her plumbing And on a hair-thin budget she managed to survive and weather the storms that one has in life, all while supporting those less fortunate. She indeed was special to those around her. This book of poetry and escapades is a revelation about the uniqueness of us all, if we just look hard enough to find it. ... and Phyllis thought to herself, ... "Here I am, drinking whiskey and dancing with a man who is an almost total stranger in a night club in Basel, Switzerland, at three in the morning. Not bad for a middle-aged school teacher from California "

Rise of the Spiritual Activist connects faith with social justice and seeks to provide for the would-be activist a spiritual model for advocacy. Economic injustice, oppression, sexism, racism, homophobia, pollution of God's creation, and many other societal concerns will need to be addressed in today's arena of advocacy and protest, making Rise of the Spiritual Activist relevant for people of faith who want to repair the world. Marquez-Sterling provides the philosophical foundation for spiritual activism as well as interviews with spiritual activists in the field and a step-by-step guide on how to run a justice effort.

In America, there is one divorce every thirteen seconds. That's 6,646 divorces per day and 46,523 divorces per week. Why is the divorce rate so high? Are people getting married too soon and not getting to really know each other first, or are couples throwing in the towel on their marriage without truly trying? When God ordained the marriage of a man and a woman, He never said it would be easy, because it involves the union of two imperfect people, blending together with their own imperfections. Marriage is not a fairy tale, with a "happily ever after" ending. However, it is a union that requires two people working together daily at becoming one and developing the ability to recognize the attacks of the enemy. In A Well-Rounded Love Affair, you will learn how to focus on specific areas to help your relationship blossom. Some of the important areas are:

- Covering your marriage with prayer - Learning to forgive - Realizing selfish love can't thrive - You and your spouse working together to become one

Through your reading, you will further see that it will take more than intimacy to hold your marriage together.

Fifty-Two Weeks with God is composed of fifty-two meditations on God, God's creation, and men and women who gave their lives for others. The book begins with New Year, the time we think of what we have done before and repent and resolve to correct ourselves. We sit in awe at God's magnificent creation and what He has done for us. We meditate on the lives of others who felt the call to follow Christ and care for those in need. We meditate on the innocent children whose characters and beliefs we mold as we care for them by word and deed. We meditate on the spirit of God, the spirit of love and truth. We meditate on God's promise for us to be with him in the warmth of his love for eternity if we follow His example and teaching.

"Whatever is true, whatever is good, whatever is honorable, whatever is of good report. Whatever is lovely, whatever is pure; think on these things (Philippians 4:8)."

Recent years have seen increasing numbers of Protestant and Catholic Christians converting to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In this book D. Oliver Herbel examines Christian converts to Orthodoxy who served as exemplars and leaders for convert movements in America during the twentieth century. These convert groups include Carpatho Rusyns, African Americans, and Evangelicals. Religious mavericks have a long history in Americaa tradition of being anti-tradition. Converts to orthodoxy reject such individualism by embracing an ancient form of Christianity even as they exemplify it by choosing their own religious paths. Drawing on archival resources including Rusyn and Russian newspapers, unpublished internal church documents, personal archives, and personal interviews, Herbel presents a close examination of the theological reasons for the exemplary converts' own conversions as well as the reasons they offered to persuade those who followed them. He considers the conversions within the context of the American anti-tradition, and of racial and ethnic tensions in America. This book offers the first serious investigation of this important trend in American religion and the first in-depth investigation of any kind of African-American Orthodoxy.