Showing results by narrator "Al Kessel" in All Categories

As a pastor in Manhattan, John Starke knows the bustle and busyness of our society. But he also knows that prayer is not just for spiritual giants. Prayer, he writes, is for each of us - not because we are full of spiritual wisdom and maturity, but because we are empty. Here is an invitation to discover, via the church's ancient rhythms and with Starke's clear, practical guidance, the possibility of prayer. Here is a book about prayer that is really a book about the whole Christian life.

Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choices explores the hidden influences and mental shortcuts our minds use to process information and how that often leads to unhealthy food choices. Understanding these hidden influences can help us make better decisions. More importantly, we can learn to fear less, and enjoy more, the food we eat.

The Bible is often presented as an antiquated document filled with mysterious prophesies, unbelievable fables, and arbitrary decisions by a God whose actions range from anger and vengeance to love and forgiveness. The Bible's creation story appears to be at complete odds with more credible scientific explanations of the origins and evolution of life, and believers in Biblical truth are further challenged by haunting questions about why a good God would create a world so full of evil, pain, suffering, and death. Satan's Dare takes these issues and questions head-on. 

30 Days to Your Best Marriage is a prime way to keep your relationship growing and thriving. It provides the kind of spiritual connection point that helps you walk hand-in-hand together, traveling through Bible verses that focus on the covenant of marriage and the impact God intends it to create on each of you, individually and as a couple. After 30 days of focusing on your marriage through the lens of Scripture, you'll begin to experience a new joy in doing life together.

 In Gang Politics, Kristian Williams examines our society's understanding of social and political violence, what gets romanticized, misunderstood, or muddled. He explores the complex intersections between "gangs" of all sorts—cops and criminals, Proud Boys and Antifa, Panthers and skinheads—arguing that government and criminality are intimately related, often sharing critical features.

You’ve seen the movies, now listen to the original tale of John Dolittle, MD, the Doctor who could talk to animals! Join Doctor Dolittle, Polynesia the parrot, Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the duck, Chee-Chee the monkey, and more as they embark on a perilous and wonderful adventure to save the monkeys in Africa from a deadly disease! Cheer them on as they battle pirates and a ruthless king!

In the last few years, it has become abundantly clear that the effects of accelerating climate change will be catastrophic, from rising seas to more violent storms to desertification. Yet why do nation-states find it so difficult to implement transnational policies that can reduce carbon output and slow global warming? In Oceans Rise, Empires Fall, Gerard Toal identifies geopolitics as the culprit.

Funeral homes are immediately recognizable features of the American landscape, and yet the history of how these spaces emerged remains largely untold. In Preserved, Dean Lampros uses the history of this uniquely American architectural icon to explore the twentieth century's expanding consumer landscape and reveal how buildings can help construct identities.

Living in the Fellowship meant fighting one space battle after another. Every civilization was aggressive, hostile, and impossible to live with in peace. A Welken task force stumbles upon a massive Myot ship building complex and every Welken warship is destroyed in the ensuing battle before they can warn the home world of the Myot's location. One escape pod manages to escape the battle and the Myot know it must be prevented from making it back to Welken territory.

As believers around the world pray for renewal and revival in our conflicted times, they often neglect a key ingredient: pursuing God's presence. The problem, says pastor and theologian Roger Helland, is that we were never taught, in a balanced and biblical way, how to seek, experience, and host God's kavod—his radiant glory, his manifest presence. Offering grounded and practical teaching, balanced with Scripture and Spirit, Helland shows how to live out a deeper biblical experience of the Holy Spirit and the manifest presence of God.

Invading troops with a deadly virus. A young man fighting for his life. Will flesh-eating monsters run out the clock on America’s future? Northern California, 1985. Former high school quarterback Leo Cecchino sacrificed his dreams for his family. Unfulfilled by the daily grind of their ailing farm, he can’t help but feel resentment. But he’s soon redirecting his smoldering frustration into battle rage when his small town is invaded by bloodthirsty Russians armed with a zombie virus. Can Leo snatch victory from the undead jaws of defeat?

General Ulysses S. Grant is best remembered today as a war-winning general, and he certainly deserves credit for his efforts on behalf of the Union. But has he received too much credit? Have others who fought the war with him suffered unfairly? General Grant and the Verdict of History explores these issues. Professor Frank P. Varney examines Grant's relationship with three noted Civil War generals: the brash and uncompromising "Fighting Joe" Hooker; George H. Thomas, the commander who earned the sobriquet "Rock of Chickamauga"; and Gouverneur Kemble Warren.

Are you ready to lose that excess weight and keep it off? Fed up with paying thousands of dollars per year on medical expenses? Frustrated with fad diets that over-promise and under-deliver? Did you know that 80% of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, dementia, arthritis, and cancer can be prevented? Learn how to empower yourself to depend less on a broken health care system and more on individual choices to determine your own health and well-being.

Historian Jonathan W. White tells the riveting story of Appleton Oaksmith, a swashbuckling sea captain whose life intersected with some of the most important moments, movements, and individuals of the mid-nineteenth century, from the California Gold Rush, filibustering schemes in Nicaragua, Cuban liberation, and the Civil War and Reconstruction. Most importantly, the book depicts the extraordinary lengths the Lincoln Administration went to destroy the illegal trans-Atlantic slave trade.

A woman searching for a sister lost at sea. A man bent on finding lost treasure. A mother who has lost all hope. A maniac who believes all life exists for his pleasure. The man who would keep them all safe. Together, they will all seek below the waves for treasures long buried, and riches beyond belief. But those treasures hide something. Something ancient, something dark. A creature that exists only to feed on those that would enter into its realm. A creature... of The Deep.

In The Power of Authentic Leadership: Activating the 13 Keys to Achieving Prosperity Through Authenticity, authentic leadership and prosperity expert Jeff Davis features life-changing insights from his discussions with more than 20 of the world's most iconic authentic leaders. He directly connected with these history makers, and he's acting as the humble conduit between you and their wisdom.

Since the birth of their nation, Americans have acted on the belief that theirs was a land of youth, a place destined to offer a fresh start to an aging world. No Country for Old Age tells this story from the founding period to our present moment, but not without exposing its darker side: rejuvenation has often bred grand expectations that end in division and despair.

Once below the Potomac River, the Union troopers raced down the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains but were unable to prevent General Lee's wounded Army of Northern Virginia from reaching Culpeper. The balance of 1863 was a series of maneuvers, raids, and fighting that witnessed the near-destruction of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade at Buckland Mills and the indecisive and frustrating efforts of the Bristoe Station and Mine Run campaigns. Alfred Pleasonton's controversial command of the mounted arm ended abruptly, only to be replaced by the more controversial Philip H. Sheridan.

This is a fine military science fiction novelette with a treason scenario. The tale has a unique premise, and is certainly one of Garrett's best stories. In the distant future, forced equality of all human beings has become the highest social priority. Earth's involvement in an interstellar war with this type of society leads to major problem. One intelligent man, stuck in a military where everyone is forced to be equal, comes up with a unique solution to that problem. The story may be an accurate prophecy of where we may be heading as a society.

A complicated, angry son, Calumet Marston, returns to his boyhood homestead to find his hated father dead and a stranger, a woman named Betty, in charge. Her family had aided his father, and now she is "the boss". His father's will stipulates certain conditions before Calumet can take over, including repairs to the ranch and to the relationship he had with his dad. Several letters Betty has lead Calumet to a new understanding of his father and their stormy history. Murder, gun fights, ambush, ancient treasure - it's all here.