About this product: Reading a Max Lucado book is as comfortable as having coffee and conversation with a close friend. He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart is signature Lucado: warm, conversational storytelling blended with scripture, humor, and vulnerability.
Lucado invites us to understand the symbols surrounding Christ's crucifixion and celebrate the significance of the promises they offer. From the sign in different languages tacked to the cross ("I will speak to you in your language") to the burial clothing ("I can turn your tragedy into triumph"), he speaks of each symbol as a "gift of grace" that reveals God's love for mankind.
Lucado takes us to Calvary and shows us our sins nailed between the hand of Jesus and the cross. "You've made some bad choices in life, haven't you," writes Lucado. "You've chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say, 'If only I could make up for those bad choices.' You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. The choice is yours."
Whether he's bantering around phrases like "the hall monitors of holiness" or crafting a deeper expository on the crown of thorns, Lucado neatly balances the task of making his words accessible to a broad audience while delivering a meaty message on God's greatest sacrifice. Pick up this insightful read, and you'll be glad you made the choice. --Cindy Crosby
“Everything Natalie said seemed, to herself, to have been said better by him. He was less fond of speaking, however, than he was of hitting people in the face, which seemed a more likely source of her love to those of us who knew him,” begins Jason Brown’s linked collection of beautifully haunted, violent, and wry stories set in the densely forested lands of northern New England. In these tales of forbidden love, runaway children, patrimony, alcohol, class, inheritance, and survival, Brown’s elegant prose emits both quiet despair and a poignant sense of hope and redemption. These vivid accounts of troubled lives combine the powerful family drama of Andre Dubus and Russell Banks, the dark wit of Denis Johnson, the lost souls of Charles D’Ambrosio, and the New England gothic of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Jason Brown’s exquisitely crafted second collection will establish him as one of the most important voices in American short fiction.
About this product: The journey begins for a young immigrant named Miss Bridie. It is a journey of hope and uncertainty, a journey that will take her to a new land, a new home, and—if she has chosen wisely—a good life. With elegant woodcuts, Caldecott medalist Mary Azarian brings to life Leslie Connor"s spare story of a life rich with blessings, yet not without challenges. Here is a lyrical tribute to the millions of immigrants who left their homes to begin anew in America—and an enchanting look at how one woman carves out a life with the help of a common shovel.
About this product: "Singer's latest retelling from the Old Testament gives a new dimension to the story of the Flood. Children will enjoy hearing the different animals praise their own special qualities so that each will be assured a place on Noah's Ark." --School Library Journal
He Chose You is a personal message to tweens of God's unconditional love for them. His perfect understanding of the needs of tweens today is shown in each detail revealed to us when Christ's chose to die on the cross for all. Illustrating his points with stories today's tweens will be able to apply to their lives, Lucado reveals to tweens the gifts of the cross.
About this product: Victor Kravchenko made a stunning defection to the USA in 1944, while working as a Soviet purchasing agent on the lend-lease program. He was 38 years old. Kravchenko grew up as an idealist and a zealous communist. His father even served prison time for revolting against the Czar in 1905. Kravchenko fought with the Reds in the civil war and joined the communist party.
He began to sour on communism as a witness to the ghastly collectivization efforts in the Ukraine in the mid 1930's. He was sent to organize a harvest but forbidden to feed the starving workers. Kravchenko broke the rules then, and many times as manager of various pipe factories. Nevertheless he witnessed widespread starvation. His communist resolve began to crack when his family adopted a young girl, a wandering orphan, who cried herself to sleep every night because her parents had been shipped to Siberia. And further, when he finally delivered the grain to a warehouse only to find the previous year's harvest safely stored there while thousands perished nearby.
His communist devotion was finally destroyed by numerouse 'purges', endless questionings, tortures, and beatings. His knack for rallying factories seems to be the only reason he survived. Kravchenko vividly describes the human condition of the workers and farmers, the lush perks of party members, and the omnipresent informer culture of a police state.
He eventually achieved a high post in the Kremlin after the Nazi invasion, working under Stalin's top lieutenants. Then deftly maneueverd himself into a position where he might be posted abroad to defect. After his defection, he wrote this book and lived in constant fear of assassination in the US. He died under suspicious circumstances in New York in 1966.
This all too human book shimmers with truth and the realism of genuine witness. Written in rugged prose (translated from Russian) it is the memoir of a great soul. A compelling read for anyone who wants to understand Russia, communism, Stalin, Evil.
About this product: Best-selling author, Gregory E. Lang captures the essence of the dynamic relationships among adoptive families. These are families with so much love to share who are desperate to have and/or help children. From hugs and kisses, to witnessing "firsts" together, "Why I Chose You" depicts all of the reasons why each child is uniquely special to his or her adoptive parent(s).
For many adoptive parents, they desperately want children but are unable to have them. The adoption process provides them with a child who needs a parents' love and nurturing as much as the parents need the child. In other cases, adoptive parents see a need to provide loving homes for children who will flourish because of the affection they have to give.
More than 120,000 children are adopted each year in the United States alone. Trends continue to indicate that the number of adoptees is growing each year as the number of children in foster care continues to increase.
Raising a child is not a right, but a gift. It matters not from where the gift comes, but simply that it is received. Gone are the days in which adoption was taboo. It is reason for rejoicing, sharing, and celebrating. No guilt and no second guesses can creep into your heart once it is so completely filled to bursting with love.
It is that love that is celebrated within the pages of "Why I Chose You." Gregory E. Lang has compiled dozens of reasons for adoption as well as capturing the adoration, affection, and mutual gratification that is received from both the parent and child. For there is no greater place than a home filled with love, and no greater gift than the smile of a happy and contented child who knows he or she is loved.
About this product: You'll need a entire box of tissues. Colleen James was badly injured when a truck came into the path of her car, her sister Sharon was killed. Sharon and her husband Craig were apart at the time, as they were off and on in their marrage. When the accident happened Craig turned to drink, and told his son Beau, Colleen killed his mother, and if she got the chance she would hurt his baby sister Amy. Craig died and left his children in his brother Cade's care. he told Cade Colleen had done everything in her power to break up his marriage to Sharon. So when Colleen wrote to Cade asking to see the children, she received no reply. So Colleen showed up on his door step barely able to walk, she had just gotten out of the hospital, from the accident. Cade soon found Colleen to be sweet, and loving, he regreated listening to his drunken brother's lies, and tried to make a way for Colleen to get closer to her niece and nephew, then he asked her to marry him, for the children's sake. Soon Cade found he wanted Colleen for his own sake. Cade learned Colleen came from a home where her mother was sick, and her father didn't care. Colleen's father brought a woman to there home and made his sick wife get out of bed and cook a meal for this woman, and the two girls were warned to be nice are they would be beaten. There father finaly divorced their mother, but he sent just enough support money to keep their mother from going to court. Sharon pushed Craig, trying his love to see if he would end up being like her father. Colleen became shy and closed in on herself. Cade grew to love this sweet shy woman, so did the kids.
About this product: This is a book I read 20 years ago. It is a follow up book to his first: I Choose Freedom. The story revolves around Victor's attempt to challenge the French Communist party's attempt to slander his first book. He took them to court and he WON! but it was to entail a long an arduous legal battle where the monetary reward was small but the reward for the human spirit was immeasureable.
About this product: On the back of the cover it says "You will rejoice with John and Mary when Sara, as a young teenager, gives her heart to the Lord. You will also grieve with them as Sara takes her own willful course... It also shows very vividly the consequences of wrong choices. Let no one think that it is possible to take Sara's course and escape the resultant reaping."
Yes. Let no young adult think his/her parents and church leaders are ever wrong. If you do, then your life will turn to hell, just like Sara's.
If you've ever wondered what a book would look like that predicts the most dire outcome for not perpetually submitting to your parents, then you may stop wondering, for this is it. This book absolutely wreaks of control-freakism. The idea that parents or church leaders always know better than a young adult (In this case, a young woman named Sara) is the running theme of this book. No opportunity is missed to criticize the decisions of young adults should they ever go against the advice of their peers. The idea of growing into an individual with ideas and desires different than those of your parents or church leaders is depicted over and over and over again as the most hellish thing that could ever happen to a young adult. This book demands that Sara be stripped of her independency to the point that she could not even gain a favorable impression of her future husband before she became engaged. No independency at all. None.
Now whether this book is a true account of a woman's life or not, I would be ashamed to publish this sort of material. Unbiblical restrictions of all sorts are imposed upon Sara. You may not, according to this book,
Go on a date unless your goal is to marry your boyfriend/girlfriend,
Decide when you will marry even if you're engaged,
Choose the town in which you will take a job,
Spend time playing games with another boy/girl when it's just you two,
Attempt to convince your peers to agree with you,
Go against your parents' advice no matter how you personally may feel EVEN IF YOU'RE 21 YEARS OLD.
You may not do any of these things at all without running them through the filter of gaining Mom and Dad's approval. It is obvious that this book's intent is to terrify young adults into seeing independency as the first step on the road to utter disaster. A few quotes will suffice to support these claims, but I could literally expand this list indefinitely.
John Yoder speaking to Sara on page 116-117, --"I trust if he, or anyone else, ever asks to bring you home again, you will ask for time to pray about it first, as well as to counsel with your parents and the ministers"..."And the fact that you did not take time to consider, get counsel, or pray about this decision shows a lack of maturity on your part. Courtship is for spiritual and mature people because its purpose is for marriage and that only.--
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NOTE: Courtship's purpose is never defined as only for marriage in the Bible. And for people like myself, courtship/dating IS necessary to connect with someone else on a more personal level. But Sara is never allowed to form her own impression of Jacob whether it's by dating or by just thinking on her own. This book demands she abandon her own ability to decide for herself and let her peers take total control. Look, think about it- What Sara's dad is defending is that a person, unable to be more personal in mixed company, should still be forced to make a marital decision before he/she personally gets to know his/her fiancé! What utter nonsense!
Mother and Sara speaking to each other on pages 140-141 --Mother sighed deeply. "Oh, Sara, I wish you wouldn't be in such a hurry. Give Father and me time to talk about it."... She (Sara) looked at them with her chin tipped up. "Furthermore, if you don't give your consent, we will get married anyway, even if we have to go to the courthouse to do it!"
"Oh, no!" Mother remonstrated. "You want to have our ministers marry you."
Father looked at Sara soberly. What had ever happened to the sweet and submissive daughter that she used to be? Must they give in to her now, to let her learn in bitter tears that the way she was choosing would be a painful way?--
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NOTE: Since Sara's father and all the church members believed that Sara's fiancé was a Godly man, Father couldn't have had a clue that Sara would learn her decision was a bad one, much less that she would learn in "bitter tears". It wouldn't have mattered if she'd waited anyways, as her fiancé was a VERY patient man and would have waited longer if Sara decided to. And yet, Sara's trials with her husband are blamed on her decision to marry earlier over against the advice of her obviously smarter parents. Yeah, right. Talk about ignoring logic to push your agenda!
Sara, years later, speaking to her 21 year old daughter on pages 248, 249, 281, and 283, --"You will be much better off spiritually working here in the valley among our own people, even if you earn less."..."You need to become more firmly grounded in the faith," Mother admonished, "and develop convictions that will help you grow into responsible adulthood."..."If he is not interested in courtship, then you'd better not be spending time together playing games and riding around."..."Your evidence of self-will scares me, Dorcas. I fear for you."--
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NOTE: Dorcas is TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD!!!
It only gets worse. Here's a quote from the preface, "At the beginning of this story, the church and the parents were somewhat lax in giving the firm direction that may have spared Sara from the tragedies in her life."
Not only is giving firm directions to a young woman about her dating life NOT the responsibility of the church, but that statement isn't true. Sara's parents and church did everything but strangle her with the restrictions they imposed upon her. The idea that the conduct exhibited by Sara's peers was lax only enforces the idea that this book supports complete and total dominance by parents. Frightening. Simply frightening.
I actually found myself cheering Sara on when she made contrary decisions just because I enjoyed the idea of control-freak parents getting what they deserved. I think she hit it right on the mark when she says on page 108, --They are to blame if I have withdrawn from them, she reasoned rebelliously.-- Yes. Parents like John and Mary Yoder are to blame for the suffocating hold they place over their children. This is the reason children run away from home. I'm not talking about children who simply act out their nature as sinners. I'm talking about the atmosphere of home that is created when the mom and dad sense their inability to raise carbon copies of themselves and see this as a sign of sinful rebellion on the part of the son/daughter. That is WRONG. The PARENTS are to blame. It's THEIR SIN. Not the children's, the parent's. And I don't feel a bit sorry for those who weep over their runaway children if they put their children through this kind of abuse.
In summary, this book is nothing more than a tool created for parents who are scared to death if their children, regardless of age, don't do what they're told without fail. I'm astonished that one could uphold such control-freakism as if it were Biblical. Sara's unfortunate life cannot be used to defend the abusive behavior of her peers. I don't recommend you buy this book unless you wish to verify the things I've written. I believe God will hold every person who utilizes this book's ideologies responsible for stumping their child's growth as an individual.
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