Author Judy Burford’s original plan was to collect 60 to 70 stories from Louisiana parents of missionaries sent out by the International Mission Board, but the states grew over time to include Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Florida. A Special Touch of Grace: Stories from Missionary Parents about their Missionary Children, by Judy Burford. Published in 2007 by Pleasant Word, a division of Wine Press Publishing, Enumclaw, Wash. Author Judy Burford’s original plan was to collect 60 to 70 stories from Louisiana parents of missionaries sent out by the International Mission Board, but the states grew over time to include Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Florida. “You won’t find the  names of the authors of these stories on the prayer calendar,” Burford writes in the foreward. “As parents of IMB missionaries, most of us remain anonymous – but without us, there would be no missionaries.” The 35 stories in this compilation span the gamut of emotions expressed by the parents of missionaries – joy, acceptance, sorrow – for the personal cost to parents whose children answer God’s call to international missionary service. Excerpt: I personally dedicated our first-born child, a daughter, to God before she was a week old. … [Read more...]

The Birthday Rose tells the story of one of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, one of the overcomers.   The Birthday Rose: What Katrina Could Not Destroy, by Gwen “Miss Chocolate” Williams. Privately published in 2007 and reprinted in 2008 by Gwen Williams, Picayune, Miss. Available via email:chocolatelavern@aol.com The Birthday Rose tells the story of one of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, one of the overcomers. It’s as powerful a retelling of the Katrina story as you’re likely to read anywhere, because it’s written by and about an insider – a longtime New Orleans resident: Gwen “Miss Chocolate” Williams. Williams starts her story in the years before the storm, ministering to children and seniors – and trying with little success to get members of her church involved in mission projects. Then came Katrina, and Miss Chocolate helps us understand the misery of New Orleanians in the first days, weeks and months after the storm. One probably unintended consequence of The Birthday Rose is that it will be a good book for volunteers to read when the next communal disaster takes place. Reading this book is a great way to absorb a real understanding and, therefore, true empathy for a tragedy’s victims. The title … [Read more...]

In this collection of 80 succinct stories he writes, clear, visually-compelling “parables,” as he calls them, which are designed to show Christians ways they can be “lights along the shore” for travelers along life’s journey. Lights Along the Shore by G.L. Dighton, published in 2006 by Pleasant Word, an imprint of WinePress Publishing, Enumclaw, Wash. G.L. Dighton, a deacon for 25 years at Florida Boulevard Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, penned two books before this one. Maybe that’s why the writing is so professional. In this collection of 80 succinct stories he writes, clear, visually-compelling “parables,” as he calls them, which are designed to show Christians ways they can be “lights along the shore” for travelers along life’s journey. He writes of a duck that found its way to the local pond, and the way it was pecked from one group of ducks to another as he sought a way to fit in, until he finally gave up and now is nowhere to be found. Dighton likened that duck to the stranger who might come into a local church. He writes of picking up a cone from a cypress, harvesting the seed inside, and planting them, only to be surprised by 43 baby cypress overrunning his patio. Excerpt: Small beginnings give no indication of … [Read more...]

Callie’s Redemption is an inspiration/suspense novel set in South Florida in the 1990s.   Callie’s Redemption, by Rebekah Kasey. Published April 2008 by Xlibris, Philadelphia. Available at Amazon.com Callie’s Redemption is an inspiration/suspense novel set in South Florida in the 1990s. In this novel, 24-year-old Callie MaCraw blames herself for the death of her 8-year-old nephew, Bobby Neddleton, in a car crash on a foggy street late one night in Venice, Calif. Devastated and unable to cope, Callie leaves her home in Venice and travels to North Florida, then Central Florida, and finally settling in South Florida. In a period of less than six months, Callie goes from a non-drinker to a hard-core alcoholic. She learns what life on the streets of South Florida is all about. Callie’s Redemption is a novel about one woman’s triumph over misfortune and the unique circumstances that bring God into her life. Each chapter includes a related Scripture passage. “No matter where you are in your Christian walk, this novel has something for you,” Author Rebekah Kasey says. “There is a message that can be taken away and used in everyday life.” Kasey, who lives in Deville, is a member at Holloway Baptist … [Read more...]

What is it like being in the belly of a whale? Well, it’s downright scary, according to a description of the book.   When You Find Yourself in the Belly of a Whale, by Beth C. Whittington. Published in May 2008 by Xulon Press. What is it like being in the belly of a whale? Well, it’s downright scary, according to a description of the book that’s on www.xulonpress.com. And the surroundings are rather depressing. However, it is quiet. You have time to think – and pray. Singing sounds really good, much like being in the shower. You begin to explore the possibility of climbing out and taming the very thing that has consumed you. Beth Cantrell Whittington, a member at Calvary Baptist Alexandria, used humor, honesty, a battle with cancer, criminal justice career experiences, and down-to-earth devotional thoughts when she wrote When You Find Yourself .... Her point was to get readers to focus on the big picture – looking at the surprising blows and storms of life through God’s eyes. Jesus was never diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. He was never laid off because his company was downsizing. He never had family problems or experienced a mid-life crisis. But he was falsely accused, mocked, spat upon, beaten, and … [Read more...]

Because a journey can be much more than just miles. The Wayfaring Stranger is a historical love story detailing the intertwining of the lives of two teenagers The Wayfaring Stranger: A Journey to Louisiana, by Curt Iles. Published in November 2007 by Creekbank Stories, sixth self-published book by Iles, who has sold more than 15,000 copies total to date. Because a journey can be much more than just miles. The Wayfaring Stranger is a historical love story detailing the intertwining of the lives of two teenagers, Joseph Moore and Eliza Clark. Set in the mid-nineteenth century, the story begins with Joseph escaping from Ireland as a stowaway on a ship. At this same time, Eliza lives in the piney woods of western Louisiana in an area called No Man s Land. In alternating chapters, we learn about Eliza s life among her mysterious and isolated clan called Ten Milers as well as follow Joseph s winding journey through New Orleans and eventually into No Man s Land. Joseph is drawn toward this area because of the opportunities for freedom and land ownership things unavailable to him in Ireland. The Wayfaring Stranger chronicles Joseph s journey from being bitter to becoming better. Joseph and Eliza s lives bisect at a crucial time in … [Read more...]

Anne and John “Shady” Hurst traveled usually on military transport when they visited Israel, Morocco and Europe. He was career military; travel was a perk.   Sap from the Olive Root: A Long Journey from Israel to America by A.S. Hurst. Published in 2006 by Wise Printing, Sulphur, La.  Anne and John “Shady” Hurst traveled usually on military transport when they visited Israel, Morocco and Europe. He was career military; travel was a perk. Active in their church – whether it was First Baptist Kentwood or churches they helped start or strengthen in Europe and Asia – they traveled to learn about the Jewish people. Sap from the Olive Root is Anne Hurst’s retelling the stories of their travels. From “Shabbat in Jerusalem” to “Discovering Santa in Turkey,” the Hursts toured the places Jews lived and found spiritual encouragement as they walked where Jesus had walked, talked and healed. Then their search to know more about the Jews expanded to Europe – Spain, Prague, Berlin, Poland, Austria and into the British Isles. Excerpt from a visit to the Smyrna church, which inexplicably had been opened for the Hursts apparently by the angel who often helped on their travels – My eyes were glued to a picture of Mary, one that I … [Read more...]

“You can greatly improve your preaching by sharpening your storytelling skills,” says Author Austin B. Tucker. The Preacher as Storyteller takes a skills-development approach to homiletics.   The Preacher as Storyteller: the power of narrative in the pulpit, by Austin B. Tucker. Published in 2008 by B&H Publishing Group, Nashville. “You can greatly improve your preaching by sharpening your storytelling skills,” says Author Austin B. Tucker. The Preacher as Storyteller takes a skills-development approach to homiletics. “... [T]his master rhetorician compellingly demonstrates how a prepared preacher may successfully employ storytelling in order to proclaim the gospel with both biblical fidelity and heartfelt humanity,” wrote Malcolm Yarnell III Ph.D., of SWBTS for the book’s back cover. Excerpt: Long-range planning is essential for children’s sermons as well as for the pastor’s entire pulpit plan. (p. 107) Available at  your LifeWay Christian store and online.   … [Read more...]

Best Advice starts off with a fascinating description of life in Southern Louisiana and, in succeeding chapters, bloviates on a compilation of topics.   The Best Advice I Never Got: Rants and Observations of a Believing Lawyer, by H. Kent Aguillard. Published in 2008 by Pleasant Word, a division of WinePress Publishing, Enumclaw, Wash. Best Advice starts off with a fascinating description of life in Southern Louisiana and, in succeeding chapters, bloviates on a compilation of topics – everything from church to clothing, life to death, money to the lack – and need – thereof. Author H. Kent Aguillard “Tells the truth [as he sees it] about topics ranging from Roe v. Wade to the weekly church bulletin, to the 20th century rituals of death and dying, all woven into stories about football, farming and fishing,” according to the book’s back cover. “His devotion to the local body of believers and his extensive legal career lend credence to his advice on multiple popular culture issues.” Excerpt from a ‘rant’ on Christian music: In my experience, and having visited and spoken in hundreds of churches of different denominations, the form of worship is not what causes one to have a true God-experience. It is the sincerity … [Read more...]

The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas reported the martyrdom of six Carthaginian Christians in 203. Throughout the Passion, there appears to be evidence of Montanism, an early Spirit-based movement similar to modern-day Pentecostalism. The New Prophecy and “New Visions”: Evidence of Montanism in “The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas” by Rex D. Butler, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2006. The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas reported the martyrdom of six Carthaginian Christians in 203. Throughout the Passion, there appears to be evidence of Montanism, an early Spirit-based movement similar to modern-day Pentecostalism. In this book, Rex D. Butler examines the Passion and proposes that its three authors – Perpetua, Saturus, and the unnamed editor – were Montanists. Although many scholars have discussed both sides of this issue, this work is the most extensive investigation to date. Rex D. Butler is Associate Professor of Church History and Patristics at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. … [Read more...]