Madison Bowman had a wonderful family and two best friends that meant everything to her. She was working hard in the world of fashion, hoping to someday become the newest and most influential designer in the field. Then one day, in a chance meeting, Maddy met the one man she knew she was destined to be with. Zander Cole had his life mapped out. Losing his father at a young age and helping his mother through the ordeal taught him many lessons. The most important one was that it was best to not get involved in a relationship that would require more than he was willing to give. Then one day, Maddy appeared on his horizon, and he couldnt seem to get the feisty, auburn-haired woman out of his mind. Realizing he was wasting time denying his attraction, Zander decided he needed to face his fears and talk to Maddy. Unfortunately, things didnt go as planned, and he stood helplessly by as the woman he loved ran out the door. Knowing he needed to give her space, Zander waited patiently until he learned that she was involved in a tragic accident, and he rushed to be with her. Not sure if shed recover, he stayed by her side, hoping and praying for her to get well. Maddy was touched that he was there but uncertain whether his presence was truly out of love, as he says, or misplaced guilt, as she suspects. Can Zander convince Maddy that his love is true? More importantly, will Maddy take that next step in their relationship and place her heart and soul in his keeping?

PTSD: Raw and Real is a reflection of my struggles with being a victim of child sexual abuse and the process of coming to terms with how these years of abuse have impacted my life. My life with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been a fragmented and disjointed existence with holes, blockades, and landmines. These unseen obstacles created emotional traps, blockades, and explosions at random intervals regardless of my surroundings. I existed for many years riddled with fear, anger, doubt, shame, self-loathing, despair, and loneliness. I tried to run, hide, escape, and disappear, but I could never find a lasting way to avoid the pain lurking everywhere. I didn't understand what PTSD was, and I was not diagnosed with it until much later in my recovery work. I lived life feeling broken, bad, poisonous, and crazy. I dammed these feelings up into a corner within my soul so that I could survive and function within my life. However, my existence was built on an unsteady foundation of negative self-worth that could not withstand the difficult trials of life. This book is my raw and real truth toward recovery and is the map behind the miracle of repairing my soul.

During the last two decades there has been a renaissance in the field of Christian philosophy. Unfortunately, most of this excellent work has not reached general readers. Reason for the Hope Within was produced specifically to make available the best of contemporary Christian philosophy in a clear, accessible -- and highly relevant -- manner. Fourteen of America's rising Christian philosophers here cover many of the traditional themes of Christian apologetics (arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, the possibility of miracles) as well as topics of special relevance to today's world (Eastern religions, Christianity and science, Christianity and ethics, the existence of heaven and hell).

52 Reasons to Hope (and Hold on to Your Faith) shares fifty-two golden nuggets of inspiration that encourage you to turn all of your problems over to God. They will infuse you with hope, and inspire you to believe that there is Light in any darkness. You dont need to worry about the challenges and valleys in your life, because God is in total control of it . . . and He will always be there for you! The selections in this book will remind you of what it means to walk in faith and trust God in every area of your life. If you dont already know God, these offerings can ignite something in you that will spur you to seek Him: He makes every burden we have lighter!

Kelly Monroe presents forty-two compelling testimonies from faculty members, former students, and orators at Harvard University whose reflections explode the myth that Christian faith cannot survive a rigorous intellectual environment.

This year, learn to bring the light and hope of Christ into your home, your community, and your world. Scripture calls us to be the salt of the earth and lights in the world--preserving, flavoring, brightening, and warming the lives of those around us. But too often, it seems the world is getting more and more closed off to the hope and promise of faith. How do we bring the light of Christ to the world around us, showing His love to the people who need it the most? In The One Year Salt and Light Devotional, beloved author Chris Tiegreen provides inspiration and practical insight on how we can offer glimpses of God everywhere we go as we live our faith in a way that begins deep inside and works its way out. Through each day's reading, God will encourage you, move you, and use you in surprising ways to bless this world with His wisdom, power, and love.

The sermon as crafted by the early New England preachers was the most prominent literary form of its day, yet the earliest Puritan texts have as a rule been available only in rare-book collections. This anthology of sermons of the first generation of preachers fills a serious gap in American literature. The preachers collected here, the most widely published of their time, were among the eighty or more who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay during the 1630s. They are John Cotton of Boston, Thomas Shepard of Cambridge, and Thomas Hooker of Hartford, the three foremost "lights of the western churches," and two eminent colleagues, Peter Bulkeley of Concord and John Davenport, first of New Haven and later of Boston. The selections are chosen to be representative of the lengthy works from which they are drawn, to reflect the major concerns and styles of the preachers' work as a whole, and to demonstrate the genre of the sermon as developed by the early American Puritans. Not only does this anthology represent an important contribution to literary history, but the sermons also illustrate a doctrine uniquely elaborated in this period—a consistent and emphatic narrative, mythlike in its repetition and heroics, of the progress of the soul from a state of nature to a state of salvation. This theme may be seen as a three-stage-development, although individual sermons may vary. These stages—preparation, vocation, and regeneration—determine the order of the selections. The editors' introductory material supplies a comprehensive and thorough discussion of the early New England sermons, concentrating on their role, history, structure, style, and subject matter. A separate essay on the texts of the sermons describes the relationship between the early printed versions and their form as delivered in the pulpit. The introduction preceding each selection presents original research on the historical circumstances of the preaching and publication of the work from which the sermon is drawn. The editors have also provided brief biographies of the preacfiers represented here, an annotated list of recommended background reading, and the most exhaustive checklist available of authoritative editions of the sermons of these five preachers. This book will be useful to colonial specialists as well as to students of early American literature, religion, and history. The texts are critically edited for readability, with modernized spelling and annotations of unfamiliar phrases and allusions.

If heaven is truly a paradise where God dwells, we should desire it more than anything on this frail, fleeting earth. The trials and difficulties of life should each be seen in light of the coming glory of heaven. Unfortunately, we rarely view things from this perspective. Our schedules are filled with the present, allowing no time for contemplating or desiring eternity. Our incorrect perspective makes us spend our time on the least important things while ignoring those things that are most crucial. Take a break from the present and let E. M. Bounds help you discover A Place Called Heaven. Examining virtually all the Scriptures that pertain to heaven, Bounds masterfully explains the nature of heaven and our purpose in it. Get a taste of heaven here on earth, learn a true Christian attitude toward eternity, and discover a purer, truer life.