Colorful and outrageous, influential yet despicable, J. Frank Norris was a preacher, newspaper publisher, political activist, and all-around subject of controversy. One of the most despised men in traditional Southern Baptist circles, he was also the man most responsible for bringing hard-edged fundamentalism to the South. Barry Hankins traces Norris, the "Texas Cyclone," from his boyhood in small-town Texas to his death in 1952. Despite scandals, Norris was a man of considerable public influence who traveled the owrkd, corresponded with congressmen, and attended president's Hoover's inaguration at Hoover's invitation. Through his preaching career he battled anyone and everyone he saw as part of the leftist conspiracy to foist liberalism and immorality on America. This account reveals a remarkable man who helped shape the current American religious landscape.

Real people. Real stories. Real God. A car without brakes racing toward a speeding train, an injured man alone in the woods, a stroke victim rushed to the hospital, a man held at gunpoint. These are among the fifty true stories in this bookall from one churchthat show God helping those in need. God is with each one of us; we have only to open our spiritual eyes. I highly recommend this book. It will increase your faith as it did mine. Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent, The Wesleyan Church Founder, World Hope International We do walk by faith and not by sight. But every once in a while, God gives us a uniquely grace-filled experience that gives us a sacred glimpse of His hand and presence in our lives. As you read these stories of God-sightings, your faith in our invisible God will be deepened and enriched. Dr. Jack Connell, Executive Vice President Roberts Wesleyan College and Northeastern Seminary If you want a real-life glimpse of some ways God actually shows up in human affairs, JoAnne Joness Fifty True Stories is the book to read. Then prepare to build a bigger box for your faith. I predict you will likely need it. David L. Thompson, Ph.D., F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary

President Donald Trump originated his political career by claiming that Barack Obama was not born in the USA. His "birtherism" theory was discredited, but there's another possibility about birth. Evangelicals have given birth to Donald Trump in the immaculate mistake. Evangelicals are not a collection of dumb and irrational people; they are the creators of the demolition presidency of Trump. He is their child--the result of almost one hundred years of evangelical angst, resentment, and hurt. This is the story of how Trump has become a secular evangelical preacher and his message of fear, hatred, division, and getting even has captured the hearts and minds of evangelicals. Rather than dismissing them, this work takes them seriously and literally and offers a frank and disturbing series of portraits of their determination to win at all costs.

Together on God’s Mission investigates Southern Baptist history, showing how and why the Southern Baptist Convention came to embrace the vision of a cooperative denomination. It also explores how this vision has shaped denominational identity and structure. This historical study is followed by a discussion of the biblical description of how the mission of God determines the mission of the church. This study shows that God’s mission is not simply furthered by churches working together, but rather that cooperation between churches makes up a key component of God’s mission. Finally, the study concludes that the Southern Baptist Convention is uniquely positioned to enable churches to fully participate in God’s mission to redeem the nations and restore creation from the effects of the Fall.

In the tidal wave of intellectual argument that followed the 2006 release of Richard Dawkinss God Delusion book, a fierce debate has raged between atheism and religion over the existence of God, leaving the worlds scientists and laymen largely undecided in their opinion. Gods Illusion Machine presents a fascinating alternative to a debate that has largely been argued within the framework of Christian versus science concepts. Drawing upon the worlds oldest body of knowledge (the Vedas), the author describes the massive illusion to which we are all subjected as we mistakenly believe ourselves to be physical creations of the material world. In Gods Illusion Machine, the material world is gradually exposed as the ultimate virtual reality machine for wayward souls who prefer a self-centred, rather than a God-centred, existence. In contrast to Richard Dawkinss assertion that the religious are suffering a delusion for believing in God, the author argues that both the atheists and the religious are under the spell of Gods deluding energy called My, which acts in reciprocation with a souls desire to be in illusion within the physical realm. By applying the profound spiritual insights of Vedic knowledge along with a healthy dose of common sense and good humour, Gods Illusion Machine is an enthralling expos of the deceptive nature of the material world and the false claims of materialists regarding the nature of life and love. It is a triumph of spirituality over both atheistic materialism and religious dogmatism. Gods Illusion Machine is a work of major importance realigning Western religion, philosophy, and science with eternal spiritual truths, an enlightening read for both the atheist and the religious, bringing spiritual certainty and true love to bewildered souls in troubled times. For atheists who like a good argument, for the religious who are stuck for a reply to Richard Dawkins, for fans of fantasy and sci-fi where forces of light and illusion contend in battle, and for you, the reader, whatever your disposition, this book will forever change your outlook on life and its meaning. As the rising sun disperses the darkness of night, so in the presence of Krishna (The Absolute Truth), my (illusion) cannot stand.

Jesus and Gin is a rollicking tour of the roaring twenties and the barn- burning preachers who led the temperance movement—the anti-abortion crusade of the Jazz Age. Along the way, we meet a host of colorful characters: a Baptist minister who commits adultery in the White House; media star preachers caught in massive scandals; a presidential election hinging on a religious issue; and fundamentalists and liberals slugging it out in the culture war of the day. The religious roar of that decade was a prologue to the last three decades. With the religious right in disarray today after its long ascendancy, Jesus and Gin is a timely look at a parallel age when preachers held sway and politicians answered to the pulpit.

When the Christian Right burst onto the scene in the late 1970s, many political observers were shocked. But, as God's Own Party demonstrates, they shouldn't have been. The Christian Right goes back much farther than most journalists, political scientists, and historians realize. Relying on extensive archival and primary source research, Daniel K. Williams presents the first comprehensive history of the Christian Right, uncovering how evangelicals came to see the Republican Party as the vehicle through which they could reclaim America as a Christian nation. A fascinating and much-needed account of a key force in American politics, God's Own Party is the only full-scale analysis of the electoral shifts, cultural changes, and political activists at the movement's core--showing how the Christian Right redefined politics as we know it.