"In the small Illinois town of Bradbury, change doesn't come often, and it certainly doesn't come easily. So when Pastor Fletcher hires Emily Duke as the new choir director at Zion Lutheran Church, he unknowingly sets in motion a chain of events that turns the life of his congregation upside down. The crusty church secretary, Mrs. Scheinberg, must learn to adjust her curmudgeonly ways. Zion's talented but pompous organist, Evan Ebner, must recognize his shortcomings. Emily must come to terms with her past. Even Pastor Fletcher must face reality when his world is shaken by the baggage Emily brings and by the handsome Zachary Brandt who pursues her."--Amazon.

Throughout the ages Creation has been groaning for its true identity, dominion, and ultimately restored intimacy and communion with the Father. If we are in Christ, we are a new creation. We are made in His image. But what does it mean to be made in His image? Who am I as a new creation? What is my destiny? Desperately seeking on her own journey of identity, author Marie Fowler spent twenty-five years researching the tribes of Israel to answer these questions. Our heavenly Father designed us for one sole purpose: habitation. God chooses to build His house through His family. Living Stones is a love letter in which you will discover your place within God's family. Worship (intimacy) reveals identity. One does not come face-to-face with someone and remain unaltered. As we encounter the Father with unveiled faces, we become like Him. Our utmost destiny is that we might take on His reflection found in the embodiment of habitation. Join Marie in her fascinating and biblically grounded study of the tribes of Israel as foundational keys to reveal every believer's identity in Christ. Watch in wonder as the author explains with amazing prophetic and revelatory insight how the characteristics of each tribe fit together as living stones displaying the facets of the Father's nature and character thereby building His holy habitation. You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5).

During his travels as a missionary, David Livingstone beheld many previously unknown wonders of the African interior. He put Victoria Falls and Lake Ngami on the map, and was the first white man to cross the African continent. Diaries, reports and letters are combined to create a wonderful narration of Livingstone's travels in a widely unknown continent. Included in this harrowing tale is Livingstone's narrow escape from a lion's wrath, his negotiations with an African chief, and his account of the Portuguese slave traders brutally punishing slaves after their attempt to escape. The Life and African Explorations of Livingstone also reveals Livingstone's deeply-rooted Christian beliefs and the strength he took from them, strength that allowed him to live and thrive amid the hardships of equatorial Africa.

Growing up as a pastor's daughter, Becoming Living Stones author Denae Haas gained a broad knowledge of Scripture and its interpretation. Knowledge and understanding without relationship, though, is ineffective. It lacks life. When Denae's knowledge of God, of the Holy Spirit, became relational--experiential--a greater bond formed and new life blossomed. When her belief in God collided with doubt, a faith struggle began. Here the Holy Spirit began to cultivate experiential knowledge of His presence, His love, and the ability to truly know His constant transformative working in our lives. In this groundbreaking book, readers both witness this transformation in Denae and are led into their own journey with God. A journey both rooted in Scripture and alive in the Spirit. The result is a deepening relationship with God, emerging from a broader understanding of God's immense personal love for His children. Ultimately, this growing faith and relationship bring healing and restoration. Denae's experience of the Holy Spirit combined with knowledge is rich soil from which readers are drawn and invited to meditate and pray for their own transformation--for new life in the Spirit.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Sharon Stone tells her own story: a journey of healing, love, and purpose. • “Not your typical Hollywood autobiography. Brutally honest, restless and questing.” —O, The Oprah Magazine Sharon Stone, one of the most renowned actresses in the world, suffered a massive stroke that cost her not only her health, but her career, family, fortune, and global fame. In The Beauty of Living Twice, Stone chronicles her efforts to rebuild her life and writes about her slow road back to wholeness and health. In a business that doesn’t accept failure, in a world where too many voices are silenced, Stone found the power to return, the courage to speak up, and the will to make a difference in the lives of men, women, and children around the globe. Over the course of these intimate pages, as candid as a personal conversation, Stone talks about her pivotal roles, her life-changing friendships, her worst disappointments, and her greatest accomplishments. She reveals how she went from a childhood of trauma and violence to a career in an industry that in many ways echoed those same assaults, under cover of money and glamour. She describes the strength and meaning she found in her children, and in her humanitarian efforts. And ultimately, she shares how she fought her way back to find not only her truth, but her family’s reconciliation and love. Stone made headlines not just for her beauty and her talent, but for her candor and her refusal to “play nice,” and it’s those same qualities that make this memoir so powerful. The Beauty of Living Twice is a book for the wounded and a book for the survivors; it’s a celebration of women’s strength and resilience, a reckoning, and a call to activism. It is proof that it’s never too late to raise your voice and speak out.

This book offers a broad and comprehensive catalog of contemporary uses of natural stone in private homes, public buildings, and public spaces, with particular emphasis on both traditional and modern applications.