Sugar-Free Religion is part biographical, part religious instruction and part just a fun read. Denny believed we are called to be Christian change agents. As such, he believed we must be willing to relate not only to the beautiful people of this world, but to the not so beautiful, as well. We are called to give hope to the hopeless, and love to the unlovely. That is what Jesus did, and that is what he calls us to do. In short, the whole Gospel is not about following the right rules. It is about following Jesus and loving your neighbor. It is not about believing the right stuff; it is about personal life-changing "relationships." Relational Theology was Denny's entire ministry. It is what he taught and how he lived. So if you really want to expand your consciousness and find your true authentic self, then why not try looking at every person you meet as a special gift from God? Every stranger is a wonderful opportunity for you to experience new joy, self-fulfillment and self-discovery. So reach out and touch someone! Comfort a friend who is hurting. Give hugs to everyone. Be kind to a lonely child. Visit the aged in nursing homes. Take flowers to someone who is sick. Bring cheer to someone who is dying. Give comfort to someone in grief. Gladly give yourself away. That is how you find your life, by losing it! Most of the stories and examples in the book come from first-hand experience. From Wilmington to Burlington and from Laurinburg to Oxford, he became a part of the lives of the parishioners he was sent to serve. So get ready to have your heart "strangely warmed" as you read the pages of his book. He will knock the sugar coating, the marshmallow fluffiness and even the sugar sprinkles from your faith. Open your heart and your mind for a new experience. Don't worry if a few things fall to the wayside. That's OK, because from there you can begin to build your own bright, shiny faith---free of the stickiness. Experience now the joy of living a life without the "ick." ---Judy Wise

What would you be willing to give up to experience the presence of God in your life again? Many of us sign up for a physical detox program, thinking that if our bodies are healthier, then we're healthier. But a healthy body doesn't do us a lot of good if we are spiritually malnourished. Welcome to the 40-Day Sugar Fast, a fast that begins with us giving Jesus our sugar and ends with Jesus giving us more of himself--the only thing that can ever truly satisfy our soul's deep hunger. On this 40-day journey you'll learn how to stop fixating on food and other things you use to fill the voids in life and instead fix your eyes on Christ. Anyone who runs to sugar for comfort or a reward, who eats mindlessly or out of boredom, who feels physically and spiritually lethargic, or who struggles with self-control will discover here not only freedom from their cravings but an entirely new appetite for the good things God has for us.

Mary Lois Walker Morris was a Mormon woman who challenged both American ideas about marriage and the U.S. legal system. Before the Manifesto provides a glimpse into her world as the polygamous wife of a prominent Salt Lake City businessman, during a time of great transition in Utah. This account of her life as a convert, milliner, active community member, mother, and wife begins in England, where her family joined the Mormon church, details her journey across the plains, and describes life in Utah in the 1880s. Her experiences were unusual as, following her first husband's deathbed request, she married his brother as a plural wife in the Old Testament tradition of levirate marriage. Mary Morris's memoir frames her 1879 to 1887 diary with both reflections on earlier years and passages that parallel entries in the day book, giving readers a better understanding of how she retrospectively saw her life. The thoroughly annotated diary offers the daily experience of a woman who kept a largely self-sufficient household, had a wide social network, ran her own business, wrote poetry, and was intellectually curious. The years of "the Raid" (federal prosecution of polygamists) led Mary and Elias Morris to hide their marriage on "the underground," and her to perjury during Elias's trial for unlawful cohabitation. The book ends with Mary Lois's arrival at the Salt Lake Depot after three years in exile in Mexico with a polygamist colony.

Religious freedom is so often presented as a timeless American ideal and an inalienable right, appearing fully formed at the founding of the United States. That is simply not so, Tisa Wenger contends in this sweeping and brilliantly argued book. Instead, American ideas about religious freedom were continually reinvented through a vibrant national discourse--Wenger calls it "religious freedom talk--that cannot possibly be separated from the evolving politics of race and empire. More often than not, Wenger demonstrates, religious freedom talk worked to privilege the dominant white Christian population. At the same time, a diverse array of minority groups at home and colonized people abroad invoked and reinterpreted this ideal to defend themselves and their ways of life. In so doing they posed sharp challenges to the racial and religious exclusions of American life. People of almost every religious stripe have argued, debated, negotiated, and brought into being an ideal called American religious freedom, subtly transforming their own identities and traditions in the process. In a post-9/11 world, Wenger reflects, public attention to religious freedom and its implications is as consequential as it has ever been.

Want to start a Christian weight loss program at your church? The Take Back Your Temple Member Guide gives your support group the wisdom they need to reach their ideal weight and maintain it for life. Includes Christian health scriptures for motivation, delicious recipes, and a survival plan for handling common weight loss barriers like emotional eating, bottomless food pits, and more.

Traces the decline of Christianity in America since the 1950s, posing controversial arguments about the role of heresy in the nation's downfall while calling for a revival of traditional Christian practices.