Much-Afraid had been in the service of the Chief Shepherd, whose great flocks were pastured down in the Valley of Humiliation. She lived with her friends and fellow workers Mercy and Peace in a tranquil little white cottage in the village of Much-Trembling. She loved her work and desired intensely to please the Chief Shepherd, but happy as she was in most ways, she was conscious of several things which hindered her in her work and caused her much secret distress and shame. Here is the allegorical tale of Much-Afraid, an every-woman searching for guidance from God to lead her to a higher place.

What a terrible thing at a time like this: to own a house, and the trees around it. Janet sat rigid in her seat. The plane lifted from the city and her house fell away, consumed by the other houses. Janet worried about her own particular garden and her emptied refrigerator and her lamps that had been timed to come on at six. So begins "Mycenae," a story in The High Places, Fiona McFarlane's first story collection. Her stories skip across continents, eras, and genres to chart the borderlands of emotional life. In "Mycenae," she describes a middle-aged couple's disastrous vacation with old friends. In "Good News for Modern Man," a scientist lives on a small island with only a colossal squid and the ghost of Charles Darwin for company. And in the title story, an Australian farmer turns to Old Testament methods to relieve a fatal drought. Each story explores what Flannery O'Connor called "mystery and manners." The collection dissects the feelings--longing, contempt, love, fear--that animate our existence and hints at a reality beyond the smallness of our lives. Salon's Laura Miller called McFarlane's The Night Guest "a novel of uncanny emotional penetration . . . How could anyone so young portray so persuasively what it feels like to look back on a lot more life than you can see in front of you?" The High Places is further evidence of McFarlane's preternatural talent, a debut collection that reads like the selected works of a literary great.

In his own words Dougal Haston covers the years from his childhood in Scotland, where his love of climbing was first sparked, through to his development into perhaps the most formidable climber of his generation; his reputation was forged by his successful ascents of familiar peaks by unfamiliar routes (of which the most famous was the Eiger Direct). Infused throughout with his passion for climbing and his great determination to succeed, In High Places is a compelling and eye-opening portrait of the climber as a young man and a must read for all those with an interest in mountaineering.

With the economy reeling in the wake of the recent recession, many people are experiencing such financial challenges as credit card debt, downsizing, dead-end jobs, and inadequate or depleted savings. With these challenges come others as well. Recent studies confirm that more than half of all divorces are the result of financial pressures at home. And spiritually, many people are struggling to maintain a biblical perspective amidst the constant tug of materialism. But there is hope. The Bible has a lot to say about money. In fact, the Bible is a veritable blueprint for managing your finances. In Your Money Counts, trusted financial expert Howard Dayton shows you how to manage your personal finances in a highly practical, biblically-based way.

Do you ever wonder whether God even cares if we’re happy? This world can be so hard, and we aren’t promised an easy road. But that’s not the whole story. The Bible is filled with verses that prove that ours is a God who not only loves celebrations but also desperately wants his children to experience happiness. Why else would he go to the lengths he did to ensure our eternal happiness in his presence? We know that we will experience unimaginable joy and happiness in heaven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also experience joy and happiness here on earth. In Happiness, noted theologian Randy Alcorn (bestselling author of Heaven) dispels centuries of misconceptions about happiness, including downright harmful ideas like the prosperity gospel, and provides indisputable proof that God not only wants us to be happy, he commands it. Randy covers questions like: How can I cultivate happiness in my life? What’s the difference between joy and happiness? Can good things become idols that steal our happiness? Is seeking happiness selfish? How can I achieve happiness through gratitude? What does it look like to receive God’s grace? The most definitive study on the subject of happiness to date, this book is a paradigm-shifting wake-up call for the church and Christians everywhere.

Two friends embark on a climb of treacherous Anarchy Ridge but only one will make it down alive. Unjustly blamed for his friend's haunting death, the other must run for his life as a mourning father seeks revenge, in Jo Bannister's thrilling mystery novel Death in High Places Two friends stand at the foot of the glacier, looking up to Anarchy Ridge. They can't see the summit of the mountain, only its heaving shoulders. But they can see the thin blade of the ridge, and the snow whipping off it by the rising wind making arabesques against the impossibly blue sky. They stand still for a long time, their kit at their feet, just looking, but the mountain awaits. They begin their climb up the ridge, but only one of the friends will make it down alive. Afraid for his own life when his friend's vengeful father blames him for the deadly climbing accident, and with the horrific memory of that moment of peril playing in his mind, the other must make a run for his life.

In Friends in High Places, historical theologian Tom Shepherd takes you journeying through time to meet your long-lost relatives of the Western religious heritage. Mystics like Pseudo-Dionysius, John Scotus Erigena, Meister Eckhart and the first Quaker, George Fox. Deep thinkers like Philo Judaeus, Origen of Alexandria and pagan martyr Hypatia. Sunny optimists like Pelagius, who lost his argument with St. Augustine over the goodness of humanity only after the fall of Rome rattled the ancient world and made positive thinking seem positively naïve. Shepherd introduces an impressive entourage of mystics and metaphysical thinkers--to include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mary Baker Eddy, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Paul Tillich, and Teilhard de Chardin--and gives the reader a taste of their writings. Just a sampler, not a full course meal. You'll find such delight in these brief profiles, you'll come away refreshed and ready to tackle life in the modern world.