Guarding Our Kids Against Monsters is a profound exploration by David Humphrey and Shawn Sellers, lifelong friends and Masonic brothers deeply concerned about child safety in today’s digital world. Drawing on David’s extensive background in law enforcement, business ownership, and anti-human trafficking efforts, alongside Shawn’s expertise in Religious Studies, education, and coaching, the book uncovers the hidden threats facing children, particularly online. Driven by personal and professional experiences, including a disturbing betrayal by a friend involved in child exploitation, David and Shawn illuminate the stark realities of human trafficking and other dangers targeting children. Their work serves as a comprehensive resource, offering practical insights, strategies, and poignant real-life narratives to empower caregivers and young individuals to navigate the complexities of the digital landscape safely. This exploration challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about what the authors metaphorically term the Devil’s Playground—where predators exploit the internet’s anonymity and accessibility to groom and harm children. It underscores the critical need for heightened awareness, vigilance, and proactive measures to protect childhood innocence and ensure a safer online environment. Through expert analysis and passionate advocacy, David and Shawn aim to inspire collective action and foster a community dedicated to shielding children from the unseen dangers lurking in the digital shadows. This book is a call to action for parents, educators, policymakers, and technology companies to unite to defend our society’s most vulnerable members. It offers practical guidance for creating a protective environment where children can thrive and grow without fear of exploitation or harm.

Guarding Our Kids Against Monsters is a profound exploration by David Humphrey and Shawn Sellers, lifelong friends and Masonic brothers deeply concerned about child safety in today's digital world. Drawing on David's extensive background in law enforcement, business ownership, and anti-human trafficking efforts, alongside Shawn's expertise in Religious Studies, education, and coaching, the book uncovers the hidden threats facing children, particularly online. Driven by personal and professional experiences, including a disturbing betrayal by a friend involved in child exploitation, David and Shawn illuminate the stark realities of human trafficking and other dangers targeting children. Their work serves as a comprehensive resource, offering practical insights, strategies, and poignant real-life narratives to empower caregivers and young individuals to navigate the complexities of the digital landscape safely. This exploration challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about what the authors metaphorically term the Devil's Playground-where predators exploit the internet's anonymity and accessibility to groom and harm children. It underscores the critical need for heightened awareness, vigilance, and proactive measures to protect childhood innocence and ensure a safer online environment. Through expert analysis and passionate advocacy, David and Shawn aim to inspire collective action and foster a community dedicated to shielding children from the unseen dangers lurking in the digital shadows. This book is a call to action for parents, educators, policymakers, and technology companies to unite to defend our society's most vulnerable members. It offers practical guidance for creating a protective environment where children can thrive and grow without fear of exploitation or harm.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Satan’s Playground chronicles the rise and fall of the tumultuous and lucrative gambling industry that developed just south of the U.S.-Mexico border in the early twentieth century. As prohibitions against liquor, horse racing, gambling, and prostitution swept the United States, the vice industry flourished in and around Tijuana, to the extent that reformers came to call the town “Satan’s Playground,” unintentionally increasing its licentious allure. The area was dominated by Agua Caliente, a large, elegant gaming resort opened by four entrepreneurial Border Barons (three Americans and one Mexican) in 1928. Diplomats, royalty, film stars, sports celebrities, politicians, patricians, and nouveau-riche capitalists flocked to Agua Caliente’s luxurious complex of casinos, hotels, cabarets, and sports extravaganzas, and to its world-renowned thoroughbred racetrack. Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Louis B. Mayer, the Marx Brothers, Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, and the boxer Jack Dempsey were among the regular visitors. So were mobsters such as Bugsy Siegel, who later cited Agua Caliente as his inspiration for building the first such resort on what became the Las Vegas Strip. Less than a year after Agua Caliente opened, gangsters held up its money-car in transit to a bank in San Diego, killing the courier and a guard and stealing the company money pouch. Paul J. Vanderwood weaves the story of this heist gone wrong, the search for the killers, and their sensational trial into the overall history of the often-chaotic development of Agua Caliente, Tijuana, and Southern California. Drawing on newspaper accounts, police files, court records, personal memoirs, oral histories, and “true detective” magazines, he presents a fascinating portrait of vice and society in the Jazz Age, and he makes a significant contribution to the history of the U.S.-Mexico border.

OVER 500,000 SOLD IN THE PRAYING THE SCRIPTURES SERIES As parents of adult children, we often worry about whether our children will make good choices when they're on their own. Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children provides you with biblically based prayers and encouraging stories to guide you as you pray for your adult children through anything they face. Parent and author Jodie Berndt understands what it's like to release children into the world and still care deeply about them and everything they're up against in life. In Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children, Jodie shares prayers designed with your adult children in mind, whether they're just leaving the nest, flying well on their own, or struggling to take off at all. Jodie shares advice on navigating all aspects of adulthood with encouraging stories from experienced parents who are praying their children through real-life issues like leaving the church, struggling with health concerns, navigating broken marriages, fighting addiction, dealing with financial problems, and more. In Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children, Jodie addresses some of the most difficult questions that confront parents: How can I support my children when they make decisions I disagree with? Is it too late to start praying for my children? What does the Bible teach us about praying for our children? With the grace and wisdom of someone who's been there, Jodie shares the tools and encouragement you need to find the strength to keep praying, even as you doubt yourself and grieve over your children's choices. Whatever you're praying for, Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children will help you find confidence and peace taken straight from Scripture, guiding you to the bedrock of God's promises as you release your children to God's shepherding care.

AUTHORS’ DISCLAIMER: We are not in any way experts on parenting children with disabilities. Our goal is simply to share strategies that have worked for each of us in the event it may help those in a similar situation. If you’re different from us (i.e., you are bright or of the perfect persuasion), we advise you not to try the following at home. On a “perfection-preoccupied planet,” sisters Gina and Patty dare to speak up about the frustrations, sadness, and stigmas they face as parents of children with disabilities (one with Asperger’s syndrome, the other with bipolar disorder). This refreshingly frank book, which will alternately make you want to tear your hair out and laugh your head off, should be required reading for parents of disabled children. Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid provides wise and funny advice about how to: • Find a support group—either online or in your community • Ensure that your child gets the right in-school support • Deal with people—be they friends, family members, or strangers—who say or do insensitive things to you or your child • Find fun, safe, and inclusive extracurricular activities for your child • Battle your own grief and seek professional help if you need it • Keep the rest of the family intact in moments of crisis