Bud Forrester was as dead as a carp. Wait, let's not get ahead of ourselves...Prank-master Charlie Baker only meant to pull one harmless stunt; just a quick gag to settle an old score. But one practical joke later, he's tangled in a chain reaction that the city may never recover from.Suddenly, a life-sized stuffed gorilla has vanished, a priceless baseball has been stolen, a donut shop is serving up pastries named after strippers, and Cleveland's favorite T...

God is the author of joy. Read the opening words of either of the Genesis stories (wait there's more than one?) and you'll meet a being who creates everything with love and happiness. It's easy to imagine God dancing through creation flinging a paintbrush dipped in light. When did God become the judge? When did God become the angry, somber, pinch-faced deity looking down from on high with a bucket of lightning bolts at the ready? This book, like its predecessor, celebrates the God who laug...

What happens when one harmless practical joke starts a war?Charlie Baker has a gift.Not for fame. Not for fortune. Not even for television, although he works behind the scenes at a struggling Cleveland TV station.Charlie's real talent is the perfect prank.His rules are simple: nobody gets hurt, always punch up, and never let the joke get out of hand.Unfortunately, his boss has other ideas.When a bitter executive recruits Char...

Organ donation is the last gift given to you by the best friend you never met.How do we talk about the hard stuff with our kids? We don't get to avoid it. We don't pretend it's not happening and we can't pretend it's not affecting us. We shouldn't expect them to understand when we don't completely understand it ourselves. We're parents, we want to protect our children from anything that might hurt.And some things are going to hurt. So how do we talk about the hard stuff? We...

We forget the psalms are song lyrics, most written by a troubled warrior, insomniac, street-musician king. Steve Case envisions all of these Davids through imaginative prose and pictures reframing all 150 psalms. The book captures the anger, the joy, the pleading for forgiveness, and the utter astonishment of a king who stops and fully realizes precisely who God is.

Ahhh the church fart...Perhaps one of the most highly regarded laughs in annals of humor (No, not anals, ANNALS). A singular source of humor since the dawn of time. One can imagine our cave-dwelling ancestors breaking each other up or even that the creator of the universe himself was known to express himself with a wet one now and then. Church farts are funny because...A: They are farts. Funny for all children and most grown men and grown men who act like children.B. T...

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO LAUGH. Too often our faith is like wearing a T-shirt that's two sizes too small. We keep trying to pull it and tug it and all the while it feels like we are slowly suffocating.YOU ARE ALLOWED TO LAUGH. The finger pointers and the self-appointed judges of what's appropriate and what isn't sit in the back row and scowl. They sing Joy to the World as if it were a funeral dirge. They say, "Stop that laughing. You are in CHURCH!"YOU ARE ALLOWED TO LAUGH. Jesus...

If you believe the Book of Revelation is a detailed and accurate account of the End of Days and how God will choose the righteous and leave the rest behind and anyone who makes fun of this sacred work is committing blasphemy...buy this book anyway. You're in as much trouble just for reading the back cover as I am for writing the book. If you are a fan of that author who is famous for his work about green holiday haters and felines wearing head apparel...you will enjoy this book. If you are...

You know that time of year when you think you smell pine cones or holly-berries? Is that pumpkin? Ginger bread? Peppermint? ...or those peanut butter cookies with the chocolate kiss in the middle? It's not what you think. There's an angel passing over your head and he's squeezing a duck. "Charlie the Flatulent Christmas Angel" is the heart-warming (cheek-flapping) story of the only angel to receive God's special gift of marvelous methane memories. Release your inner child as the angel with...

His name was Poison. Not that he was a bad guy to be around but his parents were big fans of the 80's hair band so they named him Poison. When he was five years old Poison realized he could see angels. For twelve years he watched them appear and disappear and none of them had ever spoken to him. Until now... Poison's Christmas is the story of a teenager who is charged with the holy task of restoring the faith of a small town pastor before Christmas eve. If possible, without getting arreste...

Abigail is a new arrival in heaven. She didn't come up through the Welcome Station she came up "another way." She's getting used to the wings and the halo but she seems... disappointed. So God decides to take her on a road trip and Jesus comes along for the ride. Pack up all your questions you've had over the years. Pack your sense of humor and your Kleenex and your favorite road tunes. You get to come along, too.

Father Michael Dark is the new associate priest at St. Marjorie's church in Philadelphia. But something else has moved into the neighborhood as well. Something very large. Something very scary. ...There are angels among us. They walk with us, protect us. But sometimes, just sometimes, God sends an angel with a darker touch. And with teeth. Lots teeth.