This book tells the story of one congregation in the heart of the Midwest and what it can teach about hope in a divided world.In a time when politics and faith often drive people apart, and the electoral map is divided into red and blue states, this book offers a different vision: a purple church where conservatives and liberals sit in the same pews, sing the same hymns, and serve side by side. Through stories of sack lunches, shared tables, prayer vigils, cultural partnerships, an...

This is a four-book-set of Greg Allen's which includes Builder of the Spirit, War of the Heart, The Bored and the Cross and Hear the Call

The Bored and the Cross is Gregory Matthews's tale of triumph and tragedy, of loss and gain, of mistakes made and ones corrected.Gregory, born of tragedy, is raised by a single father. He grew to be a rebellious teen, swearing he'll never be like his dad, bent by a girlfriend's pry of running off to Bible College. It results in him getting bored with it all and she a broken heart.Gregory will decide to leave religion behind for what he thinks will ...

Hear the Call is the echoing cry of God's heart. He whispers its spiritual message to many, but few recognize its significance or place of importance.Nathaniel Irwin will, in time, come to understand His voice and the truth behind Christ's words, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36)The story begins in 1868 and originates in England. A trio of families long for a prosperous life in America, and with ...

Builder of the Spirit has twenty-one chapters that follow the progress of building a home from start to finish. But even though the physical aspect of each construction phase is explained, the correlation of building your spiritual life is what the book is really all about!Example: Chapter 3 – Plans, Yours or His? The book is not only filled with numerous true stories and lessons about life it's also filled with the love, joy, hope and peace that God has f...

War of the Heart follows the amazing journey of a young, adventurous American, Jonathan Freed. Growing up in the Deep South under the hardships of the Great Depression, Jonathan experiences his share of turmoil and hard living, but across the sea, the sinister brew of Nazism lurks – threatening to embroil him and others in a dark conflict. Like many of the era, Jonathan hears the call of military service. His career spans two wars and eventually rewards him the di...

The Border Collie dog breed was developed to gather and control sheep in the hilly border country between Scotland and England. They’re known for their intense stare, or “eye,” with which they control their flock. They’re dogs with unlimited energy, stamina, and working drive, all of which make them a premier herding dog; Border Collies are still used today to herd sheep on farms and ranches around the world.Even though these are purebred dogs, you may find them in the care of shel...

The changes in Polish life, culture, economics, and development have been remarkable. And the pace of change shows little sign of abating. Through twenty-five years of post-Communist transformation and ten years as a member of the European Union, some Polish cities, like Warsaw, KrakÓw, Poznan, and Wroclaw, have experienced an economic renaissance thanks largely to direct foreign investment, EU funds, and an influx of tourists. Much of the countryside, and cities like LÓdz and Lublin, howe...

Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall fell. In one of modern history’s most miraculous occurrences, communism imploded–and not with a bang, but with a whimper. Now two of the foremost scholars of East European and Soviet affairs, Stephen Kotkin and Jan T. Gross, drawing upon two decades of reflection, revisit this crash. In a crisp, concise, unsentimental narrative, they employ three case studies–East Germany, Romania, and Poland–to illuminate what led Communist regimes to surrender, or to be ...

Who are the Ukrainians? What are the key historical and cultural events that have shaped them? What are their values, and what challenges do they face today?Ukraine is a country of paradoxes. The people are proud of their roots, yet reticent about their recent past; the country participates in international space programs and produces the world's largest aircraft, but still lives in a world rich with superstition. The Ukrainian way of life is a mix of the old Sovie...

The Magic Lantern is one of those rare books that capture history in the making, written by an author who was witness to some of the most remarkable moments that marked the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe.Timothy Garton Ash was there in Warsaw, on 4 June, when the communist government was humiliated by Solidarity in the first semi-free elections since the Second World War. He was there in Budapest, twelve days later, when Imre Nagy - thirty-one years after his exec...

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH RUSSIA’S 21ST CENTURY TSAR Vladimir V. Putin has confounded world leaders and defied their assumptions as they tried to figure him out, only to misjudge him time and again. The Putin Mystique takes the reader on a journey through the Russia of Vladimir Putin, named by Forbes magazine in 2013 as the most powerful man in the world. It is a neo-feudal world where iPads, WTO membership, and Brioni business suits conceal a power structure straight out of the Middle Ages, w...