Outwardly, Claudia Cantrell was a successful, independent career woman. Inwardly, she longed for more—security, a sense of belonging, and love. She wanted a happily ever after. Sacred Love is the heartfelt love story of a broken woman who found extraordinary victory over loneliness, insecurity, rejection, and bad decisions. Overwhelmed by her circumstances, Claudia came to a crisis of belief—she must totally surrender the pain of her past to God or forever live defeated. In choosing surrender, she ultimately began to live life abundantly—through Jesus Christ. A candid and hopeful memoir, Sacred Love will compel you to begin walking on your own path toward acceptance and restoration. God wants to lead you into your happily ever after—one where He, the Prince of Peace, is your true love.
Dr. Cliff Self and his wife, Darlene, did not choose their journey; they were thrust into it. After their son, Scott, came out to them as a gay man, Dr. Self and Darlene were propelled along a confusing path that caused them to question their understanding of God and the scripture and eventually to reach deep inside to find the grit and grace to experience miraculous changes. When Scott revealed his true self, the family’s world changed. The Selfs had to come to a new understanding of their relationships with one another and to their faith, framed by the conviction that the Bible is the word of God and the authority on how to live. Darlene struggled with shattered dreams, Dr. Self strove to understand the Christian teachings on homosexuality through scripture, and Scott battled with guilt, shame, and addiction until discovering the meaning of self-love and his path to wholeness as a gay man. In this candid and revealing account, all three family members offer inspiration for handling unexpected changes without fear, resolving conflicts between scripture and real life issues, and ultimately living with peace, joy, and purpose. After This is the moving narrative of one family’s journey through the healing process of change after their son came out as a gay man.
LoveLoudd is a relatable compilation of poetry written by both Yanique Love and Simoné Loudd.Between each page and within every line lies a new love story. As your fingers caress each page, your eyes gaze over each word and your heart grasps hold to each experience, we hope that you have finally found the words that you never imagined would suit your love-life experiences.
American Millennials--the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s--have been leaving organized religion in unprecedented numbers. For a long time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was an exception: nearly three-quarters of people who grew up Mormon stayed that way into adulthood. In The Next Mormons, Jana Riess demonstrates that things are starting to change. Drawing on a large-scale national study of four generations of current and former Mormons as well as dozens of in-depth personal interviews, Riess explores the religious beliefs and behaviors of young adult Mormons, finding that while their levels of belief remain strong, their institutional loyalties are less certain than their parents' and grandparents'. For a growing number of Millennials, the tensions between the Church's conservative ideals and their generation's commitment to individualism and pluralism prove too high, causing them to leave the faith-often experiencing deep personal anguish in the process. Those who remain within the fold are attempting to carefully balance the Church's strong emphasis on the traditional family with their generation's more inclusive definition that celebrates same-sex couples and women's equality. Mormon families are changing too. More Mormons are remaining single, parents are having fewer children, and more women are working outside the home than a generation ago. The Next Mormons offers a portrait of a generation navigating between traditional religion and a rapidly changing culture.
Skyler Sorensen is a man who is attracted to men. He is married to a wonderful woman who knew all about his sexual preferences before she married him. Together they are each committed to and have faith in their covenants, the Savior, and His Church. Exclude Not Thyself will remove any doubt you might have as to whether a gay Latter-day Saint can remain a faithful member of the Lord's Church. It walks you through the valuable lessons learned by the author on how to use life's trials to your advantage and remove the self-inflicted barriers to receiving "all that the Father hath." Author Skyler Sorensen is living proof that mixed-orientation marriages can work, and happiness can be achieved by those who live the pure gospel found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is his story . . .
The first major history of Mormonism in a decade, drawing on newly available sources to reveal a profoundly divided faith that has nevertheless shaped the nation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in the so-called “burned-over district” of upstate New York, which was producing seers and prophets daily. Most of the new creeds flamed out; Smith’s would endure, becoming the most significant homegrown religion in American history. How Mormonism succeeded is the story told by historian Benjamin E. Park in American Zion. Drawing on sources that have become available only in the last two decades, Park presents a fresh, sweeping account of the Latter-day Saints: from the flight to Utah Territory in 1847 to the public renunciation of polygamy in 1890; from the Mormon leadership’s forging of an alliance with the Republican Party in the wake of the New Deal to the “Mormon moment” of 2012, which saw the premiere of The Book of Mormon musical and the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney; and beyond. In the twentieth century, Park shows, Mormons began to move ever closer to the center of American life, shaping culture, politics, and law along the way. But Park’s epic isn’t rooted in triumphalism. It turns out that the image of complete obedience to a single, earthly prophet—an image spread by Mormons and non-Mormons alike—is misleading. In fact, Mormonism has always been defined by internal conflict. Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma, inaugurated a legacy of feminist agitation over gender roles. Black believers petitioned for belonging even after a racial policy was instituted in the 1850s that barred them from priesthood ordination and temple ordinances (a restriction that remained in place until 1978). Indigenous and Hispanic saints—the latter represent a large portion of new converts today—have likewise labored to exist within a community that long called them “Lamanites,” a term that reflected White-centered theologies. Today, battles over sexuality and gender have riven the Church anew, as gay and trans saints have launched their own fight for acceptance. A definitive, character-driven work of history, American Zion is essential to any understanding of the Mormon past, present, and future. But its lessons extend beyond the faith: as Park puts it, the Mormon story is the American story.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. There are few dreams more spiritually intoxicating than the dream of being used by God to start a new community of Christ that skillfully brings the restorative gospel to a lost and broken city. Something which feels like a spiritual landslide that starts with lostness and ends in an avalanche of new congregations multiplying and transforming community after community into which they unmistakably seep. Authors Jeff Christopherson and Mac Lake call readers to imagine a movement that vividly remembers the insubstantial days of a mustard seed with a sense of awe and wonder when looking at the indescribable harvest that stands all around. Though the kingdom of God can't be forced by superficial methods, the good news is that when you move past the threshold of your competency and comfort, you find yourself in the very spot where God can use you like no other. What wouldn’t you sacrifice to be a part of something that only could be described as a God-honoring gospel movement?
Teachers Have 9 Lives: Now or Never. Hannah Hope paints a captivating picture, a Sensitive Heart picture that moves beyond teaching to explore everyday life, demystify the world of education, challenge demeaning stereotypes, and question the smokescreen status quo. 9 Lives reveals impactful snapshots of the spiritual guidance that, artfully glued together onto a revelational backing, make a riveting and powerful collage. With honesty, humor, compelling style, and fluid creativity, Teachers Have 9 Lives is a bright light in the dark setting of America’s underfunded and often ignored public schools. This inspired work features a conversational style. One could say it’s the way people actually talk…sometimes speaking at the same time. Enjoy!
A fun and fascinating compendium of LGBTQ+ icons, one for every day of the year, and a celebration of queer history – or as RuPaul would say; Herstory! Discover your queer hero and learn something new every day with 365 Gays of the Year, an accessible and fun introduction to LGBTQ+ history through the people that made it. Carefully curated and thoughtfully researched, author Lewis Laney assigns a person or group of note to each day of the year to form the ultimate LGBTQ+ hall of fame. Legendary queer icons such as Marsha P Johnson and Freddie Mercury sit alongside lesser known but equally important names such as activist Renée Cafiero, blood donor Barbara Vick, and Sappho the lesbian poet (who was doing her thing in 570BC). All have contributed amazing achievements to the LGBTQ+ story. Each month also features one ally - inspiring heterosexual people who have all contributed something significant to the lives of the LGBTQ+ community. People like Elizabeth Taylor who “brought AIDS out of the closet and into the ballroom – where there was money to be raised”. Each entry comprises a short biography plus a brief explanation about why that celebratory date represents an important milestone. Lewis brings international figures to life (famous and lesser-known) with his witty and uplifting prose which are peppered with little-known facts and accompanied by bright illustrative portraits from the hugely talented Charlotte MacMillan-Scott. This witty, unique celebration of queer history promises to inspire and empower readers with its wealth of bright stars.
