All dressed up in a fresh new cover, Pretense, the bestselling novel from Lori Wick is ready for a brand new generation of readers. Marrell, a happily married army wife, adores her family, but throughout her life she's felt something missing. When she discovers that the void is spiritual, she is afraid to tell her husband. Will he understand that he cannot meet all of her needs, and that she cannot meet all of his? Covering the lives of Marrell and her two daughters, Mackenzie and Delancey, from the 1970s to the 1990s, Pretense is a character-rich novel written from Lori's heart that shows the patient love of God and the promise of His forgiveness for all who seek Him.
One by one, government officials are being picked off and the FBI have no leads—who's killing them and, more importantly, why? An affluent Supreme Court nominee and her husband are murdered by a skillful hand several days before her confirmation hearing. The next day, another high-ranking member of Washington D.C.'s elite circle is murdered. On top of these murders, a serial rapist has terrorized the city, with sixty-seven male victims and counting. FBI Special Agent Phoenix Perry is working the rapist case when she’s hand-picked by the President to solve the mystery and to stop the blood thirsty killer. Little does she know that the cases are related, and the assassin seems to know her every move. As the mystery unravels, Perry learns more than she cared to know about the case—and herself.
When her father’s coworker is murdered, Nancy sets out to find the killer. The victim has left a long list of enemies to work from, but the people in River Heights have their own ideas about who is responsible—Nancy’s father! Desperate to find the truth, Nancy sets out to find the culprit before her father takes the blame.
In the face of ongoing religious conflicts and unending culture wars, what are we to make of liberalism's promise that it alone can arbitrate between church and state? In this wide-ranging study, John Perry examines the roots of our thinking on religion and politics, placing the early-modern founders of liberalism in conversation with today's theologians and political philosophers. From the story of Antigone to debates about homosexuality and bans on religious attire, it is clear that liberalism's promise to solve all theo-political conflict is a false hope. The philosophy connecting John Locke to John Rawls seeks a world free of tragic dilemmas, where there can be no Antigones. Perry rejects this as an illusion. Disputes like the culture wars cannot be adequately comprehended as border encroachments presided over by an impartial judge. Instead, theo-political conflict must be considered a contest of loyalties within each citizen and believer. Drawing on critics of Rawls ranging from Michael Sandel to Stanley Hauerwas, Perry identifies what he calls a 'turn to loyalty' by those who recognize the inadequacy of our usual thinking on the public place of religion. The Pretenses of Loyalty offers groundbreaking analysis of the overlooked early work of Locke, where liberalism's founder himself opposed toleration. Perry discovers that Locke made a turn to loyalty analogous to that of today's communitarian critics. Liberal toleration is thus more sophisticated, more theologically subtle, and ultimately more problematic than has been supposed. It demands not only governmental neutrality (as Rawls believed) but also a reworked political theology. Yet this must remain under suspicion for Christians because it places religion in the service of the state. Perry concludes by suggesting where we might turn next, looking beyond our usual boundaries to possibilities obscured by the liberalism we have inherited.
Something borrowed... Through wit and sheer force of will, Ash Cohen raised himself and his younger brother Rafe out of the London slums and made them (in his unbiased opinion) the best confidence men in England. Ash is heartbroken when Rafe decides he wants an honest life, but he vows to give his beloved brother what he wants. When Ash hears of a small-town heiress scrambling to get her hands on the dowry held in trust for when she marries, he plans one last desperate scheme: con her and his brother into falling in love. After all, Rafe deserves the best, and Ash can see at once that captivating, lonely Lydia Reeve is the best. Lydia doesn't know why she instinctively trusts the humble stranger who talks his way through her front door and into her life. She just knows she's disappointed when he tries to set her up with his brother. When a terrible family secret comes to light and Rafe disappears, Lydia takes a big risk: she asks Ash to marry her instead. Did Ash choose the perfect wife for his brother...or for himself?
Since the 1990s we witness a rise in public apologies. Are we living in the ‘Age of Apology’? Interesting research questions can be raised about the opportunity, the form, the meaning, the effectiveness and the ethical implications of public apologies. Are they not merely a clever and easy device to escape real and tangible responsibility for mistakes or wrong done? Are they not at risk to become well-rehearsed rituals that claim to express regret but, in fact, avoid doing so? In a joint interdisciplinary effort, the contributors to this book, combining findings from their specific fields of research (legal, religious, political, linguistic, marketing and communication studies), attempt to articulate this tension between ritual and sincere regret, between the discourse and the content of apologies, between excuses that pretend and regret that seeks reconciliation.
The fundamental difference that sets the Mormon Church apart from all truly Christian churches is the sinister and self-serving distortion of the very personality and character of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Mormonism to be true, Christ Himself must be corrupted into one who authorized horrible behaviour, thus rendering the past Mormon Prophets completely blameless concerning the motivations for their unspeakable actions.Within the formal teachings of the Mormon Church, Jesus Christ Himself, and not the Mormon Prophets, is the author of polygamy, polyandry, and blood atonement. Under His direction alone, Joseph Smith Jr. was "commanded" to take some thirty wives, two as young as fourteen years of age. Mormons are instructed that it was the Lord, and no one else, who required Joseph to take the wives of eleven other men as his own (known as polyandry), as well as two sets of sisters and a mother and her daughter as his wives, while at the same time attempting to become president of the United States of America.Brigham Young, as the living prophet of God, taught through "Divinely inspired revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the core values of blood atonement. Reportedly under direction from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Brigham instructed that some sins of this world require the neck of the sinner to be slit from ear to ear so that the sinner's blood could atone for certain violations of Mormon doctrine. Mormons are taught that Brigham young also was commanded by the Lord to take fifty-five wives, including some previous wives of Joseph Smith.Defense of these disgusting misrepresentations of the very nature and character of the Lord continues today within the walls of Mormon chapels and Mormon temples throughout the world. This book examines real-world examples of how these beliefs are covered up so that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints might better hide among true believers in the compassionate Savior of all mankind, Christ Jesus. He and His holy name have been disgracefully used so that self-centered men might gain some measure of power, prestige, and perversion.This book recounts the true-life experiences of a Mormon Bishop, who for thirty years was a High Priest, Elders Quorum, and a member of three High Counsels for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons. He has participated in hundreds of Mormon Temple Endowments and witnessed firsthand the practices of ceremonial rituals in which the taking of human life was mimicked, all in the name of Jesus Christ.
Too much mystery ... Cara Walker feels that her boyfriend, Steven Wakefield, isn't paying enough attention to her. Suddenly he's acting aloof and withdrawn. Cara's good friend Jessica, Steven's sister, suggests that Cara add some mystery to the relationship. When Cara takes Jessica's advice, it backfires. Steven starts to act even more distant, and Cara is sure he's hiding something. He used to confide in her, but now it seems he's tuming to his sister Elizabeth's friend Abbie Richardson. Will Cara discover Steven's secret before she's replaced by someone new?
