This is the central question explored by prophecy expert Mark Hitchcock in The Late Great United States, a fascinating behind-the-headlines look at numerous current events and how they relate to what the Bible says about the last days.

Americans are accustomed to seeing their country center stage as a world power, but as Hitchcock carefully details, this may not be the case in the final scene. Based on extensive research of the Bible and other sources, The Late Great United States provides compelling and often surprising answers to questions like these:

•Does the Bible say anything about America in the last days?
•How could the U.S. fit into God’s prophetic plan?
•Will America survive?
•Might the anti-Christ come from America?
•Could America’s addiction to oil be her undoing?
•Will America be destroyed by a nuclear attack?
•Could America fall from within as a result of moral corruption?
•Is America still a “blessed” nation?
•How should individual Christians respond to a world in chaos?

Regardless of America’s final fate and the outcome of dire events at the end of the age, Hitchcock urges us to find our hope in a God who will not forsake us–no matter what cataclysms we experience on e

“Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for? Do you believe him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture–maybe even our churches–turn the other way?”

In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ’s followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing.

When people think of coach they usually think about sports and usually men, but a coach’s role is so much bigger than the tiny box we put them in.

Listen in as Ed Flaherty explains…[display_podcast]

Did you enjoy our podcast and think this is the perfect book for you or someone you know? Post a comment below for your chance to win a free copy of Coached for Life by Ed Flaherty!

What is the legacy of a great coach? When the players of the Great Falls Central Mustangs arrived for the first day of practice in the fall of 1962, they had their sights set on the unlikely goal of the state championship. But what their coaches delivered was far more lasting than a championship ring.

Coached for Life, by Ed Flaherty and Jack Uldrich, is the true account of how two high school football coaches, Bill Mehrens and John McMahon, molded an undistinguished group of young men into state champions. The book includes a dramatic 40 year retrospect from the players themselves (including Flaherty, a former team captain) describing how the principles instilled in them during the 1962 season continued to shape their lives in positive ways long after they left the football field.

Flaherty and Uldrich’s book is not just another feel-good football story. Rather, it is an amazing testament to the profound impact that any leader—the coach, the teacher, the boss, the minister, or the parent—can have on someone else’s life, particularly when he or she is leading young people. Coached for Life provides much-needed encouragement for weary leaders who sometimes wonder if their hard work really makes a difference.

Coached for Life also speaks to students. As Flaherty passes down the life lessons he and his teammates learned over forty years ago, the stories provide a compelling case for the values this generation so often overlooks—discipline, sacrifice, goal-setting, and responsibility, to name a few. Each chapter concludes with a summary of the key point and a set of thought-provoking discussion questions, making it the perfect vehicle for corporate leadership studies, ministry volunteer meetings, and teacher professional development.

Coached for Life by Ed Flaherty and Jack Uldrich

Bronze Bow Publishing/March 2010

ISBN: 978-0-615-27882-7/383 pages/softcover/$19.95

Website: www.coachedforlife.com ~ Blog: www.coachedforlifeblog.com

From Terror and Scars to Beauty and Redemption

A noted musician wrestles with God to find meaning, hope, and His glory

in the aftermath of family tragedy.

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX—As her older brother battled for his life in the ICU, Candi Pearson-Shelton sat waiting and praying with her family for a miracle. The Scriptures were more precious to them in those hours than ever. As Candi poured over the words from Isaiah chapter 40, a song was born. A voice cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God…. Then every eye will see the glory of the Lord revealed. The days and months and years that would follow would be painful, but Candi and her family found in the words of this biblical song a sort of mission—a call to find the glory of the Lord shining through the sorrow and to reflect that glory to all those around them.

And when death finally came, by the grace of God, they were able to find purpose through the pain. In fact, they found a depth of beauty in the abyss of the loss that they never could have imagined. Candi discovered that her vision was too narrow, that her lens was too tainted by her own perceptions of fairness and justice and her own desire to control the outcome.

In the fiercely honest yet faithful book, Desperate Hope: When Faith in God Overcame My Despair, Candi shares the lessons that came to them along their journey, offering a song of praise to One who, in the midst of tragedy, pain and confusion, revealed not only His glory but also beauty, unexpected graces, a hope more grounded in faith and a shifted perspective that changed nothing but somehow made all the difference.

“I write these thoughts out of necessity,” the author reflects. “There is value in recording the gentle whispers and hard-learned faith lessons that make up the aftermath, springing up like tender shoots of vivid green grass through the contrasting blackened dry soot. These are my blades of grass, the lessons in the aftermath, told with the heart of an adventurer fresh from the adventure, brimming with tales of terror and scars, of beauty and redemption.”

All of the profits from the sale of Desperate Hope will go to the Rick Pearson Memorial Fund, a non-profit that exists to extend the hope of Christ to others by championing the interests and organizations that Rick passionately supported. Monies that are donated to the Rick Pearson Memorial Fund are used to help support organizations like Compassion International, Bigstuf Camps, The 410 Bridge, Passion Conferences and most recently, a scholarship fund for students who want to pursue a ministry of music with an emphasis on missions.

There is a song entitled “One Breath, Then Another,” that will accompany the book. There will be a code inside each book to redeem online for a free download of the song.

About the author: Candi Pearson-Shelton is a worship leader, songwriter and independent artist. Known for her involvement with the Passion worship movement, she also wrote and performed the title track on the Dove-award-winning album, Glory Revealed. She and her husband Jonathan live in Southern California with their son, Elias.

Desperate Hope by Candi Pearson-Shelton

David C Cook/February 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4347-6614-4/224 pages/softcover/$12.99

www.davidccook.com

When trusted author and mentor Sally Clarkson noticed a lack of joy in her own life, she realized how easy it can be, especially for women with overloaded to-do lists, to feel weighed down by drudgery and disappointment. But rather than slogging through her days, Sally wanted to know the delight of God’s presence. She began prayerfully exploring how to cultivate deep-rooted joy even in the midst of difficult seasons.

In this warm and wise book, she invites you to experience for yourself what happens when you trust God to lead you into a life of anticipation, passion, and purpose.

Weaving biblical insights with real-life stories that reflect every Christian woman’s deepest longings, Dancing with My Father reveals how any woman, in any circumstance, can daily live in beauty and grace, joy and peace.

Unfortunately, even the best of intentions can go awry. There are so many challenges on the journey to adult friendship that the reality is fraught with friction and frustration. But a harmonious relationship is possible.

Award-winning author Cheri Fuller and her daughter, Ali Plum, have been there and have discovered the keys to a healthy relationship. In Mother-Daughter Duet they share their story—each from her own perspective—in which they have experienced distance and tension, growth and challenge, and, ultimately, acceptance and harmony. Filled with personal anecdotes and based on several basic principles (letting go; listening; respect; setting boundaries; and more), Mother-Daughter Duet helps moms repair the breach so that daughters want to draw close.

The mother-daughter dynamic is intense, personal, complex, and unique. But mothers and daughters can achieve mutual respect and learn to celebrate their differences when they learn the two-part harmony of the mother-daughter duet.

What does Jesus have to say to you?

Ever wonder what Jesus might say to you if you met him on the street? Chances are his message to you wouldn’t be all that different from what it was two thousand years ago, even though you live in a totally different world. You can discover what he said–and what it means for you–by reading his words preserved in the Bible.

Life offers you 90 short devotions that help you encounter Jesus’ words for yourself. Popular author Melody Carlson unpacks the message that Jesus wanted his followers to understand. Then she shows you how it applies to your life during the highs and lows of school, family life, relationships, and more.

If you want to read the Bible for all it’s worth, check out this second book in the Words from the Rock series.

Each of the nearly forty Points of Power encourages, uplifts, and comforts. The Points offer material for meditation and reveal a blueprint for harnessing the force of God. Key scriptures with practical applications, helpful prayers, and prompts for self-reflection all help you access the authority and benevolence of God.

The Points of Power themes–faith, love, forgiveness, confession, praise, confidence, prayer, peace, protection, and victory–are freshly presented in an entertaining gathering of stories and anecdotes. The message throughout is that God intends for you to be successful, victorious, and happy.

God has given you benefits and privileges, including the power to change your life, your attitude, and your outlook. POINTS OF POWER will show you how!

A collection of wise, compelling, and often uproariously funny essays built around the experience of music as a transformational element in a moment of truth, Hear No Evil mines Matthew Paul Turner’s humorous memories of his evangelical youth and invites readers to groove along on his journey.

From attending forbidden contemporary Christian concerts to moving to “Music City” Nashville, Hear No Evil chronicles Turner’s “life soundtrack” which morphs seamlessly into the stories of people, places, and experiences that have taught the music-editor-turned-author some new things about God, forced him out of his comfort zone, and introduced him to a fresh view of grace along the way.

If you’ve ever had the opening bars of a song transport you back in time or remind you of a pivotal spiritual moment, Matthew Paul Turner’s honest—and frequently hilarious—musings will strike a chord. Straight forward and amusing, Hear No Evil is an exploration of a life of faith lived to a personal soundtrack.

When you face a health-care need today, you have to be prepared for:

• less personal attention
• more complications with insurance and government programs
• a 40 percent national misdiagnosis rate, per recent surveys

Author Lisa Hall can help. Her years-long search for diagnosis has given her top-to-bottom expirience with the health-care system. Aided by the expertise of internal-medicine doctor Ronald Wyatt, Lisa provides a wide variety of practical guidance on how to:

• find the right kind of doctor, check qualifications, and increase the benefits of office visits
• maximize your Internet research
• navigate medical insurance, Medicare, workers’ compensation, and Social Security disability
• avoid being a victim of hospital mistakes
• organize your medical records in a way that helps practitioners help you

When you take charge of your own health, you’ll be ready to proactively take advantage of the help that’s out there.