Check out this interview with bestselling author Randy Singer…

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The Government Can Change an Identity, but It Cannot Change a Life

Suspense author Randy Singer brings awareness to the plight of Dalits in India

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX – May 5, 2011 – What is our responsibility for obtaining justice for those in need?

Does the end always justify the means? Randy Singer examines these questions while taking his readers through twists and turns on a powerful journey in his novel False Witness. This engrossing legal thriller is a re-telling of Singer’s original novel by the same name. The new version has many substantial changes-some designed to bring about Singer’s original vision for the book inspired by his friend’s funeral. The deceased was David O’Malley, Singer’s good friend and former client. O’Malley’s wife had asked Singer to give her husband’s eulogy. So, at the funeral, Singer talked about his friend’s generosity and big heart. Everyone there had a David O’Malley story, so heads nodded as he shared his. David’s pastor followed Singer in the pulpit. He spoke about a man named Thomas Kelly. The man was a scoundrel involved in organized crime. He turned on everyone he knew. “You don’t think you know Thomas Kelly, but you do,” the pastor explained. “David O’Malley was Thomas Kelly before he went into the witness protection program-before he came to the Lord.”

Prior to that moment, the only people that knew about David’s past were the government, his family, Singer, and his pastor. There was utter silence as the pastor concluded with a line Singer said he will never forget. “The government can give you a new identity,” he said, “but only Christ can change your life.” It was then that he decided to write this book.

But Singer also wanted to draw attention to one of his passions. He wanted to highlight the challenges of today’s church in India. He believes that most Western Christians are unaware of the persecution of the church and the miraculous things happening there.

India is a land of civil rights, in theory, but of brutal oppression, in fact-especially for the 165 million members of the Dalits, India’s lowest caste. During Singer’s first trip to India a few years ago, he saw firsthand the systemic oppression of the Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) through the Hindu caste system. Singer was astonished by the fact that the world’s largest democracy was also a breeding ground for the world’s largest human-trafficking operations, that it would allow the exploitation of 15 million children in bonded labor, that it would tolerate temple prostitution and other forms of sexual slavery, and that it would foster economic and social systems that oppress nearly 25 percent of its people.

But there is a silver lining. A bond was formed between the Dalits and Christians. The Dalits began asking the church to help educate their children. Hundreds of schools sprang up, providing thousands of Dalit children with an English-based education (critical to landing good jobs) and newfound self-respect. The Dalits responded with another invitation: “If this is the Christian faith, come start a church in our village.” The result is that millions of Dalits and other Indians are coming to Christ, drawn by a religion that believes the ground is equal at the foot of the cross. Singer was moved by the plight of the Dalit children, struggling to throw off the yoke of oppression and replace it with real freedom and dignity, so he committed to do his part because he believes that “no child should be untouchable.” So he is donating every penny from the sale of False Witness to the Dalit Freedom Network. His novel will take readers from the streets of Las Vegas to the halls of the American justice system and the inner sanctum of the growing church in India with all the trademark twists, turns, and legal intrigue his fans have come to expect.

False Witness begins with Clark Shealy, a bail bondsman with the ultimate bounty on the line-his wife’s life. He has 48 hours to find an Indian professor in possession of the Abacus Algorithm-an equation so powerful it could crack all Internet encryption.

Four years later, law student Jamie Brock is working in legal aid when a routine case takes a vicious twist. She and two colleagues learn that their clients, members of the witness protection program, are accused of defrauding the government and have the encrypted algorithm in their possession. Now they’re on the run from federal agents and the Chinese mafia, who will do anything to get the algorithm. Caught in the middle, Jamie and her friends must protect their clients if they want to survive long enough to graduate.

In this engrossing legal thriller, Singer shows how God is a God of justice and how, in His time, justice will be served.

About the book:

False Witness by Randy Singer

ISBN: 9781414335698

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

Date of publish: May 2011

Pages: 416

From Thomas Nelson:

One of the highlights of our days in the Fiction department at Thomas Nelson? Receiving reader letters—either directly addressed to us or passed along from our talented authors. It’s critical to be reminded that at the end of our long days acquiring, editing, designing, selling, marketing, and publicizing books, those stories are reaching readers, striking nerves, changing lives. We want readers’ feedback. How stories have given you hope. Which authors’ series you can’t help from sharing with everyone you meet. We want to know what makes you stay up late in the night to finish a story, and conversely what turns you away.

We’re conducting a series of surveys—seeking answers from readers who love Christian fiction. Up for grabs is a free ebook for every respondent who completes the survery, as well as a $10,000 prize for one entrant. The responses we gather will help shape the future of the books we publish for years to come. As well as the data we’re collecting here, we’ll also seek more in-depth feedback from a panel we’ll develop over the next year. More details to come. The note below from one of authors gives a specific picture of how reader feedback shapes her work. In short, your opinion matters! We thank you for your time and appreciate your responding.

–Thomas Nelson Fiction

Dear Friends–

Your opinion matters. It really does. I love hearing from readers about what worked for them in a story and about what doesn’t work. Reader feedback changed the balance between romance and suspense in my novels. After the Rock Harbor trilogy, I wanted to write more suspense in my novels because that’s what I personally like. But readers really wanted more relationship and romance in the books so I moved back that direction to about the same mix of 50/50 that the Rock Harbor novels contained. I write for you even more than for myself.

I had no intention of setting a whole series of books at Bluebird, Texas. It was going to be only one book, but readers sent me requests in droves for more books. The fourth book in the Lonestar series, Lonestar Angel, will be out in October. The Rock Harbor novels were going to be complete at three. There are now five and I’m thinking about another one! All due to reader demand.

I’ve often asked for reader input on names and locations too. When I was struggling for a name for my hero in The Lightkeeper’s Ball, I turned to my readers. Harrison really fit my character, and my readers told me. Love that! When I was trying to decide on a location for the new Hope Beach series I’ve started, I asked readers. Their overwhelming response was for a series set in the Outer Banks so guess what I’m writing?!

That’s why we’re coming to you for answers. We want to give you what you really want! Don’t be afraid to let us know what you really think. We value your honesty and the time it will take to share with us. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Your friend,

Colleen Coble

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by Beth Redman

Post a comment below for a chance to win a free copy of GOD KNOWS MY NAME!

An excerpt from God Knows My Name by Beth Redman.

©2010 Cook Communications Ministries.  Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.

“I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (Isa. 43:1)

A name is given and considered. A name imparts meaning, value, identity, and significance. Your name was chosen specifically, and especially, for you. A name gives both humanity and dignity to a person. The Enemy would have you live a nameless existence—feeling anonymous, illegitimate, unknown, unimportant, inglorious, and unfit to be named. Nineteenth-century London was a time of such material, emotional, and spiritual poverty that “children were so utterly uncared for that some were even without names, and were known to each other by nicknames.”

In direct contrast, God says that He has a name for us. Where we feel worthless and insignificant He bestows worth and significance upon us when He calls us by name and chooses us for His glory.

Anyone expecting a child has flipped through baby-name books, looking at the meanings and origins of names and thinking about how they sound. I’ve found names I loved and then been dismayed to find out they meant something like harlot, wench, or crooked nose!

Click here to watch the God Knows My Name book trailer!

Someone recently told me of a child who had been named Jezebel Harlot! That’s a pretty negative connotation to speak over a child every time she is called. Ideally, a name needs to suit the person carrying it. When my husband suggested that we name our third child “Rocco Redman,” I thought he had gone a bit mad! Normally my husband’s track record in making decisions is spot on. There really is no point arguing with Mr. Matthew Redman because over the years I have found he is nearly always right. However, on this occasion, I wasn’t so sure.

I wanted our third child to be called Benjamin, but Matt got the older children on board—and in the end I came to peace with the fact that if he was anything like his dad and his brother and sister, he would easily live up to something as strong and bold as Rocco! The name means “rest,” and so far he has turned out to be the most relaxed, peaceful, deep-sleeping, and gentle-spirited boy… and he has the confidence and joy required to be Rocco Redman. In new environments, his name still causes a little reaction, but it is so perfect for him, and I love that every time I write or call him by his full name, Rocco Benjamin Courage, I am affirming and speaking rest, sonship, bravery, and boldness over him.

In the same way, your Father God named you as precious, chosen, and beloved. You may not be named Rocco, but when God calls you, He speaks over you His truth, freedom, and life. Your part is to make a good choice—to continually believe and live under those things He named you and never to seek to hide behind another name. Many of us each day live under other labels that the Enemy has given us from past or present experiences—unwanted, failure, doubter, ugly, unlovely, needy, drama queen, mistake, disgrace, shamed, forgotten, and many more lies.

Click here to download Beth Redman’s song

“God Knows My Name,” written exclusively for this book.

Those thoughts and feelings cannot possibly originate from God—for He is the giver of good and perfect gifts, and the God of all comfort. Those negative impressions of yourself and the words my own dad wrote in his email to me originate from the Enemy—who we know to be a dirty liar.

Perhaps you think your problems and insecurities are too great to overcome. By the kindness and mercy of God in my own life, I can assure you that this is not the case. I was abused physically, put down verbally, and rejected. I suffered humiliation many times and sadly began to act out how I felt about myself. In public I felt wretchedly insecure. I couldn’t go out with friends without feeling self-conscious and unimportant. I hated myself inside and out.

Then Jesus called my name. And everything changed. I hardly recognize the person I was back then. Our names may conjure up memories, but not always truth. I know that ultimately I am defined not by what others think of me when they hear my name, or what my earthly father says about me. Instead, the authority and compassion of the God who called my name define me. He loves, He shapes, He convicts, and He lavishes us with affirmation.

It’s time we heard His voice the loudest.

God Knows My Name: Never Forgotten, Forever Loved by Beth Redman

David C Cook/July 1, 2010/ISBN 978-0-7814-0365-8/188 pages/softcover/$14.99

www.davidccook.com

Missionary daughter Abigail Caldwell emerges from the jungle for the first time in her thirty-four years, the sole survivor of a mysterious disease that killed her village. Abby goes to America, only to discover a nation where Christianity has completely died out. A curious message from her grandfather assigns her a surprising mission: re-introduce the Christian faith in America, no matter how insurmountable the odds.

But a larger threat looms. The world’s leading artificial intelligence industrialist has perfected a technique for downloading the human brain into a silicon form. Brain transplants have begun, and with them comes the potential of eliminating physical death altogether—but at what expense?

As Abby navigates a society grown more addicted to stimulating the body than nurturing the soul, she and Creighton Daniels, a historian troubled by his father’s unexpected death, become unwitting targets of powerful men who will stop at nothing to further their nefarious goals. Hanging in the balance—the spiritual future of all humanity.

In this futuristic thriller, startling near-future science collides with thought-provoking theology. The Last Christian is a provocative “what if?” novel from David Gregory, best-selling author of Dinner With a Perfect Stranger.

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Orphaned four years earlier when their parents–active in the African National Congress (ANC) Movement against apartheid, were murdered–16-year-old Chioma and her 15-year-old brother Masozi now live and work on an Afrikaner family’s farm.

When Chioma and Andrew, the farm owner’s son, find themselves attracted to one another, tragedy revisits their lives. Chioma escapes to join an ANC rebel band in her effort to survive and gain revenge for her family and culture. When cultures clash in life-or-death struggles, Chioma must choose between violence and revenge–or forgiveness and selfless love.

Loosely based on historical events and set near Pretoria, South Africa, in the violent upheaval prior to ANC leader Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 and his ascendance to presidency of South Africa, this story of forbidden romance produces and likely martyr who is replaced by one even more unlikely.

Kathi and I discussed a lot during our interview from catching up from old times to her two recently released novels No Greater Love and More than Conquerors and finally discussing whats next for her. Check out our Interview…

Post a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Kathi’s novel No Greater Love.

With violent crime on the rise and the political climate changing throughout certain parts of Mexico, the opportunity for open Christian witness–particularly in some areas of Chiapas State–is rapidly decreasing.

Despite increasing difficulty and persecution, Hector Rodriguez carries Bibles deep into Mexico, where those with Mayan beliefs grow more hostile as 2012 approaches. While Hector lives and pastors a small church on the outskirts of tourist-popular border town Tijuana, his mother, Virginia, lives in the village of San Juan Chamula, in the heart of the Mayan hostilities. She uses the Scriptures to teach reading to the families who are open to it–until she disappeares.

Hector must decide if he will continue his work despite his worries about protecting his wife and children and his search for Virginia. His young protege from California, Marty, wants to help Hector expand his ministry, but wonders if he and his future family can bear the persecution they, too, will likely face.

Can you run far enough to outdistance truth? A story of prodigals chasing their dreams. Will they turn toward home before it’s too late?

How much are your dreams worth? Can wealth and fame satisfy your heart as deeply as family and faith? Award-winning author Lisa Bergren’s latest novel, Sing, explores the lives of two prodigals who must decide if they are willing to pay the price their dreams demand. Moira and Nic St. Clair have both defied their father’s desires for them and instead travel to the edge of their dreams and find themselves standing upon the precipice of decisions that will alter their lives forever.

Bergren first introduced the St. Clair family in the novel Breathe. Maintaining her strong and well-researched story line in Sing, she immediately transports readers to the end of the 19^th century and weaves the plot amid scenes from Europe, Brazil and Colorado. Moira St. Clair takes center stage in this dramatic saga, as the reader follows her on a treacherous journey across the Atlantic into a lifestyle that proves to be even riskier and more daring than her life upon the stage of the European opera. Believing the promise that she could become “the perfect specimen of modern womanhood,” Moira travels farther and farther away from her family’s heritage of faith. When she encounters a deadly nemesis from her past, she must quickly decide what she values most in her life, before it’s too late.

Bergren takes the reader on a suspense-filled and arduous spiritual journey as she weaves the lives of the three St. Clair children into an unforgettable prodigal story. Her award-winning prose is a strong voice showcasing God’s mercy and grace in the lives of defiant believers, and her characters and their trials will be remembered long after the final pages. Sing is a brilliant addition to Bergren’s Homeward Trilogy, and fans will be eager to learn what comes next in the lives of the St. Clair family.

Sing by Lisa Bergren (Book Two in the Homeward Trilogy)

David C Cook/April 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4347-6707-3/400 pages/softcover/$14.99

www.davidccook.com ~ www.lisatawnbergren.com

How Does Your Parenting Stand Up to the Real World?

Introducing a new approach that swaps fear and guilt for grace and wisdom

I have a few extra copies of this book ready to give away! Would you like to learn more about what it takes to be a real world parent? Post a comment for a chance to win a FREE copy of Real World Parents!

Listen in to my interview with Mark Matlock…

If news stories and some high-profile Christian leaders are to be believed, the task of parenting—particularly of parenting a teenager—has never been more difficult or terrifying. The often-quoted statistics, which, like a fisherman’s tale, seem to grow more fantastic with each retelling, have produced a groundswell of panic within many Christian circles. Pharmacy parties, oral sex, and apostasy…oh my! Many parents live in constant fear that they will fail, that their children will be devoured by the world—unless mom and dad can inspire good behavior for 18 full years. But what if parents are only hearing part of the story? What if the real world isn’t so scary, after all?

In his new book Real World Parents: Christian Parenting for Families Living in the Real World, popular author and speaker Mark Matlock offers a perspective that directly contrasts the usual fear and guilt-based parenting programs that focus on shielding kids from the evils of the world and producing good behavior. Parents, he says, become fearful and controlling because they are listening to the wrong story—the world’s story. Real World Parents is about a fundamental shift in focus towards God’s epic, timeless story and His understanding of reality, which is unchanging, regardless of the world’s traps and trends.

What readers won’t find in the pages of Matlock’s book is a rigid program or magic formula for churning out good kids because Real World Parenting is not about what parents do. It’s about who they are.

“Many Christian parenting books focus on helping parents figure out how to raise well-behaved, well-mannered kids. And while that’s an important element, not many focused on raising kids to have hearts that seek after Christ. The goal of parenting, in the long run, isn’t for our kids to be known for how well behaved they are, but for how well they know and respond to God,” Matlock says. “Our behaviors are ultimately driven by our understanding of the way the world works, of what we believe to be true and false about the universe, of our perception of reality. How can we communicate God’s worldview to our kids? What story are we telling them about the universe, both intentionally and—more importantly—in the way we live with and for God over time?”

Matlock teaches a wisdom-based approach to passing God’s story on to young people and teaching them by example how to navigate the real world. Along the way, Real World Parents will discover:

·         Why God likes us and is already happy with our families

·         Surprising statistics about teen sex, drugs, and smoking that raise the question: are things really getting worse?

·         The three most common parental responses to a scary world—and why they don’t work

·         Why parents should teach their children how to “fail productively”

·         What kids really need to become spiritually healthy—and how parents can provide those things

·         How to evaluate media through the lens of God’s story

Just like the Real World Parents seminars, the book guides parents through the seven marks of a wise person, encouraging them to examine their definitions of success, their management of resources, the sources they turn to for wise counsel, and the health of their relationships. Matlock believes it is only through embracing and modeling God’s wisdom to their families that parents will create an environment that promotes the true spiritual growth of their children.

Real World Parents is, at the heart, a message of hope for families. “We wonder how God could ever look at our families in the shape they’re in and grin. And the problem is that as parents we sometimes forget that we’re also children, that our God is our Father, that he’s even more lovingly inclined to smile

at us than we are to smile at our own kids. Our father likes us, and he forgives even our parenting shortcomings and our family failings,” Matlock says. “No matter how good or bad you think your family is God has plans for you that will unfold in the Real World. God will continue to move your family along in the journey he has in store for you. That’s what real world parenting is about—understanding that journey and communicating it to our kids.”

Real World Parents: Christian Parenting for Families Living in the Real World by Mark Matlock

Zondervan/Youth Specialties   March 2010

ISBN: 978-0-3106-6936-4/143 pages/softcover/$12.99

www.RealWorldParents.com

I could sit and listen to Lisa McKay talk for hours, I understand why God called her, ministry is all over her! Listen in…

Like what you hear? Post a comment for a chance to win a FREE copy of her book You Can Still Wear Cute Shoes and Other Great Advice From an Unlikely Preacher’s Wife!

Excerpt from the introduction of You Can Still Wear Cute Shoes…and Other Great Advice from an Unlikely Preacher’s Wife by Lisa McKay (© David C Cook, 2010)

“God is calling you to do what?”

Such was my reaction fifteen years ago when my husband, Luke, told me he felt God was leading him into the gospel ministry. Even though I supported him wholeheartedly, I naively believed this calling was somehow just his gig. My job was simply to accompany him while he did his “thing.”

Reality didn’t hit until a well-meaning gentleman enlightened me on the expectations of a minister’s wife. He said, “The best thing you can do for Luke is learn how to play the piano. He’ll have a much easier time being called as a pastor of a church. Congregations love it when the pastor’s wife can contribute. It’s like they are getting two for one!” If I knew then what I know now, I would have had a serious fight with the flesh to keep from sharing my thoughts on the buy-one-get-one-free concept.

The restraint of the Holy Spirit is a beautiful thing.

Before that moment, it truly had not entered my mind that anyone would expect anything of me, or that my lack of musical talent could affect my husband’s “success” in ministry. I thought of my childhood pastor’s wife, a grim-faced woman whose hair was piled high in a bun. Polyester skirts and sensible shoes were her standard uniform. And yes, she played the piano. Was this the person I must become in order for God to use our family in ministry?

…It also did not help that the books I read about being a ministry wife only reinforced my insecurities. The advice ranged from how to brew a perfect cup of tea for a ladies’ luncheon to how to organize a large staff when hosting a dinner party. According to these books, I was to be gracious at all times, keep a spotless home, and have well-dressed, obedient children. I’m certainly not criticizing these noble aspirations, but even before children I was completely overwhelmed at this picture of perfection. I don’t agree with the busyness of our culture, yet there is no use in denying I often fall prey to its trappings. The truth is, I am a wife and mother deep in the trenches.  The only tea I brew is Lipton. And staff? Are you kidding me? If I ever have a workforce at my disposal, they will be too busy doing laundry to prepare a dinner for the deacons. And where do I begin with the kids? Someone please tell me what to do with a child who sneaks his Halloween costume under his clothes, strips off in the bathroom, and shakes hands as Spiderman during the greeting song when he is supposed to be in children’s church. Susanna Wesley would definitely not approve.

You Can Still Wear Cute Shoes by Lisa McKay

David C Cook   February 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4347-6726-4/208 pages/softcover/$12.99

www.davidccook.com

www.apreacherswife.com

Listen in to our interview and you be the judge…

Is Restoration Road the path God is drawing your soul toward? Post a comment for a chance to win a FREE copy and let fate decided!

Kruse shares the story of his journey down Restoration Road

Dr. Mitchell Kruse is an author, speaker, and the driving force behind The Restoration Road, a ministry movement that equips believers to live authentically where culture connects with Christ. Kruse is best known for his contribution to the auction arena, especially in the area of collector cars and real estate. For seventeen years, Kruse was owner, CEO, and auctioneer of Kruse International, the world’s largest collector car sales organization.

The art of auctioning has been passed down through three generations of the Kruse family, but as Kruse followed in his father’s footsteps, he discovered that success is a fragile thing that often comes at a high price. Though Kruse had been raised in a Christian family, he had vacillated between legalism and relative lawlessness. Facing the constant pressure of his life in the fast lane and the real possibility of losing everything he had labored to build, Kruse finally reached a turning point and surrendered control of his life to God. This move radically transformed both Kruse and his business over the next several years.

He sold his company to pursue his calling to communicate God’s restoration through grace and wisdom evidenced in leadership. Kruse earned his Master of Arts and Doctor of Religious Studies degrees with high distinction from Trinity Theological Seminary. He volunteered as teaching pastor at Blackhawk Ministries, a church of two thousand members.

Restoration Road by Mitch Kruse with Derek Williams

Credo Communications/March 2010

ISBN: 978-1-935391-31-9/316 pages/hardcover/$24.99

www.TheRestorationRoad.com www.MitchKruse.com

Become a fan of Mitch Kruse on Facebook. Follow Mitch on Twitter http://twitter.com/mitchellkruse