This site has reached its first milestone. For the first time on Reviews Plus+, I present something different. Even though I started music reviews to the side for Titletrakk.com, this will be the first non-book post on this site. Over the next couple weeks, I will be tackling reviews for a company, their movies, and the books that inspired a couple of the movies they have produced. First, let me introduce you to:
Kelly's Filmworks LTD is a self-proclaimed "mom and pop production company" based in Louisville, Kentucky. Since its inception in 2003 (with its first film, La Sposa) it has sought to bring a meaningful "storytelling element" to the independent film community by ripping yarns that feature interesting human characters and dialogue. Their web address is http://www.kellysfilmworks.net/.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Kelly Worthington, Jefferson Moore
FILMOGRAPHY:
· 'La Sposa' 2004
· 'The Perfect Stranger' 2005
· 'Another Perfect Stranger' 2007
· 'The Stranger' television miniseries 2007
· 'Clancy' 2009 (in Theatres March 9, 2009)
· 'The Perfect Gift' - Christmas 2009 (in production)
This film company produces thought-provoking videos that entertain the whole family. Movie based on The Bible and Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and A Day with a Perfect Stranger, who could go wrong with movies ranging from a wife contemplating love to Jesus Living among us to a story of pain. Check them out or if you’re ready purchase click here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Gatekeepers by Robert Liparulo
(Dreamhouse Kings #3)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert is an award-winning author of over a thousand published articles and short stories. He is currently a contributing editor for New Man magazine. His work has appeared in Reader's Digest, Travel & Leisure, Modern Bride, Consumers Digest, Chief Executive, and The Arizona Daily Star, among other publications. In addition, he previously worked as a celebrity journalist, interviewing Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Charlton Heston, and others for magazines such as Rocky Road, Preview, and L.A. Weekly.Robert is an avid scuba diver, swimmer, reader, traveler, and a law enforcement and military enthusiast. He lives in Colorado with his wife and four children.
Robert's first novel painted a scenario so frighteningly real that six Hollywood producers were bidding on movie rights before the novel was completed. His acclaimed debut novel, Comes A Horseman, is being made into a major motion picture by producer Mace Neufeld and his short story "Kill Zone" was featured in the anthology Thriller, edited by James Patterson.
Bob has sold the film rights to his second book, GERM. And he is writing the screenplay for a yet-to-be-written political thriller, which sold to Phoenix Pictures, for Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, The Guardian) to direct!
And his third book Deadfall. debuted to rave reviews!
ABOUT THE BOOK
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Bob Liparulo wants to give away a signed 3 book set of the DreamHouse Kings books! Send an email to Bob [at] Liparulo [dot] com and put "CFBA" in the subject line. He will pick a winner next week!!!!In the third novel of this young adult series, the mystery deepens in a house that is more than meets the eye.
The Kings have been in the creepy old place, their new home, for only a few days, but they've experienced enough terror to last a lifetime. And the mystery is growing even more baffling. Shadowy and shifting, the big house conceals doors into other worlds that blur the line between memories and dreams-and the slightest misstep can change history forever.
At least, that's if they believe the trembling old man who shows up claiming to know them. "There's a reason you're in the house," he tells them. "As gatekeepers, we must make sure only those events that are supposed to happen get through to the future."
The problem is that horrors beyond description wait on the other side of those gates. As if that weren't enough, the Kings are also menaced by sinister forces on this side-like the dark, ancient stranger Taksidian, who wants them out now.
It's hard to believe that things could have gotten worse for the King family-but they have. Dad's in handcuffs, the school bully has just found the secret portal that leads from the high school to the house, and Xander is sure he's found Mom, but they can't get back to her. Then Jesse arrives, and he seems to be a virtual Obi Wan of knowledge about the place. But is he the key they need to unlock the secrets, or just a crazy old man?
Dangers are increasing from within and without when Xander makes a startling discovery that explains why they haven't found any rooms that lead to the future. Alongside the threats, though, they're also starting to find some surprising allies.
All they have to do is get organized, get psyched, and get Mom. But that isn't nearly as easy as it sounds.
Xander, David, and Toria must venture beyond the gates to save their missing mother-and discover how truly high the stakes have become.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Gatekeepers
(Dreamhouse Kings #3), go HERE
What they're saying:
Review
"If you like creepy and mysterious, this is the house for you! Every room opens a door to magic, true horror, and amazing surprises. I loved wandering around in these books. With a house of so many great, haunting stories, why would you ever want to go outside?" --R.L. Stine (Goosebumps)
Review
"A powerhouse storyteller delivers his most fantastic ride yet!"
-Ted Dekker, bestselling author of Kiss, Chosen and Infidel
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Red Siren By M.L. Tyndall
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
M. L. (MARYLU) TYNDALL grew up on the beaches of South Florida loving the sea and the warm tropics. But despite the beauty around her, she always felt an ache in her soul--a longing for something more.After college, she married and moved to California where she had two children and settled into a job at a local computer company. Although she had done everything the world expected, she was still miserable. She hated her job and her marriage was falling apart.
Still searching for purpose, adventure and true love, she spent her late twenties and early thirties doing all the things the world told her would make her happy, and after years, her children suffered, her second marriage suffered, and she was still miserable.
One day, she picked up her old Bible, dusted it off, and began to read. Somewhere in the middle, God opened her hardened heart to see that He was real, that He still loved her, and that He had a purpose for her life, if she'd only give her heart to Him completely.
Her current releases in the Legacy of The Kings Pirates series include:The Restitution, The Reliance, and The Redemption and The Falcon And The Sparrow
ABOUT THE BOOK
Lady Faith Westcott has turned her back on God and on man. Having witnessed the hypocrisy in the Church of England, her older sister's abuse at the hand of her husband, and her own mother's untimely death in childbirth, Faith has determined never to marry and to gain enough wealth so she and her two sisters will never have to depend on man or God again.
To that end, though a lady by day, she becomes a pirate by night and begins her sordid career off Portsmouth when she attacks and plunders a merchant ship commanded by the young Dajon Waite. Humiliated at being defeated by a pirate and a woman no less, Dajon returns home without cargo and ship, and his father expels him from the family merchant business.
After a brief sojourn into debased society, Dajon rejoins the Royal Navy, where he finds comfort in the strict rules and redemption through his service to others. Three years later, he is sent to the frontier outpost of Charles Town, South Carolina to deal with the pirate problem. There, he connects with his mentor and old friend, Admiral Westcott, who has just arrived with his three daughters.
Much to Dajon's utter dismay, Admiral Westcott, who is being called away to Spain, asks Dajon to be temporary guardian of his three lovely daughters. One of the ladies seems familiar to him, a striking redhead who immediately sends his heart thumping.
Faith recognizes Captain Waite as the buffoon whose ship she plundered off Portsmouth. Yet, he appears no longer the fool, but instead a tall, handsome and commanding naval officer. Despite her immediate attraction to him, she labels him the enemy, but sparks are guaranteed to fly during the next few months when independent, headstrong and rebellious Faith falls in love with God-fearing honorable, rule-following Dajon-especially when Faith continues her pirating off the Carolina coast while her father is away.
Will Dajon catch her? And what will this man of honor and duty do when he does?
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Red Siren, go HERE
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Centurion's Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Davis Bunn is an internationally acclaimed author who has sold more than six million books in fifteen languages. His audiences span reading genres from high drama and action thrillers to heartwarming relationship stories, in both contemporary and historical settings. Honored with three Christy Awards for excellence in historical and suspense fiction, his bestsellers include My Soul To Keep, and Full Circle. A sought-after lecturer in the art of writing, Bunn was named Novelist in Residence at Regent's Park College, Oxford University.
He and his wife, Isabella, make their home in Florida for some of each year, and spend the rest near Oxford, England, where they each teach and write.
Her first novel, a prairie love story titled Love Comes Softly, was published by Bethany House in 1979. This book was followed by more than 75 others.After Love Comes Softly was published, Oke found her readers asking for more. That book led to a series of eight others in her Love Comes Softly series. She has written multiple fiction series, including The Canadian West, Seasons of the Heart and Women of the West. Her most recent releases include a beautiful children's picture book, I Wonder...Did Jesus Have a Pet Lamb and The Song of Acadia series, co-written with T. Davis Bunn.
Janette Oke's warm writing style has won the hearts of millions of readers. She has received numerous awards, including the Gold Medallion Award, The Christy Award of Excellence, the 1992 President's Award for her significant contribution to the category of Christian fiction from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and in 1999 the Life Impact Award from the Christian Booksellers Association International. Beloved worldwide, her books have been translated into fourteen languages.
She and her husband live nearby in Alberta, Canada.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Janette Oke has dreamed for years of retelling a story in a biblical time frame from a female protagonist's perspective, and Davis Bunn is elated to be working with her again on this sweeping saga of the dramatic events surrounding the birth of Christianity...and the very personal story of Leah, a young Jewess of mixed heritage trapped in a vortex of competing political agendas and private trauma.Caught up in the maelstrom following the death of an obscure rabbi in the Roman backwater of first-century Palestine, Leah finds herself also engulfed in her own turmoil--facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a Roman soldier, Alban, who seems to care for nothing but his own ambitions.
Head of the garrison near Galilee, he has been assigned by Palestine's governor to ferret out the truth behind rumors of a political execution gone awry. Leah's mistress, the governor's wife, secretly commissions Leah also to discover what really has become of this man whose death--and missing body--is causing such furor.
This epic drama is threaded with the tale of an unlikely romance and framed with dangers and betrayals from unexpected sources. At its core, the story unfolds the testing of loyalties--between two young people whose inner searchings they cannot express, between their irreconcilable heritages, and ultimately between their humanity and the Divine they yearn to encounter.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Centurion's Wife, go HERE
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Stand-In Groom By Kay Dacus
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kaye Dacus is an author and editor who has been writing fiction for more than twenty years. A former Vice President of American Christian Fiction Writers, Kaye enjoys being an active ACFW member and the fellowship and community of hundreds of other writers from across the country and around the world that she finds there. She currently serves as President of Middle Tennessee Christian Writers, which she co-founded in 2003 with three other writers. Each month, she teaches a two-hour workshop on an aspect of the craft of writing at the MTCW monthly meeting. But her greatest joy comes from mentoring new writers through her website and seeing them experience those “aha” moments when a tricky concept becomes clear.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When wedding planner Anne Hawthorne meets George Laurence, she thinks she's found the man of her dreams. But when he turns out to be a client, her "dream" quickly turns into a nightmare. Will Anne risk her heart and career on this engaging Englishman? George came to Louisiana to plan his employer's wedding and pose as the groom. But how can he feign affection for a supposed fiancee when he's so achingly attracted to the wedding planner? And what will happen when Anne discovers his role has been Stand-In Groom only? Will she ever trust George again? Can God help these two believers find a happy ending?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Stand-In Groom, go HERE
What they're saying about it:
“Dacus pulls off a delightful story that places readers in the heart of the South with the debut of the Brides of Bonneterre series. Readers will enjoy this look at how lives are transformed through devastating events and how forgiveness is the key to a promising future. Nothing is as it seems in this heartwarming story.”
–Romantic Times, 4-Star Review
“Absolutely delightful! I enjoyed Stand-In Groom from cover to cover! Ms. Dacus’s clever story and wonderful prose will draw you away to a place deep in the heart of Louisiana, surrounding you with the scents, sounds, and sights of the deep south. A story filled with romance and intrigue, betrayal and forgiveness, I found myself laughing, crying and rejoicing right along with the characters.”
–M.L. Tyndall, author of The Falcon and the Sparrow and the award-winning Legacy of the King’s Pirates series
“Stand-In Groom is as sweet, beautiful, and chaotic as a perfectly planned wedding. Anne is a bright and wounded heroine you’re going to care about for a long time. George is a hero to capture your heart. Kaye Dacus will take you along for a fun, poignent ride in Stand-In Groom.”
–Mary Connealy, author of the Lassoed in Texas series and Of Mice...and Murder
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Charting the Course by Bruce Howard
Check out Charting The Course by Bruce Howard to find out if the market economy can come back.
Q & A with Dr. Bruce Howard
Author of Charting the Course
In his new book, Charting the Course, Bruce Howard grapples with the dilemma of reconciling fixed, transcendent moral values with an economic system based on relative value. Howard insists there is a way to move forward, that we can influence the economy in a way that will bring positive change to the world. “While it is true that markets have no values, they are wonderful mirrors for reflecting the values that people bring to the marketplace each and every day,” he states.
Q: What factors led you to tackle the topic of markets in Charting the Course?
A: Charting the Course is the result of a personal professional crisis. As a professor of economics at a Christian college, I feel a keen sense of personal responsibility for helping to shape the minds and character of my students. I had long been a strong advocate of the free market as a system for increasing the economic welfare of society. But I soon realized that this system is based upon a world view that is completely humanistic, relativistic, and egocentric. Every day I stood before these bright, impressionable young men and women and offered them something that looked so very wonderful from the outside, but lurking in the core was something very unpalatable to me as a Christian. I brooded over these things for several years before I realized that the inherent weakness of the market system (i.e., that it has no innate sense of morality) could be turned upside down and used to our common advantage. Markets by their very nature deliver the things to which people impute value. Imputed values have as their source our “personal set of values.” To get the right outcomes in the marketplace, we need to draw from the right set of values. There really is a broad consensus of what humanity considers to be “right.” As such, we need encouragement, inspiration, admonition, and reminding to do what we know to be right. This book creates an important “to do” list for getting things right in economic life.
Q: In the book, you stress the fact that the word “marketing” has been largely misunderstood. What does this term really mean?
A: People generally associate the term “marketing” with sales and advertising. Marketing is treated like a noun, but it is better understood as a verb, an action—the action of making markets. Marketing is the process of looking outward in order to discern the needs and wants of society. It also includes looking inward at the resources and skill set of the producer to see how they can be used to meet these identified needs and wants of society. The marketing process includes everything that has to happen in order to first generate an idea and then implement that idea in economically sustainable ways to meet the needs of the targeted segment of society. This is a big job, and it operates on a 24/7 basis. Right now, literally millions of people are thinking about you and me and what they can do to meet some unfulfilled need or want we might have. People are thinking about ways to cure our cancers, treat our diabetes, and cure our heart disease. They are also thinking about new gadgets to help us chop onions, carve a turkey, or secure our homes and automobiles. How many times have you heard the phrase “new and improved”? This is the result of marketing.
Q: How pervasive is the influence of modern markets in our lives?
A: In the book, I ask readers to think for a moment about all of the things they can possibly purchase at a moderate-sized grocery store, and then ask themselves, where does all this stuff come from? Pick up any packaged product, and you will find a list of ingredients on the label; ask the question again: Where did all those ingredients come from? I can’t tell you where all these things came from, but I can tell you that they got there through the power of the marketplace. Embodied in our use of the goods and services we take for granted every day are the acts of literally thousands of economic agents (people doing a job) engaged in millions of acts and making millions of little decisions that collectively add up to the stuff of our lives. It is the power of markets that brings us the things we want—when and where we want them. One of the most amazing aspects of all of this is that we don’t personally have to ask for any of it. Through the power of markets, the vast majority of things we use every single day come to us without our asking. The only thing that is required of us in return is a willingness to part with some of our money in exchange for the stuff of life.
Q: Tell us about the “peculiar schizophrenia” relating to the core of economic value that complicates a discussion of business ethics.
A: Very few people would deny that ethics should play a central role in guiding our economic choices and activities. But if people believe in ethics, then they also believe in the existence of intrinsic and transcendent value as a life-impacting reality. Right and wrong have no meaning apart from some overarching ethical framework. Yet markets operate on a basis of imputed and relative value. You and I, as consumers, both define and measure ultimate value. According to markets, there is no such thing as value that is innate or that transcends the human calculus. Markets cannot distinguish between penicillin or pornography, peanuts or prostitution. And markets will flex the same amount of power to create housing as they do to produce heroin. So we have a dilemma. What do we do with the fact that markets operate on the first principle that all value is imputed?
Q: One of the economic values you promote in Charting the Course is to “leave things a little better than you found them.” What common misconception prevents companies and governments from putting this principle into practice?
A: One of my greatest challenges as a professor of business has been to help students develop an understanding that business is about growing the size of a pie. All too often I encounter the mistaken concept that business is just about getting the biggest slice you can from a pie of fixed size—which means that in order for me to have a bigger slice, everyone else must necessarily have less. Economic systems based on the fixed-pie concept are unproductive and generally repressive. A few individuals may thrive and even become quite wealthy in that environment, but the system as a whole will do a pitiful job of creating goods and services. Businesses operating in a fixed-pie mode make a habit of leaving things worse than they found them. This is true not only in regard to the environment but also in regard to their customers, their employees, their creditors, and anyone else with whom they might have to interface. As we have seen in the former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, these fixed-pie systems corrode from the inside out and ultimately crumble under the weight of the “me-win-you-lose” mindset.
Q & A with Dr. Bruce Howard
Author of Charting the Course
In his new book, Charting the Course, Bruce Howard grapples with the dilemma of reconciling fixed, transcendent moral values with an economic system based on relative value. Howard insists there is a way to move forward, that we can influence the economy in a way that will bring positive change to the world. “While it is true that markets have no values, they are wonderful mirrors for reflecting the values that people bring to the marketplace each and every day,” he states.
Q: What factors led you to tackle the topic of markets in Charting the Course?
A: Charting the Course is the result of a personal professional crisis. As a professor of economics at a Christian college, I feel a keen sense of personal responsibility for helping to shape the minds and character of my students. I had long been a strong advocate of the free market as a system for increasing the economic welfare of society. But I soon realized that this system is based upon a world view that is completely humanistic, relativistic, and egocentric. Every day I stood before these bright, impressionable young men and women and offered them something that looked so very wonderful from the outside, but lurking in the core was something very unpalatable to me as a Christian. I brooded over these things for several years before I realized that the inherent weakness of the market system (i.e., that it has no innate sense of morality) could be turned upside down and used to our common advantage. Markets by their very nature deliver the things to which people impute value. Imputed values have as their source our “personal set of values.” To get the right outcomes in the marketplace, we need to draw from the right set of values. There really is a broad consensus of what humanity considers to be “right.” As such, we need encouragement, inspiration, admonition, and reminding to do what we know to be right. This book creates an important “to do” list for getting things right in economic life.
Q: In the book, you stress the fact that the word “marketing” has been largely misunderstood. What does this term really mean?
A: People generally associate the term “marketing” with sales and advertising. Marketing is treated like a noun, but it is better understood as a verb, an action—the action of making markets. Marketing is the process of looking outward in order to discern the needs and wants of society. It also includes looking inward at the resources and skill set of the producer to see how they can be used to meet these identified needs and wants of society. The marketing process includes everything that has to happen in order to first generate an idea and then implement that idea in economically sustainable ways to meet the needs of the targeted segment of society. This is a big job, and it operates on a 24/7 basis. Right now, literally millions of people are thinking about you and me and what they can do to meet some unfulfilled need or want we might have. People are thinking about ways to cure our cancers, treat our diabetes, and cure our heart disease. They are also thinking about new gadgets to help us chop onions, carve a turkey, or secure our homes and automobiles. How many times have you heard the phrase “new and improved”? This is the result of marketing.
Q: How pervasive is the influence of modern markets in our lives?
A: In the book, I ask readers to think for a moment about all of the things they can possibly purchase at a moderate-sized grocery store, and then ask themselves, where does all this stuff come from? Pick up any packaged product, and you will find a list of ingredients on the label; ask the question again: Where did all those ingredients come from? I can’t tell you where all these things came from, but I can tell you that they got there through the power of the marketplace. Embodied in our use of the goods and services we take for granted every day are the acts of literally thousands of economic agents (people doing a job) engaged in millions of acts and making millions of little decisions that collectively add up to the stuff of our lives. It is the power of markets that brings us the things we want—when and where we want them. One of the most amazing aspects of all of this is that we don’t personally have to ask for any of it. Through the power of markets, the vast majority of things we use every single day come to us without our asking. The only thing that is required of us in return is a willingness to part with some of our money in exchange for the stuff of life.
Q: Tell us about the “peculiar schizophrenia” relating to the core of economic value that complicates a discussion of business ethics.
A: Very few people would deny that ethics should play a central role in guiding our economic choices and activities. But if people believe in ethics, then they also believe in the existence of intrinsic and transcendent value as a life-impacting reality. Right and wrong have no meaning apart from some overarching ethical framework. Yet markets operate on a basis of imputed and relative value. You and I, as consumers, both define and measure ultimate value. According to markets, there is no such thing as value that is innate or that transcends the human calculus. Markets cannot distinguish between penicillin or pornography, peanuts or prostitution. And markets will flex the same amount of power to create housing as they do to produce heroin. So we have a dilemma. What do we do with the fact that markets operate on the first principle that all value is imputed?
Q: One of the economic values you promote in Charting the Course is to “leave things a little better than you found them.” What common misconception prevents companies and governments from putting this principle into practice?
A: One of my greatest challenges as a professor of business has been to help students develop an understanding that business is about growing the size of a pie. All too often I encounter the mistaken concept that business is just about getting the biggest slice you can from a pie of fixed size—which means that in order for me to have a bigger slice, everyone else must necessarily have less. Economic systems based on the fixed-pie concept are unproductive and generally repressive. A few individuals may thrive and even become quite wealthy in that environment, but the system as a whole will do a pitiful job of creating goods and services. Businesses operating in a fixed-pie mode make a habit of leaving things worse than they found them. This is true not only in regard to the environment but also in regard to their customers, their employees, their creditors, and anyone else with whom they might have to interface. As we have seen in the former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, these fixed-pie systems corrode from the inside out and ultimately crumble under the weight of the “me-win-you-lose” mindset.
Pure Gold by Pam Davis
Pure Gold by Pam Davis
Authentic September 2008
ISBN 978-1-934068-64-9/192 pages/softcover/$14.99
http://www.authenticpublishing.com/
Authentic September 2008
ISBN 978-1-934068-64-9/192 pages/softcover/$14.99
http://www.authenticpublishing.com/
“I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire,
so you can become rich.” ~ Revelation 3:18
so you can become rich.” ~ Revelation 3:18
Prospectors throughout the ages have sacrificed everything to search for the gold that would make them rich. For many, this was a fruitless journey. As Christians, we, too, are searching for gold—God’s priceless gift of grace.Learning to accept God’s grace is one of the most important things you can do to become, grow, and mature as a Christian. But first, you must understand the different facets of grace. In her book, Pure Gold, Pam Davis has done a marvelous job of correlating intangible grace with tangible gold—the greatest historical and universally valued commodity. Christians can now grasp the biblical concept of grace in a practical, real, and meaningful way.
Pure Gold picks and shovels through the mountain of Scripture, leading the seeking Christian, a spiritual prospector, to sift the soil of their soul and discover within the brilliant Rock, God’s pure gold, grace in Christ Jesus. Possessing the treasure of God’s grace enables us to live rich lives that give us joy, peace, energy, passion, and the ability to rise above our daily burdens.
Pick up your copy today and embrace God's Grace @ http://www.amazon.com/ !!!
Church as a Safe Place by Peter Holmes and Susan B. Williams
Church as a Safe Place: A Handbook by Peter R. Holmes and Susan B. Williams
Authentic Publishing May 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1-86024-603-6/331 pages/softcover/$16.99
www.authenticpublishing.com
Authentic Publishing May 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1-86024-603-6/331 pages/softcover/$16.99
www.authenticpublishing.com
Church as a Safe Place is a great resource for every church to have. Weither you get if for the abuser, abusee, or the observer of the abuse, all will be aided with something from this book from this book. Get you copy today @ http://www.amazon.com/!!!
Most of the time when you hear about church abuse, it’s in regards to sexual abuse by priests. However, abuse within the church takes many forms, and is not limited to any one faith or denomination.
What does abuse in the church look like? Authors Peter Holmes and Susan Williams contend that “abuse” includes the many different ways people mistreat each other and create an environment that makes people feel unsafe and uncomfortable. It can happen when church leaders become “Messiah figures” and misuse their power or when a church member lashes out at someone else in anger—even when portions of Scripture or the use of the phrase “It’s God’s will” are used to inflict additional pain on someone who is already suffering.
As a background and resource to their book Church as a Safe Place, Holmes and Williams have incorporated the experiences of many who were “former Christians”—people who had a history in the church but for various (and sometimes shocking) reasons had left congregational life. They were able to identify harm and abuse in the church in five major areas: verbal, emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual. The abuse is happening more often than many would believe or recognize.
The book takes a comprehensive approach to confronting, resolving, and minimizing abuse in the church. Drawing from both Scripture and their many years in therapeutic church ministry, the authors have set up a framework for dealing with complaints of abuse in the church and taking steps to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place. The handbook includes many specific suggestions for handling difficult situations and covers topics ranging from the proper protocol for individual counseling sessions to the correct use of confidentiality. The authors also devote a chapter to resisting the blame culture, a natural response many feel when they begin to recognize that they have been mistreated.
Most of the time when you hear about church abuse, it’s in regards to sexual abuse by priests. However, abuse within the church takes many forms, and is not limited to any one faith or denomination.What does abuse in the church look like? Authors Peter Holmes and Susan Williams contend that “abuse” includes the many different ways people mistreat each other and create an environment that makes people feel unsafe and uncomfortable. It can happen when church leaders become “Messiah figures” and misuse their power or when a church member lashes out at someone else in anger—even when portions of Scripture or the use of the phrase “It’s God’s will” are used to inflict additional pain on someone who is already suffering.
As a background and resource to their book Church as a Safe Place, Holmes and Williams have incorporated the experiences of many who were “former Christians”—people who had a history in the church but for various (and sometimes shocking) reasons had left congregational life. They were able to identify harm and abuse in the church in five major areas: verbal, emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual. The abuse is happening more often than many would believe or recognize.
The book takes a comprehensive approach to confronting, resolving, and minimizing abuse in the church. Drawing from both Scripture and their many years in therapeutic church ministry, the authors have set up a framework for dealing with complaints of abuse in the church and taking steps to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place. The handbook includes many specific suggestions for handling difficult situations and covers topics ranging from the proper protocol for individual counseling sessions to the correct use of confidentiality. The authors also devote a chapter to resisting the blame culture, a natural response many feel when they begin to recognize that they have been mistreated.
Q&A with Peter R. Holmes and Susan B. Williams
Authors of Church as a Safe Place
While stories of sexual abuse by priests or others in authority make headlines, many instances of abusive behavior in the church occur unnoticed, and the abused rarely feel free to speak out about their suffering. In their new book, Church as a Safe Place, authors Peter R. Holmes and Susan B. Williams expose the truth about abuse in the church, challenging churches to be the safe places God has created them to be. People come to church looking for a haven from this abuse. Unfortunately, they often discover that the church isn’t so different from the rest of the world, after all.
Q: When we hear the word “abuse,” most of us immediately think of physical or sexual abuse. What are some other forms of abuse you have identified in the church?
A: As a background and resource to Church as a Safe Place, we have drawn upon the experiences of the significant number of our own congregation who once were “former Christians.” By this we mean that they are people who had a history in the church but for various reasons had left congregational life. Sadly, we heard several stories of physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by church leaders or others within the church. But there were also many other troubling stories describing behavior many of us have never recognized as “abusive.” For example, when one woman we know lost a baby several years ago, her pain was multiplied when she was told by members of her faith community that this happened because she and her husband had left the mission field in Africa. Others had been rejected outright because of failure to conform to the extra-biblical rules and values held by those in leadership. After hearing story after story, we were able to identify harm and abuse in the church in five major areas: verbal, emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual. These areas of abuse are not exclusive. Many situations involve more than one type of damage, and the boundaries between them are blurred. For instance, verbal abuse can lead to deep emotional trauma that lingers for many years. Because so much of this abuse involves those who claim to be speaking God’s words, there is often a spiritual aspect overshadowing another form of abuse.
Q: Since every person has the potential to mistreat someone else—and churches are simply groups of people—is there such a thing as a “safe” church?
A: The word “abuse” seems strong, but most people who have suffered abuse within the church can at least recognize that their feelings are being hurt, and they don’t feel that church is a safe place for them. This happens far more often than most of us would think. We are not suggesting that every church is unsafe. Neither are we giving everyone permission to accuse others unjustly. But our congregations are part of our Western society and can be as abusive as the society they are a part of. Because abuse in our (or, really, any) culture is so common that it becomes like background noise, when congregations become abusive or hurtful environments, it is all too easy for the organization and its members to develop a tolerance to it. It becomes normal. For many of us, of course, local church life is an enjoyable and safe experience. For many others, abuse has become synonymous with church life. This is an area in which most churches demonstrate room for improvement, which is why we consider Church as a Safe Place to be a handbook for churches in confronting, resolving, and minimizing abuse.
Q: What role does confidentiality play in the prevention—and the sometime proliferation—of abuse by leaders in the church?
A: Traditionally, the pastoral relationship, like the one-to-one counseling model, has been a private one. In the USA, initiatives like HIPPA, the national standards to protect the privacy of personal health information, reinforce this. But, in an age when confidentiality in any form is becoming the holy grail of medicine, we would like to question the wisdom of allowing this to creep further into congregational life. The issue of confidentiality can create a number of problems. At one extreme are the pastors and leaders who keep an iron grip on all relationships and disclosures. They insist on knowing all confidential information and often seem to think that it should come to them alone. This increases their power over those who seek help and can lead to abuse of that power. At the other extreme are churches where openness is encouraged to the extent that people do not feel safe around their leadership because they might use confidential information about them in sermons and conversations in the church lobby. We can think of one example in which a young woman attending a youth rally felt great shame when the speaker asked all the virgins to stand. This truthful young woman remained seated, feeling publicly exposed, as the others applauded themselves. Finding a balance in matters of confidentiality can be difficult. A culture built on openness is particularly helpful to people with no Christian background because when they move into congregational life they are able to hear everyone’s amazing stories and this is compelling. If everything goes on in private, with very little told, they begin believing that church is lived in secret. The safest place on earth is where there are no secrets. That being said, the sharing of those stories should always be done voluntarily, not under pressure to conform.
Q: When we realize that we have been abusive to someone, how do we go about setting things right? What if we are the ones who have been abused—what should we do then?
A: As we outline in our book, begin by asking: What would be best for the person I have hurt? How would it be most easy to contact them? The normal answer is by sending a card or letter. When you first make contact, begin gently. You have a responsibility to give the other person the opportunity of finding a way back to you. Try to set up a meeting. You may even suggest that the other person bring along a friend if they wish. When a person has been very hurt, mediation will at times be necessary. Someone impartial will need to step into the situation to listen to what is being said by both people or parties.
If you realize you have been abused, the first thing to do is to talk to someone about it, someone who is able to listen to your perspective rather than continue to defend the other person(s). Invite the Lord to be with you as you admit you were abused. Perhaps you need to raise your voice as you let the anger out. Give the pain to the Lord. Resist the urge to blame God for what people have done to you in His Church. This will cut you off from His restorative Love.
Q: What are some specific steps churches can take to maintain an environment safe from physical and sexual abuse?
A: Physical abuse can leave many hidden scars. Accusations should always be treated very seriously, and we should not let our loyalties or prejudices stop us from hearing the person’s perspective. Rumors of sexual abuse in any form should never be ignored. Always ensure that the appropriate person checks out such suspicions, regardless of who the alleged perpetrator may be. Any leader of a faith community who discovers that someone is truly being sexually abused has a duty in law to inform the police. It is inadvisable for a Christian leader to see anyone alone pastorally, especially someone of the opposite gender or a child. It is better if the counselee brings a friend or for the leader to seek the support of another member of the leadership team.
Q: How should complaints of abuse be handled?
A: When anyone comes forward to talk about being abused in any way, leaders should treat what is said seriously and listen carefully and transparently to people on both sides of the conflict. They should talk it through with other trustworthy people, staying mindful of the fact that human nature is revengeful and vindictive. Sometimes things are not as they seem. If the abusive situation has been confirmed, choose to honor all parties who are involved, seeking reconciliation. In instances of sexual abuse, notify the proper authorities. For instances of emotional, verbal, and spiritual abuse, seek to restore trust between the two parties if you can, knowing that trust is a key element of restoration.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Kiss By Ted Dekker and Erin Healy
A wonderful collaboration from a dynamic duo, a trifecta of romance, suspense, and mystery though it doesn’t over use any one genre. Kiss had the perfect elements winding down to a stunning finish. All I can say is I can't wait till next January's release of Burn by these two fabulous writers. "Where Heart Pounding meets Heart Warming" is a little too modest. Find a comfortable chair, stoke up a fire, and Kiss the cold evening away but watch out for Burn.
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
KISS
Thomas Nelson (January 6, 2009)
by
Ted Dekker
and
Erin Healy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.
After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.
Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. Dekker's body of work encompassing seven mysteries, three thrillers and ten fantasies includes Heaven's Wager, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed, Blink, Thr3e, The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White), Obsessed, Renegade, and Chaos.
*******************
Erin Healy is an award-winning fiction editor who has worked with talented novelists such as James Scott Bell, Melody Carlson, Colleen Coble, Brandilyn Collins, L. B. Graham, Rene Gutteridge, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Robin Lee Hatcher, Denise Hildreth, Denise Hunter, Randy Ingermanson, Jane Kirkpatrick, Gilbert Morris, Frank Peretti, Lisa Samson, Randy Singer, Robert Whitlow, and many others.
She began working with Ted Dekker in 2002 and edited twelve of his heart-pounding storiesbefore their collaboration on Kiss, the first novel to seat her on "the other side of the desk."
Erin is the owner of WordWright Editorial Services, a Colorado-based consulting firm specializing in fiction book development. She and her husband, Tim, are the proud parents of two children
ABOUT THE BOOK
Let me tell you all I know for sure. My name. Shauna.
I woke up in a hospital bed missing six months of my memory. In the room was my loving boyfriend-how could I have forgotten him?-my uncle and my abusive stepmother. Everyone blames me for the tragic car accident that left me near death and my dear brother brain damaged. But what they say can't be true-can it?
I believe the medicine is doing strange things to my memory. I'm unsure who I can trust and who I should run from. And I'm starting to remember things I've never known. Things not about me. I think I'm going crazy.
And even worse, I think they want to kill me.
But who? And for what? Is dying for the truth really better than living with a lie?
Sometimes dying with the truth is better than living with a lie.
After a car accident puts Shauna McAllister in a coma and wipes out six months of her memory, she returns to her childhood home to recover, but her arrival is fraught with confusion.
Her estranged father, a senator bidding on the White House, and her abusive stepmother blame Shauna for the tragedy, which has left her beloved brother severely brain damaged. Leaning on Wayne Spade, a forgotten but hopeful lover who stays by her side, Shauna tries to sort out what happened that night by jarring her memory to life. Instead, she acquires a mysterious mental ability that will either lead her to truth or get her killed by the people trying to hide it.
In this blind game of cat and mouse that stares even the darkest memories in the face, Shauna is sure of only one thing: if she remembers, she dies.
If you would like to read the first chapter of KISS, go HERE
Watch the Video Trailer
What people are saying about KISS:
and
Erin Healy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.
Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. Dekker's body of work encompassing seven mysteries, three thrillers and ten fantasies includes Heaven's Wager, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed, Blink, Thr3e, The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White), Obsessed, Renegade, and Chaos.
Erin Healy is an award-winning fiction editor who has worked with talented novelists such as James Scott Bell, Melody Carlson, Colleen Coble, Brandilyn Collins, L. B. Graham, Rene Gutteridge, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Robin Lee Hatcher, Denise Hildreth, Denise Hunter, Randy Ingermanson, Jane Kirkpatrick, Gilbert Morris, Frank Peretti, Lisa Samson, Randy Singer, Robert Whitlow, and many others. She began working with Ted Dekker in 2002 and edited twelve of his heart-pounding storiesbefore their collaboration on Kiss, the first novel to seat her on "the other side of the desk."
Erin is the owner of WordWright Editorial Services, a Colorado-based consulting firm specializing in fiction book development. She and her husband, Tim, are the proud parents of two children
ABOUT THE BOOK
Let me tell you all I know for sure. My name. Shauna.I woke up in a hospital bed missing six months of my memory. In the room was my loving boyfriend-how could I have forgotten him?-my uncle and my abusive stepmother. Everyone blames me for the tragic car accident that left me near death and my dear brother brain damaged. But what they say can't be true-can it?
I believe the medicine is doing strange things to my memory. I'm unsure who I can trust and who I should run from. And I'm starting to remember things I've never known. Things not about me. I think I'm going crazy.
And even worse, I think they want to kill me.
But who? And for what? Is dying for the truth really better than living with a lie?
Sometimes dying with the truth is better than living with a lie.
After a car accident puts Shauna McAllister in a coma and wipes out six months of her memory, she returns to her childhood home to recover, but her arrival is fraught with confusion.
Her estranged father, a senator bidding on the White House, and her abusive stepmother blame Shauna for the tragedy, which has left her beloved brother severely brain damaged. Leaning on Wayne Spade, a forgotten but hopeful lover who stays by her side, Shauna tries to sort out what happened that night by jarring her memory to life. Instead, she acquires a mysterious mental ability that will either lead her to truth or get her killed by the people trying to hide it.
In this blind game of cat and mouse that stares even the darkest memories in the face, Shauna is sure of only one thing: if she remembers, she dies.
If you would like to read the first chapter of KISS, go HERE
What people are saying about KISS:
“The human brain could actually be the real final frontier—we know so little about it and yet it drives the world as we know it. So when authors like Erin and Ted bravely explore these mysterious regions, going into complex places like memory and soul and relationships, I become hooked. The creativity of this suspenseful story is sure to hook other readers as well. Very memorable!”
~Melody Carlson, author of Finding Alice and The Other Side of Darkness
“Dekker and Healy prove a winning team in this intriguing, imaginative thriller.”
~James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Try Darkness
“Kiss by Erin Healy and Ted Dekker is a superb thriller that hooked me from the first sentence. The original plot kept me guessing, and I may never look at a kiss the same way again. I’ll be watching for the next book!”
~Colleen Coble, author of Cry in the Night
“The writing team of Erin Healy and Ted Dekker has taken me through a page-turner with Kiss. It’s one of those books that you think about when you’re not reading it. I highly recommend it, especially if you don’t mind staying up late because you can’t put the book down!”
~Rene Gutteridge, author of Skid and My Life As a Doormat
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