. . you’re cleaning and setting tables, and preparing for the lunch rush. The front door swings open—and four men quickly stumble in as if taking refuge.Taken aback, you study their faces. One is a kind-faced Asian man with a shaved head, another looks as ancient as the hills with shocking white hair and beard, and the other two, well, they look awfully familiar. If you were a betting person, you would put down money that they were Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed . . . but then again, this is Sunset Strip, so it could just be reality TV.Meet Crystal—a waitress who ends up in just this predicament. What seems like the beginning of an old joke turns into the conversation of a lifetime.THE GIRL WITH THE DOVE TATTOO—a tale about religion, violence, peace, and identity. A new story by Brian D. McLaren.

    Humorous skits, routines, verses, song parodies, impersonations, and one-liners aimed at LDS youth.

    . . but not like this.In this revealing book, renowned speaker and author Christopher West discusses the topic of love and relationships, but he does it through the lens of his own powerful and personal experience. If you've ever wondered what to do with that deep cry of your heart to love and be loved, read on.Love Is Patient, but I'm Not offers West's reflections on Pope Francis book The Joy of Love. It focuses on the heart of the pope's meditations on the famous love is patient and kind passage from 1 Corinthians 13. Its short chapters will take you line by line through the passage, and will also let you in on some intimate aspects of West's faith journey—his wound of perfectionism, his consequent challenges as a husband and father, and the ups and downs he experiences as he struggles to work it all out. As it turns out, we aren't the only ones who find it hard to live out the love St. Paul describes for us.Interspersed throughout the book are short prayers and questions for reflection designed to help you open your heart to God and experience his unconditional, merciful love more fully. Read this book for a dose of spiritual encouragement and for a real-life look at what it means to live the joy of love.

    But Joseph is no common slave. Imprisoned and forgotten by all but God, he interprets a dream that reveals the future and alters his destiny. Now with his privileged Egyptian-born wife, Asenath, at his side, Joseph's transformation from the boy in the pit to the ruler of Egypt is nearly complete. But position and power cannot erase the bitterness he holds deep inside. When he suddenly comes face to face with the family that betrayed him, Joseph devises a plot to test his brothers' true character. Yet even revenge may not fill the aching hole in Joseph's heart, and the influence of a beautiful woman may be his only hope for redemption.

    Gary Chapman guides couples in identifying, understanding, and speaking their spouse's primary love language-quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch. By learning the five love languages, you and your spouse will discover your unique love languages and learn practical steps in truly loving each other. Chapters are categorized by love language for easy reference, and each one ends with simple steps to express a specific language to your spouse and guide your marriage in the right direction. A newly designed love languages assessment will help you understand and strengthen your relationship. You can build a lasting, loving marriage together."The Five Love ""Languages Men's Edition, ""#1 New York Times" bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman guides husbands in identifying, understanding, and speaking their wife's love language. Husbands are commanded to love their wives, but do you know what really makes your wife feel loved? Are you tired of missed cues and confusing signals? Everyone has a primary love language-quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch. Each chapter concludes with ten simple and practical ideas for expressing that love language to your wife. You'll both enjoy taking the new love languages assessment and building a lasting, loving marriage.

    Raised by a Jewish mother and abandoned by his professional poker-playing father, Antonucci found Jesus at age twenty after studying the New Testament. When he finally went to church, he was disappointed to discover a "boring, stale religion." Through provocative storytelling and raw honesty, Antonucci unearths the life Jesus lived and wants us to experience, challenging us to move past spiritual boredom into a faith that's exciting, beautiful, and powerful. Recommended for all Christians thirsty for a fresh perspective on Christianity.

    

    Anchored in the life of Christ as presented in the Gospels, it explores the entirety of Jesus life who he is, what he is really like, what he taught, what he did for our salvation, and what this means for us as Catholics today.This study shows, in a simple way, how Jesus, the Incarnate God, is both fully divine and fully human his intimacy with the Father, his revelation of the heart of the Father, and his extraordinary influence on his disciples, his followers, and even his enemies.Most importantly, this encounter with Christ will inspire and empower you to center your entire life in him as you come to know and love him in an ever-deeper and more intimate way.

    As she uncovers layers of grime on what could prove to be a lost Flemish masterpiece, Rachel finds that layers of her own soul—layers that she would rather have kept hidden—are being stripped away.Imbued with historical and artistic detail, Unveiling will appeal to readers of A.S. Byatt’s Possession and Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Beautifully written, it brings the venerable city of Rome vividly to life and illuminates the power of art, imagination, and beauty to speak directly to the heart.

    When the storms of life blow-as they most certainly will-are you going to stand strong, bend, or break? Popular author Erwin Raphael McManus suggests that you discover how to rise above the normal reaction and learn to stand against the wind.Through thought-provoking chapters, McManus takes readers on a journey of transformation through the landscape of their character-from where they start out "Running Free," through "Rising Out of the Ashes," developing "Divine Imagination," and finally, reaching the "Greatness of Servanthood."Readers, ages 18-35, will appreciate this international consultant's expertise on culture, change, leadership, and creativity.

    Willow Wilson—already an accomplished writer on modern religion and the Middle East at just twenty-seven—leaves her atheist parents in Denver to study at Boston University, she enrolls in an Islamic Studies course that leads to her shocking conversion to Islam and sends her on a fated journey across continents and into an uncertain future.She settles in Cairo where she teaches English and submerges herself in a culture based on her adopted religion. And then she meets Omar, a passionate young man with a mild resentment of the Western influences in his homeland. They fall in love, entering into a daring relationship that calls into question the very nature of family, belief, and tradition. Torn between the secular West and Muslim East, Willow records her intensely personal struggle to forge a “third culture” that might accommodate her own values without compromising the friends and family on both sides of the divide.

    

    BROWN BOARDS WITH GOLD GILTING.

    But while on vacation with her family in Mexico, she meets Ed, a seventeen-year-old Baptist from Illinois who is spending his vacation building houses for the homeless. Laurie returns to Utah determined to make a difference through her actions and weekly editorial in the student newspaper.Unfortunately, she finds her best friend, Roz, has also changed. Their strong-willed personalities collide as they stand on opposite sides of a heated battle involving popularity and Church standards. As Laurie writes impassioned pleas in the student newspaper for how things ought to be, she seems to further alienate herself from her peers, leaving her with only her new-found friend in Illinois. In the end, Laurie discovers how difficult and terrifying--and absolutely worthwhile--it is to truly stand for something.

    In Dreams as Revelation, BYU Church history professors Mary Jane Woodger, Ken Alford, and Craig Manscill share guidance and counsel from prophets as well as their own insights to help readers recognize when a dream is revelatory in nature. With a foreword by Robert L. Millet, this book also includes chapters about scriptural dreams and Joseph Smith’s dreams, as well as original accounts of hundreds of carefully selected dreams, including dreams of the Savior, temple work, and more. In addition to being personally applicable for how to understand your own dreams, this interesting and informative book is a valuable resource for talks, lessons, and family home evenings.