Book picks similar to
More Drama in the Church by Dynah Zale


african-american
dynah-zale
good-read
c-library

A Life to Live


Toni Shiloh - 2015
    She never imagined she’d run into her high-school sweetheart thousands of miles away from her home town. Why would God throw them back together?Caleb always regretted the way things ended with his high-school girlfriend, Mia. After a chance encounter in the streets of Nottingham, Caleb feels God is giving him a second chance to right the wrongs he committed. Unbeknownst to him, Mia has secrets that may require his forgiveness.Will her past overshadow his wrongs? As Mia and Caleb work through old hurts and broken hearts will they let the blessing of forgiveness redeem their relationship?____________Alternate cover for ASIN: B00UI8K16W

The Brotherhood


Jerry B. Jenkins - 2011
    He's a young cop rising rapidly through the ranks of the Chicago Police Department. He has a beautiful wife and a young son, a nice starter house, a great partner, and a career plan that should land him in the Organized Crime Division within five years. Everything is going right. Until everything goes horribly, terribly wrong. His personal life destroyed and his career and future in jeopardy, Boone buries himself in guilt and bitterness as his life spirals out of control. But when he comes face-to-face with the most vicious gang leader Chicago has seen in decades, he begins to realize that God is a God of second chances and can change the hardest heart . . . and forgive the worst of crimes. A thought-provoking police thriller from New York Times best-selling author Jerry B. Jenkins.

Prepared for a Purpose: The Inspiring True Story of How One Woman Saved an Atlanta School Under Siege


Antoinette Tuff - 2014
    As the nation faced yet another Sandy Hook story of tragedy, one woman rewrote the ending. Yet the story doesn't start with those first steps Michael Hill took into that Atlanta elementary school. It starts with Antoinette Tuff, a woman who faced her own pain, hurt, and rejection, yet held onto grace, faith, and hope. A hope that anchored her in the most high stakes of moments, a grace that allowed her to empathize with a hurting young man, and a faith that gave her the courage to love him back from the brink. This is more than just the amazing account of tragedy averted. It's the evidence of what we can do when we allow ourselves to be used by God. And it's a story of how God uses "all "of our life experiences--the good and the bad--to prepare us for our own moment of divine purpose.

A Field Guide on False Teaching


Ligonier Ministries - 2020
    But in a world affected by sin, false teaching is everywhere. Many people obscure, distort, or challenge what God has revealed in Scripture—even some leaders in the church. To be better prepared as witnesses for Christ, we must identify falsehood and the devastating harm it brings.By surveying prominent theological errors, cults, and world religions, this book can equip you to defend your faith against the dangers of false teaching. It can also help you more effectively respond to your friends, family, and neighbors with the hope you have in Christ.

Midlife Crisis (Loyalty Series)


La Jill Hunt - 2019
    She and her handsome husband, Garrett, are the epitome of success: an immaculate house of their dreams, a beautiful and talented 17-year-old daughter, flourishing careers, and nearly twenty years of perfectly wedded bliss. Just as they are making plans for their vow renewal celebration, a call in the middle of the night interrupts their picture-perfect lives. Now Sylvia has to deal with the reality of Garrett’s dead mistress, a love child she never knew about, and the fact that the man she’s been married to for the past twenty years may not be the man she knows at all.Unlike her sister Sylvia, when it comes to love, Janelle Hudson can take it or leave it. Her on again, off again, noncommittal, stress-free friendship with Jarvis Baldwin is fine with her. But her life becomes complicated when she is faced with choosing between a sure thing with a good man or what feels right with the wrong one.Bestselling author LaJill Hunt is back with Midlife Crisis, an emotion-packed story of love, betrayal, and family loyalty. When lies are unveiled and secrets are revealed, can love be strong enough to forgive, even when you can’t forget? An abbreviated version of this novel entitled Jaded was previously published.

Sex in the Sanctuary


Lutishia Lovely - 2007
    Set in a church community on fire for the Lord--and for each other--Sex in the Sanctuary is filled with scintillating sisters, playing brothers, and church matrons trying to run everybody's business. . . As first lady of Kingdom Citizen's Christian Center, Vivian Montgomery has it all: a beautiful home, lovely children, and a pastor husband who makes her shout Hallelujah--and not just in church. There's no doubt Pastor Montgomery has a healthy appreciation for the Lord and for the pleasures of the flesh, namely his wife's flesh. If only Vivian's best friend, Tai, was so blessed. . .A first lady herself, Tai's husband, King, is pastor of Mount Zion Progressive Baptist Church. But with two affairs under his belt, Tai wonders just what "progressive" means. In fact, she strongly suspects her husband is at it again. Now she can follow her mother-in-law's example and threaten to shoot any would-be-husband-stealing floozies, or she can take Vivian's advice and listen for God's instruction. But Tai's husband isn't the only one fighting temptation.Whether trying to wait until marriage or just waiting until the next mating opportunity, these congregations are filled with members whose eyes are on more than Jesus! The result is a page-turning read, not soon to be forgotten.

A Marriage of the Heart


Kelly Long - 2012
    She longs to escape the emptiness of the farmhouse that has never felt like home. Joseph Lambert is a newcomer in their close-knit community. Only after suddenly marrying do they begin to understand the tender truths of life-long love.A Perfect Secret—Rose’s betrothed, Luke, is safe and dependable—maybe a little too safe. Or so she thought, until she ran into him into the woods one night and learned there was more to him than she ever suspected. Now his secret haunts her. She wasn’t sure about marrying a man she knew too well. But should she marry a man she doesn’t understand at all?

Edgar Cayce on Soul Mates: Unlocking the Dynamics of Soul Attraction


Kevin J. Todeschi - 1999
    It provides insights into soul attractions and how relationships develop within the framework of reincarnation.

Grave Sight Part 2


Charlaine Harris - 2011
    Harper and her step-brother, Tolliver Lang, have just completed a job in Sarne, Arkansas, but that doesn't mean their work is done. More people are turning up dead, and Harper might just be falling for the town's deputy, a handsome, rugged man whose wife died under mysterious circumstances... Grave Sight Part 2 features 44-pages of story and art, with the balance consisting of bonus and behind-the-scenes material.

The Justus Girls


Evelyn Lambright - 2001
    They vowed to be friends forever, but Peaches, Sally Mae, Jan, and Roach drifted apart. It is Peaches's sudden death that brings them together again. The hip-swinging Sally Mae is a new grandmother; the beautiful and once-shy Roach has become a devout Muslim named Rasheeda; and the levelheaded Jan has launched her own business.Troubles like ours.The Justus Girls soon find out that they need each other now just as much as in the old days. Jan's husband has died and her business is faltering. Rasheeda faces the battle of her life, trying to keep custody of her two sons. And though Sally Mae doesn't know it yet, her past is about to catch up with her.Friendship we could all use.The JG's make a pact to find out what happened to Peaches, to meet once a week, and to reclaim their own lives. It's a pact that will take them through the old neighborhood, with all its characters, and reveal secrets that have remained unspoken for too long. Through it all, the Justus Girls rediscover the love, laughter, and support they had forgotten, but that rescues them just in the nick of time.

Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America


Michael O. Emerson - 2000
    Emerson and Christian Smith probed the grassroots of white evangelical America. They found that despite recent efforts by the movement's leaders to address the problem of racial discrimination, evangelicals themselves seem to be preserving America's racial chasm. In fact, most white evangelicals see no systematic discrimination against blacks. But the authors contend that it is not active racism that prevents evangelicals from recognizing ongoing problems in American society. Instead, it is the evangelical movement's emphasis on individualism, free will, and personal relationships that makes invisible the pervasive injustice that perpetuates racial inequality. Most racial problems, the subjects told the authors, can be solved by the repentance and conversion of the sinful individuals at fault. Combining a substantial body of evidence with sophisticated analysis and interpretation, the authors throw sharp light on the oldest American dilemma. In the end, they conclude that despite the best intentions of evangelical leaders and some positive trends, real racial reconciliation remains far over the horizon.

Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope


Esau McCaulley - 2020
    A key element in the fight for hope, he discovered, has long been the practice of Bible reading and interpretation that comes out of traditional Black churches. This ecclesial tradition is often disregarded or viewed with suspicion by much of the wider church and academy, but it has something vital to say. Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley argues that reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition is invaluable for connecting with a rich faith history and addressing the urgent issues of our times. He advocates for a model of interpretation that involves an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible, in which the particular questions coming out of Black communities are given pride of place and the Bible is given space to respond by affirming, challenging, and, at times, reshaping Black concerns. McCaulley demonstrates this model with studies on how Scripture speaks to topics often overlooked by white interpreters, such as ethnicity, political protest, policing, and slavery. Ultimately McCaulley calls the church to a dynamic theological engagement with Scripture, in which Christians of diverse backgrounds dialogue with their own social location as well as the cultures of others. Reading While Black moves the conversation forward.

Bebe's By Golly Wow!


Yolanda Joe - 1998
    A big, strapping "steak-colored" man who is as strong as he is sensitive, Isaac is the man of Bebe's dreams. But he's also a father dealing with the challenges of raising a thirteen-year-old daughter on his own.Much to Bebe's surprise, Isaac's whip-smart daughter, Dashay, turns out to be the "other woman" who threatens to keep them apart. Meanwhile Sandy, Bebe's best friend, who is struggling in the workplace as she clashes with the new owners of the radio station, continues on her adventure in search of true love, refusing to give up. Set in Chicago and told in alternating voices, Bebe's By Golly Wow sparkles with Yolanda Joe's deft storytelling, in-your-face dialogue, and marvelous insight as she paints a sensitive and funny tale of modern romance, family transitions, and heartfelt friendships.

Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love: How a Violent Klansman Became a Champion of Racial Reconciliation


Thomas A. Tarrants - 2019
    In response, he turned for answers to extremist ideology and was soon utterly radicalized. Before long, he became involved in the reign of terror spread by Mississippi's dreaded White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, described by the FBI as the most violent right-wing terrorist organization in America.In 1969, while attempting to bomb the home of a Jewish leader in Meridian, Mississippi, Tarrants was ambushed by law enforcement and shot multiple times during a high-speed chase. Nearly dead from his wounds, he was arrested and sentenced to thirty years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman Farm. Unrepentant, Tarrants and two other inmates made a daring escape from Parchman yet were tracked down by an FBI SWAT team and apprehended in hail of bullets that killed one of the convicts. Tarrants spent the next three years alone in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell. There he began a search for truth that led him to the Bible and a reading of the gospels, resulting in his conversion to Jesus Christ and liberation from the grip of racial hatred and violence.Astounded by the change in Tarrants, many of the very people who worked to put him behind bars began advocating for his release. After serving eight years of a 35-year sentence, Tarrants left prison. He attended college, moved to Washington, D.C., and became co-pastor of a racially mixed church. He went on to earn a doctorate and became the president of the C. S. Lewis Institute.A dramatic story of radical transformation, Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love will appeal to Christians and non-Christians alike.

You Know Better


Tina McElroy Ansa - 2002
    LaShawndra, an eighteen-year-old hoochie-mama who wants nothing more out of life than to dance in a music video, has messed up...again. But this time she isn't sticking around to hear about it.Not that her mother seems to care; after all, Sandra is busy working on her real estate career and on the local minister. It's LaShawndra's grandmother, Lily, a former schoolteacher, principal, school board administrator, and highly respected cornerstone of the Mulberry community, who is scouring the streets at midnight looking for her granddaughter.Over the course of one weekend these three disparate women, guided by a trio of unexpected spirits, will learn to face the pain in their lives and discover that with reconciliation comes the healing they all desperately seek. In this magical, deeply resonant novel, Tina McElroy Ansa goes straight to the heart of women's relationships to reveal the soul that bonds us all.