Alysia of Athens, pampered daughter of a wealthy physician, is taken from her home and sold into slavery when her father is accused of treason during the turbulent reign of Tiberius Caesar. She is purchased by Paulus Maximus, a powerful Roman legate who pierces through her determination to hate her captors. When trouble caused by his jealous stepbrother forces her to run away, she finds herself in the battle-torn land of Palestine, where she meets a man named Jesus who will change her life forever. But in her flight from the intrigues of Rome to the palaces of Jerusalem, Alysia finds she cannot escape her enemies, neither the one who stole her heart, nor the one who wants to destroy her.

    What a charming way Stephen Mitchell has found to tell my favorite story of all, the Nativity, character by character (I love the donkey and the ox), with wise and thrilling interludes about God, reality, truth." -Anne LamottIn The First Christmas, Stephen Mitchell brings the Nativity story to vivid life as never before. A narrative that is only sketched out in two Gospels becomes fully realized here with nuanced characters and a setting that reflects the culture of the time. Mitchell has suffused the birth of Jesus with a sense of beauty that will delight and astonish readers.In this version, we see the world through the eyes of a Whitmanesque ox and a visionary donkey, starry-eyed shepherds and Zen-like wise men, each of them providing a unique perspective on a scene that is, in Western culture, the central symbol for good tidings of great joy. Rather than superimposing later Christian concepts onto the Annunciation and Nativity scenes, he imagines Mary and Joseph experiencing the angelic message as a young Jewish woman and man living in the year 4 bce might have experienced it, with terror, dismay, and ultimate acceptance. In this context, their yes becomes an act of great moral courage.Readers of every background will be enchanted by this startlingly beautiful reimagining of the Christmas tale.

    If only they would listen a little harder to the other voice trying to get through to them-the voice of hope, forgiveness and love-before it's too late.

    

    Traded from relative to relative, she suffers through hard labor, neglect, and abuse. What will become of her? No one cares until a kinsman redeemer reveals himself. Can Rebekah forgive the past? 108 pages

    In 1930, the rag-tag riffraff of a railway stop called Las Vegas need a fighting man to shepherd their tiny church after their pastor is murdered. Might David Gold, a washed-up boxer and Bible-school dropout who fights as the Pummelin' Preacher, be the answer to their prayers?At the same time, Luke, a native Alaskan boy, is on a quest to find his father, who has abandoned his family for a beautiful woman his mother vows to kill. Little do mother or son imagine that their journey will take them to a small town in Nevada where demons and angels walk among men.In 2011,Science Cable T.V. producer Tim Faber is determined to prove that mankind has no need of God, while his lover, Joan Reed, strives to regain the faith of her youth. They're bound for Las Vegas to meet with 99-year-old Luke,who holds the key to a mystery they must solve--and answers that will forever change their lives.Hearts Set Free is a coming-of-age story and love story, with strong female characters and historical figures (including Jack Johnson, Georges Lemaitre, and Bugsy Siegel) who interact with an unforgettable fictional cast.

    With an Everlasting Love (over 400,000 copies in print), a delightful, spellbinding love story with an intriguing twist, will forever change the way Christians feel when they read, "Behold, the bridegroom is coming..."Christianna simply couldn't believe it. Though she was a comely woman, she was an outcast, a despised half-breed. Yet before her was a letter from a passionate but unseen lover--the legendary Joshua of Jerusalem, a righteous Jewish man of great wealth whom everyone spoke of with reverence and awe.She had never seen him, yet he wanted her as his bride and promised to love her unconditionally...forever. He asked her to love him preeminently--above all other relationships, above her own desires, and above her own life. Yet they wouldn't meet in person until their wedding day more than a year later.Could she make such a commitment? Christianna thought so...until a surprise encounter with the mysterious but handsome Kosmos, who lavishes her with the personal attention she longs for. Now her mind is filled with doubt. Why was Joshua taking so long to come? Had she been a fool to believe that such a great man would want her?

    Haunting... Lyrical... Unforgettable...In a world where everything is perfect, yet the same day after day, Eve must decide if she wants to live forever in the garden with Adam and never know what lies beyond the walls. When she makes a choice with terrible consequences, the pain of mortality is swift. As she and Adam explore their new world, and her body changes, Eve discovers the sweetness of first love with the man who has always been at her side.

    A third-century plague. A love out of time.First-year resident Dr. Lisbeth Hastings is too busy to take her father’s bizarre summons seriously. But when a tragic mistake puts her career in jeopardy, answering her father’s call seems her only hope of redeeming the devastating failure that her life has become. While exploring the haunting cave at her father’s archaeological dig, Lisbeth falls through a hidden hole, awakening to find herself the object of a slave auction and the ruins of Roman Carthage inexplicably restored to a thriving metropolis. Is it possible that she’s traveled back in time, and, if so, how can she find her way back home? Cyprian Thascius believes God called him to rescue the mysterious woman from the slave trader’s cell. What he doesn’t understand is why saving the church of his newfound faith requires him to love a woman whose peculiar ways could get him killed. But who is he to question God? As their different worlds collide, it sparks an intense attraction that unites Lisbeth and Cyprian in a battle against a deadly epidemic. Even as they confront persecution, uncover buried secrets, and ignite the beginnings of a medical revolution, Roman wrath threatens to separate them forever. Can they find their way to each other through all these obstacles? Or are the eighteen hundred years between them too far of a leap?

    By practicing the three principles of holy love studied here, we can turn control of our mind and heart over to God and experience the love, glory, and joy of his kingdom here on earth.

    This book's "secret underground society" is not Nazi war criminals, however-it's the persecuted Christian church. Yuri and Alexander Deyneko, separated as teens in postwar times, are reunited thirty-five years later in 1980s Bucharest. Now on separate sides of Nicolae Ceausescu's Iron Curtain, the secret life of one brother, a top army official and clandestine Christian, and the ambition of the other- now the American Ambassador to Romania-puts them on a collision course with each other. Fates hang on an issue of conscience. Great writing propels readers through the plot toward a gripping climax.

    But when the rich patrician Cato escapes Rome, intent on a life of leisure, he is unprepared for the hostility he encounters. In the same place, but at the opposite end of society, Ariella has disguised herself as a young boy to be sold into a gladiator troupe. Survival is her only ambition.But evil creeps through the streets of Pompeii, and neither Ariella's secret nor Cato's evasion is immune to it. Political corruption, religious persecution, and family peril threaten to destroy them, even before an ominous mountain in the distance spews its fire.As Vesuvius churns with deadly intent, Cato and Ariella must bridge their differences to save the lives of those they love--before the fiery ash buries Pompeii, leaving the city lost to the world.

    This faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family.A classic of faith, fortitude, and inspiration.

    However, the colonists meet resistance from earlier homesteaders in the Valley and their leader, Ray Townsend. Laurel, Will’s daughter, who put aside her own desires and dreams to follow her family to Alaska, finds herself torn between two men vying for her love—Adam, a reporter writing a story on the colony’s experiences, and Robert, a colonist who can offer Laurel the stability she needs. For the colony to survive, they must all learn to trust God’s promises.

    Basil, a sensitive artisan, is purchased from slavery and commissioned to create a decorative casing for the Chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper. Basil travels to Jerusalem, Greece, and Rome, meets the apostles, braves the perils of persecution, and finally makes a fateful choice that allows him to “see” Jesus. The dramatic plot, compelling characters, and spiritual depth of The Silver Chalice made it one of the most popular historical novels of the twentieth century.