13 TRANSFORMATIVE STUDIES TO BOOST REAL SPIRITUAL GROWTH. Provides an in-depth exploration of the scriptures to support the student's desire to grow a multi-dimensional knowledge of and relationship with God.

These lessons help kids know who Jesus is and then respond by following him, worshipping him, and telling others about him. A 52-Week Bible Journey–Just for Kids!Route 52™ is a Bible-based journey that will take kids through the Bible every year from age 3 to 12. Every lesson features: Scripturally sound themes Culturally relevant, hands-on activities Age-appropriate Bible-learning challenges Reproducible life-application activity pages Route 52™ Bible lessons will help kids learn the Bible and how to apply it to their lives at their own level of spiritual development. These reproducible Bible lessons are appropriate for Bible school, children's church, youth group, kids club, and midweek Bible study programs.

Building a New Majority weaves together the autobiographical recollections of the political and professional life of the author, Michael P. Balzano, with his seasoned analysis of several successful Republican presidential campaigns. The combination provides the foundation for recommendations for current and future Republican candidates to follow in capturing a majority of the nations working-class voters. The narrative follows the author, the son of working-class Italian immigrants, from his boyhood in New Haven, Connecticut, through his time as a high-school dropout and garbage collector to his return to school, where he earned a doctoral degree at Georgetown University. His story attracted the attention of staff members in the administration of President Richard M. Nixon. Brought on board to provide insights and to coordinate efforts to reach ethnic and working-class voters as part of Nixons strategy to create a New Majority, he contributed to the winning 1972 campaign. He later performed similar roles in President Ronald Reagans 1980 and 1984 campaigns and in President George H. W. Bushs 1988 campaign. From these experiences, he offers guidance to Republican candidates seeking to win elections by appealing to members of labor unions and the working class. For any political party to win the White House, it must capture a majority of working-class voters. Building a New Majority is a blueprint for constructing a new Republican majority that can win elections. Building upon those victories, they can govern in ways that invite all people to share in a common future in which individuals may improve their social status and their economic wellbeing, living out the American Dream.

When Carol Floch realized that her marriage was about to end and that she was about to join the ranks of moms left to raise their children on their own, she could not stop crying. She mourned her shattered hopes and grieved the loss of the family she had always dreamed of. But mostly, she cried for her children. Into Carol's grief, regret, and fear, God's Spirit came with a message from Psalm 84: Build your nest near my altar, and I will be your children's source of security, protection, provision, and blessing. In The Single Mom's Devotional, Carol tells her story and shares with the sisterhood of single moms how they can build their family's nest in the protective shadow of God's presence. Single mothers, whether on their own after a divorce or a husband's death, will discover how to find true life in Christ and allow the strength of that inner life to be the compass by which they navigate an unpredictable future. Near God's altar, the cross of Christ is where single moms will discover life through relinquishment, power through dependence, and hope through surrender. Anchored at the foot of the cross, readers will find daily security and hope as they nourish their souls and nurture their children at a place near God's altar.

Back in the beginning days of America's Civil War, the women of the small town of Marlette, Michigan, in the very heart of the Thumb wanted to show their support of President Lincoln and the Union forces in some small way. They collectively designed and sewed a huge Union flag of 34 stars, four rows of eight with an extra star at the end in between each two rows. This precious flag was then given to a gentleman they knew who lived just to the south who was leaving for the war. Color Sergeant Thomas Henry Sheppard's story, along with that of the Battle Flag of Company E, First Michigan Cavalry, is one of the most incredible true stories to ever come out of the Civil War. The Detroit Free Press back in the 1880's called it "an episode of the Civil War which has a strong coloring of Romance", as the Press told of how the colors of the First Michigan Cavalry were protected as the red, white and blue bunting became more and more tattered and sun-faded and bullet-ridden, and still the flag "assumed a dignity and interest even beyond that which the colors have of their own right to every loyal man". Thomas' account intersects with the lives of two of the War's most famous Generals and is written by a close relative of the third. The Color Sergeant took the colors and with his regiment carried them to the front lines where they saw hot service, and from which many did not return. In his words, the 1st Michigan "fought through the Shenandoah, on Banks' advance and retreat, in the campaigns of Pope and Burnside, and did yeoman service at the Battle of Gettysburg. They were under fire twice at Winchester, at Middletown, Strasburg, Harrisonburg, Occoquan and Thoroughfare Gap." Sheppard and his flag survived 13 major battles, over 100 skirmishes and 16 months of war. Thomas, following right behind his flamboyant new General Custer, led the First Michigan Cavalry into the most famous cavalry charge of the entire war as they stopped the Confederacy short of their certain victory in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Alas, Thomas and his beloved flag went down in that fight, and he became a Prisoner-of-War, spending the next 505 days in prisons of the South, including that Hell hole, ANDERSONVILLE. While all that is stunning enough, the rest of Sheppard's story is almost beyond belief.as many years later he has a chance encounter with the Civil War's most famous Volunteer General "Black Jack" Logan at the train station in Marlette during Logan's whistle-stop campaign for the Vice-Presidency of the United States. Thomas' precious flag with 72 bullet holes.that old flag is now the proudest possession of the Dearborn Historical Museum, in the Commandant's Quarters at the Detroit Arsenal, now Sgt. John S. Cosbey Camp 427, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), where Thomas and the First Michigan Cavalry received their war supplies. He kept the colors.

As we prepare each year to celebrate the Incarnation, the Advent season reminds us that we live in an interim period between the First and Second Comings of Jesus Christ. In this book of twelve riveting sermons on a variety of Advent themes (all based on texts from Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary), Michael Ruffin explores the challenges of Christian living in this time between the First and Second Advents -- particularly the tension between the modes of patience and action. Though we await Jesus' return with hopeful anticipation, Advent waiting is active waiting. Ruffin's messages invite readers to share in the richly rewarding life of faith, while providing abundant comfort and inspiration for those who endeavor to live as disciples of Jesus in the modern world. Preachers looking for an imaginative illustration or observation to stimulate their sermons will find ample material in this book. But this is much more than just a reference for ministers preparing to preach during Advent -- it's also an excellent resource for spiritual reflections reminding us that the good news in these days between the Advents is that Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us. Possessed by an abiding love for the Lord Christ, Michael Ruffin approaches a season that he loves with his scholarly skills of exegesis, his insight into contemporary life issues, his common sense, and his disarming humor, crafting a collection of sermons that will bless the reader, inspire the preacher, and remind us all of the renewal that Advent brings. James C. Elder Jr. Pastor, First Baptist Church Fitzgerald, Georgia Michael L. Ruffin is the pastor of The First Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, Georgia. He is a graduate of Mercer University (B.A.) and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., Ph.D.).