THE AFRICAN WONDER "BLACK HARRY" HOOSIER recovers the story of the little known but very influential Methodist revivalist in the 2nd Great Awaken­ing (1790s-1830) of the colonial period in American history. "Black Harry" was an illiterate ex-slave, yet phenomenal lay preacher who effectively reached masses of Blacks and countless whites across the racial barrier. He con­verted many souls to Christ, challenged racial prejudice and swelled Church membership. Though Black Harry was unable to read a word, a Bishop noted he was one of the "best preachers in the world."Due to the racially motivated and shortsighted inaction of some lead­ers, the Methodist Church never fully empowered Black Harry for greater service by ordaining this outstanding exhorter to a higher office. Nevertheless, the grace and power of God con­tinued working mightily in the fiery preaching of His humble servant. His powerful Gospel ministry greatly influenced the major spiritual trans­formation that took place in the generation he served. THE AFRICAN WONDER "BLACK HARRY" HOOSIER highlights significant lessons from the life, wit­ness, and beliefs of this prominent Gospelizer. His "Good News" legacy testifies about prophesying, Koinonia-izing, Kindred-loving, and Cross-bearing--a Black evangelical message certainly needed in the con­temporary Church. The favorite, perhaps most effective sermon of Black Harry was the parable of "The Barren Fig Tree" (Luke 13:6-9).

A supplemental textbook for middle and high school students, Hoosiers and the American Story provides intimate views of individuals and places in Indiana set within themes from American history. During the frontier days when Americans battled with and exiled native peoples from the East, Indiana was on the leading edge of America’s westward expansion. As waves of immigrants swept across the Appalachians and eastern waterways, Indiana became established as both a crossroads and as a vital part of Middle America. Indiana’s stories illuminate the history of American agriculture, wars, industrialization, ethnic conflicts, technological improvements, political battles, transportation networks, economic shifts, social welfare initiatives, and more. In so doing, they elucidate large national issues so that students can relate personally to the ideas and events that comprise American history. At the same time, the stories shed light on what it means to be a Hoosier, today and in the past.

SEXUALLY SANCTIFIED DIVORCE ". . . explores the anatomy of marital frac­ture that may result from a believer's sexual cleansing subsequent to getting married." Sex is very powerful, and a strong drive for sex is a foremost motivation for many believers to marry. Believers who formerly were sexually immoral or obsessed usually experience spiritual growth and sexual cleansing in marriage. They cease practicing sexually immoral attitudes, actions, and relations, and they no longer tolerate such thinking and behavior by their mate. The divine transformation may change and disrupt their marital relations, and the sexual dysfunction will stress the marital union. Thus, a believer's sexual sanctification may justifiably, though negatively, impact their mari­tal relationship and result in a breakup.In the perspective of SEXUALLY SANCTIFIED DIVORCE, Christian divorce may not indicate spiritual degeneration. Certain breakups signal a believer's spiritual growth in sexual temperament and conduct. Believers who face the disruptive marital consequences of living a clean sexual life may actually evince a positive response to Church teachings on sexual holiness.Chapters Feature: Christian Divorce, Sexual Passion and Marriage, Sexual Sanctification, Sanctified Divorce

On the eve of the American Revolution, nearly three-quarters of all African Americans in mainland British America lived in two regions: the Chesapeake, centered in Virginia, and the Lowcountry, with its hub in South Carolina. Here, Philip Morgan compares and contrasts African American life in these two regional black cultures, exploring the differences as well as the similarities. The result is a detailed and comprehensive view of slave life in the colonial American South. Morgan explores the role of land and labor in shaping culture, the everyday contacts of masters and slaves that defined the possibilities and limitations of cultural exchange, and finally the interior lives of blacks--their social relations, their family and kin ties, and the major symbolic dimensions of life: language, play, and religion. He provides a balanced appreciation for the oppressiveness of bondage and for the ability of slaves to shape their lives, showing that, whatever the constraints, slaves contributed to the making of their history. Victims of a brutal, dehumanizing system, slaves nevertheless strove to create order in their lives, to preserve their humanity, to achieve dignity, and to sustain dreams of a better future.

One hundred sermons that display the victorious, although sometimes painful, historical and spiritual pilgrimage of black people in America. A groundbreaking anthology, Preaching with Sacred Fire is a unique and powerful work. It captures the stunning diversity of the cultural and historical legacy of African American preaching more than three hundred years in the making. Each sermon, as editors Martha Simmons and Frank A. Thomas reveal, is a work of art and a lesson in unmatched rhetoric. The journey through this anthology—which includes selections from Jarena Lee, Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Gardner C. Taylor, Vashti McKenzie, and many others—offers a rare view of the unheralded role of the African American preacher in American history. The collection provides new insights into the underpinnings of the black fight for emancipation and the rise and growth of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Sermons from the first decade of the twenty-first century point toward the future of African American preaching. Biographies of the preachers put their work in the cultural and homiletic context of their periods. The preachers of these sermons are men and women from a range of faiths, ancestries, and educational backgrounds. They draw on a vast and luminous landscape of poetic language, using metaphor, rhythm, and imagery to communicate with their congregations. What they all have in common is hope, resilience, and sacred fire. “Even during the most difficult and oppressive times,” Simmons and Thomas write in the preface, “the delivery, creativity, charisma, expressivity, fervor, forcefulness, passion, persuasiveness, poise, power, rhetoric, spirit, style, and vision of black preaching gave and gives hope to a community under siege.” This magnificent work beautifully renders the complexity, spiritual richness, and strength of African American life.

An instant New York Times bestseller!Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee, weaves a stunning array of voices and stories into an epic tale of teamwork in the face of tyranny -- and how just one day can change the world. June 6, 1944: The Nazis are terrorizing Europe, on their evil quest to conquer the world. The only way to stop them? The biggest, most top-secret operation ever, with the Allied nations coming together to storm German-occupied France.Welcome to D-Day.Dee, a young U.S. soldier, is on a boat racing toward the French coast. And Dee -- along with his brothers-in-arms -- is terrified. He feels the weight of World War II on his shoulders.But Dee is not alone. Behind enemy lines in France, a girl named Samira works as a spy, trying to sabotage the German army. Meanwhile, paratrooper James leaps from his plane to join a daring midnight raid. And in the thick of battle, Henry, a medic, searches for lives to save.In a breathtaking race against time, they all must fight to complete their high-stakes missions. But with betrayals and deadly risks at every turn, can the Allies do what it takes to win?

Finalist for the Art of Eating Prize A richly illustrated culinary tour of the United States through fifty signature dishes, and a radical exploration of our gastronomic heritage. Following his critically acclaimed Preparing the Ghost, renowned essayist Matthew Gavin Frank takes on America’s food. In a surprising style reminiscent of Maggie Nelson or Mark Doty, Frank examines a quintessential dish in each state, interweaving the culinary with personal and cultural associations of each region. From key lime pie (Florida) to elk stew (Montana), The Mad Feast commemorates the unexpected origins of the familiar. Brazenly dissecting the myriad intersections between history and food, Frank, in this gorgeously designed volume, considers politics, sexuality, violence, grief, and pleasure: the cool, creamy whoopie pie evokes toughness in the face of New England winters, while the stewlike perloo serves up an exploration of food and race in the South. Tracing an unpredictable map of our collective appetites, The Mad Feast presents a beguiling flavor profile of the American spirit.