A revealing portrait of a vital Chicago institution.

Robert Bienvenu was born into a traditional, upper middle classfamily. He spent an idyllic childhood growing up with his brothers and sisters in a small town in south Louisiana. His bright future darkened suddenly, however, when schizophrenia presented, triggered by a traumatic experience as a very young man. From Light to Darkness to Glory recounts his tortured journey through a devastating mental illness that he didn't understand anddidn't even know he had for years. By the time he finally came toterms with his disease, his life had changed irrevocably. Robert suffered through one failed relationship, one failed job, and onefailed aspiration after another. He plunged through life in adownward spiral until he finally found the strength to slow thedescent. Reaching back to the athletic activities he had loved as an adolescent, Robert picked up pole vaulting and weightlifting again, ultimately earning numerous awards and titles for his skill and dexterity in powerlifting. But finding the patient souls who helped him find real strength in the glory of God and thesort of faith he'd never known proved to be the lucky break that saved his life. Robert's rekindled strength of spirit grew out ofthat newfound faith and depends on the personal relationship he has developed with Jesus Christ. That relationship has enabled him to face his demons, excel in athletic competition, and help others through a community television program that focuses on mental illness. This is Robert's version of that neverending story.

The Darkness and the Glory examines the cross from Christ’s perspective and provides a compelling behind-the-scenes look at the profound spiritual and theological realities of Calvary—realities that transcend the physical, as the wrath of man was surpassed by both the wrath of Satan and ultimately the wrath of God. With theological acumen and pastoral insight, Greg Harris invites readers to join him on a journey to the cross they will never forget. Doctrinally sound yet warmly devotional, this Christ-centered book is highly recommended to all who desire a better understanding of the glories of the cross. (Adapted from the Foreword by John MacArthur)

Darkness will not last forever. Together we can climb toward the light. They were as troubled as we, our ancestors, those who came before us, and all for the very same reasons: fear of illness, a broken heart, fights in the family, the threat of another war. Corrupt politicians walked their stage, and natural disasters appeared without warning. And yet they came through, carrying us within them, through the grief and struggle, through the personal pain and the public chaos, finding their way with love and faith, not giving in to despair but walking upright until their last step was taken. My culture does not honor the ancestors as a quaint spirituality of the past but as a living source of strength for the present. They did it and so will we. In the same voice that has comforted and challenged countless readers through his daily social media posts, Choctaw elder and Episcopal priest Steven Charleston offers words of hard-won hope, rooted in daily conversations with the Spirit and steeped in Indigenous wisdom. Every day Charleston spends time in prayer. Every day he writes down what he hears from the Spirit. In Ladder to the Light he shares what he has heard with the rest of us and adds thoughtful reflection to help guide us to the light. Native America knows something about cultivating resilience and resisting darkness. For all who yearn for hope, Ladder to the Light is a book of comfort, truth, and challenge in a time of anguish and fear.

This novel by a New York Times–bestselling author follows three “bold, courageous, and entertaining” women through the tumult of the French Revolution (Booklist). For Claire Lacombe and Pauline Leon, two poor women of eighteenth-century France, the lofty ideals of the coming revolution could not seem more abstract. But when Claire sees the gaping disparity between the poverty she has known and the lavish lives of aristocrats as her theater group performs in their homes, and Pauline witnesses the execution of local bread riot leaders, both are driven to join the uprising. They, along with upper-class women like Madame Manon Roland, who ghostwrites speeches for her politician husband and runs a Parisian salon where revolutionaries gather, will play critical roles in the French people’s bloody battle for liberty and equality. Based on a true story, author Marge Piercy’s thrilling and scrupulously researched account shines with emotional depth and strikingly animated action. By interweaving their tales with the exploits of men whose names have become synonymous with the revolution, like Robespierre and Danton, Piercy reveals how the contributions of these courageous women may be lesser known, but no less important. Rich in detail and broad in scope, City of Darkness, City of Light is a riveting portrayal of an extraordinary era and the women who helped shape an important chapter in history.

DoC BiC's history as a disciple of Christ is long and complex. His life as a physician, surgeon and career military officer (Colonel) was built upon a spiritual foundation dating as far back as he can remember, or as he puts it: "at least since a toddler on my mother's lap in devoted church life." Doubting that he ever did consciously not believe in God, and Christ as his Savior, he does note his public formal declaration as early as around the age of twelve, already well into a Christian life of worship. Growing up in the projects of Bradenton, Florida afforded the early honing of prayer skills and spiritual warfare. And, his subsequent migration through various Protestant denominations and Catholicism helped him develop a mature view of the commonality of true worship as well as an appreciation of the divisiveness of bias within the body of Christ. He credits non-biblical doctrine and tradition as a severe stumbling block until God finally rescued him from it. Now, as he makes his rounds through non-denominational fellowships, his grey-haired perspective advances into senior mentoring and blessing of his brothers and sisters, in his love for the Kingdom of God. Long ago recognizing his calling into the office of Teacher, he has pursued his studies and support intermixed with his secular careers, always devoted to staying attuned to God's next mission for him. He partners with a devoted wife of 36 years who wears a mutually beneficial gifted intercessory prayer calling, as well as being blessed by gifted callings upon his children, equally beneficial and mutually supportive. His only pursuit today is to "Be Still", hear his Father's voice, and then move out: "I was born into death, I died into birth, and now I live in immortality to serve my Father."