In “Taking Up the Mantle” Dr Daniel Salinas helps the reader understand the development of Latin American evangelical theological thought over the past hundred years. Salinas challenges new generations to pick up the task of contextually living out the biblical message, learning from the example of the godly men and women that came before them. History is full of faithful servants who read their Bibles and their surroundings to communicate the message for the church and the world, and this ‘double listening’, as John Stott referred to it, is required today. From the Panama Congress of 1916 to the end of the millennium, this book introduces us to figures from the Latin American church and encourages us to continue their legacy today.

Acclaimed sportswriter Allen Barra exposes the uncanny parallels--and lifelong friendship--between two of the greatest baseball players ever to take the field. Culturally, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were light-years apart. Yet they were nearly the same age and almost the same size, and they came to New York at the same time. They possessed virtually the same talents and played the same position. They were both products of generations of baseball-playing families, for whom the game was the only escape from a lifetime of brutal manual labor. Both were nearly crushed by the weight of the outsized expectations placed on them, first by their families and later by America. Both lived secret lives far different from those their fans knew. What their fans also didn't know was that the two men shared a close personal friendship--and that each was the only man who could truly understand the other's experience.

JULIE HUNTLEY Dean of the College of Business, Oral Roberts University Morris Ruddick casts the vision of expecting even greater manifestations of power than in the book of Acts. We are given purpose for developing our spiritual maturity focused on overcoming insurmountable obstacles in today's times. Morris masterfully presents the steps for appropriating the mantle of fire that will change our personal lives and the world around us. The practical insight for those hungering to be used mightily by God is empowering. This book offers the tools for those wanting to be instrumental in changing the spiritual climate of this world, while advancing the Kingdom. MARK MCCLENDON Director of Southeast Asia, CBN Inc. Morris Ruddick's perspective on the unseen world has been honed through decades of a prayer-soaked walk with the Lord. As a youth I recall visits to the Ruddick home, listening as my father and Morris would think deep, pray long, and strategize for the Kingdom. Now, 40 years later, his writings challenge the status quo. Mantle of Fire is a book I had to savor, as every sentence brims with spiritual truth, exposing vibrant threads of the invisible realm calling for a more passionate search of pure God-empowered thinking to make us the anointed men and women that God designed us to be. CURT LANDRY Founder, Curt Landry Ministries Morris Ruddick has captured a clear, practical understanding of the current paradigm shift in how Christians think about God's empowerment for today's times. TheMantle of Fireis a must read for those called to the marketplace. It is a great read for those desiring operational maturity within the household of faith. True spiritual maturity of being doers of the Word and not hearers only is no longer an option. This book is a clear call to action!"

"Max Arthur's compilation of memories from the turn of the century recaptures the day-to-day lives of people living through a fascinating period of transformation and landmark events. Arthur has assembled hundreds of excerpts from private and public archives of Britain. Miners, millworkers, postmen, actresses, soldiers, bricklayers, shipbuilders, farm hands, seamstresses, footballers, and children working hard both in the factory and the schoolroom - all give rich and moving testimony of their day-to-day lives." "Lost Voices of the Edwardians combines oral history and images, including stills from the rediscovered Mitchell and Kenyon film footage from the turn of the century. This collection gives voice to the forgotten figures that peopled the cities, factories and seasides of Edwardian Britain."--BOOK JACKET.

The story of Mickey Mantle's magnificent 1956 season Mickey Mantle was the ideal batter for the atomic age, capable of hitting a baseball harder and farther than any other player in history. He was also the perfect idol for postwar America, a wholesome hero from the heartland. In A Season in the Sun, acclaimed historians Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith recount the defining moment of Mantle's legendary career: 1956, when he overcame a host of injuries and critics to become the most celebrated athlete of his time. Taking us from the action on the diamond to Mantle's off-the-field exploits, Roberts and Smith depict Mantle not as an ideal role model or a bitter alcoholic, but a complex man whose faults were smoothed over by sportswriters eager to keep the truth about sports heroes at bay. An incisive portrait of an American icon, A Season in the Sun is an essential work for baseball fans and anyone interested in the 1950s.

Based on the National Study of Youth and Religion--the same invaluable data as its predecessor, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers--Kenda Creasy Dean's compelling new book, Almost Christian, investigates why American teenagers are at once so positive about Christianity and at the same time so apathetic about genuine religious practice. In Soul Searching, Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that American teenagers have embraced a "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism"--a hodgepodge of banal, self-serving, feel-good beliefs that bears little resemblance to traditional Christianity. But far from faulting teens, Dean places the blame for this theological watering down squarely on the churches themselves. Instead of proclaiming a God who calls believers to lives of love, service and sacrifice, churches offer instead a bargain religion, easy to use, easy to forget, offering little and demanding less. But what is to be done? In order to produce ardent young Christians, Dean argues, churches must rediscover their sense of mission and model an understanding of being Christian as not something you do for yourself, but something that calls you to share God's love, in word and deed, with others. Dean found that the most committed young Christians shared four important traits: they could tell a personal and powerful story about God; they belonged to a significant faith community; they exhibited a sense of vocation; and they possessed a profound sense of hope. Based on these findings, Dean proposes an approach to Christian education that places the idea of mission at its core and offers a wealth of concrete suggestions for inspiring teens to live more authentically engaged Christian lives. Persuasively and accessibly written, Almost Christian is a wake up call no one concerned about the future of Christianity in America can afford to ignore.