No Other Love

Urgently on her way to the earl of Exmoor's estate, Nicola Falcourt's carriage is waylaid by a notorious highwayman known as The Gentleman. But there is nothing gentlemanly about the masked bandit's breathless kiss. The stranger believes Nicola is the wife of Richard Montford, earl of Exmoor, whom he despises and is intent on destroying. But he could not be more mistaken, for Nicola bears no love for the cruel earl who'd killed the only man she'd ever loved. Determined to uncover the rogue's real identity and his reasons for bringing down the earl, Nicola gets perilously close to him. But to save those she loves, she'll have to put all her trust in a man as dangerous as he is desirable.

The book is a collection of twenty-three sermons from the period of February through August, 2020. Each sermon is preceded – and thereby situated in the congregation – by that Sunday’s greeting and, after the church moved to online-only worship due to the outbreak of COVID-19, by the day’s “announcements.” The author considers his preaching style to be more irenic than competitive in spirit. If, though, there is homiletic competition going on in what he is doing here, it is, he says, with preachers (and with himself when he numbers among them) who are bent as preachers on being conservative or evangelical or liberal or progressive or idiosyncratic or entertaining or otherwise situated above the word that preachers as preachers must strive to submit to and serve. He intends his sermons as exercises in openness for the truth of God’s word – which word the church is ever on the verge of losing touch with and needing to learn anew to hear and heed. The sermons are neither feel-good nor finger-pointing. They are neither prosperity-promoting nor therapeutically oriented. They are not even an attempt to make the church sound relevant to the issues of the day. Rather, they simply aim at openness to the truth that sets us free for and in and through the faith and courage that Christ came bringing.

From every “beautiful mornin’” to “some enchanted evening,” the songs of Oscar Hammerstein II are part of our daily lives, his words part of our national fabric. Born into a theatrical dynasty headed by his grandfather and namesake, Oscar Hammerstein II breathed new life into the moribund art form of operetta by writing lyrics and libretti for such classics as Rose-Marie (music by Rudolf Friml), The Desert Song (Sigmund Romberg), The New Moon (Romberg) and Song of the Flame (George Gershwin). Hammerstein and Jerome Kern wrote eight musicals together, including Sweet Adeline, Music in the Air, and their masterpiece, Show Boat. The vibrant Carmen Jones was Hammerstein’s all-black adaptation of the tragic opera by Georges Bizet. In 1943, Hammerstein, pioneer in the field of operetta, joined forces with Richard Rodgers, who had for the previous twenty-five years taken great strides in the field of musical comedy with his longtime writing partner, Lorenz Hart. The first Rodgers and Hammerstein work, Oklahoma!, merged the two styles into a completely new genre—the musical play—and simultaneously launched the most successful partnership in American musical theater. Over the next seventeen years, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote eight more Broadway musicals: Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, The King and I, Me and Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music. They also wrote a movie musical (State Fair) and one for television (Cinderella). Collectively their works have earned dozens of awards, including Pulitzers, Tonys, Oscars, Grammys, and Emmys. Throughout his career, Hammerstein created works of lyrical beauty and universal feeling, and he continually strove—sometimes against fashion—to seek out the good and beautiful in the world. “I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices,” he once said. “But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly . . . I just couldn’t write anything without hope in it.” All of his lyrics are here—850, more than a quarter published for the first time—in this sixth book in the indispensable Complete Lyrics series that has also brought us the lyrics of Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Frank Loesser. From the young scribe’s earliest attempts to the old master’s final lyric—“Edelweiss”—we can see, read, and, yes, sing the words of a theatrical and lyrical genius.

"Frank Dragash is a servant of Christ with an incredible passion to make an impact on the world for Christ's kingdom. His ministry in multiple cultures gives him a unique perspective, and he takes a creative approach to every project he undertakes. This book is no exception. He shows clearly that the family is intended to reflect the image of God, and argues that modern culture has gone astray because they have overlooked this truth. An important message that our society desperately needs to hear." -Dr. John Bechtle, Director, The Telos Institute International ------------ The word person is aptly described in Webster's Dictionary in the following explanation: A figure of speech in which an imaginary or absent person is represented as speaking or acting. In this description we can see the reality of being made in the image of someone else. This is the theme of this book. In the ancient Greek theater, an actor would heave a mask over his face in order to more truly represent his character, who was supposed to be present at that moment in that spot, but was actually absent. Because of the character's inability to be present in person on stage, the actor put a particular form over his own face, to identify himself with the character he was representing. This clearly illustrates the concept of personhood with its entire array of traits. In this sense, the entire life known to us is not ours; it is loaned to us. We are truly acting it out. The only question to be answered is: Will we acknowledge it or deny it? Find out the answer in this book!

Writings Created Throughout the Soul By: Melonie White Writings Created Throughout the Soul is a heartfelt collection of the beautiful words that come from author Melonie White’s heart. This inspirational piece celebrates black lives, love, and miracles from God. May we all be inspired to have these words within soften our hearts and minds.