Pure Scum

An exhilarating faith life is a tricky business. But ask anyone who's sought after it--from the founders and members of Scum of the Earth Church in Denver to the apostle Paul, from whose letters the church took its name--and they'll tell you it's worth it.In Pure Scum Mike Sares, pastor of Scum of the Earth, takes us along a faith journey, telling the story of how a pretty normal, middle-aged guy met and became friends with Reese Roper and other members of the band, Five Iron Frenzy, and got hoodwinked by FIF and the Holy Spirit into pastoring of a vibrant church full of artists and skater punks.For anyone--pastor, church leader or plain old Christian--who wants to share the amazing grace of God with the ""left-out"" and ""the right-brained,"" Mike's story will show you what this kind of exhilaration looks like, and more importantly, what it costs. It's a tricky business, but it's worth every step and misstep.

We are not meant to live safe, happy, successful Christian lives. Jesus calls us to something more. Don't settle for a life that will soon be forgotten. Mission is not just something for "them," somewhere over "there." Mission is for us, here and now. Don Everts invites you to get caught up in God's mission in this world. He shows what it means to be a missional Christian, to have eyes that see, hands that serve and feet that go. Bringing together personal evangelism, urban witness and global crosscultural mission, Everts shows how you can live your life on mission—whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you go. Get a glimpse of the vision. See what Jesus is doing. And go and do likewise.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.

Barry Rivers Crove his first rig when he was ten years old. Then life took him far from his Cajun roots and his dad's trucking business. A war, a busted marriage, a twilight hitch in Washington—and suddenly the ex-Special Forces hero was back in Louisiana to take on his father's worst enemies. Rivers won the war, but lost the last battle, when the only woman he had everBarry Rivers drove his first rig when he was ten years old. Then life took him far from his Cajun roots and his dad's trucking business. A war, a busted marriage, a twilight hitch in Washington—and suddenly the ex-Special Forces hero was back in Louisiana to take on his father's worst enemies. Rivers won the war, but lost the last battle, when the only woman he had ever loved was killed by a bomb blast meant for him. Now Rivers is alive in a hospital, but his identity has been destroyed and all he has left is his rage and his dog named "Dog." That makes him the perfect man to become the perfect secret warrior, chosen by the U.S. President himself. Climbing up into his Kenworth, he points the big rig toward Kentucky mining country, where a depraved family is raping, killing, and stealing everything in sight. For Rivers, the mission is clear: be judge, jury, and executioner. But if he takes one step over the line, he'll be dead. Live Free. Read Hard.

A rookie paramedic pulls a young woman alive from her totaled car, a first rescue that begins a lifelong tangle of love and wreckage. Peter Webster pulls a young woman out of a car wreck that should have killed her. Sheila Arsenault haunts his thoughts, and despite his misgivings Peter is soon embroiled in an intense love affair -- and in Sheila's troubled world. Eighteen years later, Sheila is long gone and Peter is raising their daughter, Rowan, alone. But Rowan is veering dangerously off course, and for the first time in their quiet life together Peter fears for her future. He seeks out the only person who may be able to help Rowan, although Sheila's return is sure to unleash all the questions he has carefully been keeping at bay: Why did a mother leave her family? How did the marriage of two people so deeply in love unravel? A story about trespass and forgiveness, secrets and the seismic force of the truth, Rescue is a masterful portrayal of a family trying to understand its fractured past and begin again.