Strange Kingdom

Experience how the power of the cross unleashes meaning and purpose in the midst of your daily life. This meditative and spiritual reflection by Ken Costa considers the cross and the king who died upon it. Christ’s work on the cross established a kingdom that is strange indeed, if a king died on the cross in order to establish it. It is a kingdom where suffering and abandonment are transformed into the power of presence and live, a kingdom where a King exchanges gifts of great value for worthless dross, where a robber becomes righteous, and a criminal becomes the first citizen of heaven. Spend some time as Easter draws near considering the strange, upside-down kingdom, where broken things are made whole. “A king who dies on the cross must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer "Strange Kingdom is a joy. In my 47 years in the Christian publishing business, Ken Costa’s compelling and inspirational reflections are unique on the meaning and purpose of the cross of Christ. A must-read for every Christian and a revelation for the spiritually curious.”—Joey Paul, Senior Editor, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Nashville, TN “Ken Costa masterfully and meticulously gives us an in-depth look at the cross of Jesus and what it means to us in our everyday lives.” —Robert Morris, Senior Pastor, Gateway Church, Southlake, TX “Ken Costa’s deep love for God and unashamed defense of the cross of Jesus Christ is mirrored in this book. The perspective of a banker, the mind of a scholar, and the heart of a Christian who wants people to love Christ radiates on every page.” —R. T. Kendall, author and former minister of Westminster Chapel, England “. . . a fresh revelation of Christ and the power of the cross.”—Joseph Prince, Senior Pastor, New Creation Church, Singapore “Not since John Stott’s The Cross of Christ have I read a book on the saving work of Jesus that I want to return to again and again as much as this one.” —Miles Toulmin, Vicar, HTBB, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia “This book will encourage your faith and deepen your understanding of what the cross means to people in their day-to-day lives.” —Jentezen Franklin, Senior Pastor, Free Chapel, Gainesville, GA “His honesty opens a window onto the meaning of the cross and the upside-down world it invites us in.” —Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, England

In 1587, John White and 117 men, women, and children landed off the coast of North Carolina on Roanoke Island, hoping to carve a colony from fearsome wilderness. A mere month later, facing quickly diminishing supplies and a fierce native population, White sailed back to England in desperation. He persuaded the wealthy Sir Walter Raleigh, the expedition's sponsor, to rescue the imperiled colonists, but by the time White returned with aid the colonists of Roanoke were nowhere to be found. He never saw his friends or family again. In this gripping account based on new archival material, colonial historian James Horn tells for the first time the complete story of what happened to the Roanoke colonists and their descendants. A compellingly original examination of one of the great unsolved mysteries of American history, A Kingdom Strange will be essential reading for anyone interested in our national origins.

The ordinary things of life receive less than their fair share of attention. Pastor Mark Goodman draws attention, through humor, story, and scriptural texts, to the benefits of appreciating more than just extraordinary achievements. When a person ceases to recognize the value of “good,” “OK,” and “ordinary,” he or she tends to devalue their own and others’ significance. The Ordinary Way introduces the importance of the quest that seems countercultural. Goodman connects the theme to the teachings of Jesus, specifically those found in which He provides His view of how His followers were to read and follow the Ten Commandments, and provide specific examples of how to “live the ordinary life” day-to-day. Recognizing the variety of life events, Goodman also addresses the subject of appreciating the extraordinary times of life as well as the less-than-ordinary times of life. The Ordinary Way shows you how to appreciate all of life. Welcome to the ordinary way of living.

A Short History of the World is a period-piece non-fictional historic work. The book was largely inspired by Wells's earlier 1919 work The Outline of History. It summarises the scientific knowledge of the time regarding the history of Earth and life and begins with its origins, goes on to explain the development of the Earth and life on Earth, reaching primitive thought and the development of humankind from the Cradle of Civilisation. The book ends with the outcome of the First World War, the Russian famine of 1921, and the League of Nations in 1922. Herbert George Wells (1866–1946), known as H. G. Wells, was a prolific English writer in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, and social commentary, and textbooks and rules for war games.

Ruskin, a Victorian-era British writer whose work had a profound influence on artists, art historians, and writers both during his life and after, wrote Modern Painters in five separate volumes originally published in London between 1843 and 1860, substantially revising the volumes over the years. It is, among other things, an evaluation of individual painters, a religious statement, a discourse on nature, and a splendid example of Victorian prose style.