The Cross Walk

This is a story of faith and obedience. Carol Cruise lost a leg to amputation, but was determined to complete a walk around the entire perimeter of the continental United States. She placed crosses on her path at mile intervals to serve as milestones of her journey. Her adventure makes a compelling story.

On October 2nd, 2010, while walking to the mailbox with a cup of coffee in one hand and a letter in the other, I was hit by a vehicle in a crosswalk. Mind, body, and spirit were forever shattered. Years of doctors, procedures, and at its zenith, 14 different medications that at times separated me from reality in every sense of the word. The story is of a man who barely recognized his own writing. My battle with a mind and body who was not his own. This was my battle to defeat myself.

The Cross Walk includes seven sessions, one for each Sunday in Lent. Each chapter features a Scripture reference, questions for personal reflection or group discussion, and a focus for the coming week. The author invites readers to take a walk with Jesus on a spiritual journey in which they will encounter, along the way, the man who was paralyzed, Zacchaeus, the Syrophoenician woman, Caiaphas, Judas, Pontius Pilate, and finally, on Easter morning, Mary Magdalene.

From television producer Jack Gray comes a generational account of finding one’s way at work, at home, and even across the street. There are a lot of unforgettable characters in these pages: a loveable if possibly alcoholic dog; a set of grandparents who crush on Alex Trebek and obsess about death; Golden Girls and blue bloods, anchormen and Supreme Court justices; divas and wags—but the best character of all is the author himself. To read Jack Gray’s musings is to enter the company of a young man of titanic wit and talent. As he observes and echoes the fixations and neuroses of his generation and our times, he will make you squirm, guffaw, and ultimately marvel.

In Jesus' walk to the cross and His subsequent resurrection, Dawson McAllister says, Jesus paid for our sins and gave hope and meaning to our lives; but in order to fully appreciate and apply these exciting truths, Christians must grasp the full significance of Christ's life and ministry. In looking more closely at the walk Christ took to the cross both literally and figuratively, readers will come to a dramatic and life-changing understanding of the great sacrifice Jesus made. Offering readers a startling and powerful look at the Passion, A Walk with Christ to the Cross is a pivotal read: those who take it to heart will never be the same.

What is God like? Can I trust Him? Does He know me and can He help me tackle the challenges I face? Most people know a little something about God, but their knowledge of who He is and how He works stops just past the point of an initial introduction. Why is it so important to know the One who knows all about you? The answer is simple: when you come to a point where you understand His ways, your life takes on new meaning. You stop looking at old problems and feeling defeat, fear, and anxiety. Suddenly, you realize that the Person who gave you life has set an amazing course for you to follow. In Step with God offers simple, clear teaching that encourages and challenges you to approach life and its decisions—both big and small—by first knowing and considering God’s character. “The nearer I draw to the Lord,” writes Dr. Stanley, “the more I will know about Him—His love for me and His good plans and desires for my life. Plus, the more intimate I become with God, the better I understand His way, and this understanding leads to a deeper longing to know God better. I learn how to discern His will for my life and the situations I encounter.”

Owen has been counting down the days until Minecraft Earth, the game of his dreams, is released. Now, it's here and it's better than he could ever have imagined. A mysterious figure, going by the name marchHARE, has hacked the game so that the whole city is one massive adventure.Everywhere you turn, the world of Minecraft is there. There are zombies in Owen's bedroom, Endermen at the end of the street, and happy Mooblooms chewing grass in the bathroom. To get to school, Owen has to trek through a shadowy jungle and when he gets there, kids are setting traps in the corridors and leaving notes for each other with signs that the teachers can't see.Owen and his best friend, tech-genius Aya, love living in a parallel universe that belongs just to them and the other kids. It's a place they can decide on their own rules, be who they want and literally build the world of their dreams. They couldn't be happier, but a storm is coming. No one knows who this marchHARE is or what they want, and as the Minecraft world turns dark with hordes of zombies wandering the streets and kids getting hurt for real, Owen and Aya start to worry that it's nothing good...Creepers on the Crosswalk is a thrilling adventure-comedy for kids eight to thirteen who love the game Minecraft Earth. It is filled with white-knuckle moments, elaborate mysteries to solve, real relationships and laugh-out-loud lines. It's Alice in Wonderland meets Artemis Fowl meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid set in the exciting world of Minecraft Earth. Readers' imaginations will be set on fire as they learn about the technology that makes their favourite game possible and when games can actually hurt us. EXCERPT "We found diamonds! Yes!" Logan shouted. "Haha, you noobs," he said, pointing at the other kids playing nearby on the playground. "We've got diamonds and you dooooon't!""Oh boy," Aya said. "Yeah..." Owen agreed. He watched as Henry and Logan stood together talking about the diamond pickaxes they were planning to make. "Hey," Aya snapped her fingers twice next to Owen's ear. "Wiring?""Oh." Owen examined the right side of the doorframe, where Redstone wiring ran to a dispenser on top of the wall. Aya was better at this stuff than Owen. She was probably only asking to be nice. "Looks good," he said and then pointed her phone up at the dispenser. "But what is that--""Great!" Aya grabbed back her phone as Owen watched it go. "Hey Logan!"The boy turned, looking confused. "What?""That's not a lot of diamonds. That's nothing. I've been collecting a ton of diamonds," she said. "Here." Aya tapped on her phone to invite Logan and Henry to the buildplate for the fort. "I put them all in this chest," she said. "Take a look."Logan raised an eyebrow at Henry and then walked toward Aya. Henry trailed behind, looking sideways at Owen. "You don't have diamonds," Logan said to Aya. "You have to do lots of adventures, and you don't really--"Aya snickered and gestured at the chest in the center of the walled area. "Well then, how did all these diamonds get in this chest?" Logan came marching toward the double-doors and the wooden box past them. He stepped onto the block right in front of the doors which compressed slightly as he did. "That's a pressure plate--" Owen started to say.And then the dispenser overhead spat out a stream of lava right over Logan's head. It flowed over him and pooled on the ground at his feet. Aya cackled. "Hey!" Logan said. His character had 'died,' and he'd been kicked off of the buildplate and could no longer see the fort. "Hey! You--" Aya couldn't stop laughing. Even Owen sniggered. "Whatever..." Logan said, trying not to look annoyed. "I knew you didn't have diamonds anyway!"Aya was too busy laughing to bother with a comeback. The boys stomped away as Aya slowly came back to her senses. "Oh, man!" she said finally. "I love this game."

In these pages you will find the story of my life, an average shmuck who's looking for that special formula to make life meaningful. In a very haphazard way, I explored the different avenues to fulfillment, or perhaps more exactly, I willingly responded to the blow of the wind. It cost me several years of my life, my only chance at education, my relationship with my parents and my formerly acute senses, but it is my belief that God himself had a plan for my life, and I was just thick-sculled enough to need those times to learn how wrong my choices could be. In the end, He directed me to Himself, and I've never been the same since...