The Engines Of The Broken World

Merciful Truth and her brother, Gospel, have just pulled their dead mother into the kitchen and stowed her under the table. It was a long illness, and they wanted to bury her—they did—but it's far too cold outside, and they know they won't be able to dig into the frozen ground. The Minister who lives with them, who preaches through his animal form, doesn't make them feel any better about what they've done. Merciful calms her guilty feelings but only until, from the other room, she hears a voice she thought she'd never hear again. It's her mother's voice, and it's singing a lullaby. . . . Engines of the Broken World is a chilling young adult novel from Jason Vanhee.

It is 1969, and Jim Simmons, one year out of the Military Academy and fresh out of Special Forces training, is headed to Vietnam, where he is quickly faced with an ethical challenge when a spy is discovered in headquarters. Walter Mueller, a senior US State Department diplomat, is assigned to Nicaragua and is joined by his family. His wife and daughter open a medical clinic for the poor but soon discover that the Sandinistas want the Americans to leave. Ramon Morales, a seasoned Sandinista haunted by the abuse of his family by the Samozas, is ordered to kidnap a busload of children. Love from the Ashes of a Broken World follows their lives as war and terrorism challenge their understanding of God's love, forgiveness, and redemption. Endorsement by two theologians: "I'm glad that I finished, but sad that it's over. This is so good!" "Your story drew us in! Really, so very well done! I think you succeeded in your purpose of writing "about God and our relationship to him." Any follower of Jesus who enjoys military stories would enjoy this book. And anyone who has struggled with guilt and the need for forgiveness and to forgive would benefit from reading the strong biblical answers laid out in the context of a story about someone else experiencing those struggles. This was really good." Endorsement by a Green Beret Vietnam veteran: "I found this to be a very enjoyable and believable story."

Since the idea of using a classical text to illuminate the contemporary crisis derives from Machiavelli's decision to write using the History of Rome by Titus Livy, it seemed he was a fitting point of departure. The twentieth century was marked by two cataclysmic events: firstly came the mass genocide in Europe of a race, initiated by Germany, and a class, initiated by Russia. Secondly came the mass influx of disinherited masses into Europe. The Turks came to Germany following the dismemberment of the Osmanli Dawlet. The Berbers came from North Africa following the collapse of the French colonial empire. The Indians came from the violent dismemberment of Empire which tore the sub-continent into Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. As the exhausted people of Europe, utterly betrayed by its political class, watch in fear as the European entity fragments, having been stitched together merely by a common currency without intrinsic value, it becomes daily more clear that renewal can only come from the great mass of displaced people whose binding factor is neither race nor coinage, but religion. This work should prove relevant to the new Europeans.

We have been brought up to see things in a particular way—to interpret our experience and respond to events, people, and even to God in cultural and personal ways. This has given us a frame of reference that undergirds all else we know, trust, and love in life, as well as all we question, distrust, and hate. But this foundation is not without its cracks. We live in a broken world, and it has influenced us more than we know. Various Christians give us advice, but we often find ourselves stuck in the emotional pain of past experiences. We may not realize how much it controls our thinking, and we wonder why we are unable to experience the freedom and peace Jesus talks about. But things are not always what they seem; we need to see them as they are, not as other influences have shaped them. It is time we let God speak for himself on the matter. This book turns our minds to trust and freedom in our walk with God. It leads us to know God's grace, providence, and purposes in a way that changes our lives and experiences in this broken world from this day on.

The Oxford History of Poetry in English is designed to offer a fresh, multi-voiced, and comprehensive analysis of 'poetry': from Anglo-Saxon culture through contemporary British, Irish, American, and Global culture, including English, Scottish, and Welsh poetry, Anglo-American colonial and post-colonial poetry, and poetry in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, India, Africa, Asia, and other international locales. The series both synthesises existing scholarship and presents cutting-edge research, employing a global team of expert contributors for each of the volumes. Sixteenth-Century British Poetry features a history of the birth moment of modern 'English' poetry in greater detail than previous studies. It examines the literary transitions, institutional contexts, artistic practices, and literary genres within which poets compose their works. Each chapter combines an orientation to its topic and a contribution to the field. Specifically, the volume introduces a narrative about the advent of modern English poetry from Skelton to Spenser, attending to the events that underwrite the poets' achievements: Humanism; Reformation; monarchism and republicanism; colonization; print and manuscript; theatre; science; and companionate marriage. Featured are metre and form, figuration and allusiveness, and literary career, as well as a wide range of poets, from Wyatt, Surrey, and Isabella Whitney to Ralegh, Drayton, and Mary Herbert. Major works discussed include Sidney's Astrophil and Stella, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Marlowe's Hero and Leander, and Shakespeare's Sonnets.

What happens when your ideals and desires, plans and strategies, all go awry? From what sources might one find the resolve to begin a rebuilding process? "The fact is," writes Gordon MacDonald in Rebuilding Your Broken World, "the God of the Bible is a God of the rebuilding process. And not enough broken people know that." No stranger himself to brokenness, Gordon MacDonald draws from personal experience and discusses the likely sources of pain, the humiliation, and the long- and short-range consequences of a broken personal world. And he offers encouraging answers to the questions everyone asks when their worlds fall apart: Is there a way back?

"When Scott and Connie Payne first arrived at Inner City Mission, they thought they understood homelessness. Then they met Elaine."

Using Scripture and real-life stories, Patsy Clairmont illustrates how hearts and dreams can be rejuvenated and rebuilt and how the trip through the valley can lead to the mountaintop.