Showing posts with label social issues book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social issues book. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Book Spotlight: The World to Love and Not to Love by Horace Allen


Understanding the true nature of the world's system, contrasted with God's creation, will bring clarity to readers and help Christians make right choices to live God's way. God's standard of righteousness is contrasted with politically-correct responses and declining ethical and moral standards.

There are two worlds--God's creation and the present world system. God loves His creation and has a restoration plan for it. But the world's system organized under the direct influence of the devil is in direct opposition to God. Horace E. Allen reveals the true nature of the world we should not love.

Social and political correctness have replaced God's standard of righteousness. The result is a world system in constant moral, social, and ethical decline. This declining moral system is constantly being redesigned by man's imagination to accommodate his unrestrained sinful desires. What was once immoral is now accepted as normal. Christians who determine to maintain a biblical standard are put on the defensive and labeled intolerant.

Understanding the true nature of the world God created and this world's system will help us make right choices to live God's way.

There is a clear line between what is godly and what is ungodly. Likewise, there should be a difference between the standards of believers and nonbelievers. The World to Love and Not to Love will give readers clarity about the dividing line between the secular and spiritual worlds.

Read an excerpt here!

Publisher: Redemption Press (June 28, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1683142144
ISBN-13: 978-1683142140

Purchase from:

Redemption Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Horace Allen is licensed in New York State as a professional marriage and family therapist with a B.S. degree in psychology from New York Institute of Technology; M.S. degree in counseling from St. John’s University of Queens, and a D. Min from Andersonville Baptist Seminary. He served as senior pastor at the East End Baptist Church, Brooklyn, New York for thirty-four years. Now semi-retired in Florida, he conducts seminars, speaks at conferences and maintains his therapy practice through video and telephone sessions. He and his wife of fifty- two years have two children and two grandchildren. Dr. Allen is also the author of Thinking with the Heart: Principle, Practice and Purpose for Spiritual Wellness.

Monday, July 14, 2014

A Biblical Definition of Wisdom by Richard Capriola, Author of A Nation Under Judgment


What does it mean to be One Nation Under God? Our Founding Fathers believed it was more than a political slogan. Have we strayed from their vision? A Nation Under Judgment focuses on issues currently facing our nation including hunger, poverty, the environment and marriage. These and other issues are reviewed from both a Scriptural point of view and a social policy point of view. Readers are empowered to consider whether our nation is moving away from being One Nation Under God.

Purchase The Book:

A Biblical Definition of Wisdom

            As a Christian parent I must admit I didn’t give much thought to wisdom while raising my son. However, seven years ago I began writing what was intended to be a little book about wisdom. The first task was to define wisdom and that eventually led to the creation of A Nation Under Judgment.

            How do you define wisdom? For some it’s measured by a person’s level of knowledge and learning or by one’s level of education. Dictionaries define wisdom as philosophic and scientific learning. Other definitions of wisdom include sound judgment, good insight, or common sense. Native Americans believe wisdom is earned only after living a long life that brings learning and experience.

            These definitions have merit, but they fall short of a biblical definition of wisdom. Biblical wisdom can be defined as the ability to see things from God’s point of view. As Christians, our wisdom grows when we understand and accept God’s point of view. The same is true of nations; they show wisdom when they align their policies with God’s view.

            Without wisdom people can find themselves in trouble and countries risk disaster. The further a nation strays from God’s point of view, the closer it comes to being a nation under judgment.

            We live in a nation that prides itself on being “one nation under God.” We ask for God’s blessing in songs like “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin. Our Supreme Court opens every session with “God save the United States and this Honorable Court.” The president and other politicians pandering for our votes give speeches that end with “God bless America.”

            But what does it mean to be “one nation under God?” Have the words become merely a patriotic slogan? Do they have value only in times of national crises, when we feel threatened? Are we a nation asking for God’s protection and blessings while turning away from His point of view?

            As a nation “under God” do we see things from God’s point of view when shaping national policies? Or have we lost our wisdom as a nation?  When we create polices on hunger, homelessness, poverty, protecting the environment and marriage, are we following God’s point of view - or a political agenda? What does it say about our values when one of every fifty children lacks sufficient food, in a nation that wastes 40 percent of its food? These are important questions that must be asked if we value being a nation “under God” because the answers may point to a nation moving away from God’s point of view and losing its wisdom.
            Our Founding Fathers knew that we could not indefinitely exist apart from God’s point of view. George Mason warned that providence would punish national sins with national calamities. Thomas Jefferson said “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and that his justice cannot sleep forever.” These great men understood that our nation’s future rests on its commitment to live by the words “one nation under God” and that we must create national polices that reflect His point of view rather than policies that conform to a political agenda.

            Have we lost our wisdom as a nation – our ability to see things from God’s point of view? Ultimately the answer to that question will determine if we are headed toward being a nation under judgment.




Richard Capriola spent many years serving as a hospital chaplain. He completed four years of
Clinical Pastoral Education in preparation for his chaplaincy work. In addition to his pastoral care experience, he has served as a mental health counselor at both a regional crisis center and a psychiatric hospital.


Connect with Richard Capriola:



Thursday, April 29, 2010

Author Spotlight: Dr. John Bell and Invasion of the Baby Daddy



EVERY UNWED MOTHER’S NIGHTMARE COMES TO LIFE IN THE PAGES OF INVASION OF THE BABY DADDY, a compelling and moving debut novel that echoes the emotional and cerebral frustrations of unwed mothers throughout the ages. Its unforgettable characters and authentic story line are interwoven with current and real facts about the volume of unwed mothers in our society today. In the story, Dr. Sands believes he has found his perfect mate only to discover that she is pregnant from a previous relationship. Not fully aware of the ramifications of this colossal news, Dr. Sands and Rachel date via long distance during her pregnancy and ultimately decide to get married. In order to make a life together, Rachel must move to Tennessee to start a new life with her husband. But the Baby Daddy has other plans for them. Determined to make this marriage work, Dr. Sands goes to extraordinary lengths to try and negotiate with the Baby Daddy. Brimming with honesty from the author s own experiences, Invasion of the Baby Daddy comes alive with unique freshness, candor and rich detail.


Read an Excerpt!

Chapter One

As once a single man, I often pondered what life would hold in store for me. I never really knew how to approach the reality of looking for a woman to marry. I often figured it would happen like it does in the movies. You know how the guy meets this woman, and they have a few dates. During the courtship, the man would say the greatest lines and as a result, the woman would be swept off her feet. The rest is history. No drama or challenges, the end. We all know that we do not live in that movie, well most of us anyway. Love, at first sight, is truly a great misconception (or even second or third for that matter). With maturity and experience as both a Father and Husband, I never expected to meet a woman, who already had a child, to be my wife. Furthermore, my expectation was that I would meet someone on my level; like a physician or lawyer—someone who was equally yoked or of my intellectual stature.

Once you have wrestled with the challenges of being a young man; you learn how to become a better one. Your selection of women evolves from what you want, to what you need. Selfishness in relationships is commonplace to many men. This characteristic is practically encoded in our DNA. As we are raised to be gladiators, we compete for things, such as: family pride, home turf and always for young love or infatuation.

This selfishness is also the core of how most men are defined in their relationships with women. The selfishness quotient of a man translates into how he treats himself and the woman to whom he will make a life commitment.


Read the Reviews!

"Everybody wants to write a novel, including Dr. John Bell, a surgical podiatrist and a professor at Strayer University in Memphis. The story focuses on what happens when a young, unwed girl has a child with a man, particularly one she does not want to marry. That man, however, the subject of Invasion of the Baby Daddy ($18.00, Jamar House Publishers, softcover) has rights and responsibilities to the child. In the process, this can wreak havoc for the families involved. Dr. Bell is particularly concerned about the more than 70% of African-American families that face these challenges and his story examines what happens when a doctor building a medical practice meets a woman at a church he visits in Charlotte, NC, is deeply attracted to her, only to discover she is pregnant. He proposes but there is the issue and the problem of the “baby daddy.” –Bookviews – February 2010



Dr. Bell is a Surgical Podiatrist and a College Professor at Strayer University at the Shelby Oaks campus in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Bell has a Master’s degree in Health Services Administration from Strayer University in Memphis, Tennessee and a Doctorate Of Podiatric Medicine degree from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Bell is a graduate from Morris college in Sumter, South Carolina. Dr. Bell is a Gulf War veteran with 10 years in the US Navy with an honorable discharge. Dr. Bell is a member of Phi-Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.

Dr. Bell has his own radio show called the Dr. John Bell Show that can be heard on Saturday from 4-5pm central time and 5-6pm Eastern time on KWAM990.com. Dr. Bell is married and has one daughter and a step son and has experienced the subject of the baby daddy syndrome and the drama that can be experienced from relationships that include a blended family structure. Dr. Bell has chosen to write about some of the challenges from a man’s perspective involved in a blended family where the man does not have any children and the woman has a child from a previous relationship.

This story has been a compilation of many American family’s dilemma with people who want to move on from their past mistakes in life of children and relationships and how much it can cost the people we love most when our life choices become complicated with an invasive baby daddy as in the book or even an invasive baby momma into a family situation. This book demonstrates how the American family structure is changing and how the law is often used to separate families and ultimately even end a marriage. In this American story of many with this subject, one family had to find a way to make the ultimate sacrifice to avoid destruction from the invasion of a baby daddy.

You can visit his website at www.drjohnbell.com


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Author Spotlight: Greg Middleton and Real Men



Real Men is a book about the plight of males over the last century, how they have become displaced by the changes in our society and lost of a distinct role.

Over the past few decades something is seriously shifting in the way men are operating within our society. Men are no longer the undisputed heads of the household or the family. Women have equal rights under the law and can compete against men for some of the better and higher paying jobs. Without a decided edge men are loosing their “king of the hill” status. Something must be done to at least redefine the role men should play. Whatever that role eventually becomes men will most certainly need to make adjustments from the way things were done in the past.

BOOK EXCERPT

MARS AND VENUS CONCEPT

Much has been written and spoken about the differences between how males and females operate. It is not by accident that we have a different basic operating system. For example, we build motor vehicles as a means of transportation. We build calculators to assist us in computing numerical equations. One would not expect a calculator to serve as a means of transportation because it was not built for that purpose. In a broader sense, men and women were designed (built) for different purposes. From a design prospective, women were given operating systems to enhance the purposes of which they were created (built): Men were likewise.

For example, women were given the ability to conceive and have babies. They were also given the trait of nurturing and caring for their young. Part of their traits and operating systems were built around their design and purpose. This is not to say that women were only built for the purpose of having babies, it means that it is a unique function to them that men do not have. Since this function is unique to females, it is only natural that men are not equal to women in such capacities. Men were built to serve other functions within the human species of which the protectors and providers were arguably two of the traits that were uniquely designed within them. This does not mean that women cannot be good providers or protectors of the family, but that certain traits within their operating systems were not specifically geared for that purpose. Regardless as to how we choose to operate within humanity, we cannot ignore the fact that certain traits seem to be more prevalent in a particular gender than in the other.

Even in stating this supposition, it does not mean that people can't do as they choose. This is where free will comes into play. There are times when necessity makes the choice against what one may wish or hope to choose otherwise. With single-parent families on the rise many females are left with the total burden of raising and providing for their children. Regardless to what is natural, or the intended design specifications, once children are born into the world someone has to provide, care, protect, nurture, and otherwise raise them. In the absence of having both male and female guardians someone will have to do what is necessary. One gender, usually the female, will have to assume both roles and do as best as they can under the circumstances. Even though it may not have been a conscious choice to be in that situation, necessity dictates a different set of rules that must be obeyed.

In reference to the natural design regarding gender differences, we must understand that even though the design was different and the roles and purposes were different, at the end of the day, necessity and free will dominates the table. Understanding the differences between the natural, unique designs of the genders should assist us in relating to each other and affectively doing the jobs we find before us. Understanding your function and carrying out that purpose is part of your birthright. How you carry out your particular assignment is personal. It has a lot to do with the authentic person that resides in your shell called a human being. Even though we may not realize it, or consciously know it to be true, there is a power and a force in the universe that is far greater than we are. Individually we will die at a given point, but life carries on. A question we should inquire of ourselves is, when that final breath is taken, did you do your best with the plate that was placed before you.

Although this topic is specifically geared toward defining a real man, on a wider view we should be looking at becoming the most genuine person we are capable of being. With that as our primary goal, our natural given abilities will excel in the manner in which they were intended. Gender should not be an issue that we allow to create separation or dissention. Males and females were built for one another, as a hand and glove, to be the caretakers of this planet. If we abide by the natural order it will serve us well. If we do not, then the consequences will be on our shoulders.


Writing came to this author totally by surprise. God planted an urge in Greg to search for Him during the fall of 1999. That search led to a constant reading appetite of various spiritual, religious, inspirational, and even metaphysical subjects. After reading so much material he began taking notes of his many late night sessions in order to remember what he was learning. He later began expressing his personal views of what he was digesting and recorded it in his journal. This collection of notes became the pages of his first book, In Search of the Soul. It was published in 2002 by Dorrance Publishing Company.

From his first book Greg continued to read and record his thoughts and opinions as they were developing. Since that first book he has been writing feverishly ever since. His second book Pearls of Wisdom, was published in 2003 by GEM Publications. Cold Tree Press published his third book, Food for the Soul in early 2005. His goal is to get as many of his completed works as possible into the hands of the readers whom they were intended to inspire.

In addition to being a writer, Greg is also a professional musician, Realtor, and a Professional Seminar Speaker. He and his wife Cynthia make their “Empty Nest” home in Altadena, California, and are ready to start on Phase Two, enjoying the grandchildren. Be on the lookout for more works from this prolific writer in the years to come.

You can find Greg online at www.gregemiddleton.com. For more information about Real Men and Real Men Seminars, please visit http://realmenseminars.com/.


Friday, January 1, 2010

Real Men by Greg Middleton -- Book Review



Are you a "real man"? Real Men: What is Happening with Our Males? was written for males dealing with specific male issues. Addressing the serious shift in dynamics between males and females brought about by changes in laws and customs, changes in technology, and changes in the roles females now play in society, Real Men takes a look into our past, the present, and looks into the future to help men adjust their lives to today's reality.

I approached Real Men with a bit of trepidation because the synopsis I saw mentioned how men are no longer the "king of the hill" and I immediately began to wonder if this book would be sexist drivel about how men can reclaim what they've lost.

Thankfully, I was way off base, which is just another reason I feel you need to open the pages of a book and read some of it first before passing judgment.

What Real Men is truly about is how certain changes in our society have led to males playing different roles than their fathers and grandfathers, leaving many men to learn as they go, such as author Greg Middleton had to do. As Middleton points out, this cost him a great deal of wasted time until he had gained the experience he needed to be the father and husband he should be, the "real man" he always wanted to be.

In an attempt to instruct and guide men along this journey, Middleton has written an excellent book based upon his own experiences, which also includes some tables discussing statistics that back up what he has to say.

I found Real Men to be an informative, engaging read that I was able to polish off in one evening, but whose words will stick with me for some time to come. I'm considering passing this book along to my son, who at the age of 23, could benefit greatly from its contents. And now that I have read Middleton's Real Men, I'm eager to dive into more of his work.


Title: Real Men
Author: Greg Middleton
Publisher: Lulu
ISBN: 978-0-557-12071-0
SRP: $14.19

For more information about Greg Middleton, please visit www.gregemiddleton.com. You will find Real Men Seminars at http://realmenseminars.com/.

Greg Middleton will be on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion from January 4th - 29th. You may follow his tour by visiting http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ weekdays during January.