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The Chocolate Trust: Deception, Indenture and Secrets at the $12 Billion Milton Hershey School
by Bob FernandezThe name "Hershey" is synonymous the world over with only the sweetest associations-a philanthropic, self-made millionaire, a bucolic Pennsylvania farm town, and of course, chocolate. As Milton Hershey amassed his fortune in the early 1900s from the colossally successful Hershey Chocolate Company, he put it back into the community, and nowhere was this generosity more visible than in the founding of the Milton Hershey School. Intended as a haven for fatherless orphan boys, the school took in young boarders with the intention of instilling them with Christian values, a strong work ethic, and the promise of a better future. But all was not what it seemed. The Chocolate Trust tells a different history of the Milton Hershey School-a story of children who worked the farms as indentured pupils, and who were often mistreated or violated by those on staff. It tells the story of a trust that has raked in billions of dollars in endowments, dollars that are steered away from the intended beneficiaries-the children. And it looks at the recent history of the school, and a decade that has seen more dropouts than graduates. Bob Fernandez's riveting and sobering account of the Milton Hershey School uncovers how funds were diverted from the school and put toward the multimillion-dollar Hershey Medical Center, a luxury golf course and an expansion of Hershey Entertainment, all while state officials and Trust businessmen claimed that there just weren't enough poor children in America to help. Through shrewd reporting and original accounts, The Chocolate Trust makes it clear that the legacy of the Milton Hershey School has made Hershey, Pennsylvania far from "the sweetest place on earth. " Book jacket.
The Choice: Embrace the Possible
by Dr. Edith Eva EgerA New York Times Bestseller &“I&’ll be forever changed by Dr. Eger&’s story…The Choice is a reminder of what courage looks like in the worst of times and that we all have the ability to pay attention to what we&’ve lost, or to pay attention to what we still have.&”—Oprah &“Dr. Eger&’s life reveals our capacity to transcend even the greatest of horrors and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.&” —Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate &“Dr. Edith Eva Eger is my kind of hero. She survived unspeakable horrors and brutality; but rather than let her painful past destroy her, she chose to transform it into a powerful gift—one she uses to help others heal.&” —Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher AwardAt the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor&’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she&’d been unable to forgive—herself. Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.
The Choke Artist: Confessions of a Chronic Underachiever
by David YooIn this brutally honest collection of often cringe-inducing episodes, David Yoo perfectly captures the cycle of failure and fear from childhood through adulthood. Whether he's wearing four layers of clothing to artificially beef up his slim frame, routinely testing highlighters against his forearm to see if he indeed has yellow skin, or preemptively sabotaging promising relationships to avoid being compared to former boyfriends, Yoo celebrates and skewers the insecurities of anxious people everywhere.
The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower (The\mit Press Ser.)
by Robert F BarskyNoam Chomsky as political gadfly, groundbreaking scholar, and intellectual guru: key issues in Chomsky's career and the sometimes contentious reception to his ideas.“People are dangerous. If they're able to involve themselves in issues that matter, they may change the distribution of power, to the detriment of those who are rich and privileged.”—Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chávez and attacked by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Groundbreaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter—voted “most important public intellectual in the world today” in a 2005 magazine poll—Chomsky inspires fanatical devotion and fierce vituperation. In The Chomsky Effect, Chomsky biographer Robert Barsky examines Chomsky's positions on a number of highly charged issues—Chomsky's signature issues, including Vietnam, Israel, East Timor, and his work in linguistics—-that illustrate not only “the Chomsky effect” but also “the Chomsky approach.”Chomsky, writes Barsky, is an inspiration and a catalyst. Not just an analyst or advocate, he encourages people to become engaged—to be “dangerous” and challenge power and privilege. The actions and reactions of Chomsky supporters and detractors and the attending contentiousness can be thought of as “the Chomsky effect.” Barsky discusses Chomsky's work in such areas as language studies, media, education, law, and politics, and identifies Chomsky's intellectual and political precursors. He charts anti-Chomsky sentiments as expressed from various standpoints, including contemporary Zionism, mainstream politics, and scholarly communities. He discusses Chomsky's popular appeal—his unlikely status as a punk and rock hero (Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is one of many rock and roll Chomskyites)—and offers in-depth analyses of the controversies surrounding Chomsky's roles in the “Faurisson Affair” and the “Pol Pot Affair.” Finally, Barsky considers the role of the public intellectual in order to assess why Noam Chomsky has come to mean so much to so many—and what he may mean to generations to come.
The Choosing: A Rabbi's Journey from Silent Nights to High Holy Days
by Andrea MyersA young Lutheran girl grows up on Long Island, New York. She aspires to be a doctor, and is on the fast track to marriage and the conventional happily-ever-after. But, as the Yiddish saying goes, "Man plans, and God laughs. " Meet Andrea Myers, whose coming-of-age at Brandeis, conversion to Judaism, and awakening sexual identity make for a rich and well-timed life in the rabbinate. In The Choosing, Myers fuses heartwarming anecdotes with rabbinic insights and generous dollops of humor to describe what it means to survive and flourish on your own terms. Portioned around the cycle of the Jewish year, with stories connected to each of the holidays, Myers draws on her unique path to the rabbinate--leaving behind her Christian upbringing, coming out as a lesbian, discovering Judaism in college, moving to Israel, converting, and returning to New York to become a rabbi, partner, and parent. Myers relates tales of new beginnings, of reinventing oneself, and finding oneself. Whether it's a Sicilian grandmother attempting to bake hamantaschen on Purim for her Jewish granddaughter, or an American in Jerusalem saving a chicken from slaughter during a Rosh Hashanah ritual, Myers keeps readers entertained as she reflects that spirituality, goodness, and morality can and do take many forms. Readers will enthusiastically embrace stories of doors closing and windows opening, of family and community, of integration and transformation. These captivating narratives will resonate and, in the author's words, "reach across coasts, continents, and generations. "
The Chosen One
by David OwenEarl Woods, the father of young Eldrick "Tiger" Woods, was widely ridiculed in 1996 when, in an article anointing his son as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, he likened Tiger's potential impact to that of a messiah. This unseemly proclamation appeared to embody all the worst elements of the dreaded sports-parent who seeks financial windfall and personal validation by pushing his child to excel on the diamond, the gridiron, the court, or the fairways. But in light of all we know now about Tiger Woods, David Owen asks in The Chosen One, who is to say that it wasn't Tiger's transcendent greatness all along that induced his father to guide him, rather than the father pushing the son? Not since the dawn of competitive tournament golf has anyone distanced himself from the rest of the world the way Tiger has. He is the best there is at nearly every aspect of the game: the longest driver, the strongest iron player, the most creative around the greens, and so sharp a clutch putter that when he putts well the tournament is over, and when he putts badly he often wins anyway. He is a breakthrough athlete in a sport remarkably resistant to them; in every tournament, Tiger has to beat a hundred-plus competitors, any of whom can take away a title with a four-day hot streak. When Michael Jordan won all his back-to-back championships, each night he only had to beat one team. Tiger is also a breakthrough athlete as one of the first true multicultural icons. There are African-American, Asian, Native American, and Caucasian elements to his roots; he carries with him parts of so many ethnicities that he not only shatters stereotypes but renders the whole notion of racial classification irrelevant. It is ironic that such an athlete would emerge in golf, America's most tradition-bound and racially insensitive sport. In The Chosen One, gifted essayist David Owen ponders the social, economic, and athletic implications of this amazing young man. We are only beginning to see all the ways that Tiger Woods might reshape the world. Owen's thoughtful, incisive, elegant, and provocative work examines this phenomenon unlike any the fields of play have ever seen, in a book that will stand alongside John McPhee's A Sense of Where You Are (about Princeton forward Bill Bradley) among the classic works of sports philosophy.
The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts
by Tom Farley Tanner ColbyA biography of the Saturday Night Live star as told by his friends and family No one dominated a stage the way Chris Farley did. For him, comedy was not a routine; it was a way of life. He could not enter a room unnoticed or let a conversation go without making someone laugh. Fans knew Chris as Saturday Night Live's sweaty, swaggering, motivational speaker; as the irresistible Chippendale's stripper; and as Tommy Callahan, the underdog hero of Tommy Boy. His family knew him as sensitive and passionate, deeply religious, and devoted to bringing laughter into others' lives. But Chris did not know moderation, either in his boundless generosity toward friends or in the reckless abandon of his drug and alcohol abuse. For ten years, Chris cycled in and out of rehabilitation centers, constantly fighting his insecurities and his fears. Despite three hard-fought years of sobriety, addiction would ultimately take his life at the tragically young age of thirty-three. Fame on SNL and three straight number-one box office hits gave way to a string of embarrassing public appearances, followed by a fatal overdose in December 1997. Here is Chris Farley as remembered by his family, friends, and colleagues-the true story of a man who lived to make us laugh and died as a result. The Chris Farley Show is an evocative and harrowing portrait of a family trapped by addiction, a father forced to bury a son, and a gifted and kindhearted man ultimately torn apart by the demons inside him.
The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts
by Tom Farley Tanner ColbyThe New York Times bestselling biography of an American comedy legendAfter three years of sobriety, Chris Farley's life was at its creative peak until a string of professional disappointments chased him back to drugs and alcohol. He fought hard against them, but it was a fight he would lose in December 1997. Farley's fans immediately drew parallels between his death and that of his idol, John Belushi. Without looking deeper, however, many failed to see that Farley was much more than just another Hollywood drug overdose. In this officially authorized oral history, Farley's friends and family remember his work and life. Along the way, they tell a remarkable story of boundless energy, determination, and laughter that could only keep the demons at bay for so long.
The Christian Platonism of Thomas Jackson (Studies In Philosophical Theology Ser. #58)
by James BrysonAlthough Thomas Jackson (1579-1640) is recognized by scholars as the most important theologian of the Laudian church, there has been no comprehensive study of his philosophical theology. The reason for Jackson's neglect is that scholars have been puzzled by the sources, character and influence of his Christian Platonism. From a close and comprehensive reading of his magnum opus - a massive twelve-book commentary on the Apostle's Creed - this book shows how Jackson regards the Platonic tradition as an essential and perennial resource for the Christian theologian, anticipating and informing central aspects of Christian theological speculation and belief, given by divine providence to help him interpret and defend his creed. Special attention is paid to the influence of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) on Jackson, an important moment in the history of thought since the German cardinal is generally thought to have been without intellectual successors in the early modern period.
The Christians Who Became Jews: Acts of the Apostles and Ethnicity in the Roman City (Synkrisis)
by Christopher StroupA fresh look at Acts of the Apostles and its depiction of Jewish identity within the larger Roman era When considering Jewish identity in Acts of the Apostles, scholars have often emphasized Jewish and Christian religious difference, an emphasis that masks the intersections of civic, ethnic, and religious identifications in antiquity. Christopher Stroup’s innovative work explores the depiction of Jewish and Christian identity by analyzing ethnicity within a broader material and epigraphic context. Examining Acts through a new lens, he shows that the text presents Jews and Jewish identity in multiple, complex ways, in order to legitimate the Jewishness of Christians.
The Christmas Box Miracle
by Richard Paul EvansSince it was first published, more than seven million people have been touched by the magic of The Christmas Box, a holiday classic that is as beloved in our time as A Christmas Carol was in Dickens's.When New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans wrote The Christmas Box, he intended it as a private expression of love for his two young daughters, Jenna and Allyson. Though he often told them that he loved them, he didn't feel that they could ever really understand the depth of his feelings until they had experienced the joy of rearing their own children, and by that time their relationship would have changed forever. In writing The Christmas Box, he hoped that at some time in the future they would read the book and know of their father's love. As Evans began to write, he was amazed at the inspiration that flowed into his mind and heart. He completed the moving story of a widow and the young family who comes to live with her in less than six weeks, and bound twenty copies to give as Christmas presents to family and friends. In the following weeks, those twenty copies were shared and passed along from family to family, from friend to friend, and what began as a tale for two little girls became a message of miracles, hope, and healing for people throughout the world.
The Christmas Plains
by Joseph BottumA well-respected writer and editor's memoir of childhood Christmases set in the sometimes harsh but always captivating landscape of South Dakota.Wreaths and holly, fruitcakes and mistletoe, ornaments and snowflakes, St. Nick and Scrooge's humbug, Joseph and Mary, a young child in a manger and magi from the East. These words automatically stir up the season of Christmas and invoke memories of family and friends and hope and faith. By turns sweet and comic, sentimental and serious, the former editor of First Things magazine shares his reflections of the mad joys and wild emotions of the season while growing up on the South Dakota plains.
The Christmas Story GIFT: Experiencing the Most Wonderful Story Ever Told
by G.A. MyersThe miracle of the Christmas story is brought to you in vivid stories that allow you to feel as if you were there -- overhearing the angel Gabriel as he announces to Mary that she will bear the Christ-child; peering into Joseph's heart as he grapples with the news that his betrothed is pregnant; and glimpsing into heaven's silent halls as the angels wait hushed and poised, ready to announce the Savior's birth. Stirring stories retell favorite biblical passages, and inspiring messages reveal the true meaning of Christmas. You'll be touched and warmed as you read this fresh telling of that old and beautiful story of Christmas.
The Christopher Hitchens 4-Book Collection
by Christopher Hitchens"Christopher Hitchens is the greatest essayist in the English language." —Christopher Buckley Christopher Hitchens has long been considered on of the most compelling and intelligent writers and orators on our time. In this four-volume eBook bundle, no subject is left unconsidered in Hitchens's hands: from the case against god and religion in God Is Not Great; to various "Amusements, Annoyances, and Disappointments" in Arguably -- the Ten Commandments, the concept of "funny"; from a memoir tracing his storied life in Hitch-22 to a raw and honest meditation on life and death in Mortality, his last book before his death in 2011. Provocative and perceptive, unabashed and polemical, The Christopher Hitchens 4-Book Ebook Collection is the essential reader for any Hitchens fan. GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING HITCH-22: A MEMOIR ARGUABLY: ESSAYS MORTALITY
The Chronicler of Barsetshire: A Life of Anthony Trollope
by R. H. SuperThe Chronicle of Barsetshire presents the life of Anthony Trollope, who, although perhaps best known for his popular novels of Victorian English life, was also a prolific writer of nonfiction and a distinguished civil servant. R. H. Super, professor emeritus of English at the University of Michigan, has drawn upon a wide range of primary sources, archival as well as published, to give a complete sense of the man, his variety of talents, his place in the intellectual world of nineteenth-century England, and the interplay between his fiction and the events of his life. It is a biography of the highest merit, a work that, unlike the previous studies of Trollope's life, is not overshadowed by Trollope's own colorful (but frequently inaccurate) Autobiography. Exhaustive in its portrayal of Trollope's long, productive life, and impeccable in its scholarship, The Chronicler of Barsetshire sets a new standard of execellence in Trollopian studies.
The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap's Masked Iconoclast
by S.H. FernandoThe definitive biography of MF DOOM, charting the reclusive and revered hip-hop artist&’s life, career, and eventual immortality."Fernando provides a comprehensive look at DOOM's life and career, meticulously researched through interviews with the rapper&’s many collaborators and those closest to the man behind the mask. His track-by-track breakdowns of DOOM's albums will have sample spotters diving into their record collections. A perfect pairing with Dan Charnas's Dilla Time (2022), this is an essential exploration into the world of 'your favorite rapper&’s favorite rapper.'" —Carlos Orellana, Booklist (starred review) On December 31, 2020, the world was shocked to learn about the death of hip-hop legend MF DOOM. Born in London and raised in the suburban enclave of Long Beach, New York, Daniel Dumile Jr.'s love of cartoons and comic books would soon turn him into one of hip-hop's most enigmatic, prolific, and influential figures.Sweeping and definitive, The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap&’s Masked Iconoclast recounts the rise, fall, redemption, and untimely demise of MF DOOM. Broken down into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music, and The Legend, journalist S. H. Fernando, or SKIZ, chronicles the life of Daniel Dumile Jr., beginning in the house he grew up in in Long Beach, NY, into the hip-hop group KMD, onto the stage of his first masked show, through the countless collabs, and across the many different cities Daniel called home. Centering the music, SKIZ deftly lays out the history of east-coast rap against DOOM's life story and dissects the personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics that led to his immortality.Including exclusive interviews with those who worked closely with DOOM and providing an unknown, intimate, behind the scenes look into DOOM&’s life, The Chronicles of DOOM is the definitive biography of MF DOOM, a supervillain on stage and hero to those who paid attention.
The Chronological Life of Christ
by Mark E. Moore"...not much has changed since Jesus gathered dust in the soles of his sandals on Palestinian soil. He is still the buzz at barber shops and corner cafes. He is still talked about and against. He pricks our curiosity, sparks our imagination, and even earns our ire. Who is he, really?" You know he's no politician, but he still transforms nations. He's no social activist, but he is the genesis of who knows how many hospitals, orphanages, and innumerable acts of kindness. A psychotherapist? Hardly. But how many of us 'Humpty Dumpties' has he put back together again?! This peasant carpenter has built himself a kingdom immeasurably greater than his earthly enemies could have imagined. What are we to make of him? Please accept my deepest apologies right up front, for this book will not help answer that question. However, it may help answer this one: What is this man to make of me?"
The Chronology of Water
by Chelsea Cain Lidia YuknavitchThis is not your mother's memoir. In The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch, a lifelong swimmer and Olympic hopeful escapes her raging father and alcoholic and suicidal mother when she accepts a swimming scholarship which drug and alcohol addiction eventually cause her to lose. What follows is promiscuous sex with both men and women, some of them famous, and some of it S&M, and Lidia discovers the power of her sexuality to help her forget her pain. The forgetting doesn't last, though, and it is her hard-earned career as a writer and a teacher, and the love of her husband and son, that ultimately create the life she needs to survive.
The Chrétien Legacy
by Steve Patten Lois HarderContributors include Yasmeen Abu-Laban (Alberta), Caroline Andrew (Ottawa), Gerard W. Boychuk (Waterloo), Kathy Brock (Queen's), Stephen Clarkson (Toronto), David Docherty (Wilfrid Laurier), Alexandra Dobrowolsky (St Mary's), Christina Gabriel (Carleton), Ian Greene (York), Tom Keating (Alberta), Erick Lachapelle (Toronto), Laura MacDonald (Carleton), Michael Murphy (Otago, New Zealand), Steve Patten (Alberta), Michael J. Prince (Victoria), Reg Whitaker (York and Victoria), and Robert Young (Western Ontario).
The Church Is One
by Alexei S. KhomiakovWritten in the 1844 or 1845, it gives the American reader an insight of the life of Alexei Khomiakov, the life of a family that produced the great Russian theologian.
The Church Must Grow or Perish: Robert H. Schuller and the Business of American Christianity (Library of Religious Biography (LRB))
by Mark T. Mulder Gerardo MartiTo fully understand American Christianity, it&’s essential to understand Robert Schuller. The Church Must Grow or Perish: Robert H. Schuller and the Business of American Christianity examines Schuller&’s indelible imprint on the American church, and how he developed a model of ministry—both lauded and critiqued—that transformed Christian life and community across this country. Schuller&’s story is the starting point for powerful trends that continue to shape much of American religion today: televangelism, seeker-sensitive outreach, megachurches, the suburbanization of white Christianity, pastoral entrepreneurship, and market-oriented Christianity in pursuit of growth. Authors Mark T. Mulder and Gerardo Martí explore Schuller&’s drive to develop a theology, a persona, and a set of practices that he believed were necessary to keep Christianity vibrant long into the future. They trace Schuller&’s career arc from his beginnings as an Iowa farm boy to his years as a charismatic Southern California preacher—one who believed that in order for the church to thrive, pastoral leaders needed to borrow from the best practices of big business, including the entertainment industry. This fascinating biography is essential reading for those who want to fully understand a transformative force in American Christianity.
The Church That Forgot Christ
by Jimmy BreslinAfter a lifetime of attending mass every Sunday, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jimmy Breslin has severed his ties to the church he once loved—in this important book, filled with a fury generated by a sense of betrayal, he explains why.When the church sex scandals emerged relentlessly in recent years, and when it became apparent that these scandals had been covered up by the church hierarchy, Jimmy Breslin found it impossible to reconcile his faith with this new reality. Ever the reporter, he visited many victims of molestation by priests and found lives in emotional chaos. He questioned the bishops and found an ossified clergy that has a sense of privilege and entitlement. Thus disillusioned with his church, though not with his faith, he writes about the loss of moral authority yet uses his trademark mordant humor to good effect. Breslin&’s righteous anger is put to use. Imagining a renewed church, along with practical solutions such as married priests and female priests, The Church That Forgot Christ also reminds us that Christ wore sandals, not gold vestments and rings, and that ultimately what the Catholic Church needs most is a healthy dose of Christianity. In that sense, Breslin has written a dark book that is full of hope and possibility. It is a book that only Jimmy Breslin could have written.
The Church of 80% Sincerity
by Anne Lamott David RocheThe Church of 80% Sincerity shares the inspiring, poignant, wickedly funny, and sometimes heartbreaking story of motivational speaker David Roche's journey from shame to self-acceptance. Born with a severe facial deformity, David's life has been anything but easy. Still, over time, he's learned to accept his gifts as well as his flaws, and to see that, sometimes, they are one and the same. In this compelling book, he shares his hard-earned lessons, providing an irresistible and unforgettable glimpse of his (and everyone's) inner beauty and offering profound encouragement in dealing with whatever life brings.
The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit
by Ron SheltonFrom the award-winning screenwriter and director of cult classic Bull Durham, the extremely entertaining behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film, and an insightful primer on the art and business of moviemaking. &“This book tells you how to make a movie—the whole nine innings of it—out of nothing but sheer will.&” —Tony Gilroy, writer/director of Michael Clayton and The Bourne Legacy&“The only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the church of baseball.&” —Annie in Bull DurhamBull Durham, the breakthrough 1988 film about a minor league baseball team, is widely revered as the best sports movie of all time. But back in 1987, Ron Shelton was a first-time director and no one was willing to finance a movie about baseball—especially a story set in the minors. The jury was still out on Kevin Costner&’s leading-man potential, while Susan Sarandon was already a has-been. There were doubts. But something miraculous happened, and The Church of Baseball attempts to capture why. From organizing a baseball camp for the actors and rewriting key scenes while on set, to dealing with a short production schedule and overcoming the challenge of filming the sport, Shelton brings to life the making of this beloved American movie. Shelton explains the rarely revealed ins and outs of moviemaking, from a film&’s inception and financing, screenwriting, casting, the nuts and bolts of directing, the postproduction process, and even through its release. But this is also a book about baseball and its singular romance in the world of sports. Shelton spent six years in the minor leagues before making this film, and his experiences resonate throughout this book. Full of wry humor and insight, The Church of Baseball tells the remarkable story behind an iconic film.
The Church of Living Dangerously
by John Lee BishopThe unbelievable true story of John Bishop, a former megachurch pastor who ended up running drugs for the Sinaloa Cartel.For thirty years, John Bishop was a pastor. Along the way, he learned that everyone does stupid things. We lie to our families. We lie to ourselves. We take long lunch breaks and sneak cigarettes when we said we&’d quit. Sometimes, we take a sabbatical from our nice, comfortable life as a pastor and start running drugs for the Sinaloa Cartel, then get caught and spend five years in federal prison.Okay, that last one might just apply to John. But it does make for one hell of a story.In The Church of Living Dangerously, John tells that story in full for the first time—and you don&’t know the half of it. Along the way, he brings readers along for the harrowing ride from the rough small town in Washington where he was born all the way to the dirty villages in Mexico where he fell in with some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. There are backyard fight clubs where John learned to take a punch, the abandoned K-Mart where he used to preach every Sunday (sometimes with the help of wild animals), and the drug dens where he almost lost his life ten times over. It&’s a story that seems too wild to be true. But it is true—and John has the scars, both literal and figurative, to prove it.Ride along with John as he gets arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border and learn the story of his life in all its rough, stupid glory of guns, drugs, tigers, bare-knuckle boxing matches, and prison riots. John has learned a lot of important lessons about hardship and redemption and family, and what it means to live dangerously—and to experience another chance at life.