The Gospel Of John, Chapter 2

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This Easter season, I am presenting the Gospel of John. John tells the story of resurrection better than the others, and so it is logical to present his version of Christ as the focus is on the miracles, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

So, without further ado, the Gospel of John: Chapter 2. 

 

I appreciate your coming to visit. I truly do. I ask but small favors:

First, pray for me. I am always in need of prayer. Second, if you like what you hear on this site, please consider purchasing some of my audio books, they are what fund this site and my work. 

DOMESTICATED TERRORISTS by MAX COSSACK

When his client is railroaded in a DC court, Sam Lapidos decides to give up the practice of law and renew his long dormant interest in exploring nature. His maiden journey into the woods miscarries when an assassin tries to kill him. His friends rally to his defense and gather in his home. His attackers develop their own conflicts, as incompetence, confusion and dissension rile their ranks. What happens next is known only to the author and his listeners.

Now, from the narrator: all the Max Cossack books are great fun and I’m sure you’re going to like this one as well. They stand alone, or you can do the series. I’ve done a few of them for Max and I love them.

 

THE SUPERHERO HANDBOOK FOR COPS: A GUIDE FOR NAVIGATING THE CAREER WITH HONOR, PRINCIPLE, AND COMPASSION WHILE AVOIDING ITS PITFALLS AND HAZARDS by Rabbi Cary Friedman

American police officers are the real-life counterparts of our beloved fictional superheroes and superheroines.

The best cops…

• perform the law enforcement mission nobly, with honor, principle, and compassion

• practice excellent discretion, tempering the letter of the law with the spirit that animates it

• still believe in, and are proud symbols of, truth, justice, and the American way

• restrain their exercise of power according to Constitutional safeguards and agency guidelines

• behave “with malice toward none; with charity for all,” ensuring that the American justice system extends its protection and dignity—without discrimination or favor—to each and every community within our society

If you aspire to be the very best cop you can be, then this handbook has been designed especially for you!

“The Superhero Handbook for Cops” combines timeless wisdom with the newest research and technology to provide a powerful, comprehensive training program that nourishes the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and ethical dimensions of law enforcement officers.

NARRATOR NOTE: This is my third book by Cary Friedman. I love his writing, and I sincerely, and regretfully, wish I had read his books before I entered the police academy. I would have been a much better patrol officer.

 

The Gospel Of John, Chapter 1

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This Easter season I’d like to share the Good News with all of you.

The Gospel of John tells the story of resurrection better than the others, and so it is logical to present his version of Christ as the focus is on the miracles, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

So, without further ado, the Gospel of John: Chapter 1.

I appreciate your coming to visit. I truly do. I ask but small favors:

First, pray for me. I am always in need of prayer.

Secondly, I’d ask you to consider purchasing some of my audio books if you like the style here. I submit the following two for today:

Sometimes a town chooses you.

Looking for Space is a story of triumph over adversity for one boy growing up in a small town, and an intimate look at how the community embraced a newcomer and helped him find his way.

When Charles lost his father at age ten, he was uprooted from everything familiar and eventually moved to Pickens, South Carolina—a place he barely knew, yet one that would come to define him. In the foothills of the Blue Ridge, among red clay fields and close-knit neighbors, he began the long work of healing and becoming.

It is also a tender portrait of how a Southern town can shape a life. The rhythms of 1970s Pickens—its public schools, church pews, football games, and front porches—offered not just comfort, but direction.

Alongside his personal journey, Charles opens a wider lens to reflect on the region’s natural beauty, cultural traditions, and the local figures who helped define Pickens County’s identity. The result is both an intimate memoir and a tribute to the quiet strength of place.

Rooted in gratitude, Looking for Space is a love letter to a town that still knows the value of showing up for one another.

 

LION OF THE SEVEN SEAS by MICHAEL DIMERCURIO

In the aftermath of a vicious sea battle with the Chinese fleet that ends in a nuclear blast, the presidential project submarine Silversides is dispatched on a search-and-destroy mission against the resurrected submarine Panther, recently converted by the Iranians to fire hypersonic electrical grid-killer missiles at the U.S. East Coast.

Anthony Pacino, the Silversides’ chief engineer, is forced to abandon his mourning the loss of the love of his life and driven to fight to the death for his country, the mission and the crew. Returning also are the rich characters of the Silversides and former admiral and current Vice President Michael Pacino in this epic tale of undersea warfare.

 

It Was The Golden Hour, Just Like The Crust

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I looked up at the sky and realized that while I was standing in the parking lot, handing out slices of pizza, I was also enjoying what the television/movie/photographic world calls the “Golden Hour” because of the amazing light that suffuses the sky.

I’d been coming out to this location for about a year, sometimes with the Canteen (think food truck) and sometimes with a short-bus that we all make fun of, but was big enough to haul some tables, chairs, and hot food. In any event, I was there, in the midst of a low-cost housing project in the rural town of Immokalee, Florida. The back of my Telluride was full of pizza I’d just picked up.

When people talk about SW Florida, they typically think of Fort Myers, Naples, perhaps even Everglades City. They almost never think of the little farm towns like Felda, Labelle, and Immokalee. There’s lots of them, mostly along State Highway 29 that runs up the center of the state. 

Naples, the glitziest of them, is where I live.  A ton of millionaires, many CEO types from the Fortune 100, and generally way more expensive circles than I run in if given a choice. Technically in any event. I live 10 miles from Immokalee and 33 miles from Naples itself. Consequently, my time is spent in Immokalee when I want a great Mexican meal, need cash from the credit union, to hit the farmers market, or to serve the poor. 

I’ve been volunteering with The Salvation Army in Naples for over 4 years, essentially since my first Christmas in Florida. In that time I’ve deployed to Hurricane Helene in the Big Bend region, went out with the trucks during Hurricane Ian, served First Responders at a disaster drill or two, served breakfast to the homeless at a census in Naples, and been Santa. Along the way I’ve also done some sammich making and other assorted tasks as needed. 

As a volunteer I’ve trained on a number of subjects and had my qualification card signed off so that I’m trusted with vehicles and a spatula. It’s a long list, but when they need me I am usually allowed to operate on my own. I spent the time, gasoline, and hotel stays to travel around Florida to get the training needed. Just like the military I served in 30 some years ago.

Now, back to Immokalee. It’s a farm town, and the majority of the people who live there are Hispanic. I’m not sure if English is the primary language or if Spanish is more common, but I do okay in English and can usually get along for this kind of work in Spanish. I sound like an imbecile in both languages if you want to be honest, but a helpful one!

Most of you know I’m a very conservative Christian, and you probably wonder why I’d be serving pizza to a community that is sometimes illegally here. Easy answer: I’m there to serve Jesus, do as I’m commanded to/for the least of my brothers, and I try to keep it politics free. Mind you, if ICE swept in and started asking for identification, I’d offer them pizza, salad, and a bottle of water as well. Everyone is my brother when I put on the red shirt. It’s not a contradiction to me to render unto Cesar what is his. I’m okay with it. 

But, back to the story. I’ve been going out there long enough now that I recognize some of the people as regulars. The kids and the old guy in the red pickup truck, the lawncare guy and his crew, and the guy with his 2 year old. I feed them all, pray for them all, and love them all. 

So, as you might guess, as the sun sets on those Wednesdays when I serve a meal to the community, I love the setting of the sun, the warmth of my friendships with my Captains, Sarah my fellow volunteer, Sharon, David, and all the others who are by my side. 

You see, it is truly the Golden Hour when you stand in the light of God.

Now, go volunteer with an organization like The Salvation Army. Don’t waste your life standing on a corner with a sign, or blowing a whistle. Do something productive, nonviolent, and within the law for your fellow humans. All of them.

Thank you. 

 

 

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: CHAPTER 24

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The Gospel of Luke tells the whole story of the Christ. It is done today, just in time for the big day tomorrow. I hope you have a blessed and wonderous Christmas.

Now, for the Gospel of Luke (and a Merry Christmas to you all): 

I hope you will not mind a commercial here. These books are part of how I make my living, and I’m providing the links as you’re still here and seem to like the way I read.

 

LION OF THE SEVEN SEAS by MICHAEL DIMERCURIO

In the aftermath of a vicious sea battle with the Chinese fleet that ends in a nuclear blast, the presidential project submarine Silversides is dispatched on a search-and-destroy mission against the resurrected submarine Panther, recently converted by the Iranians to fire hypersonic electrical grid-killer missiles at the U.S. East Coast.

Anthony Pacino, the Silversides’ chief engineer, is forced to abandon his mourning the loss of the love of his life and driven to fight to the death for his country, the mission and the crew. Returning also are the rich characters of the Silversides and former admiral and current Vice President Michael Pacino in this epic tale of undersea warfare.

 

 

DOMESTICATED TERRORISTS by MAX COSSACK

When his client is railroaded in a DC court, Sam Lapidos decides to give up the practice of law and renew his long dormant interest in exploring nature. His maiden journey into the woods miscarries when an assassin tries to kill him. His friends rally to his defense and gather in his home. His attackers develop their own conflicts, as incompetence, confusion and dissension rile their ranks. What happens next is known only to the author and his listeners.

Now, from the narrator: all the Max Cossack books are great fun and I’m sure you’re going to like this one as well. They stand alone, or you can do the series. I’ve done a few of them for Max and I love them.

 

AMBUSH OF THE DRAGON by Michael DiMercurio

There is only one way to reunite a country that has been split by two bloody civil wars in thirty years, one of them nuclear: savage their external enemies and leave them so weak they cannot interfere with the union until stability is achieved. The newly reconstituted China – now the Federated States of the New Middle Kingdom – has a strike plan that will leave both the Russians and Americans bleeding and desperate to survive.

For there to be any hope of American and Russian vengeance, old allies, resurrected schemes from decades ago, and a plan as innovative as the 1942 Doolittle raid on Tokyo must all be put in motion. A cast of both new and favorite characters, driven by decorated submarine combat veteran Lieutenant Anthony Pacino, is forced to fight for not only his beloved submarine Vermont and the lives of his shipmates, but the fate of the Western world in an epic battle of undersea warfare.

 

High Jingo begins with a young couple in love “spelunking” in a cave that isn’t really a cave, but an abandoned mineshaft, a relic of a Gold Rush that wasn’t really a “rush” but more of a Gold Kerfuffle that never materialized. The couple is assisted by a beer-loving husky dog which eschews the normal protocols of an archaeological dig and willy-nilly unearths an artifact with Hebrew letters on it. And the reader thinks, “This is not your every-day story!”

And that reader is correct. Once again, three generations of the Wilder Bunch take us on an historical, occasionally hysterical, adventure. The story is as old as pogroms in Eastern Europe and as new as Jewish students being abused by pro-terrorist elements paying full tuition even at 4th rate diploma mills. A ripping yarn, full of love, courage and righteous anger, it careens from Medieval Hungary to Israel to a small rural town in Minnesota and up the road to St. Paul. As the old movie line goes, “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: CHAPTER 23

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The Gospel of Luke tells the whole story of the Christ. It is done in 24 chapters. Consequently, every day in December I will be posting a new chapter of Luke until we get to Christmas. It is my hope that you share this with your friends, church, family and social media. 

Now, for the Gospel of Luke: 

 

I hope you will not mind a commercial here. These two books are part of how I make my living, and I’m providing the links as you’re still here and seem to like the way I read.

 

TERMINAL RUN by Michael DiMercurio

One ship could revolutionize submarine warfare as we know it: the USS Snarc. A robotic combat sub carrying no crew, the Snarc has proven unbeatable in sea trials. And now it has fallen into the hands of an unseen enemy.

The Snarc’s first casualty: the nuclear sub carrying the son of former admiral Michael Pacino. The only man who can match wits with the Snarc, Pacino reenters the game in a high-tech underwater battle unlike any that’s been fought before, one that could engulf the world in war and bring him face-to-face with his nemesis….

 

EMERGENCY DEEP by Michael DiMercurio

US Navy submarine commander Peter Vornado is at the top of his game in underwater warfare when a devastating illness takes him out of the service – and almost to the grave. Without duty, honor, or something to fight for, his life is as good as over.

But the CIA needs a man like Vornado….

A terrorist cabal has acquired a scrapped Soviet sub from the Cold War – a technologically advanced failure still able to outrun any torpedo or enemy vessel and strike at will. With a nuclear payload, it will enable the terrorists to fire directly on Israel – and throw the world into chaos. All that remains is to modernize the sub with the latest technology.

Only one man can infiltrate the group, take the helm, and stop a holocaust – a man who has already stared down death, and is ready to do battle once more….