Commotion in the Pews

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: 

 

As some of you know, I make my living these days narrating audio books. I hope you will forgive me for listing two of my most recent books as potential purchases if you enjoyed my work on Luke.

 

WHIRLWIND by Dana McNeely

A king’s downfall and a love that transcends war

Spurned by potential suitors, Miriam travels to Jezreel to care for her cousin’s son. There, the precocious seven-year-old works his way into her heart. When Arameans swarm the land like locusts, Miriam focuses on the safety of her young ward but promises adventures beyond the city walls when the war ends.

Gershon, a quiet and kind vintner, is happily building a life for his wife, son, and aging parents. But when his wife dies during childbirth and war looms on the horizon, he must make a decision—will he take a new wife before his heart can mend? 

Meanwhile, Dov, a young officer crosses paths with the “bird girl” he remembers from the past. That she is a beautiful woman matters not, as he is a career soldier. Unexpectedly charged with leading Ahab’s army against the Arameans, Dov anticipates death and defeat in Samaria, but when a prophet pledges victory, Dov vows to fight to the end.

When an unlikely victory brings freedom, a bright future seems imminent. Then one afternoon Miriam witnesses a tragedy and must flee with the boy to keep them both safe. With henchmen on their trail, will they find refuge—and her heart the home she’s longed for?

 

 

PANIC SWITCH by Michael DiMercurio

The oily and brackish waters of the Russian Northern Fleet submarine base part for the passage of the colossal special purpose Omega II-class submarine Belgorod, on a mission to hold the United States hostage. This gigantic submarine is armed with three Poseidon unmanned submersibles, each with a 10-megaton warhead. Her goal: placing them offshore in US ports in a nuclear-blackmail chess move.

In response, the United States dispatches the newest special operations attack submarine, the Virginia-class USS New Jersey, which lies in wait to follow Belgorod under the polar icecap. Because every submariner knows that what happens under the ice…never happened.

Legendary former admiral and current National Security Advisor Michael Pacino and his son Anthony, a combat-decorated veteran of undersea warfare, return in this epic novel of submarine-versus-submarine warfare.

 

 

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: 

As some of you know, I make my living these days narrating audio books. I hope you will forgive me for listing two of my most recent books as potential purchases if you enjoyed my work on Luke.

Another great one, this time back to the category of Police Officer Mental Health. I’m proud to announce Mental Health Fight Of The Heroes In Blue: How To Mentally Survive Working as a Police Officer  by Scott Medlin. 

Once a job of serving their community by providing safety, police officers could rest relatively easy knowing their efforts were worth the sacrifice. However, over the past decade, the trade-offs between the rewards and risks of policing have increasingly sloped toward the latter. Today, officers are routinely being confronted with more pressure and scrutiny because of unfortunate bad actions by a few of their own. Then they still encounter constant threats of danger, and continued exposure to the darkest corners of society. It is no surprise that policing remains one of the most stressful occupations on the planet – stress that dramatically increases suicide risk among this population. There currently exists very little avenues police can turn towards for help with such a unique problem. This is detrimental because of not only the suicide risk, but it affects an officer’s capability of being the upstanding hero the citizens want.

This book was written by a police officer who, speaking from personal experience, and sourcing the help of trusted experts, walks anyone through the steps law enforcement officers can take to be shielded from having mental breakdowns and God forbid, become a suicide statistic.

Within this resource are five key methodologies proven to increase mental clarity as a police officer:

1. Acknowledging and counteracting the “warrior socialization” of police officers. You’re not a tough person – you’re a person.

2. Realizing the truth about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and how to overcome it.

3. Uncovering the secret system of your mind that can make or break your mental health as a police officer.

4. Unraveling and addressing the numerous and often surprising contributors to on-the-job stress.

5. Introducing habits and strategies for developing the strongest defense against the traumas and other stressors involved with policing.

 

THE FISHER KING’S APPRENTICE by Anthony Horvath is the second in a series, and a joy to experience. I strongly recommend listening to the first book WARDEN-WATCH before enjoying this one. 

Casey’s life is in peril at every turn as one extraordinary event piles on top of another. With the help of the Wardens, he finds himself in the middle of ancient wars and dangerous voyages. Is there a legend that isn’t based on real history? Is there a myth that is not rooted somehow in truth? If there is, Casey has yet to discover it in his quest to keep the Enemy from the life-liquid… of the Blood King.

Based on a true story.

 

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: 

As some of you know, I make my living these days narrating audio books. I hope you will forgive me for listing two of my most recent books as potential purchases if you enjoyed my work on Luke.

THE GENERAL’S PRINCESS by Caryn Hacker Buechel

This one’s a little different, because it has romantic/sexual abuse situations. It is not a Christian book, but I accepted the contract because it deals with human trafficking and our need to defeat it. The backstory is important to me: but I met the author through a friend, and the fact I speak Arabic was what clinched the deal. Seems my 40 years of study paid off. 

 

Cara is almost fifty, and nearly penniless. She needs a fresh start and when a unique job falls in her lap, she moves to Saudi Arabia to work for the royal family, never dreaming the change would quickly spiral into a nightmare where she is alone and powerless, trapped in the crosshairs of a human trafficking ring.

The unlikely kidnapping of a young, American female triggers a risky military rescue with General Sam Kennedy leading the Special Forces team into Riyadh, ultimately throwing Sam into Cara’s world where she is enmeshed in the spinning wheels of this deadly rescue mission, managed from the White House Situation Room, and exploding in real time within the opulent Royal palace.

Unravel the threads of survival, courage, and unexpected love in this gripping tale of resilience against the odds.

 

 

 

 

Time for the next Max Cossack book, High Jingo. 

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.”